By: Shelley Lowery
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
About The Author
Shelley Lowery is the Webmaster of Web-Source.net
- A complete resource portal for the Internet entrepreneur.
The site assists the entrepreneur in developing a
serious Web presence by providing a wealth of free
information, resources, tools and content. http://www.web-source.net
