12 Bad Websites Examples 2023

We’ve all been there. You’re looking for a new pair of shoes, so you go to your favorite online retailer’s website.

Instead of finding what you’re looking for, you spend the next 20 minutes clicking through page after page of irrelevant products, or worse yet, you can’t find anything at all because the website is so poorly organized. Finally, you give up and go to a different website altogether.

If this sounds familiar, then you’ve experienced first-hand the frustrations that can come from using a bad website. But what exactly makes a website “bad”?

In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the most common mistakes that web designers make, examples of bad websites, and provide some tips on how to avoid them.

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Common Mistakes that Web Designers Make on Websites

Photo by Tranmautritam

Poor Navigation

One of the most common complaints about bad websites is poor navigation. This can manifest itself in a number of ways, but generally speaking, it boils down to two things: a lack of organization and difficulty finding what you’re looking for.

When it comes to organization, a common mistake is to put all of the website’s content on a single page.

This may seem like a good way to save space, but it’s actually very confusing for users. Instead, your website should be divided into sections, with each section containing its own set of pages.

For example, if you have a website for your business, you might have a section for your products, a section for your services, and a section for your blog.

Another common navigation mistake is what’s known as “burying” content. This happens when the most important information on your website is hidden away on an obscure page, or worse yet, buried several layers deep in the navigation menu.

As a general rule, users should be able to find what they’re looking for in three clicks or less. If it takes them longer than that, chances are they’ll get frustrated and leave your website.

Finally, a good navigation menu should be intuitive and easy to use. This means using familiar labels (such as “Home,” “About,” and “Contact”) and making sure the menu is always visible, even when users scroll down the page.

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Difficult to Use

Another common complaint about bad websites is that they’re difficult to use. This can manifest itself in a number of ways, but generally speaking, it boils down to two things: a lack of functionality and poor design.

When it comes to functionality, a common mistake is to use Flash animation or other complex features that require users to install special software or plugins.

While these features may look impressive, they’re actually very frustrating for users, since not everyone has the same software or plugins installed on their computer. In addition, these features can make your website slow to load, which is another major frustration for users.

As for design, a common mistake is to use small, hard-to-read text. While you may think that using a smaller font will save space, it’s actually very difficult for users to read.

In addition, using a large amount of text can make your website look cluttered and overwhelming. Instead, you should use short, concise paragraphs and plenty of white space to make your website more user-friendly.

Finally, another design mistake that can make your website difficult to use is using too many graphics.

While images and videos can be a great way to add visual interest to your website, too many of them can make your website slow to load and difficult to navigate. In addition, many users find images and videos distracting, so it’s important to use them sparingly.

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Unattractive Design

While the design of your website may not seem like a big deal, it actually has a huge impact on how users perceive your website.

In fact, studies have shown that users are more likely to trust and engage with a website that has a clean, professional design. On the other hand, websites with a dated or cluttered design are often seen as less credible and trustworthy.

So what makes a good design? In general, you should aim for a clean, minimalistic look that uses plenty of white space.

Your website’s color scheme should be easy on the eyes, and your typography should be legible and easy to read. In addition, your website’s navigation should be intuitive and easy to use.

Remember that less is more when it comes to design. Resist the urge to cram too much information onto your website. Instead, focus on quality over quantity.

Lack of Mobile Optimization

In today’s world, having a mobile-friendly website is more important than ever. With the majority of internet users now accessing the web from a mobile device, it’s essential that your website is optimized for these devices. If it isn’t, you’re likely to lose a lot of traffic (and potential customers).

There are a few things you need to do to make sure your website is mobile-friendly. First, you need to make sure your website is responsive, meaning it will adjust to fit any screen size.

Second, you need to use large, easy-to-tap buttons and links. Third, you need to avoid using Flash animation or other features that are not compatible with mobile devices. Finally, you need to make sure your website loads quickly on mobile networks.

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Failing to Test

Before you launch your website, it’s important to test it thoroughly. This includes testing all of the links on your website to make sure they work, testing your contact forms to make sure they’re working properly, and testing your website’s security to make sure it’s safe from hackers.

In addition, you should also test your website on different browsers and devices. This will help you ensure that your website looks and works the way you want it to for all users.

Not Updating Regularly

Once your website is live, it’s important to keep it up-to-date. This means regularly adding new content, updating existing content, and fixing any broken links or errors. Failing to do this will make your website look dated and neglected, which will turn users away.

In order to keep your website up-to-date, you should create a content calendar. This will help you plan and schedule your content in advance, so you’re never caught without something new to post.

Additionally, you should set aside time each week to check for any broken links or errors on your website.

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Bad Websites Examples

Now that we’ve gone over some of the most common mistakes that web designers make, let’s take a look at some bad website examples.

1. Arngren.net

This website is a perfect example of what not to do. It’s incredibly cluttered, with too much text and too many images. The overall design is dated and unprofessional, and the website is almost impossible to navigate.

The most obvious design flaw on Arngren.net is the lack of a grid or structure. Everything feels very random and haphazard, which makes the website difficult to use. In addition, the typography is hard to read, and the color scheme is painfully drab.

A grid would help to organize this website and make it more user-friendly. In addition, brighter colors and better typography would make it more visually appealing. Finally, simplifying the design would make it much easier to navigate.

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2. Pacific Northwest X-Ray Inc

One of the biggest problems with the Pacific Northwest X-Ray Inc website is that it doesn’t provide any clear information about the company or its services. There is no About Us page, and the only contact information is a phone number.

This lack of basic information makes it difficult to trust the company, and we would not recommend using their services.

The site is like a mixture of a brochure and an advertisement. It looks like they just threw some information together without any thought or care.

It also contains plenty of conflicting colors, text colors that are hard to read, and a poorly mixed background image color.

The layout is important for both the user experience and the search engine optimization of a website. A well-organized site will be easier to navigate and will rank higher in search results.

Unfortunately, the Pacific Northwest X-Ray Inc website is a mess. The links are all over the place, and the text is difficult to read. This makes it hard to find the information you’re looking for, and it’s likely that potential customers will give up and look elsewhere.

3. Zara

Zara is a popular fashion retailer, but its website is anything but fashionable. The experience you get when you first land on its homepage is like flipping through a magazine.

It looks cool on the one hand, but it makes it nearly impossible to shop, which is, of course, the whole point of going to the website in the first place.

The navigation is non-existent, and the product pages themselves are just a mess. It’s hard to find anything you’re looking for, and when you do finally locate an item you want to purchase, good luck trying to figure out how to add it to your cart.

In short, Zara’s website is a perfect example of what not to do when designing an eCommerce site.

4. Wayfair

Another company that falls into the “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should” category is Wayfair. Their website is a typical example of one that leaves users feeling confused about what to do first.

The first thing you’ll notice is that the homepage is incredibly busy and crowded. There are so many elements competing for attention that it’s difficult to know where to look.

Perhaps the biggest issue with the Wayfair website is that it is overloaded with content. There are product descriptions, categories, images, discount offers, and more – all crammed into one small space.

This makes it very difficult to find the information you need, and even harder to make a purchase.

A site like this should have prioritized streamlining the user experience, but instead, it feels like an assault on the senses.

Visual hierarchy is important for any website design, but it’s especially crucial for eCommerce sites. Users need to be able to quickly scan the page and understand what actions they can take. Unfortunately, Wayfair has failed in this regard.

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5. The Room – Official Movie Site

The Room is a decent movie, but the official website for the movie is not nearly as good.

For starters, the homepage is overly long and doesn’t give users the option to jump to a specific section.

The navigation is also confusing, with links that go nowhere and are labeled inconsistently.

The design is amateurish and the overall experience is frustrating.

It has some links under the featured image that you’d think are navigations to different parts of the site but when you click them, they open up new tabs to some really ugly pages.

This website doesn’t really give you a lot of options- you can either scroll down or exit it completely.

There are lots of images and GIFs placed throughout the website which makes it confusing to look at and hard to focus on the main aim of the site which is for users to buy the right to use the film.

It will also be difficult for users to enter their payment details on this website as it doesn’t look secure.

In general, the website looks like it was made in a hurry and with little care or attention to detail.

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6. Fandango

Like Wayfair and other retailers, Fandango depends on its website to drive sales and keep customers coming back. Unfortunately, the site is plagued by a number of design flaws that make it difficult to use.

For starters, the home page is cluttered with too much information. Instead of prominently featuring a few upcoming movies and showtimes, the page is filled with links to different sections of the site, ticket sales, and other distractions. This makes it hard to find what you’re looking for.

The biggest issue the site has may very well be the fact that it has no clear call to action. When you first visit the site, you’d think that it has no CTA at all, which is because it’s not immediately obvious what you’re supposed to do.

The “Join Now For Free” and “Buy Tickets” buttons are placed under what appears to look like ads, and it’s not until you scroll down that you see the real CTA.

This is a huge mistake, as users should never have to hunt for the CTA. It needs to be front and center, above the fold.

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7. Blinkee

Blinkee is a site that sells things that glow and blink and that’s about it. The problem with Blinkee is that it’s hard to tell what exactly the site is selling. The home page is a jumble of products, some of which are not even identified.

While the idea of placing blinking objects on a dark background may be novel, it is not effective in this case. At best, it is confusing and at worst, it is downright annoying.

Designers should avoid using blinking or flashing elements on their sites, as they can be extremely distracting and difficult to read. If you must use them, make sure they are used sparingly and only for a good reason.

Besides that, the sizes of the product images are also too small, and there is no easy way to enlarge them. The result is that it’s hard to get a good look at the products before you buy them.

The animation on the home page is too busy and overwhelming. The best animation is subtle and unobtrusive.

The color scheme is another real issue. Reading texts again with a dark background is very difficult, and the use of bright colors doesn’t help.

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8. Great Dreams

The Great Dreams website used a combination of colors and textured backgrounds that made it very difficult to read the text on the site. The text size is very small, which makes it difficult to read.

The main page is too long and dull. It contains a lot of information that is not necessary, and it is not organized in a way that is easy to follow.

Worst of all is that the website does not have a clear theme or purpose. It appears to be an all-in-one website that tries to do everything but fails to do anything well.

If you scroll down enough, you will see that the width of the page changes randomly, making it even more difficult to read the text. This inconsistency makes it tough to navigate the website.

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9. Suzanne Collins’ Website

If you have read Suzanne Collins’ books, you will be familiar with her work. However, if you visit her website, it is not at all user-friendly.

The first thing that you will notice is that the website has very tiny text. You will need to zoom in at least 200% to be able to read it.

Then try to click any of the books to find out more information and nothing comes up. Nothing screams missed opportunity more than a book website that doesn’t provide information about the books.

The website looks like it was made in the early 2000s and has not been updated since.

The moral of this story is to make sure your website is easily navigated and informative. If you are selling a product, ensure there is information about the product readily available.

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10. Bella De Soto

If there was ever a site where the makers tried to put too much on one page, Bella De Soto’s is it.

The home screen is crammed with images and text that even if you zoom out to 20% you can’t take it all in. There’s no navigation anywhere on the page. Even If there was, it would be difficult to find because everything is so chaotic.

The layout is also confusing. The eye doesn’t know where to focus first and as a result, you end up scanning the entire page without being able to take anything in. Everything feels disjointed and nothing leads to the next logical step.

The images themselves are of poor quality and the text is hard to read.

11. Ling’s Cars

I don’t know what style the author of Ling’s Cars was going for, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the ’80s Miami Vice look. It is filled with GIFs of the owner, Mrs. Ling, on her different bikes and cars.

This website is renting out cars, so having a lot of pictures is not necessarily a bad thing. However, they are low quality and the website looks like it was made with Microsoft FrontPage.

The color scheme is also an assault on the senses, with a bright background and text that do not complement. It’s hard to read and just generally unpleasant to look at.

At least they got it right with their navigation, which is simple and straightforward, plus they lead to actual pages with content on them.

However, when it comes to the color mixture and the content itself, Ling’s Cars fails miserably.

12. Historian of the Future

Perhaps the makers of this website know something that we don’t and are going for a future look, but for now, this type of design only turns visitors away.

The site uses a lot of acid colors, which can be overwhelming, and the font choices are difficult to read. It also has a lot of GIFs and subpar images that fail to connect.

The website doesn’t even sit well on desktop browsers and has a lot of useless space. It’s hard to tell what the focus of the website is supposed to be.

There are no clear CTAs, and the overall message is confusing.

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Conclusion

When it comes to finding a good website, it’s important to take the time to do your research. With so many options available, it can be difficult to know where to start.

However, by keeping an eye out for the common mistakes we have mentioned above, you can be sure to avoid any bad experiences.