Common Website Mistakes Small Businesses Make (and How to Fix Them)

Most website problems aren't unique or exotic. The same handful of avoidable mistakes show up on small business sites everywhere. Fix them and you'll immediately outperform most of your competitors.

Writing About Yourself Instead of the Customer

'Welcome to our website. We've been serving customers since 1997.' Nobody cares. Customers want to know if you can solve their problem, what it'll cost, and how quickly you can help. Lead with them, not with you.

No Clear Primary Action

Every page should have one obvious next step. If your homepage asks visitors to book, subscribe, follow you on Instagram, download a PDF, and call all at once, they'll do none of them.

Hiding Contact Information

Your phone number, email, and address should be findable in under 2 seconds from any page. Header, footer, and dedicated contact page — at minimum.

Stock Photos That Look Like Stock Photos

Generic smiling handshake photos actively erode trust. A single genuine photo of you, your team, or your work outperforms a gallery of stock imagery every time.

Ignoring the First Fold on Mobile

Most designers still preview desktop first. On mobile, the first screen is all most visitors see before deciding whether to keep scrolling — it has to earn the swipe.

No Social Proof

Testimonials, reviews, logos of past clients, case studies — social proof reassures visitors that you're the real deal. A site without any feels risky.

Slow Loading Because 'It Looks Fine on My Laptop'

Your fibre-connected desktop is not your customer's 4G phone. Test speed properly with PageSpeed Insights and design for the slower connection.

No SEO Beyond the Homepage

Every service you offer should have its own optimised page. A single homepage trying to rank for ten different services will rank for none of them.

Never Being Updated

A blog with a most-recent post from 2022 signals that no one's home. Either commit to keeping it fresh, or remove it.