Avoid Music! In the 1990s everyone had music on their websites. Now it is just tacky. It is unwelcoming to have music blaring while a site is loading and to have no way to avoid it. Loud music blasting while your page is loading (with no way to turn it off) can be extremely annoying and inconvenient to people who are visiting your website while at work, watching television, or listening to music of their own choosing. Leave Off The Blinking Text & Animation! This was a popular sight in the 1990s, but it is unwelcome today. Even though you may really enjoy using your animation skills, keep in mind that your professional website is not the place to show them off. Animations can cause your site to look very amateurish. Keep Animated Ads to a Minimum! These can be extremely annoying to your user and may cause them to leave your website.
Small Colored Fonts Small fonts sometimes look nice on the screen, however the bad thing is that people can’t always see it. If people can’t see the site, they will log off and look for another site. Using colored letters may also make it difficult to see, specifically if the web designer puts a light font on a pale background or a dark font on a black background. Different Browser Windows A different browser window popping up for each page of the site can be very irritating to the user. When people are looking at a site, they don’t want ten windows to open up. Rather, a different window should only be opened for links that connect the user to an outside site.
New Browser Windows Don’t have every page on your site opening in a new browser window. This is unnecessary and annoying. Nobody needs 10 windows open while browsing a website. Just use new browser windows for links that take your user away to another site. Doorway Pages Remember that Doorway Pages are associated with unscrupulous SEO tactics (i.e. Black Hat SEO). They are also used by people who are showing off how well they can design a Flash page. Either way, for a professional site, they should be avoided. A doorway passage is just an added step. It’s just one more thing for the user to click on. By and large, avoid doorway pages.
Unmarked PDF Files Surprise PDF files are a real turn-off. It is great to have PDF files. They are a fabulous resource, but nobody likes to be surprised by them. They should be clearly identified. Many computers have a hard time handling PDF files. Some even freeze up, so it is important to let people know they are about to open a PDF file. Hard to Decipher CAPTCHA Under no circumstance, include unreadable “CAPTCHA’s”. Of course, “CAPTCHA’s” are a necessary component of spam intervention; however, some of them are impossible for real humans to read. Most users are extremely frustrated and annoyed by “CAPTCHA’s”.
Remembering to avoid making these web design errors, in addition to obtaining feedback from professionals, can help prevent you from creating a poor website.
Stephen Grisham, Sr. is a copy writer for InfoServe Media, LLC. Please visit if you are looking to create a website, or if you just need a few changes to an existing site, InfoServe Media also offers website maintenance.
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