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Thirty Plus Amazing Ways to RUIN Your Web Site and Your Business
* All advertising - blatant advertising - no other real incentive to visit.
* Takes ages to download - usually caused by too many bells and whistles,
too many graphics, using the darkest background possible.
* Poor overall appearance, usually caused by lack of pre-planning or rushing to finish
the site to begin marketing fast. Sorry, you are going to be very disappointed!
* Spelling, grammar, typing mistakes.
* Too many fonts causing gaudy, unprofessional, eye-burning impression.
* Under Construction Signs which seem to last and last and last forever.
* No offline contact information.
* Worse still, no online contact information, just a 'click here' to order button.
* Too many graphics.
* Too many animated graphics. Animated graphics increase download times,
too many increase eyestrain for visitors! If in doubt, use one, or none!
* Large, slow-loading graphics. (Unless it's a new picture of Robert Redford, of
course, in which case I'll wait all day for that!) Seriously, unless people are desperate
for the graphic concerned, leave it out!
* Conflicting variety of graphics, some black and white, some coloured, some photographic,
some artist drawn, some cartoons!
* Gaudy conflicting colours - black on white looks good, black on most pastel
shades looks good. Yellow and orange on pink with a splash of lilac
thrown in for good measure? No!
* Unprofessional or off-putting business or site name. For example Icon Graphics (I Con!),
Smut.com, Gasworks Row Publishing Company.
* Lifting someone else's designs, business idea, products, site content. (Note you can use virtually
anything you find as a basis for designing or creating your own products, services, sites, and such).
Go too far however and you risk not only gaining a bad reputation but you could also be sued
for breach of copyright, 'passing off', damages, and more.
* Poor navigation - no advice or buttons and links to guide visitors through your site -
don't worry too much about this, they won't be offended; they won't stay long enough to be offended!
* Broken links - make a point of checking your site thoroughly every few weeks or so.
Preferably more often.
* Missing graphics leaving just an empty box - 'unprofessional' and 'uncaring' go nowhere near describing how most visitors feel confronted by this top marketing mistake.
* Frames that don't match other people's browsers. I wonder why people use frames at all
when half their target audience is unable to view their sites effectively!
* Long, long pages that continue forever! Yawn! When will I reach the part I want?
* Over-long pages that omit huge chunks of text from print-outs. Overcome this by printing out your
pages, working out where UK and US and other size pages end and leave a gap in your
text to accommodate different page sizes.
* Better still, arrange your text over several pages with convenient navigation points for
accessing later information. For example 'Continue', 'More', 'Next'.
* Wide web site pages that eliminate much of the right side of the page on print-outs.
Rather than the 'wide' page option on your web design software, go for 'normal' or 'standard' instead.
* Animated bullets that detract from the message or link address.
* Busy backgrounds that detract from the text and advertising messages. Remember you're not here to create a pretty site, you're here to sell, sell, sell!
* Too many banners on a site selling your own products. A few banners are harmless, they'll probably attract profits for you. But too many will detract from your sales pitch. There is an exception, however, which I have seen used very capably, in the form of several web sites which obviously sell nothing but other firms' products, where banners are laid out in a specific, non-obtrusive manner, such as centred individually down the page, or laid in table-fashion three or four across the page and several columns deep. Place banners all over the shop and you'll accomplish nothing!
* Fonts too large (hard on the eyes), fonts too small (even harder on the eyes).
* Pop-up messages - often a sign of using a free web site, free web space, or just not caring too much about your site! Visitors won't care too much either, they'll just move elsewhere!
* Poor layout. Visitors must like what they see, first time, or they'll move on. If your site looks disorganised, they'll assume your business operates in haphazard fashion, too! First impressions, remember!
* Music playing in the background and no way visitors can switch it off! Bear in mind, some people find music inspiring, soothing, very considerate and professional of the webmaster to include! Others find it a @*&&^^@ intrusion, off-putting, a real concentration stopper! Play it safe, either leave it out and suit everyone, or place a 'turn it off' sign somewhere prominent.
* Multi-coloured text, worse still if the colours clash!
* Different backgrounds and layouts on every page and all very busy, gaudy with colours
that clash and, oh dear, I'll move on now!
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