The Biggest Website Mistakes We See (And the Fixes We Recommend)
At ICS Creative Agency, we have built, rebuilt, audited, and rescued over a thousand websites. Patterns emerge fast. The same mistakes show up again and again, across industries, budgets, and platforms.
This is not a theoretical list. These are real problems we see every week and the exact fixes we recommend to make sites actually perform.
If any of these sting a little, good. That means there is opportunity.
1. The Website Looks Fine But Does Nothing
This is the most common failure.
The site is clean, modern, maybe even pretty. But it has no clear job. No direction. No reason for a visitor to take action.
If someone lands on your homepage and cannot immediately answer:
What do you do?
Who is this for?
What should I do next?
You are losing business.
The fix we recommend
Design every key page around a single primary action. Call, book, buy, download, or contact. Then remove anything that competes with that action.
Clarity beats creativity every time.
2. Writing Copy for Yourself Instead of Your Customer
Most websites talk way too much about the company and not nearly enough about the customer.
Long origin stories.
Buzzwords.
Vague claims like innovative, cutting edge, next generation.
None of that answers the only question a visitor cares about:
How does this help me?
The fix we recommend
Rewrite your core pages using this filter:
Problem first.
Outcome second.
Proof third.
Company last.
If your homepage opens with your company name instead of a customer problem, it is already off track.
3. Treating the Homepage Like the Whole Website
Some businesses obsess over the homepage and completely neglect the rest of the site.
Thin service pages.
No supporting content.
No depth for search engines or humans.
The result is a site that looks polished but has no authority.
The fix we recommend
Build strong, focused service pages. One service, one page, one clear message. Then support those pages with real content that answers real questions.
Your homepage introduces you.
Your service pages close the deal.
4. Ignoring Mobile Performance
If your site is not excellent on mobile, it is broken.
Most traffic today is mobile. Yet we still see:
Tiny text.
Hard to tap buttons.
Forms that are painful to complete.
Pages that load slowly on phones.
This kills conversions quietly.
The fix we recommend
Design mobile first, not mobile adapted. That means prioritizing load speed, readable typography, and simple layouts on small screens before worrying about desktop polish.
If it does not work with one thumb, it does not work.
5. No Trust Signals Where They Matter
You might be credible. Your website does not prove it.
We often see testimonials buried on a random page, certifications hidden in a footer, or logos so small they are meaningless.
Visitors are skeptical by default.
The fix we recommend
Put proof next to decisions.
Testimonials near calls to action.
Reviews near pricing.
Logos and credentials where users hesitate.
Trust is not a bonus. It is a requirement.
6. Slow Load Times and Bloated Pages
A slow site is a silent conversion killer.
Heavy images.
Too many plugins.
Animations that look cool but do nothing.
Cheap hosting.
Every extra second costs you leads.
The fix we recommend
Optimize images properly.
Remove unnecessary scripts.
Audit plugins aggressively.
Invest in proper hosting.
Speed is part of user experience. It is also part of SEO.
8. Treating the Website as a One Time Project
This is the most dangerous mindset of all.
Websites are launched and then ignored for years. Content gets outdated. Technology falls behind. User expectations change.
The site slowly stops working.
The fix we recommend
Treat your website like an evolving asset. Review it quarterly. Update content. Improve pages that underperform. Add based on what users actually do, not what you assume.
The best websites are never finished.
Final Reality Check
Your website is either helping your business grow or quietly holding it back.
There is no neutral.
If you recognize more than one of these issues, that does not mean your site is a failure. It means it is underutilized.
At ICS Creative Agency, our job is not just to make websites look good. It is to make them work harder than your competitors.
If you want a brutally honest assessment of where your site is leaking opportunities, that is where real improvement starts.
