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Most of the time, the first impression potential customers have of your small business is your website. Whether you run a café, offer plumbing services, or sell handmade products, your website needs to work hard – building trust, providing information and helping convert visitors into paying customers.
Unfortunately, many small businesses fall into the same web design traps, making mistakes that hurt their credibility, frustrate users and cost them sales. The good news? Most of these issues are completely avoidable.
In this article, we’ll cover the most common small business web design mistakes – and how you can steer clear of them to create a website that works for you.
One of the biggest mistakes small business owners make is diving into a website project without a clear goal. Is the website meant to drive online sales? Generate leads? Provide information and support to customers?
Without a defined purpose, your site may end up as a vague collection of pages that don’t really drive business outcomes. Before designing a single page, ask yourself:
Avoid this by:
There are plenty of drag-and-drop website builders out there, and for budget-conscious small businesses, they can be tempting. But a lack of professional design experience often shows.
Sites built without design expertise often:
Your website doesn’t need to be flashy or expensive, but it does need to look polished, load quickly and guide visitors smoothly through their journey.
Avoid this by:
Over 60% of website traffic now comes from mobile devices, yet many small business websites still look terrible on phones.
Buttons are too small, text is hard to read and images don’t resize properly. A poor mobile experience doesn’t just frustrate users – it also hurts your Google rankings.
Avoid this by:
Blurry, stretched or unprofessional images can damage your brand instantly. Visuals play a big role in establishing trust – and poor-quality images can make your business look careless.
Stock photos can work well if chosen carefully, but generic or overly staged images can feel impersonal. Even worse is using irrelevant or misleading photos that confuse users.
Avoid this by:
For more info about optimising images, check out our article The ultimate guide to using images for your website.
Visitors need to find what they’re looking for in just a few clicks. Complicated menus, too many options or inconsistent page layouts make navigation frustrating.
A common mistake is including every possible service or page in the main menu – even when it overwhelms users.
Avoid this by:
You could have the best website in the world – but if no one can find it, it won’t help your business grow. Many small business websites forget about search engine optimisation (SEO) entirely.
That means:
SEO may seem complex, but some basic best practices go a long way.
Avoid this by:
What should someone do when they land on your website? Call you? Fill out a form? Buy a product? If your site doesn’t clearly tell them, they might just leave.
A strong call-to-action is one of the most important elements on any page. Yet many small business websites bury their CTAs at the bottom – or forget them entirely.
Avoid this by:
Outdated content is a red flag to users. It suggests that the business is no longer active or doesn’t care about its online presence.
Common signs include:
Fresh, accurate content builds trust and tells customers you’re still in business.
Avoid this by:
People trust what other people say. Testimonials, reviews, awards and case studies all help new visitors feel more confident about choosing you.
Many small business sites forget to include these – or only show a single, generic testimonial that lacks credibility.
Avoid this by:
Customers want to know they can trust you with their money, data or business. But if your website lacks legal basics, that trust erodes.
Common oversights:
These may seem like small things, but they’re essential for credibility and compliance.
Avoid this by:
As a small business owner, your website doesn’t need to win design awards – but it does need to be functional, trustworthy and focused on your goals.
Here’s a quick recap of the most common small business web design mistakes to avoid:
Avoiding these pitfalls doesn’t have to be complicated. In many cases, it’s about putting yourself in your customers’ shoes and thinking through their experience from the moment they land on your site.
If you’re planning a new website design – or wondering if your current one is working as well as it could – use this list as a guide.
And if you need a hand, reach out to a professional web design team who understands small business needs. It could be one of the best investments you make in your business this year.
Phone: (07) 3882 3375
Mobile: 0405 014 001
Email: info@marketeam.com.au
5 stars based on 120+ reviews on Google