Visitors make snap judgments about your web page in just 50 milliseconds! Small design mistakes can greatly affect your conversion and bounce rates. Landing pages are the foundations of a solid ecommerce website design strategy. Get it wrong, and, well, enjoy your bounce rates falling faster than a jenga tower. Let’s fix those mistakes before your visitors hit the ‘Back’ button.
This piece covers 10 CRITICAL web design mistakes to avoid in 2025. Learn how to optimize your load times, mobile responsiveness, form design, and security elements.
This is Part 1 of a 2-blog series on this topic. Be sure to check out Part 2 at the end for a complete understanding!
Critical Technical Mistakes
Load time means more than just a technical metric – it can make or break visitor conversion. Studies show that your conversions can drop substantially when pages take just one second longer to load 1.
Mistake #1: Understanding Core Web Vitals in 2024
Google’s Core Web Vitals have become vital ranking factors that directly affect your landing page’s success. These are the core metrics you need to optimize:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Your pages should load in 2.5 seconds or faster to achieve optimal performance 2
- Interaction to Next Paint (INP): Response time needs to stay under 200 milliseconds for smooth interactions 2
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): The score should remain below 0.1 to maintain visual stability 2
Mistake #2: Common JavaScript and CSS optimization errors
Poor JavaScript implementation could be destroying your landing page’s performance. Each additional script increases load time, and badly implemented JavaScript can lead to major delays.
Your landing page’s performance will improve when you:
- Remove unnecessary JavaScript scripts after an audit
- Use proper CSS minification
- Remove render-blocking resources
- Load non-critical scripts asynchronously
CSS blocks render, which means browsers must process CSS before showing the page. Large stylesheets can delay your website display and reduce interactivity substantially.
Mistake #3: Image and media optimization mistakes
Images typically make up much of your landing page’s load time. About 53% of visitors will leave if your page takes more than 3 seconds to load 5. Here are common mistakes you might be making:
Image Size Issues:
- Using uncompressed high-resolution images
- Not resizing images before upload
- Skipping modern image formats like WebP
- Forgetting to implement lazy loading for below-fold images
Landing page images should stay under 1MB 3. This becomes even more important for ecommerce websites where product images can pile up quickly and affect overall performance.
Your choice of hosting solution plays a big role. Using a Content Distribution Network (CDN) can speed up loading times substantially, especially for visitors from different locations 3. This distributed system will load your landing page quickly whatever your visitor’s location.
Mobile-First Design Failures
Mobile devices generate nearly 60% of global website traffic 6. Your landing page’s mobile experience can significantly impact conversion rates. Let’s look at the critical mobile design failures that could cost you valuable customers.
Mistake #1: Responsive design pitfalls to avoid
Designing for desktop first and then scaling down for mobile devices no longer works. Users get frustrated when information spreads too thinly across mobile screens. This content dispersion increases cognitive load and creates a poor user experience 7.
A mobile landing page needs:
- Clear information hierarchy
- Single-column layouts for easier scanning
- Simplified content without desktop-only features
- Proper content scaling across devices
Content Dispersion Warning Signs: Your landing page likely suffers from content dispersion when users scroll through multiple viewports to find simple information. This increases page length and interaction costs significantly 7.
Mistake #2: Touch-target accessibility issues
A perfect-looking landing page means nothing if users can’t interact with it properly. The MIT Touch Lab’s research shows the average fingertip width measures 1.6-2 cm 8. Many landing pages still use tiny, clustered interactive elements despite this finding.
The best touch accessibility requires:
- Touch targets of at least 48×48 pixels 9
- 8 pixels of space between interactive elements 10
- Easily tappable buttons and links
- No hover-dependent interactions
Mistake #3: Mobile performance optimization errors
A flawless performance matters as much as responsive design. More than half of mobile visitors abandon sites that take longer than three seconds to load 11.
Critical Mobile Optimization Factors: Your landing page should focus on these mobile-first features:
- Remove desktop-only features that add clutter
- Mobile-specific image optimization
- Touch-friendly navigation
- Collapsible menus that save space
Mobile users often access landing pages on slower networks while on the move. Every millisecond counts in loading time. Slow mobile experiences lead to high bounce rates 12. The key lies in creating a fast-loading experience that puts your mobile users first.
Navigation and Information Architecture Blunders
Navigation architecture determines your landing page’s success or failure. Poor navigation drives 37% of users away from websites immediately 13. Getting this element right is vital.
Mistake #1: Menu structure and hierarchy mistakes
Your landing page’s menu structure affects both user experience and conversion rates. The biggest problem? Too many options overwhelm visitors. The human brain processes only about seven items in short-term memory 14.
Key Navigation Elements to Optimize:
- Limit main menu items to maximum seven options
- Place critical items at the beginning and end of the menu
- Use descriptive labels instead of generic terms
- Keep navigation consistent across all pages
Desktop versions often hide navigation – that’s another mistake. Hamburger menus suit mobile devices well, but hidden navigation on larger screens reduces discoverability and slows task completion 15.
Mistake #2: Search functionality errors
A quick search system builds the foundation of user interaction design. Many landing pages fail to implement it properly 16. Users should find information in seconds, not minutes.
Search implementation often fails because of:
- Poor placement of search bars
- Missing auto-suggest features
- Bad error handling
- No search result filters
Mistake #3: Internal linking problems
Internal linking strategies affect both user navigation and search engine crawling. Experts analyzed 23 million internal links 17 and found irrelevant internal links and inconsistent anchor text cause the most problems.
Critical Internal Linking Mistakes:
- Pages become orphaned without internal links 18
- Generic anchor text provides no context
- Too many links crowd a single page
- Link hierarchy falls apart
Note that internal links help search engines understand your site’s structure and guide users through content 18. A solid internal linking strategy boosts your landing page’s authority and user engagement.
Your landing page should focus on one conversion goal with minimal distractions. Take out unnecessary links, including site navigation that might lead visitors away from your main conversion path. Avoiding these common web design mistakes is just the beginning. While Part 1 has laid the groundwork, the most critical insights are yet to come. From advanced optimization techniques to design elements that can make or break user trust, Part 2 dives deeper into the must-know strategies for 2025. Don’t miss out—your website’s success depends on it!
Read Part 2 now to unlock the full potential of your landing pages.