14 Common Website Design Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

Your website isn’t just another item on the checklist—it’s one of your most strategic brand assets. Think of it as your storefront, your pitch-deck, and your sales handshake all rolled into one.

And just like in the real world, a poorly arranged, cluttered storefront or a fumbling handshake can cost you credibility, trust, and ultimately leads.

When companies rush into a website redesign without strategy, they often pile on mistakes: scrambling content, neglecting redirects, forgetting SEO, letting navigation become a maze, uploading giant un-optimized images, or arguing about goals far too late.

These aren’t just “design” problems—they’re business problems.

And at media junction, we’ve seen every mistake possible. After designing websites for more than 25 years, we’ve worked with organizations of every size, industry, and tech stack imaginable.

We’ve guided teams through chaotic rebuilds, rescued projects that went off the rails, and helped companies rebuild after painful redesign missteps.

When you’ve been doing this as long as we have, you start to recognize the patterns—the avoidable traps businesses fall into before, during, and even after a redesign launches.

Consider this your shortcut around all of them.

In this article, we’ll walk through the most common pitfalls we see with website redesigns—and how to sidestep them. 

1. not assessing your goals before the redesign

Before any wireframe is sketched or pixel is pushed, every website redesign should start with one question:

Why are we doing this?

Too often, companies kick off a redesign because:

• “It’s been a few years—we’re due for one.”
• “The site feels outdated.”
• “We heard complaints that people can’t find anything.”
• “Our SEO has tanked and we don’t know why.”
• “Important pages are buried and no one can navigate to them.”
• “Our messaging has evolved, and the website hasn’t kept up.”

Those issues are real—but they’re symptoms, not strategy. If you don’t dig into the root causes, you risk building a brand-new version of the same old problems.

why this becomes a pitfall

A redesign without clear goals is like renovating your entire house without deciding what’s wrong with it first. You might end up with fresh paint and pretty fixtures—but the plumbing still leaks and the floorboards in the hallway still creaks.

When businesses skip defining what success should look like, a few things almost always happen:

• The project wanders.
• Stakeholders disagree on what “good” looks like.
• Features get added mid-project because someone realizes too late that something important was never discussed.
• The final site looks better but doesn’t perform better.

what effective assessment looks like

Before any redesign, you should be asking deeper questions:

• What feedback have buyers given us?
• Where do users struggle or drop off?
• Which pages convert—and which underperform?
• What business goals will this new site support in the next 12–24 months?
• How should SEO, UX, content, brand, and sales enablement work together?

This is the difference between cosmetic change and strategic transformation.

why this step matters so much

When your team gets aligned early, everything downstream becomes smoother—your sitemap, wireframes, content strategy, design direction, and development decisions all start with clarity instead of guesswork.

how a redesign should be approached

Before taking on a redesign, a reputable web team will start by diagnosing the real problems behind the project. That means digging into what isn’t working today—and defining what success needs to look like tomorrow.

From there, they’ll bring together every stakeholder who touches the customer experience—marketing, sales, leadership, product, operations. And it’s completely normal for those groups to have very different priorities.

A thoughtful partner will work to unify those perspectives.

• They’ll ask the right questions.

• They’ll clarify competing expectations.

• They’ll align everyone around shared, measurable goals before any pages, layouts, or design decisions are made.

That alignment becomes the foundation for the entire redesign—not just a nice kickoff step, but the anchor that keeps the project focused, intentional, and effective.

2. skipping sitemap & wireframes

Imagine building a house by starting with interior paint colors before deciding how many rooms you need.

Sounds absurd, right? Yet this is exactly how many websites are built—teams jump straight into design without establishing structure or user flow.

why it's a problem

• Without a sitemap, you lack a “blueprint” for how users navigate and how information is organized.
• Without wireframes, you skip the step where layout, hierarchy, and content needs are confirmed.
• Teams end up redesigning pages mid-project because structure wasn’t aligned early.
• Scope creep becomes unavoidable—new pages get discovered when it’s already too late.

how to avoid it

Start with a sitemap. It defines:

• Every page
• Parent/child relationships
• Conversion paths
• SEO opportunities
• User journeys

Then create wireframes. These aren’t designs—they’re sketches of page layouts, content blocks, and CTAs.

Think of it like testing your house’s floor plan before picking out furniture. Wireframes are where you validate the function, not the aesthetics.

Once stakeholders sign off, the rest of the project becomes significantly smoother.

3. scrapping all content instead of auditing and updating

Redesigns tend to inspire big, sweeping changes. But one of the most common missteps is assuming you need to throw everything out and start fresh.

While it feels cathartic, it’s often strategically disastrous.

why it's a problem

• You lose SEO equity and historic traffic built over years.
• Pages with high engagement get deleted accidentally.
• Valuable content that just needed updates is thrown away.
• Teams exhaust their budgets recreating content that already existed.
• You create unnecessary work, stress, and risk.

A redesign is not a content purge. It’s an opportunity to work smarter.

how to avoid it

Conduct a content audit and categorize every page by referencing our post on key phases of website redesign:

• Keep
• Keep + update
• Rewrite
• Merge
• Sunset (retire)

Document:

• Traffic levels
• Conversions
• Backlinks
• Relevance
• Duplicate or thin content
• Opportunities for improvement

And most importantly: map every old URL to a new one.

This preserves authority, avoids broken links, and ensures you don’t sabotage your hard-earned rankings.

4. poor navigation & information architecture 

If users can’t find what they need quickly, the rest of your design doesn’t matter.

Navigation should feel intuitive—like a well-organized grocery store. But many sites feel like a grocery store where someone rearranged the aisles every week.

why it’s a problem

Poor navigation is harmful to both user experience and search visibility. When menus are overloaded or structured around internal jargon, visitors bounce.

Research shows that confusing navigation is one of the top causes of poor user engagement.

how to avoid it

• Keep top-level navigation simple and intuitive.
• Avoid insider terminology—choose user-friendly labels.
• Limit deep dropdowns that feel like Russian nesting dolls.
• Add breadcrumb navigation for deeper content.
• Test navigation by asking real users to find specific content.
• If it takes more than 2–3 clicks to reach important content, reorganize.

Your navigation should feel invisible—not because it’s bland, but because it’s so unmistakably clear.

5. design & UX missteps

Web design has evolved dramatically, and users now expect seamless, fast, intuitive sites. But many redesigns emphasize visuals at the expense of usability.

why it's a problem

According to multiple UX studies, if your site takes longer than three seconds to load, users start dropping off.

Slow performance, cluttered layouts, and outdated interactions hurt conversions and credibility.

how to avoid it

• Compress all images (use WebP when possible).
• Reduce or eliminate unnecessary animations.
• Design mobile-first—not desktop-first.
• Use whitespace intentionally.
• Ensure fonts, spacing, and hierarchy are consistent.
• Test performance regularly using PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix.

UX is ultimately about reducing friction.

When your site loads quickly, pages are easy to read, and actions are intuitive, users stay longer and convert more often. When it’s not, they leave—every time.

6. content mistakes

Content is often the most underestimated part of a redesign. But design only works when paired with clear, compelling, user-driven content.

Unfortunately, many redesigns fall into content pitfalls.

why it's a problem

• Headlines lack clarity or value.

• Copy is too long, too vague, or too jargon-heavy.

• Stock photos feel impersonal or irrelevant.

• Images and videos are uploaded without optimization.

• Alt-text is forgotten, hurting accessibility and SEO.

how to avoid it

• Use real images whenever possible.
• Write clear, benefit-driven headlines.
• Break content into scannable chunks.
• Compress videos and use proper hosting.
• Add alt-text and descriptive file names.
• Ensure CTAs are clear and intentional.

Copy should help users make decisions—not make them work harder.

7. not aligning stakeholders on goals

Sales, marketing, product, and leadership often have different expectations for the website.

And when these aren’t aligned early, redesigns become chaotic.

why it's a problem

• Mixed priorities → endless revisions
• Clashing opinions → stalled decisions
• Lack of clarity → inconsistent design
• No clear KPI → no way to measure success

how to avoid it

• Facilitate stakeholder alignment meetings early.
• Document objectives and ensure everyone signs off.
• Use goals as the filter for making decisions.
• Clarify ownership: Who decides content? Design? Tech?

This is one of the strongest predictors of redesign success—or failure.

8. scope creep & feature overload

Every redesign starts with a plan. But once stakeholders see wireframes and mockups, inspiration kicks in:
“Could we add a calculator?”
“What about a customer portal?”
“Maybe we should add a quiz!”
“Let’s throw in a chatbot while we’re at it.”

Before long, the project is twice as large as originally scoped.

why it’s a problem

Scope creep is one of the most common reasons redesigns:

• Launch late
• Go over budget
• Ship with bugs
• End up bloated with unnecessary features
• Deliver an inconsistent or confusing user experience

The result is a website that tries to do everything and ends up doing nothing well.

how to avoid it

• Define a clear MVP (what must be in the launch).
• Put all “nice to haves” in a post-launch backlog.
• Make all additions go through a formal change-request process.
• Use analytics and real user behavior after launch to determine which ideas are worth adding.

The most successful websites aren’t built in one massive sprint—they’re built in thoughtful, manageable phases.

9. forgetting redirects & updating XML sitemaps

Behind every redesign lives a set of technical details that no one gets excited about—but that make or break SEO. Redirects and XML sitemaps top that list.

Teams often underestimate how much URL structure changes during a redesign. And when redirects are handled last-minute, things fall through the cracks.

why it’s a problem

Skipping or mishandling redirects causes:

• Broken links (internal and external)

• Lost traffic from indexed pages

• Immediate drops in organic rankings

• A flood of 404 errors in Google Search Console

• A poor user experience for returning visitors

Similarly, an outdated XML sitemap confuses search engines by telling them your old URLs still exist and your new ones don’t matter.

how to avoid it

• Build a redirect map early—not the day before launch.

• Use 301 redirects to preserve link equity and search history.

• Update the XML sitemap as soon as the site launches.

• Resubmit the sitemap through Google Search Console.

• Monitor crawl errors weekly for the first month.

Redirects aren’t glamorous, but they’re essential. A good redirect strategy protects your SEO, your credibility, and your users.

10. not balancing SEO and UX

Too many redesigns treat SEO and UX like two sides of a tug-of-war rope. Designers push for simplicity; SEOs push for long-form content; leadership pushes for bold brand storytelling.

In reality, the best-performing sites integrate all three seamlessly.

why it’s a problem

A UX-focused site without SEO may look stunning—but it’s practically invisible in search.
An SEO-heavy site without UX considerations may rank—but users bounce within seconds.

A brand-driven site without either? Beautiful, but ineffective.

Modern search algorithms measure user behavior. That means SEO and UX aren’t separate—they feed each other.

how to avoid it

• Design pages around user intent, not internal assumptions.
• Break content into structured, scannable sections.
• Use metadata, headings, and internal links strategically.
• Pair high-quality content with fast load times and intuitive layout.
• Test pages with real users and adjust based on feedback.

When SEO and UX work together, your site becomes discoverable and delightful—two things your competitors may struggle to balance.

11. uploading unoptimized images and heavy media

Visual storytelling is essential on modern websites. But high-resolution images, auto-playing videos, and oversized graphics can become your worst enemy when not optimized correctly.

why it’s a problem

• Unoptimized media is one of the leading causes of:
• Slow load times
• Mobile frustration
• Layout shifts
• Poor Core Web Vitals scores
• High bounce rates

• Lower search visibility

Users expect instant load times. Google does too.

how to avoid it

• Compress images before uploading (WebP whenever possible).
• Lazy-load offscreen images.
• Serve the right file size for each device with responsive image attributes.
• Host videos properly—not as massive MP4s uploaded directly to your site.
• Use alt-text for accessibility and SEO.

Media should enhance your message—not sabotage your performance.

12. forgetting user testing before launch

You can spend months designing and developing a beautiful website—but if you never test it with real users, you’re relying on assumptions.

And assumptions are expensive.

why it’s a problem

Without testing, you risk launching a site where:

• Users can’t find key pages

• CTA buttons get overlooked

• Navigation feels confusing

• Mobile interactions feel clumsy

• Messaging doesn’t resonate

• Conversion journeys break down

Every one of these issues is fixable—but only if you catch it before launch day.

how to avoid it

• Conduct usability tests with at least 5–8 users from your target audience.
• Ask them to complete real tasks: find pricing info, schedule a demo, read a case study, contact support.
• Observe where they hesitate, scroll, or get stuck.
• Make adjustments before launch—not after complaints roll in.

User testing is one of the highest-ROI steps you can take. It turns guesswork into confidence.

13. ignoring maintenance, analytics, and ongoing optimization

Launching a new website feels like crossing a finish line—but in reality, it’s the starting point for all future growth.

Websites degrade when left alone. Content becomes outdated, links break, pages slow down, search trends shift, and user behavior evolves.

why it’s a problem

Teams that only focus on launch quickly run into:

• Stale content that no longer reflects the brand
• Declining SEO performance
• Old plugins or outdated CMS versions that cause bugs
• Conversion paths that stop performing
• Missed opportunities hidden in analytics

A website should never be static. It’s a living part of your brand experience.

how to avoid it

• Review analytics monthly—identify what’s rising or falling.
• Update key content quarterly (service pages, product pages, CTAs).
• Run A/B tests to improve conversion performance.
• Review speed and Core Web Vitals every 6 months.
• Conduct an SEO audit annually.
• Keep your CMS, plugins, and integrations updated.

Websites that win long-term are the ones that evolve intentionally and consistently.

14. not aligning the site with your brand identity

Your website is often the first impression a potential customer has of you. If it feels inconsistent with your brand—visually or verbally—it creates friction and doubt.

But many sites focus so heavily on structure and performance that they overlook brand identity.

why it’s a problem

• Generic visuals make you blend in
• Inconsistent tone weakens your message
• Mixed branding causes user hesitation
• Strong design with weak branding creates a disconnect
• Your site feels like a template, not an experience

People don’t just evaluate what you say—they evaluate how you show up.

how to avoid it

• Use a clear brand style guide (colors, typography, imagery, iconography).
• Ensure your copy reflects your brand’s voice consistently.
• Align design elements across every page—not just the homepage.
• Use real images of your team, product, or customers whenever possible.
• Make sure every interaction—from form fills to navigation labels—feels like you.

When your branding is cohesive, you build trust before a user reads a single sentence.

turn your next website redesign into a growth engine

You’ve just walked through the most common (and costly) website pitfalls—from skipping goal-setting and sitemaps to overlooking content, redirects, SEO, UX, and brand consistency.

You’re no longer just “rebuilding a website.” You know how to diagnose what’s actually wrong, protect what’s working, and avoid the traps that derail so many redesigns.

That shift matters. It means you can walk into your next project asking better questions, challenging vague requests, and insisting on clear goals, a solid plan, and a site that does more than look good on launch day.

It means you’re equipped to build a website that supports your sales team, serves your buyers, and actually moves the needle for your business.

At media junction, this is the work we live in every day. For more than 25 years, we’ve been designing and rebuilding websites for organizations of all sizes, and as a HubSpot-focused agency, we know how to turn a HubSpot website into a true growth platform—not just a digital brochure. We scope deeply, align stakeholders, protect your SEO, and build with long-term performance in mind.

If you’re planning a website redesign on HubSpot and want a partner who can help you avoid these pitfalls from the start, we’d love to hear what you’re working on and what you need your next site to do for you.

Get in touch with our team, tell us about your new website’s goals, and let’s build something that actually earns its place as one of your most strategic assets.