A well-designed, properly optimized website is the foundation of any successful online business. Unfortunately, countless websites suffer from common issues that hurt their SEO, performance and user experience. This article covers 5 Common Website Issues Dragging your site, preventing it from truly thriving online. With so much riding on your website, from conversions to credibility, these fixes should be at the top of your to-do list.
The purpose of this article is to provide actionable tips to improve your website’s speed, security, mobile performance, content and code – the 5 major factors that impact how search engines see your site and how users interact with it. By fixing these issues, you can dramatically boost your website’s ranking, conversion rates and overall success.
A snappy website that loads fast works seamlessly on mobile and provides a simple, intuitive user experience can make a huge difference for your business. Users have little patience for poorly designed sites and search engines frown upon slow websites full of technical problems.
The 5 issues covered here represent common pitfalls that many websites struggle with. But with some careful analysis and a few targeted optimizations, you can ensure your website is set up for success. So let’s get started with the first issue – speed – and how you can significantly improve how quickly your site loads for both users and search engines.
1. Mobile-Friendly Design
In today’s smartphone-dominated world, having a mobile-friendly website is essential for success. Nearly 2 out of 3 searches now happen on mobile devices and users have come to expect websites to display and function properly on their phones.
A website that is hard to read or navigate on a small screen will result in high bounce rates, frustrated users and lower conversion rates. Search engines also recognize the importance of mobile, rewarding mobile-friendly sites with higher rankings.
The solution is a responsive web design, which automatically adapts your website to display properly on any device. A responsive design changes the layout and reformats text to suit smaller screens, ensuring images scale appropriately and all elements remain usable.
If your site is not responsive, users on mobile will see a shrunken, hard-to-read version of the full desktop site. A truly responsive design dynamically resizes based on screen width, giving mobile users an optimized experience.
To audit your site’s mobile friendliness, Google has a free Mobile-Friendly Test tool. Most issues can be fixed using a responsive theme for sites built on platforms like WordPress. Other options include using frameworks like Bootstrap to make your existing site responsive.
Ensure images are optimized for mobile devices and consider reducing animations and sliders that slow down loading time. The end result will be higher traffic, more engagement and improved rankings – making responsiveness a vital part of any modern website redesign.
2. Optimizing Loading Speed
One of the simplest ways to improve your site’s SEO and user experience is by optimizing its speed. Google has officially stated that page speed is a ranking factor, and for good reason – visitors want websites that load quickly.
Nearly half of website users will abandon a page that takes longer than 3 seconds to load. Speed also impacts how “crawlable” your site is for search engines and how much of your content they’re able to effectively index.
The good news is there are tons of ways to speed up your site. Here are a few that I’ve used successfully:
• Optimize images – Resize and compress images so they’re as small as possible without losing quality. This can cut loading time in half.
•Minify CSS and JavaScript – Remove unnecessary characters to slim down these files. I recommend using an automation tool like Grunt or Gulp.
• Choose a fast web host – Moving to a host with SSDs and high-speed caching can make a huge difference in how quickly your pages load.
•Enable browser caching – So users don’t have to download files they’ve already seen when they return to your site.
• Reduce HTTP requests – The fewer files (images, CSS, JavaScript) a page needs to load, the faster it will be. Consolidate where possible.
Use Pingdom’s Website Speed Test tool to get an in-depth analysis of your site’s load time and where the biggest opportunities are. You’ll likely find that a few quick fixes can provide a big speed – and SEO/UX – boost.
You’ve gotta treat site speed like a business metric – measuring and constantly looking for improvements. Faster sites see better conversions, higher engagement and stronger search visibility. If you aren’t optimizing for speed in 2022, you’re leaving money on the table.
3. Simplified Navigation
The navigation of your website should be as simple and intuitive as possible. Confusing menus, missing links and inconsistent placement of navigation elements can confuse visitors and negatively impact conversions.
Aim for a clear and consistent navigation structure with logically grouped labels and menus. Avoid multi-level dropdowns – keep it straightforward. Place main navigation in the same spot on every page so visitors learn where to find what they need.
While aesthetic designers love coming up with fancy navigation schemes, you’ve got to put usability first. Visitors just want to easily find the pages relevant to them with minimal effort.
Some best practices include:
Horizontal main menus at the top of the page work best.
-Keep the number of top-level links between 5-8 to avoid overwhelming visitors.
Use simple, self-explanatory link labels based on your visitor’s perspective.
-For e-commerce sites, consider a “Shop by Category” drop-down to filter product listings.
-Provide a visible “Contact Us” or “Get Started” call to action to guide visitors.
Remember – the more effort it takes visitors to find what they want, the more likely they are to leave your site. So simplify, consolidate and clearly label all navigation elements. Usability testing can also help identify areas of confusion within your existing menus.
At the end of the day, intuitive navigation helps visitors get value from your site faster. And speeding up that purchase journey or “ah-ha!” moment is the whole point, right? Don’t get bogged down in design – focus on creating a system that actually helps people navigate effortlessly.
4. Balanced Use of Graphics
Graphics have the power to enhance a website and make content more engaging. But when visual elements go overboard, they can actually detract from readability and user experience.
There’s an art to using graphics wisely. Done poorly, images, videos, banners ads and other visuals can clutter up your site, distracting visitors from your actual content.
Aim for a balanced, uncluttered website design without going overboard. Here are some guidelines:
•Use images selectively to complement the content, not replace it. Make sure images actually add value.
• Use smaller, streamlined images instead of large decorative graphics that add very little meaning.
•Avoid auto-playing videos, flashing animations and full-page background images that interrupt the reading flow.
•Limit the number of ads on each page so they don’t dominate the user’s view. Experiment with ad placement above vs below the fold.
•On article pages, use a relevant, representative image – no more than 200-300px wide – near the beginning to capture attention.
•Provide reasonable spacing and clear separation between visual elements so they don’t bleed together.
Remember, your goal is to create a clean, clutter-free environment that places the user’s needs first. When in doubt, simplify! Exclude any visual elements that don’t clearly serve a functional purpose for your visitors.
By using graphics judiciously and only where they truly complement and enhance your content, you’ll build a website that feels organized, readable and easy to consume. Because in the end, that’s what provides the best experience for your users – and the best results for your business.
5. Limited Advertisements
When used judiciously, advertisements can be an effective way to monetize your website. But excessively cluttering your pages with ads negatively impacts both users and search engines.
Google has specifically stated that an excessive number of ads will hurt your site’s rankings. Users also tend to ignore or even leave websites filled with too many advertisements competing for their attention.
The key is striking the right balance between ads and actual content. Avoid overwhelming your visitors with pop-ups, pushy pop-unders and large banner ads covering too much of the page.
Google AdSense, the largest ad network, recommends:
•No more than 3AdSense ads per above-the-fold page area
•Only 1-2 ads in the initial viewport to avoid clutter
•A maximum of 2 pop-under or pop-over ads per hour
Most other ad networks follow similar guidelines to ensure a good user experience. The optimal approach is to keep advertisements relevant, targeted and integrated in a way that enhances – not detracts from – your content.
Always test different ad configurations to see which performs best for your specific site and audience. Consider whether contextual ads related to your main article topic outperform generic ads.
And be transparent – clearly labelling ads as “Sponsored” or “Ad” helps build trust and indicates you value your visitors over overly aggressive monetization.
In the end, reasonable advertising that doesn’t overwhelm or frustrate users is what leads to the highest ROI. So focus your energy on providing value first through high-quality content, and supplement it in a limited fashion through targeted relevant advertisements. That balanced strategy will lead to the best results for both you and your readers.
Conclusion
You’ve just covered five essential website design tips that can have a major impact on your site’s performance, user experience and search visibility:
•Going mobile-friendly through responsive design
•Optimizing loading speed through image compression, code minification and web host selection
•Implementing simplified, intuitive navigation
•Using graphics and visuals in a balanced way that complements rather than clutters your content
•Leveraging targeted, limited advertisements that don’t overwhelm or frustrate users
The takeaway here is that a well-designed, properly optimized website is integral for engaging users, converting visitors and achieving your business goals online. By implementing these relatively simple tips and fixing common website issues, you can significantly improve how your site performs for both people and search engines.
I encourage you to review these recommendations, audit your own site and create a prioritized list of optimizations to tackle. Even small changes in these critical areas – speed, navigation, visual design and monetization balance – can provide a meaningful boost in user experience, SEO and conversions.
So don’t let poor website design and technical issues continue to drag down your results. Use these tips as a roadmap and get to work updating your site to maximize its impact and truly fulfil its purpose: to help you succeed online.
