When people land on your website, they make decisions fast. You’ve got just a few seconds to earn trust, explain what you do, and show why you're worth a closer look.

But a lot of small businesses — even ones with great services — are making simple website mistakes that quietly turn people away.

Here are five of the most common (and fixable) problems I see when auditing or redesigning websites:

1. No Clear Call to Action

If your visitor lands on your homepage and doesn’t know what to do next, you’ve lost them. A “Book Now,” “Get a Quote,” or “Start Your Project” button needs to be front and centre — and consistent across your site.

Fix:
Choose one clear action and repeat it across your pages, especially above the fold.

2. Cluttered Homepage or Weak Hero Section

If the top of your homepage is packed with text, awkward stock photos, or generic slogans, people will bounce. Fast.

Fix:
Simplify. Lead with one strong message, a benefit-focused subheading, and a clean, scannable layout. Bonus points for mobile-first design.

3. Confusing Navigation or Poor Mobile Layout

Mobile traffic makes up a huge chunk of most sites today — and if your nav is too small, your links are buried, or your layout breaks on small screens, it’s costing you.

Fix:
Test your site on your phone regularly. Make key info easy to tap, scroll, and find — without zooming or guessing.

4. Slow Load Times or Messy Performance

If your site takes 4+ seconds to load, most users are already gone. Performance matters for both UX and SEO.

Fix:
Compress images, clean up unused scripts, and use lightweight platforms like Webflow (which is what I build with at Two Bears).

5. No SEO Structure

Even the most beautiful website won’t show up on Google without basic SEO in place — like page titles, meta descriptions, and readable URLs.

Fix:
Use clear, descriptive titles and keep your URL slugs short and keyword-friendly. Every page should have a clear purpose and be crawlable.

🐻 Final Thoughts

Your website doesn’t need to be flashy — but it does need to be clear, fast, and easy to use. These five fixes can help you win back missed opportunities and create a site that actually works.

Need help getting yours there?

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