1. Inconsistent branding across pages

Mismatched fonts on different pages. Button styles that change from section to section. Colors that drift between the homepage and the about page. Each inconsistency is small, but together they make your site feel like it was assembled by different people on different days.

The fix: define your brand colors (exact hex codes), pick one heading font and one body font, and standardize button styles, spacing, and corner radius across every page.

Why templates help: A well-designed template uses shared styles and a component system that enforces consistency automatically. Change a color variable once, and it updates everywhere.

2. Text that's hard to read

If visitors have to squint, zoom, or guess what your text says, they'll leave. This shows up more often than most founders realize.

Common examples:

• Text on top of images without a dark overlay or contrast layer

• Body text that's too small, too light, or too tightly spaced

• Long paragraphs with no visual breaks or whitespace

• Text getting cut off or overflowing its container

The fix: use overlays or solid backgrounds behind text on images. Set body text to at least 16px. Test every page on mobile to catch cut-off issues before you publish.

Why templates help: A well-designed template has its type scale, contrast ratios, and text containers already set up. You replace the placeholder copy, and the readability stays intact.

3. Visible site bugs

Nothing kills credibility faster than a site that feels broken. Visitors won't give you a second chance.

Bugs I see constantly on startup sites:

• Horizontal scrolling on mobile caused by elements extending past the viewport

• Navigation menus that don't close properly or overlap content

• Buttons or links that lead to 404 pages

• Forms that break or show no confirmation after submitting

The fix: test on at least 3 devices and 2 browsers before publishing. Click every link, submit every form, scroll every page. Ask someone who's never seen your site to try it.

Why templates help: Production-ready templates have been tested across devices and browsers. Navigation, forms, and responsive behavior work out of the box.

4. No social proof

If your site has no testimonials, case studies, logos, or customer quotes, visitors have no reason to trust your claims. This is especially true for early-stage startups where nobody has heard of you yet.

You don't need hundreds of reviews. Even a few things go a long way:

• 2 to 3 real customer quotes with names and companies

• Logos of companies that use your product

• A specific result: "Reduced onboarding time by 40%"

The fix: add social proof as close to the hero as possible. If visitors see evidence of trust early, they're more likely to keep reading.

5. Poor mobile experience

More than half of web traffic comes from mobile, yet most startups design desktop-first and treat responsive as an afterthought. The result: sections that stack awkwardly, images that load at full desktop resolution, and touch targets too small to tap.

The fix: check every page on a real phone, not just the browser's responsive preview. Pay attention to tap targets, readability, and whether key content is visible without excessive scrolling.

Why templates help: Production-ready templates ship with responsive breakpoints already built and tested across devices.

6. Slow page speed

53% of mobile users abandon a site that takes longer than 3 seconds to load. Every extra second costs you conversions.

Common culprits:

• Unoptimized images (the biggest offender by far)

• Too many fonts loaded at once

• Heavy animations or autoplay video backgrounds

• Third-party scripts stacked on top of each other

The fix: compress images before uploading (aim for under 200KB each), limit yourself to 2 fonts, and audit your third-party scripts.

7. No clear call to action

Some startup sites have no CTA at all. Others have too many competing for attention in the same section: "Start free trial," "Book a demo," "Watch the video," "Join the waitlist" all fighting for the click. Both are problems.

The fix: decide on one primary action you want visitors to take and make it the dominant CTA on every page. Secondary actions are fine but should be visually quieter. Your primary CTA should appear in the hero, repeat naturally throughout, and show up again at the bottom.

Why templates help: Conversion-focused templates are structured around a clear CTA hierarchy. The section flow builds interest progressively and leads visitors toward a decision.

The real cost of these mistakes

Every one of these mistakes costs you visitors who could have become customers. None of them are hard to fix. They just require intentional design decisions.

If you want to skip these mistakes entirely, start with a template that already gets them right. Browse free and premium templates at Lunis Design to find a starting point with consistent branding, responsive layouts, and conversion-focused structure from the start.

The best part? You don't need to learn web design or Framer. Just ask the Framer AI Agent to customize the template to fit your brand, and you're good to go. See how in our step-by-step guide: How to customize a Framer template to match your brand in under an hour.