Ten Things That Make a Website Fail

Some web designers (mostly the inexperienced ones) have the tendency to incorporate every design element they know on the websites they are building in the hopes of creating stunning sites that would attract more visitors.  However, more design elements does not necessarily translate into more visitors.  In fact, some features can be more of a distraction to users than a compelling request to make them make the desired action. Web design should focus on providing resources that the targeted audience is looking for, not on the designer/programmer's skill level. This is why it is advisable for companies to get the help of professional designers and developers when planning a custom web design project.  Below are some of the most common no-no's that should be avoided when implementing a custom web design.

1.  Background Music.  Loud and meaningless music is a sure-fire way to make people click on the back button! Remember, don't impose your musical preference to everybody: a soothing music to you may be annoying to your audience. If you are keen on putting music on your site, provide visitors with an accessible option to turn it off.

2.  Pop Up Windows.  Don't you just hate it when you are suddenly attacked by a barrage of pop-up windows? I do and i am not alone.  Most people would move on to other sites and swear to never ever come back than deal with the irritating pop-ups.

3.  Huge flash animation.  Sure it's pretty and really jazzes up a page but not everybody is on a high speed internet connection. Most people will wait two minutes maximum for a page to load, more than that and they'll hit the back button or click on another site faster than the speed of light!

4.  Slow page load. Usually caused by cheap web hosting, too many images, un-optimized graphics, or poor coding, a page that takes forever to load is a bane for any kind of website. Most visitors will leave and find a faster site.

5.  Terrible grammar and spelling. Reading poorly written text is not only annoying, it also negatively affects visitors' perception of your website and your company. How could people trust you if a third grader writes better sentences than you do? Grammar and spell checkers are readily available on your computer, why not use them? Better yet, hire a copywriter/editor to take care of your content.

6.  Moving objects here, there, everywhere. Flashing banners, animated graphics, words scrolling, a string of fireworks chasing your mouse pointer. They strain the eyes and cause headaches! Limit the use of moving or flashing object on your site, one per page is more than enough.

7.  Wrong font size – Huge fonts are perfect for websites targetting people with reading disabilities, but if not then you are shouting and nobody ever wants to be shouted at. Fonts that are too small, on the other hand, are difficult to read and make you seem like whisphering to your audience. Always use the right font size for your site.

8.  Missing contact information.  A visitor have found the item she's been looking for for the longest time in your and she's ready to buy.  However, she cannot find the infortion on how to make the purchase or even a way to contact anyone. Frustrated and mad, the prospective customer left your website with a promise in her heart: never to return. Don't forget to include contact information, or a contact link, on every page of your site, so your visitors can contact you if they want to buy something, make an inquiry or simply buy your domain for $10,000.

9.  Other things that should be avoided are links that don't look like links, orphan pages or those which you failed to supply links with and alien pages or those that don't have the same look and feel of the rest of your website thus leaving users feeling like they’ve been suddenly transported to a website from another planet.

10. Navigation tabs and buttons that don't work. Getting lost in a website is frustrating. You can lose a lot of prospective customers if you leave visitors clueless on how to move around your website.  Always make it a point to provide easy-to-use navigation keys to encourage visitors to click around on your site and check out different sections.

Do you need professionals to help you come up with a custom web design?  We can help you get the effective website you want at a price you can afford.  Contact us now for a free quote.