35 Deadly Website Sins That will Kill Your Business!
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.
If you're serious about designing a successful website, I highly
recommend Ken Evoy's ebook, "Make Your Site Sell." No matter
what you want your Website to sell, MYSS shows you how, like no
other book or program ever has.
http://www.sitesell.com/websource.html