Your website might look incredible. The colours are on brand, the layout feels clean, and the design is something you are proud to show off. But then you check your traffic and sales, and the numbers do not match the effort. The site is beautiful, but it is invisible to search engines.
This is one of the most common problems we see: businesses invest heavily in design but overlook SEO. The result is a site that looks great but does not get found.
This guide breaks down five common SEO mistakes we see on otherwise stunning websites, why they matter in business terms, and what to do to fix them.
Why This Matters in Business Terms
SEO is not just about rankings. It directly affects:
- Sales: If customers cannot find you, they cannot buy from you.
- Growth: Organic traffic scales without constant ad spend.
- Trust: Appearing high in search results builds credibility with potential customers.
- Efficiency: A site that converts organic traffic reduces reliance on paid campaigns.
Key Tip: A beautiful site without SEO is like a billboard in the desert. It might look impressive, but no one sees it. Design and SEO must work together.
The 5 Most Common SEO Mistakes on Beautiful Websites
1. Ignoring Page Speed
Design-heavy sites often load slowly. Big images, animations, and scripts weigh them down. Google uses speed as a ranking factor, and users do not wait.
Action: Compress images, remove unnecessary animations, and test speed regularly with PageSpeed Insights. Faster sites keep visitors and rank higher.
2. Weak or Missing Metadata
We see sites with beautiful visuals but empty title tags and weak descriptions. These are what appear in Google search results. Without them, your site looks unfinished.
Action: Write unique, descriptive titles and meta descriptions for every page. Make them clear, specific, and focused on what customers search for.
3. Poor Mobile Optimisation
Designs often start on desktop, but most NZ traffic is mobile. A site that looks perfect on a big screen may break or feel clunky on a phone.
Action: Test your site on multiple devices. Prioritise mobile speed, button size, and forms that are easy to complete on a phone.
4. No Structured Content
Websites sometimes rely on images or graphics for key information. Search engines cannot read text baked into an image. Without proper headings and text, SEO suffers.
Action: Use clear headings (H1, H2, H3), write body text that explains your offering, and make sure important information is in real text, not just pictures.
5. Broken Links and Missing Redirects
Beautiful redesigns often forget about the old site. If you launch without redirects, users and Google hit 404 errors, and you lose valuable traffic.
Action: Map old URLs to new ones before launching a redesign. Use 301 redirects to preserve SEO value.
Common Objections
“But we paid for great design, isn’t that enough?”
Design attracts attention, but SEO brings traffic. You need both.
“We do not want to clutter the site with text.”
Good SEO is not about clutter. It is about clear, structured content that both users and search engines can read.
“Our customers will find us anyway.”
Not true. Competitors who optimise will show up higher and take your traffic.
“We can just run ads.”
Ads help, but they stop the moment you stop paying. SEO builds lasting visibility.
Here’s an Example to Make This Real
Company: CoastStyle, a NZ fashion retailer.
Before: Their site was beautifully designed but had no meta descriptions, slow load speeds, and no redirects from their old site. Organic traffic was minimal.
What they did:
- Optimised images and speed
- Wrote unique titles and meta descriptions for all key pages
- Added structured content with headings and product descriptions
- Set up redirects from their old site
Result: Within three months, organic traffic doubled, bounce rates dropped, and sales from search traffic increased significantly.
What to Do Now: Your Checklist
- Test your site speed and fix issues slowing you down.
- Add proper titles and meta descriptions for every page.
- Check your mobile experience and fix clunky layouts or forms.
- Use structured content with clear headings and body text.
- Set up redirects to protect SEO when redesigning.
Want to Talk It Through?
If your website looks great but is not getting found, it might be one of these common SEO mistakes. We are happy to chat if you want help spotting and fixing the gaps.
