Top 5 Website Design Fails

I'm writing this as a user, not a designer. Whether I'm searching for professional services, shopping, looking for entertainment, or doing research, I want to land on websites that give me what I want without distracting me with crap. So as a user, here is my list of the top 5 website design fails.

1. Stock Photography

Stock photography can be good at times when it's used sparingly and in the right places. But when it's not good, it's really, really, really annoying. When I see pictures on every page of random people in a conference room looking over a chart or talking on their headsets at their computers, I lose it. I just want to grab whoever found and posted those pictures and ask: "Who are these people? Why are they all smiling at each other? Do you know them? Are you friends?" Just be original, and take your own photos or at least put up a picture I can get something out of.

2. Background Audio

Whether it's background music or that little lady that pops up and tells you how to use the site like I'm a moron, I don't want to hear anything unless I click the "Play" button on a video or audio file. And don't make me scroll down to search for a way to shut the noise off. I'm just going to leave.

3. Ads

Why you advertising a bunch of nonsense that doesn't have anything to do with the content on your website? You look like a cheap magazine. If you're going to have banner ads, keep 'em simple. Keep 'em relevant. Keep 'em at a minimum.

4. Grammatical Errors

I spell words wrong all of the time, but when I do, I'm writing too fast in a personal notebook. I'd never publish anything on the Web that I didn't spell check first. I sometimes see pages and pages full of errors that a 3rd grader could point out (no offense to 3rd graders). Either take some spelling and grammar classes, run your content through spell check a few times, or don't publish your website. It's unprofessional and detracting.

5. Too Many Links

When you have 15 lime green hyper links in one paragraph, I'm not going to read that paragraph. I'm going to leave. Just show me one or two links that point to pages I might find interesting. Don't barf on me with over-optimization.

Now I'm Speaking to the Business Owner

You're on the Internet to get found and impress, right? Well how is it working for you so far? As a Utah web design agency, we've taken businesses from zero to hero on the Web because we know what consumers in certain markets are looking for visually and interactively in a website.

Call our designers at (855) 238-8444, and ask them about how we can make you stand out above your competitors.