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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.
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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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