Why your website might be driving customers away.
23rd Sep 2025 - Posted by Oracle
You may not be familiar with the term “UX” (short for user experience), but you’ll know the frustrations it solves. A clunky checkout, a confusing menu, or too many steps in a form, these are all classic website user experience problems that drive people away. And once they’re gone, they rarely come back.
Most businesses know their website should be mobile friendly and quick to load. But that’s just the foundation. The real issue is when website user experience problems get in the way.
A site that looks good but frustrates people is a site that loses customers. Small irritations add up fast: wasted clicks, confusion at checkout, or too many hoops to jump through before someone can get in touch. These are exactly the kind of website user experience problems that stop visitors from converting.
Here are some common issues we see and what works instead.
1. Confusing menus.
When every possible page is crammed into the top navigation, visitors freeze. They don’t know where to click, so they give up or waste time guessing.
What works: Keep menus short and simple. Use plain words, not internal jargon.
2. Long, messy pages.
Big blocks of text or endless scrolling make people switch off. They miss key details or close the tab altogether.
What works: Break content into clear sections with headings, white space, and supporting visuals (don’t forget to optimise image for web!).
3. Dead ends.
An empty basket, a search with no results, or a “thank you” page with no next step all leave people stuck.
For example: when a customer views their cart but hasn’t added any items yet, the page could suggest best-selling products with direct links. This turns a dead end into an easy way forward, saving the user time and encouraging them to keep shopping.
What works: Use these spaces to guide the next step. Suggest alternatives, link to useful content, or offer help.
4. Too many steps.
Every extra field in a form or click in a checkout is a chance for someone to abandon the process.
What works: Strip it back to essentials. Make key actions (like “buy now” or “get in touch”) obvious and quick.
5. Slow page loads.
Few things frustrate visitors more than a page that takes forever to appear. Most won’t wait more than a couple of seconds before leaving.
What works: Optimise images, keep code clean, and invest in reliable hosting. Speed is one of the easiest ways to keep people on your site.
6. Cluttered layouts.
Logos with too many shapes, banners overloaded with text, or pages full of decoration distract visitors from what matters.
What works: Decide the one thing you want people to notice first and let it stand out. Keep layouts simple and uncluttered.
7. Poor mobile experience.
If buttons are too small to tap or content doesn’t resize properly, people get frustrated and leave. With most browsing done on phones, this is a deal breaker.
What works: Design mobile-first. Check every page on a range of screen sizes, not just desktop.
8. Hard-to-find contact details.
Visitors shouldn’t have to dig around just to get in touch. If contact info is buried, they’ll give up and go to a competitor who makes it easy.
What works: Put clear calls to action and contact details in obvious places. Make forms short, visible, and stress-free.
The takeaway.
The biggest website problems aren’t technical, they’re human. Frustration, wasted time, mistakes, or giving up.
When you strip away clutter, make actions simple, and design with visitors in mind, your website becomes something people actually enjoy using. And when people enjoy the experience, they stay longer, engage more, and are far more likely to become customers.
At Oracle, we help businesses build websites that don’t just look good, they feel effortless to use. If you’d like your site to work harder (and keep customers happy), we’d love to chat.
Cover photo by Kyle Hanson on Unsplash
Let’s make something great together.
If you’re looking to elevate your online presence with a user-friendly, easily updatable website, contact Oracle Design to discuss how we can bring your ideas to life.
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