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Top 10 Biggest Mistakes of Website Design
By Scott Whitney
Copyright © 2002
All Rights Reserved
Here's a seemingly easy question: What is the goal of EVERY website in
the world?
Ask this question of most website developers, and the answer will be
the same; "Uh, that depends on what you want, Mr. Cu$tomer."
The *real* answer, however, is quite clear:
The goal of EVERY website in the world is to increase the probability
of engagement (with the visitor, so you can sell, support, or tell
your story), and decrease the risk of exit (from the site, resulting
in competitive engagement).
To that end, there are three (3) areas of interest that must be
addressed when developing and maintaining a website:
~ Technical
~ Design
~ Marketing
Technical Mistakes
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1. Not taking advantage of the medium (or, I Can't Breathe!).
Surprisingly enough, some of the BIGGEST Websites in the world fail to
actually put the technology available to them to work. What do we
mean? Specifically, DOES THE SITE B-R-E-A-T-H-E?
A Breathe-able site is one that is able to automatically reformat its
content to fit a user's screen, regardless of their screen size. When
designing a website, in order to make the experience pleasurable and
as user-friendly as possible, make sure that regardless of the
visitor's screen size, the contents fits perfectly. In other words, if
you design your site for a user with a 640 x 480 screen, anybody with
a bigger screen (800 x 600, 1024 x 768, etc.) will be forced to look
at a BUNCH of white space.
Interestingly enough, folks who come from the desktop publishing world
create many of the sites that do this. And while they often make
pretty Websites, theirs is a world where a dynamic, re-sizable "page"
didn't exist. Well, it does today, so if you REALLY want to make the
experience a pleasurable one for your visitor, take the time to make
your site BREATHE!
2. Forcing a visitor to scroll from left to right
Have you even been to a Website where you found yourself having to
scroll the screen left to right to read all the content? Chances are,
you have. Chances are also that after a while, you decided against
doing much of it. This is mainly because, while it is intuitive to
read down a page, it's less so left to right.
The visual distraction of having content cut off the right side is
very disconcerting. You'll see a great many sites do this for the
simple reason that the developer forced an absolute size width of his
web page, instead of allowing it to fit within the users screen (see
#1). Bottom line? If you make your visitor scroll from left to right,
they'll likely stroll to another site.
3. Dead Links
There really is no excuse for this one. Every Website development
environment worth its salt has the ability to check the integrity of
all its internal links. And although it may not be able to check the
integrity of links that lead a user somewhere outside of your site, if
it's important enough to link to, isn't it important enough to see if
it exists?
Design Mistakes
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4. Ransom Note Design
Sites that suffer from this mistake fall into three categories;
~ Sites that spent time on creating a nice home page, but forgot that
a visitor might actually go beyond that page,
~ Sites whose webmaster is determined to use every color, font,
graphic, and animated logo and cool Flash movie he can get his hands
on, and
~ Sites that fail to use a consistent formatting technique.
For those folks in the first category, you're simply setting up your
visitor to be VERY disappointed once he ventures beyond your opening
screen. It also implies a lack of follow through and continuity, which
does not reflect well on the Website owner.
Our friends in the second category are no different then the people
who couldn't wait to try every font available when WYSIWYG word
processors came out. Problem is, nobody reads this stuff. Period.
And folks in the third category choose to underline words leading
people to believe they're hyperlinks or forget to use consistent font
formatting (ie serif versus san serif fonts) on similar pages. Besides
looking goofy, it again reflects poorly on the Website owner's
attention to detail.
5. Poor Navigational Method
Simply put, if a user can't tell where he is within a given website,
at all times, they will eventually become disoriented. There should
always be a consistent navigational method through the site that
allows the user to know exactly where he is, and how he can get
elsewhere. If you make it hard for your visitors to find their way
around your site, they'll find their way to somebody else's site.
6. Graphics (Yes, Size Does Matter)
There is nothing more annoying then waiting minutes for a page to
load. And while many folks are connecting to the Internet much faster
than ever before, if you don't design your site for the lowest common
denominator, you'll end up turning away the vast majority of users who
still surf the web at modem speeds.
We understand that graphics make for a much more visually appealing
environment. Just make sure to use the smallest graphic size possible.
7. Browser Bias
Oh sure, it would appear that Microsoft rules the world, but does that
mean all other browsers should concede defeat? NEVER!
When designing a website, it is important to recognize that although
the Microsoft browser owns the majority of the browser market, it does
not own it all! Depending on the site (and more importantly, the
content of the site), I have seen the Microsoft browser accounting for
between 50 - 80% of the traffic. That means that 20 - 50% of the users
ARE NOT using the Microsoft browser. This, my friends, is important to
remember!
The test of a great website designer is that he/she ensures that their
site looks and responds the same, regardless of the browser being
used. The truth is, without exception, almost EVERY website I inspect
fails this test.
Why? Because most WYSIWYG design programs do not write code that works
the same for all browsers. And most designers are too lazy to take the
time and test their work in both the Netscape and Microsoft browsers
(Opera & Mozilla too, for that matter).
Because the goal of every website in the WORLD is the same, designing
a site that ignores a particular browser is tantamount to designing a
site that ignores a particular visitor. Ask your sale, support, or
marketing VP if they want to ignore upwards of 50% of their visitors.
Once they get off the floor, they'll answer that question with the
obvious response.
Marketing Mistakes
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8. Lacking a Clearly Defined Message.
It is surprising how many folks rush out to show off their latest
design triumph without asking themselves this simple question, "Who is
your target audience?" Without being able to clearly articulate who
you're trying to attract, you'll have a very difficult time designing
a site that gets your message across.
Equally important is to realize that having too many targets is as
risky as not having any. Just as you can't be all things to all
people, neither can a well designed Website. Pick your target, and
you'll be surprised how much easier it is to decide what should or
should not go on your site.
9. Stagnation is not Where Single Deer Live.
Unless you are about to close the doors on your company, there is
always something web-worthy for your site. By establishing a pattern
of constantly adding or changing information on your site, you'll
entice visitors to keep coming back for more. Can't think of anything
to add? Then why should a visitor return?
10. Under Construction
Do not invite a customer to a section that has not been completed.
Either hide the section, or get enough content in that area to make it
valuable. Anything less is a waste of the visitor's time, and is
disappointing.
Even more concerning; if a visitor believes a section/page of your
site is "always under construction", the chances that he'll mosey that
way when you have completed it are nil.
________________________________
Scott Whitney is a speaker, trainer, consultant, author and expert in
website development and broadcast campaign marketing. Visual examples
of the above mistakes, along with five bonus "mistakes" is yours free
at http://www.whitcom.com.
Scott Whitney
swhitney@whitcom.com
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