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A bad website is not necessarily an ugly website. It is a website that makes people work too hard to understand the offer, find information, complete a task, or trust what they are seeing. A bold visual style can work; clutter, ambiguity, inaccessible text, confusing navigation, and slow or unstable interactions cannot.
The examples below come from a third-party list published or updated on July 29, 2023. They are used as design lessons—not as judgments about the businesses, their services, or their current websites. Sites change, disappear, and redesign, so each named example should be rechecked in the intended country or region immediately before publication. The more durable question is: what user friction does this design pattern create, and how can you prevent it?
How to recognize a bad website
Evaluate a website by what users can accomplish, not by whether its colors or visual style match your personal taste. A practical review should ask:
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- Purpose: Can a first-time visitor tell what the organization offers and who it serves?
- Hierarchy: Is the primary message, action, product, search box, or booking path visually prominent?
- Navigation: Can visitors understand where they are and what to do next?
- Readability: Are typography, spacing, contrast, line length, and link styling comfortable to use?
- Accessibility: Can people use the site with a keyboard, enlarged text, assistive technology, and a narrow viewport?
- Performance: Does the page load, respond, and remain visually stable?
- Brand consistency: Do the type, colors, imagery, tone, and interaction patterns belong to the same identity?
- Content density: Is there enough information to make a decision without presenting everything at once?
For a current accessibility baseline, consult WCAG 2.2. Relevant requirements include text alternatives for applicable non-text content, sufficient text contrast, resizing content to 200% without loss of functionality, and reflow at a 320 CSS-pixel width without avoidable two-dimensional scrolling. For performance, use field data and the Core Web Vitals thresholds: good results at the 75th percentile are LCP of 2.5 seconds or less, INP of 200 milliseconds or less, and CLS of 0.1 or less.
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- CRISP CLARITY: This 23.8″ Philips V line monitor delivers crisp Full HD 1920x1080 visuals. Enjoy movies, shows and videos with remarkable detail
- INCREDIBLE CONTRAST: The VA panel produces brighter whites and deeper blacks. You get true-to-life images and more gradients with 16.7 million colors
- THE PERFECT VIEW: The 178/178 degree extra wide viewing angle prevents the shifting of colors when viewed from an offset angle, so you always get consistent colors
- WORK SEAMLESSLY: This sleek monitor is virtually bezel-free on three sides, so the screen looks even bigger for the viewer. This minimalistic design also allows for seamless multi-monitor setups that enhance your workflow and boost productivity
- A BETTER READING EXPERIENCE: For busy office workers, EasyRead mode provides a more paper-like experience for when viewing lengthy documents
These measures do not replace user testing. They help distinguish a verifiable usability or accessibility problem from a simple dislike of a visual style.
15 bad website design patterns—and the lesson from each
The observations in this section reflect the cited 2023 third-party review. Wording such as “the review describes” is deliberate: it avoids implying that every site still looks or behaves exactly as it did when assessed.
1. Arngren.net: too many products competing at once
What goes wrong: The cited review describes a homepage packed with products, text, low-quality imagery, weak category organization, and apparently stale seasonal decoration. When every item is given equal prominence, visitors cannot tell where to begin or compare products efficiently.
Do instead: Group products into meaningful categories, show a smaller set of priority products on the homepage, and send users to dedicated listing pages. Add filters, useful product labels, and consistent cards. Remove promotions or seasonal decorations as soon as they stop being relevant.
2. LingsCars.com: personality obscures the offer
What goes wrong: The review presents Lings Cars as intentionally chaotic, using bright colors, animation, and competing graphics around a car-leasing offer. Distinctiveness is not automatically bad, but visual personality fails when visitors cannot quickly determine what is sold, who it is for, or which action to take.
Do instead: Keep the unusual brand if it is central to the business, but establish a clear focal point: a concise value proposition, a primary call to action, and predictable paths to browse or enquire. Limit movement and competing accents around important information.
3. WebsitesThatSuck.com: an ironic navigation failure
What goes wrong: The cited page uses the site as an intentionally ironic example of unclear navigation, a clunky header, and a homepage dominated by post links. Even an intentionally awkward website still needs to tell users where links lead and where they are within the site.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsDo instead: Use descriptive link labels rather than vague terms, organize posts by topic or date where appropriate, and provide a stable header, page title, and visible route back to major sections.
Rank #2
- CRISP CLARITY: This 22 inch class (21.5″ viewable) Philips V line monitor delivers crisp Full HD 1920x1080 visuals. Enjoy movies, shows and videos with remarkable detail
- 100HZ FAST REFRESH RATE: 100Hz brings your favorite movies and video games to life. Stream, binge, and play effortlessly
- SMOOTH ACTION WITH ADAPTIVE-SYNC: Adaptive-Sync technology ensures fluid action sequences and rapid response time. Every frame will be rendered smoothly with crystal clarity and without stutter
- INCREDIBLE CONTRAST: The VA panel produces brighter whites and deeper blacks. You get true-to-life images and more gradients with 16.7 million colors
- THE PERFECT VIEW: The 178/178 degree extra wide viewing angle prevents the shifting of colors when viewed from an offset angle, so you always get consistent colors
4. Drudgereport.com: link overload without enough hierarchy
What goes wrong: The review characterizes the page as a dense aggregation of text links with limited visual hierarchy. A text-heavy interface is not inherently poor, but a long list becomes difficult when every link has the same visual weight and grouping is unclear.
Do instead: Divide high-volume content with headings, spacing, and meaningful groups. Prioritize the most important items, make link destinations understandable, and support scanning. The goal is not to make every page minimalist; it is to reduce the effort needed to identify the relevant item.
5. LakesideDentalSmiles.com: presentation does not build enough trust
What goes wrong: The cited review criticizes heavy stock imagery, large text blocks, and a cluttered presentation for a dental practice. This is a particularly important pattern for professional services, where visitors need clear information and reassuring evidence before contacting a provider.
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6. Shambles.net: resources are buried among ads and links
What goes wrong: The review describes a resource site crowded with advertisements and text links, making educational material difficult to identify.
Do instead: Separate advertising from editorial or core resources. Create clear topic categories, use descriptive calls to action such as “Read the beginner’s guide,” and give each resource enough context for visitors to decide whether it is relevant.
7. AlphaDictionary.com: the main task is not dominant
What goes wrong: The cited assessment says the dictionary’s search function is difficult to find among links, images, games, and blog content. For a dictionary, searching is usually the primary visitor task; it should not compete with secondary features.
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Do instead: Put the search field and its accessible label in the most prominent position. Make the submit action obvious, support keyboard use, and place games, articles, and related content below or beside the primary lookup flow rather than in front of it.
Rank #3
- Clear visuals. Fluid motion: A 144Hz refresh rate and 1ms MPRT deliver smooth, tear‑free motion across work, gaming, and streaming for clearer, more fluid viewing.
- Eye comfort: TÜV Rheinland 3‑star* certification reduces harmful blue light while preserving stunning color quality without compromise. *TÜV Rheinland 3-star eye comfort certification.
- Wide viewing angle: Get consistent views across a wide 178° /178° viewing angle.
- In-Plane Switching (IPS): See excellent color accuracy and consistency across wide viewing angles with In-plane Switching (IPS) technology.
- Ultra-thin bezels: Maximize your viewing experience with thin bezels.
8. Craigslist.org: plain design needs orientation
What goes wrong: The source includes Craigslist as an example of a plain, link-heavy interface with limited guidance for new users. Plain is not synonymous with bad. Large inventories, however, become difficult when visitors do not know which category, search option, filter, or next step to use.
Do instead: Explain the site’s structure, provide understandable categories and search, expose useful filters, and show users what happens after they select an item. A simple interface can be highly effective when its information architecture is clear.
9. Pacific Northwest X-Ray Inc.: product information is hard to compare
What goes wrong: The review describes a distracting theme, low-quality images, dense product information, and prices that are difficult to locate. If product names, prices, specifications, availability, or reviews are scattered across the page, visitors cannot make a confident comparison.
Do instead: Establish a consistent product template. Put the product name, price, key specifications, availability, and primary action in predictable locations. Use readable tables or bullet lists, and check contrast and mobile reflow when information appears over an image or colored background.
10. ACME Laboratories: legacy content needs structure
What goes wrong: The cited assessment describes a long list of freeware and graphics links with little modern interaction or content organization. The problem is not simply that the visual style is old. It is that visitors may struggle to understand what the organization offers and which links remain useful.
Do instead: Audit legacy pages, remove or redirect obsolete resources, consolidate repetitive links, and use meaningful page titles and headings. Explain the purpose of each section before presenting a list of destinations.
11. Atari Best Electronics: dense text and indistinct links
What goes wrong: The review describes text overload, random font colors, and links embedded in paragraphs. This interrupts reading order and makes it difficult to distinguish ordinary text from interactive elements.
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Rank #4
- CURVED FOR ENHANCED ENGAGEMENT: An immersive viewing experience with a curved monitor that wraps more closely around your field of vision; It creates a wider view, enhancing depth perception and minimizing peripheral distraction
- SMOOTH PERFORMANCE FOR SEAMLESS CONTENT: Stay in the action when playing games, watching videos, or working on creative projects; The 100Hz refresh rate reduces lag and motion blur so you don't miss a thing in fast-paced moments¹
- MORE GAMING POWER: Gain the edge with optimizable game settings; Color and image contrast can be adjusted to see scenes more vividly and spot enemies hiding in the dark; Game Mode adjusts any game to fill the screen so you can view every detail²
- KEEP IT EASY ON THE EYES: Care for your eyes and stay comfortable, even during long sessions; Advanced eye comfort technology certified by TÜV reduces eye strain by minimizing blue light and reducing irritating screen flicker²
- INCREASED VERSATILITY: Connect to more; Plug devices straight into your monitor for increased flexibility, making your computing environment even more convenient
12. Vortex Technology: the value proposition is unclear
What goes wrong: The cited review says the homepage emphasizes what the company does not do, leaves the actual offer unclear, and mixes technology content with weather information. Negative positioning and unrelated content can force visitors to infer the organization’s purpose.
Do instead: State what the organization provides, who it helps, and what visitors should do next near the top of the page. Move unrelated material into a clearly labeled section or a separate site if it serves a different audience.
13. MGBD Parts & Services: decorative backgrounds reduce legibility
What goes wrong: The review criticizes text placed over vehicle images, harsh colors, and unclear navigation. A background that looks dramatic can make text and controls difficult to read, especially on smaller screens or for people with low vision.
Do instead: Put essential text on a solid or sufficiently opaque surface, use adequate contrast, and reserve imagery for places where it supports rather than competes with the message. Check that the content remains usable when the layout reflows.
14. Mercia Tourist Board: the homepage tries to contain everything
What goes wrong: The cited review describes many colors, difficult-to-read fonts, multiple images, and a large amount of content pushed onto one homepage. A homepage should orient visitors, not serve as the entire site map.
Do instead: Create a clear hierarchy and route visitors to topic landing pages such as attractions, accommodation, transport, and itineraries. Use focused headings, restrained imagery, and navigation that reflects how visitors think. Any traffic or visitor-count claims associated with the site should be independently verified before publication.
15. Industrial Painter: competing visual systems and duplicate navigation
What goes wrong: The review describes a mixture of stock photography, cartoons, animations, harsh dark colors, and more than one navigation mechanism. Multiple competing systems make the site feel inconsistent and make it harder to predict where controls are located.
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Do instead: Define a small design system for typography, colors, buttons, imagery, spacing, and navigation. Keep primary navigation in a predictable location. A sticky menu can help, but it must not cover content, trap keyboard focus, or obscure headings and form controls.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A current website audit checklist
Use this checklist before launch, after a redesign, and whenever analytics or customer feedback suggests that visitors are struggling.
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- 【INTEGRATED SPEAKERS】Whether you're at work or in the midst of an intense gaming session, our built-in speakers provide rich and seamless audio, all while keeping your desk clutter-free.
- 【EASY ON THE EYES】 Protect your eyes and enhance your comfort with Blue-Light Shift technology. This feature reduces harmful blue light emissions from your screen, helping to alleviate eye strain during long hours of use and promoting healthier viewing habits.
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1. Test the primary task
- Write down the main task for a first-time visitor: buy, book, search, compare, call, donate, or learn.
- Ask someone unfamiliar with the site what it offers and what they would click first.
- Check whether the primary action is visible without requiring visitors to decode a slogan or scroll through distractions.
2. Test navigation and content structure
- Read the main menu labels without context. Would a new visitor understand them?
- Check that every page has a meaningful title, a clear heading, and an obvious next step.
- Group lists and inventories by categories that match users’ needs, not merely the organization’s internal structure.
- Use scanning-friendly layouts. Nielsen Norman Group’s guidance on list entries emphasizes that both too little and too much detail can harm comparison and usability.
3. Check accessibility
- Operate the complete site with a keyboard. Look for visible focus, logical tab order, usable menus, and operable forms.
- Check text alternatives for informative images and accessible names for controls, following WCAG 2.2.
- Check normal-text contrast against the WCAG 2.2 minimum of 4.5:1; large text has a different minimum.
- Zoom to 200% and confirm that content and functionality remain available.
- Test narrow layouts, including approximately 320 CSS pixels, and remove avoidable horizontal two-dimensional scrolling.
- Review animation, pop-ups, ads, cookie notices, and chat widgets for obstruction, distraction, and keyboard problems.
4. Measure performance instead of guessing
Visual impression alone does not establish that a website is slow. Measure loading, responsiveness, and visual stability with field data where available. The cited Core Web Vitals guidance uses these good thresholds at the 75th percentile:
| Metric | What it represents | Good threshold |
|---|---|---|
| LCP | Loading performance | 2.5 seconds or less |
| INP | Responsiveness to interaction | 200 milliseconds or less |
| CLS | Visual stability | 0.1 or less |
Use the Core Web Vitals documentation for the current definitions and thresholds. A page can look sparse and still perform poorly, or look visually busy while meeting performance targets; measure the actual experience.
5. Review the design system
- Confirm that buttons, links, headings, forms, cards, and alerts behave consistently.
- Remove decorative elements that do not support comprehension, trust, or task completion.
- Check that imagery is purposeful and that stock photography does not imply evidence it cannot provide.
- Make sure brand personality remains subordinate to clear content and usable controls.
What makes a website distinctive without making it unusable?
Distinctive design is compatible with good UX. The dividing line is whether the creative choices preserve clarity, accessibility, and task completion. A vivid color palette can work when text contrast is sufficient. Animation can work when it does not obscure content or interfere with interaction. A dense archive can work when links are grouped and searchable. A deliberately strange brand can work when visitors still understand the offer and the route forward.
Before publishing a design, ask a simpler question than “Does this look modern?” Ask: Can the intended visitor understand it, operate it, and complete the intended task? If the answer is no, the design needs less friction—not necessarily less personality.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are old-looking websites automatically bad websites?
No. Age or visual fashion is not by itself a usability failure. A plain or old-fashioned site can work well if its purpose, navigation, content, accessibility, and performance are sound. Critique the user impact rather than the aesthetic age.
What is the most important thing to fix on a bad website?
Start with the primary visitor task. Make the offer and next action clear, then fix navigation and readability. After that, test keyboard access, contrast, zoom, mobile reflow, and measured performance.
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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11What contrast ratio should normal website text meet?
WCAG 2.2 sets a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text. Large text has a different minimum. Contrast should be checked for text and controls against their actual backgrounds.
How current are the 15 website examples?
The named examples are based on a source list updated July 29, 2023. Websites can change or disappear, so each live example should be rechecked immediately before publication and described as a historical or source-based assessment unless independently tested.
The Bottom Line
The worst website designs are not simply unusual; they create avoidable uncertainty. Make the purpose obvious, organize information for scanning, keep navigation predictable, meet accessibility requirements, and measure real performance. Once those foundations are secure, a site can be colorful, sparse, eccentric, or deliberately unconventional without becoming difficult to use.
Quick Recap
