3 Common Website Problems That Frustrate Small Business Owners
Does your website feel like a never-ending headache?
You’re not the only one. We hear from small business owners every week who are frustrated, confused, and stuck. Sometimes they can’t reach their developer. Sometimes their site breaks without warning. And sometimes they realize—too late—that the flashy site they paid for wasn’t built to support their business.
At OC Websites, more than half of our projects come from clients in this exact situation. Below are the three most common website problems we see, along with what’s really going on behind the scenes.
1. My Website Designer is Missing
Your Online Business is Out of Business
At first, things seemed fine. The site was built, launched, and looked great. But now you need help—and your original developer is nowhere to be found. Emails go unanswered. Calls are ignored. You’re not sure who to contact, or even if they’re still in business.
What we commonly see:
- The site was built by a solo web designer, a friend of a friend, or a small overseas team
- There’s no way to request updates or ongoing support
- You’re left scrambling to find someone—fast—when something goes wrong
- You’re stuck with a site no one else wants to touch
No Plan for Support After Launch
Many small business websites are built by solo web designers or low-cost overseas teams. It might seem like a good deal at the start, but there’s no continuity—and, in many cases—no one to call when something breaks or needs updating.
2. My Website Constantly Breaks
It’s Fragile From the Start
Your site goes down overnight. Forms stop working out of nowhere. One day it loads fine, the next it’s throwing errors. You’re not making changes—things just stop working.
What we commonly see:
- Pages suddenly go blank or show error messages
- Forms silently fail or stop delivering submissions
- Plugins or themes break after automatic updates
- The site works one day and crashes the next
Built Cheap, Not Right
Many websites are developed by web designers who aren’t developers. They buy an off-the-shelf theme, overload it with plugins, and inject custom code they can’t support. These sites look fine at first—but underneath, they’re a mess. One update can break everything. And without real developers on staff, fixes are usually just bandaids.
3. It Looks Cool, But It Doesn’t Work
It’s Pretty but Not Practical
You invested in a stylish website. But it’s difficult to update, frustrating to use, and fails to support your business goals. Worse, it starts looking outdated sooner than you’d expect.
What we commonly see:
- Stylish themes that prioritize visuals over usability
- Confusing menus, animations, or layout choices
- Slow load times or poor mobile experience
- A backend that’s difficult or dangerous to edit
Designed for Looks, Not Performance—Not Sales
Many business owners focus on how the site looks—but not how it works. The result is a bloated, inflexible theme with poor structure, often hosted on a low-cost, high-volume hosting provider crammed with hundreds of other websites. Customers get confused. The site loads slowly. You can’t make updates. And worst of all—it doesn’t generate leads or sales.
How OC Websites Fixes These Problems for Good
We’ve helped hundreds of business owners move past these issues—whether they came to us with a broken site, a missing developer, or a beautiful website that simply doesn’t work.
Here’s how we do it differently:
- We build for long-term stability, not just quick launches
- You can update content easily, with no need to call us for every change
- Your website supports your business, not the latest design fads
- You have a real LOCAL team in Irvine, not a freelancer who disappears when something goes wrong
If any of these problems sound familiar, you’re not alone—and you’re not stuck. At OC Websites, we help business owners move on from broken sites, unresponsive developers, and designs that don’t work in the real world. If you’re ready for a website that’s built to last, let’s talk.