Everyone has at one time or another visited a website only to sit and wonder in amazement how the site is even functioning. The graphics are awful and juvenile-looking. The font is hard to read, either because it’s too fancy or it’s too small.
The links don’t work, or they take you to a completely unrelated page that’s not relevant to the site. It’s all enough to make you very exasperated and click away as you mumble not-so-kind words under your breath.
There are mediocre sites that may need slightly tweaking and adjusting, and then there are bad sites. Those are the sites that shouldn’t even be allowed on the web, let alone actually trying to operate as a business. So what is it about certain websites that makes them so unbelievably bad, that you cannot imagine how they’ve even survived on the Internet?
There are some websites that defy all logic and still maintain a web presence and (seemingly) operate. But in reality, the site is not at all profitable or even efficient. Listed are a few things you can learn from those sites that leave you scratching your head in wonder.
Music and Blinking Banners
Not even if you blink your eyes faster than Dorothy can click her shoes, the Wonderful Website of Awful that you’ve found yourself in is not going to go away. Webmasters often make the grave mistake of thinking that everyone enjoys their music choices and want to be bombarded with it every time they visit your site.
That isn’t so. It’s actually quite annoying to click on a site and the music blasts at you without warning. Also, those annoying blinking banners that scream “click, click, click, buy, buy, buy” don’t go over so well either.
Professional sites don’t need and shouldn’t use these crutches to make their sites stand out. They actually cheapen websites and make your business look amateurish. Yes, even if your music is way cool and finger-popping, it drastically impedes your website’s mission, and that is to get and keep visitors.
Loud Colors
Colors that look great offline don’t always have the same effect online. Actually, they never have the same effect online. It’s also not a good idea to mix loud colors with patterns and graphic textures because it will create a jumbled-looking page. Even if the colors look good alone, it’s hard for the visitor’s eyes to focus if the colors on their screen are harsh and overpowering.
It’s a safe measure to stay with soft, muted colors for website designs. If you must use strong colors, make sure you use a professional palette color software application just to make sure you get the desired effect. Colors have the same effect as the loud music does. It’s a turn-off and will get visitors to click away very, very fast.
Conclusion
It’s not at all true that if something is working, that you emulate it or even continue to do it. Websites that follow the offenses listed above are only gaining one thing: click-aways. Make sure your site isn’t one of them. Here are a few helpful resources for you:
- Survey software can help you determine if the quality of your website has increased.
- Web Analytics 101: What You Need to Know: if you are pretty new to this stuff, start with this overview
- Regular Expressions – Don’t Use Google Analytics Without Them: a more advanced guide on making the most of Google Analytics.
