If you built your website to save money, is it any good? Websites are meant to promote your products and services online, but if not done properly, you’re guilty of creating an amateurish website, which can hurt your bottom line. Below are some of the most common problems found on unprofessional websites. Do you see these mistakes on your own site?

1. Cluttered Design

Cluttered websites look busy and messy, and there is little white space on the page. With so much going on, it’s confusing and distracting. Visitors won’t know where to go except off the page. You want a simple and clean design.

2. Dark and Patterned Backgrounds

A white background is best. Colored or patterned backgrounds make the text harder to read. Your website needs to clearly deliver your message to encourage engagement.

3. No Focus

A website needs to be about one topic, whether it’s pets, weddings, or technology. People use the Internet to gather information. Your website has to make it clear what the site is about with a tagline or the name of your website.

4. Bad Writing

You don’t need a literary genius to write your website content, but you do need to avoid obvious spelling and grammar errors. Sloppy writing ruins your credibility and immediately turns off many website .visitors.

5. Poor Navigation

Website visitors want easy navigation. A menu is important to get people to the pages they want to view, such as your about page, or contact page. Make the page links easy to find. Don’t make people hunt for them.

6. No Subheadings

People want things fast on the Internet. Many now scan web pages to get the gist of the information. Without large and descriptive subheadings, websites aren’t scannable. This is difficult to do with a wall of text.

Your website is the first impression visitors have of your business. If you want loyal and long-term customers, your website has to look polished and professional. By avoiding common design mistakes, you won’t have an amateurish website that helps your competition instead of you.