Seven Sins of Website Design
Sponsored by (Your Company Here)
Possibly one of the most widely-reaching technological developments in recent history, the advent of Web sites opened doors around the world for business owners to establish a presence and reach clientele that was previously out of reach. Now, it seems that every other company has a Web site, URLs appear on business cards, and search engine optimization is a buzz word of the industry. But just as a good Web site can make your company, a bad Web site can break it. There are hundreds of articles, books, and sites on how to build a good site. But what are some of the pitfalls you should avoid along the way?
NOT SPELL CHECKING
Take a few moments to double-check the content of your Web site. You may have the most brilliant copy on the Internet, but if it's badly spelled, you'll turn off more readers than you'll draw in. Have at least one other person look over your site before making it live. Grammar checks are never amiss, either.
NOT UPDATING
Business moves fast, and the Internet moves faster. If your business involves constant change, make sure to keep up your Web site as well. This is especially true if you link to several other sites - routinely test your outgoing links to either update or remove them as necessary.
POOR NAVIGATION
Having several pages on your Web site can be a good thing, as it allows you more space to focus on a given subject. But make certain that your visitors can easily get from one page to another. This is related to...
POOR ORGANIZATION
Think logically about how people enter and exit your site. If you consider your Web site like a physical location you have to navigate, having it laid out properly makes it much easier for your visitors to find all the pertinent information. A good Web site tracking program or statistics program can tell you how people are working their way through your site.
BAD COLOR SCHEMES
One of the single worst offenses for a Web site. (We've all seen them, too.) While you do want to take advantage of your logo's color scheme, if your logo is hot pink and electric blue, these may not work well as your background and font colors. Consider using them instead as the color choices for links or mouseovers.
TOO MANY POPUPS
While popup blockers make this less of a problem, it is still aggravating to have popups appear unless the visitor has deliberately clicked on something and wants it to open (for example, a presentation, a file, or music). Too many popups, and you run the risk of a visitor accidentally (or even deliberately) closing the window of your site along with the popup window.
TOO MANY BELLS AND WHISTLES
Web design has a lot of amazing things - scrolling marquees, background music, Flash animation, and other attention-getting things. This doesn't mean you need all of them on one site. When designing your site, ask yourself, "Why do I need this?" If the answer is, "Because everyone else has one," think twice about putting it on there. So as you're building your Web site (or having someone build it for you), keeping these seven steps in mind can go a long way toward improving the overall quality and tone of your site.
As a closing note, a wonderful (and not-quite-tongue-in-cheek) Web site that deals with this issue www.websitesthatsuck.com. Now in its 13th year, Web site guru Vincent Flanders shows (with several real-life examples) all of these mistakes and more, and how you can fix them. Look, laugh, and above all, learn.
Copyright © 2009 GoDaddy.com, Inc. All rights reserved
Business/News & Views® is a business newsletter published monthly. To subscribe, visit Business/News & Views® Sign-up.
There is no annual subscription fee. Business/News & Views® is a registered trademark of Weatherholt & Associates, LLC. Copyright © 2008-2009 Weatherholt & Associates LLC. All rights reserved worldwide. The content of this newsletter may not be redistributed without the express written consent of Weatherholt & Associates LLC. Individual editorials, articles and essays appearing on this site may be republished, but only with full attribution, which must include the author and Business/News & Views® as well as a link to http://www.waconsult.com.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is provided with the understanding that the publisher and author are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services though this newsletter. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
Business/News & Views® / by David. W. Weatherholt
ISBN: 978-0-9823041-1-2 (electronic format)
Published in the United States of America through www.waconsult.com
Published in an electronic format by Weatherholt & Associates, LLC
First Trade Publishing: October 2008
Newsletter designed by Zoo in a Jungle Marketing, Graphics by Getty Images