The most common web design mistakes are a cluttered layout, poor mobile-first design, and slow load times. This guide explains 7 key errors that hurt your credibility and SEO in the Philippines.
You've invested time and money into building a website for your business. You're proud of it, but for some reason, it's just not bringing in the customers you expected. Your traffic is low, and the visitors you do get don't stay long or contact you. What's going wrong?
As a web developer in the Philippines, I've audited hundreds of websites for local businesses. I often see the same, easily avoidable design mistakes. The good news is that these issues are almost always fixable. Let's break down the 7 most common web design mistakes that could be hurting your business and how you can fix them.
1. Ignoring Mobile-First Design (The Biggest Mistake in the PH)
The Mistake: Your website was designed for a desktop computer, and then "shrunk" to fit a phone. This is called "responsive design," but it's an outdated "desktop-first" approach. On a phone, the text is tiny, the buttons are hard to tap, and the whole experience is frustrating.
Why It's Bad: In the Philippines, over 70% of all web traffic is on mobile. On top of that, Google uses your mobile site first for its search rankings (Mobile-First Indexing). If your mobile site is bad, your Google ranking will be bad. You are failing the majority of your users.
The Fix: Embrace a true mobile-first design strategy. This means designing the website for the smallest screen (a phone) first, focusing only on the most essential content and features. Then, you adapt the layout for larger screens. This guarantees a fast, clean experience for all users.
2. A Cluttered Layout and No Visual Hierarchy
The Mistake: Your homepage is a wall of text, flashing banners, and 10 different buttons all screaming for attention. When everything is "important," nothing is important.
Why It's Bad: This is a "confused" design. It overwhelms visitors and they don't know where to look or what to do. A confused mind always says "no" and hits the back button. This leads to a high bounce rate, which also hurts your SEO.
The Fix: Use universal design principles like hierarchy and white space. Guide the user's eye with one clear, bold headline. Use a clean layout, like a Bento Grid, to organize information. Give your content room to breathe.
3. Slow Page Load Speed
The Mistake: Your homepage has huge, beautiful, high-resolution images that are 5MB each. You have 20 different plugins running, and you're on the cheapest web hosting plan you could find.
Why It's Bad: Studies show that over 53% of mobile users will abandon a site that takes longer than 3 seconds to load. In the Philippines, where mobile data speeds can be inconsistent, this is a fatal flaw. Google also penalizes slow sites.
The Fix: Optimize your images! This is the #1 fix. Compress them, use modern formats like WebP, and use "lazy loading." Use a good hosting provider, minimize code, and focus on your Core Web Vitals. A fast site built on a modern JAMstack architecture will always outperform a slow, bloated one.
4. A Weak or Missing Call-to-Action (CTA)
The Mistake: A user lands on your site, reads your services, gets to the bottom of the page... and then does nothing. You haven't told them what to do next. Your "Contact Us" link is hidden in the footer.
Why It's Bad: Your website is a business tool, not just a brochure. Its job is to generate leads or sales. Without a clear CTA, it's just a passive information dump.
The Fix: Every single page should have one clear, primary goal. Guide the user to that goal with a strong, action-oriented button (e.g., "Get a Free Quote," "Book a Consultation," "Shop Now"). Learn how to write effective CTAs that convert.
5. Bad Typography and Poor Readability
The Mistake: You use a fancy, hard-to-read script font for your paragraphs, or the text is light gray on a white background. Or, your font size is a tiny 12px.
Why It's Bad: This makes your site physically difficult and painful to read. Users won't strain their eyes; they'll just leave. This is also a major accessibility failure, as it excludes users with visual impairments.
The Fix: Prioritize readability above all else. Use a clean, simple font for body text at a size of at least 16px. Ensure high contrast between your text and its background. Read my guide on how to choose the right font.
6. Treating SEO as an Afterthought
The Mistake: You have your site built, and then you hire an "SEO guy" to "sprinkle some SEO on it." Your page titles are all "Home" or "Services," and your images are named IMG_8001.jpg.
Why It's Bad: You're invisible to Google. Good SEO isn't a spice you add at the end; it's a core ingredient baked in from the start. You're missing out on the most valuable, high-intent traffic you can get.
The Fix: SEO should be part of the design and content strategy. This means proper heading structure (H1, H2, H3), descriptive URLs, alt text on images, and page titles that target what your customers are actually searching for. My local SEO guide is a great place to start.
7. The "Set It and Forget It" Mindset
The Mistake: You launched your website in 2021 and haven't touched it since. You never update its software, you haven't added a new blog post, and you haven't checked for broken links.
Why It's Bad: An unmaintained website is a massive security risk. Outdated plugins are the #1 way WordPress sites get hacked. It also tells Google your site is stale, so your rankings will drop.
The Fix: A website is a living asset, not a framed picture. It needs regular care. This is precisely why a website maintenance plan is a smart investment, not an expense. It protects your site, keeps it fast, and ensures it continues to work for you long after launch.
Fixing these common mistakes can transform your website from a digital paperweight into your hardest-working employee. As a w*eb developer and designer in the Philippines*, my job is to partner with businesses to build sites that are not just beautiful, but are also fast, secure, and built to convert.
If you're worried your site is making some of these errors, I'd be happy to provide a website audit to identify how we can improve it.
Top comments (0)