Fix Your Bad Website Design: Learn from These 10 Mistakes

A website is where people learn about your business, explore your offerings, and decide whether to engage with you. That’s why it deserves thoughtful design, not careless execution. A bad website design can frustrate visitors, damage credibility, and block growth.

In this article, we’ll break down what makes a website fail and share real examples you should avoid.

Key Takeaways:

• Bad web design can seriously harm your business by reducing your professional image and driving potential customers away.
• Common traits of poorly designed websites include cluttered layouts, unresponsive design, slow loading times, and confusing navigation.
• Some sites, like Cyber D-sign Clan, are extreme examples with chaotic design, while others, like ZARA, may look polished but still deliver a bad experience.

Why Bad Website Design Hurts Your Traffic?

Users form an opinion about a website in less than a second, and most won’t return after a bad experience. Ineffective web design can lead to major losses if you don’t take it seriously. Here’s what can happen when you underestimate web design.

• Loss of credibility and conversions: Users are less likely to trust or engage with a poorly designed site.
• Weak SEO performance: Search engines may deprioritize sites with bad design and laggy speed, which end up limiting your visibility.
• Wasted investment: A site that doesn’t deliver results means wasted time, effort, and money.

Also Read: Mobile Website Design Best Practices and 7 Sites That Nail It

What Makes a Website Bad?

Designing a website involves many considerations, and overlooking key details can lead to a bad designed website. Here are some common issues to avoid.

• Ineffective navigation: Unclear labels, hidden menus, or distracting scroll animations will confuse users.
• Slow loading: Heavy media and unoptimized content drag down performance.
• Non-responsive design: A lack of mobile experience is a major loss, especially with mobile-first users.
• Poor color choices: Clashing colors, low contrast, or inconsistent palettes can strain the eyes and make content hard to read.
• Overcrowded layout: Lack of whitespace makes the site feel cramped and hard to navigate.
• Low-quality images: Blurry or pixelated visuals reduce content clarity and professionalism.
• Inadequate CTAs and branding: Without clear calls to action or strong branding, users are less likely to engage or trust your business.

10 Examples of Bad Website Design

To help you visualize what not to do, here are ten real-world examples of bad web design that highlight common mistakes.

1. Cyber D-sign Clan

Cyber D-sign Clan’s homepage is pure chaos. Everything around here is just a prime case of bad website design, like an unstructured layout, harsh color contrasts, and confusing CTAs and links, making the site feel overwhelming.

Also Read: Top Skills You Need to Succeed as a Contract-Based Web Developer

2. Historian of the Future

With a name that suggests insight and innovation, Historian of the Future’s site is ironically one of the worst website design examples. It’s messy with inconsistent visuals, scattered content, and no clear hierarchy, leaving users confused about its purpose.

3. Daily Mail

The Daily Mail’s homepage is another example of bad website design. It bombards users with dense text, flashing ads, and an endless stream of images, offering little visual relief and a frustrating reading experience.

4. Ash End Children’s Farm 

Although targeted at families and kids, the Ash End Children’s Farm website uses low-quality images and messy layouts. Uneven design choices make it feel outdated and unreliable for visitors seeking trustworthy information.

5. Sparkella

While the site features charming illustrations and straightforward navigation, Sparkella suffers from an outdated design that diminishes its appeal.

6. Tag Team Signs

At first glance, Tag Team Signs appears clean and well-structured. However, it still falls under websites with bad design due to weak CTAs, unpleasant color contrast, and poor visual hierarchy that fail to guide users effectively.

7. Height of Abraham

The heights of Abraham’s site features inconsistent styling and a busy layout that overwhelms users on desktop. However, its mobile version performs better, with improved grouping, navigation, and hierarchy.

Also Read: Using Royalty-Free Digital Art in Web Design with Unique Touch

8. Suzanne Collins

For a bestselling author, this is another case of bad website design. Suzanne Collins’ site looks outdated and unfinished, resembling a basic blog template. Personal websites should reflect professionalism, while this one undermines personal branding.

9. Onyx Accountants

Despite having a decent layout and navigation, Onyx Accountants still suffers from bad website design due to inadequate calls to action. The CTAs lack impact and are poorly placed, likely resulting in low conversion rates.

10. ZARA

For a fashion brand, ZARA’s website is visually appealing and creative. It also highlights their brand tones very well. However, they compromise the site’s navigation. Unclear navigation and autoplay videos delay the interaction, making the site less accessible across devices.

Also Read: How to Make a Website to Sell Stuff in 7 Easy Steps

Learn from These Mistakes to Build a Better Website!

Bad website design doesn’t just look unprofessional. It drives visitors away and stunts your business growth. By avoiding common pitfalls like sluggish performance, subpar navigation, disorganized visuals, and weak calls to action, you can turn fleeting visits into lasting engagement.

To elevate your design even further, don’t underestimate typography. A well-chosen font can bring clarity, tone, and personality to your website. That’s why it’s essential to enhance your site with exceptional typefaces for web design.

Begin your search for the perfect font at Stringlabs Creative to find a premium font collection that makes your brand memorable. Plus, don’t miss the ultimate font bundle for an all-in-one solution to refresh your site with ease.

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