Most website projects spend a significant amoutn of time on the homepage and very little time on the parts that come after it. Yet the contact form, the 404 page and the site search are often what decide whether someone gets in touch or leaves.
Most website projects follow the same pattern. The homepage gets the majority of the attention and the main navigation gets debated in multiple meetings. But other ‘smaller’ pieces get added towards the end, with much less focus and far less time dedicated to them.
The problem is that those smaller pieces are often the ones doing the most work. They’re where people get in touch, find what they need, or give up and leave. Here are the parts we think are most underrated, and why they so often get overlooked.
Contact forms
The contact form is how most websites turn a visitor into an enquiry, yet it’s usually one of the last things built.
We regularly see forms asking for far more information than they need, such as a full address and phone number from someone who just has a quick question. Or even a title – do you really need to know if I am a Miss, Ms or Mrs? Every extra field is another reason for someone to stop. Error messages are another common gap. If someone presses submit and the form doesn’t tell them clearly what went wrong, most people won’t try twice. Then there’s the part that is often not tested at all post-launch: where the form actually goes. We’ve seen forms working perfectly but they’re sending enquiries to an inbox that nobody checks, or no one has access to any. more.
Why it’s underrated: it looks fine in a design review. The problems only appear when a real person tries to use it – and then people can’t get in touch with you.
The thank you page
Once someone has filled in a form, what happens next? On a lot of websites, it’s a small “message sent” line, and that’s it.
A good confirmation page tells people what to expect, like when they’ll hear back and who from. It can also point them to something useful while they wait. Furthermore, it is the page that tells you an enquiry has been completed, which matters if you want to measure how well your website is performing.
Why it’s underrated: it’s seen as the end of the journey, when for the visitor it’s the start of their relationship with you and it really sets the tone.
404 pages
A 404 page is what someone sees when a page can’t be found. Most of the time it’s a default message with no way forward, so the visitor leaves.
This matters most when a website is replaced. If old pages aren’t redirected properly, anyone following an old link or search result ends up on a 404 instead of the page they were looking for. That can affect your visibility in search as well as frustrating your visitors. A helpful 404 page, with search and links to your main sections, at least gives people a route back in. Also people may type in the wrong url – so you want to direct them to what they might be looking for to help them out.
Why it’s underrated: nobody plans for things going wrong, so nobody designs for it, but you don’t want to lose people through human error – yours, or theirs.
The footer
The footer is where people go when they can’t find something elsewhere. Contact details, opening times, accessibility statements, privacy information and links to key pages all tend to live there.
It’s often treated as a place to put everything that didn’t fit anywhere else, which makes it cluttered and hard to scan. A well-organised footer is a safety net for anyone who’s got a bit lost. Or because some users will quickly scroll to the bottom to try to find a link they’re looking for.
Why it’s underrated: it’s at the bottom of the page, so it’s assumed nobody looks at it. In reality, the people who do scroll that far are often the ones closest to getting in touch.
Page titles
Page titles are the text that shows in a browser tab and in search results. They’re also the first thing a screen reader announces when a page loads, so they help people understand where they are straight away.
On many sites, every page has the same title, or something generic like “Home” or “Page”. That makes it harder for people to find you in search, and harder for anyone using assistive technology to move around your site.
Why it’s underrated: they’re barely visible on the page itself, so they’re easy to forget, but they might be the first message people get about your site.
Focus states
When someone moves through a website using a keyboard instead of a mouse, a visible outline shows them where they are on the page. This is called a focus state. Without it, keyboard users are effectively navigating blind.
Focus outlines are sometimes removed because they don’t fit the look of the design. But plenty of people rely on them, including people with motor disabilities, people with visual impairments and anyone who simply prefers using a keyboard. It’s also a requirement under WCAG. And if they’re an afterthought, they can ruin the aesthetic of your site.
Why it’s underrated: most people testing a website use a mouse, so they never see the problem, but it’s helpful to users and can easily be designed to look consistent.
Why these parts get missed
Most of these have something in common. They don’t stand out in a design presentation, they only matter when someone is actually using the website, and they’re usually left until late in the project when time and budget are running low.
But your visitors don’t experience your website as a set of signed-off designs. They experience it one page and one interaction at a time. If one of these pieces lets them down, it doesn’t matter how good the homepage looks.
Where to start
You don’t need a new website to fix most of this. Try filling in your own contact form on your phone. Go to a page on your site that doesn’t exist and see what happens. Use your site search for something you know is there. Then try moving around your homepage using only the tab key.
If any of those make you wince, those are good places to start. And if you’d like a second pair of eyes, we’re always happy to take a look.
