35 Deadly Website Sins That will Kill Your Business!
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Shelley Lowery December 22, 2004
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After reviewing
thousands of web sites over the past couple of years for my Exceptional Sites
Award, I have come to the conclusion that many business web sites are missing
the boat.
For example; I've
been working on some offline promotions and was searching for a simple targeted
mailing list. I searched through about twenty sites and not one of those sites
were, what I would consider, professional. Their standard blue links were
enlarged to about a size 16 font, busy backgrounds, flashing images and very
unorganized.
Did I purchase a
mailing list from any of those sites? Absolutely not. Why? The way I see it, if
those companies don't take pride in their web sites, chances are, they won't
take pride in their products either. Large linked text and flashing graphics
won't make sales.
Your web site is a
direct reflection of you and your business. The appearance of your site is the
most important factor in determining your sites value. In other words, if your
site doesn't look professional or pleasing to the eyes at first glance, its
perceived value and the value of your products and services will be low.
On the other hand,
you may have a great web site, well designed and a quality product or service,
but if it takes too long to load, the value will still be perceived as low. Why?
Because your potential customer won't wait. Ultimately costing you
business.
Another
consideration of great importance is your content. Not just links, but content
with value. When someone is surfing the net and they visit your web site,
they're visiting for a reason. Your site has something they want. Whether it is
your product, service or information, that's why they're there. If they don't
find what they're looking for, they move on to the next site and so on. If you
want your visitors to stay at your site, provide the quality content they're
looking for in a nicely organized fashion. Give them a reason to want to explore
your site and to continue to visit your site in the future.
After receiving
many questions, in regard to site design, from my visitors who weren't selected
to receive an award, I have devised a list of what I refer to as "35 Deadly Web
Site Sins".
- Poor load
time - Poor overall appearance - Spelling/Grammar - No contact
information - Poor content - Poor navigation - Broken links and
graphics - Poor browser compatibility - Large slow loading graphics -
Too many graphics - Pages scrolling to oblivion - Multiple use of animated
graphics - Animated bullets - Too many graphic and/or line dividers -
Busy, distracting backgrounds - Multiple banners and buttons - Poor use of
frames - Large fonts - Pop up messages - Over use of java - Poor use
of tables - Poor organization - Different backgrounds on each page -
Over powering music set to autoplay - Confusing - Too much
advertising - Large Welcome banners - Multiple colored text - Text
difficult to read - No Meta tags - Multiple use of different fonts -
Under construction signs - Scrolling text in the status bar - Large
scrolling text across the page - Poor use of mouse over effects
Take some time to
really look at your site. Compare it to sites that you feel look professional.
Time your sites load time. Your customers won't wait. Their time is
valuable.
The simple, well
designed sites make the sales. If your sales aren't what you had hoped , take
some time to seriously evaluate your site and make some changes before spending
your time and money on advertising and marketing. You may be pleasantly
surprised. |