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| 1. |
Animation,
gimmicks, and Flash. While most designers
understand that Web surfers want to go straight
to the content, there are some who still insist
on either making you sit through a splash page,
while others offer annoying flashing graphics.
Studies show that no matter how well-intentioned
these splash screens are, their main effect is
to drive traffic away from the site. |
| 2. |
In-your-face advertising. While standard pop-up ads are annoying, persistent
full-screen
ads are simply unacceptable. Visitors detest these,
and most will leave the site rather than waiting
for the ad to go away. |
| 3. |
Navigation nightmares. It is optimal for your users to be able to get
where
they want to go in two clicks or less. If it takes
more than that, many will leave. Too many choices,
no site map, a "back" button that does
not take them to the last page they visited, and
other such navigation mistakes will cost you many
customers. |
| 4. |
Being unreachable. As
concerns about security and identity theft increase,
users want to be able to reach the people with
whom they are doing business. Providing an email
address and a phone number can help assuage your
customers' concerns. |
| 5. |
No place for feedback,
comments, or questions. Customers appreciate it
when they feel you value their feedback. Providing
a feedback or comment system is an easy way to
start creating this goodwill. And it is also
a great way to gain insight into how your customers
think and get ideas for improving your site. |
| 6. |
Cramming and crowding. You
can have great content, but if it is lost in a sea
of words or graphics, people will miss it. A little
white space on a page goes a long way. It helps a
reader find specific items, differentiate between
areas of content and advertisements, and provides
a more professional look. Also, making your text
large enough for the baby boomers to read more easily
can be important. |
| 7. |
Jargon. Business-to-business
and high-tech sites are usually the worst offenders
in packing their content with jargon. When writing
any content for your site, keep the user in mind.
He or she may not know all the arcane phrases or
acronyms of your business. It’s useful to just
provide the basic facts of what your business is
all about and what services or products you provide.
Of course, having a more technical reference page
for viewers who want that also adds credibility. |
| 8. |
Bad graphics and boring
photos. Bad graphics make your site look amateurish. Make
sure
the colors and text you use will show up clearly
(and fit) on a range of monitors, including handheld
devices. When you choose your photos and graphics,
choose interesting graphics that say something
about your business. |
| 9. |
Torturing potential customers
with forms. When a user fills out a form online and
needs to either
change something or fill in a field which they left
blank, they should be able to go back and make that
change without losing the information they already
entered. Do not make the user start all over again.
Many people will leave the site altogether rather
than re-enter all their information. |
| 10. |
Presenting products or
services in only one way. Shoppers should be able to look
up a product or service by any
one of several methods. Assuming that everyone
is shopping by the same set of criteria is a mistake,
especially when it is very easy to allow people
to sort by any of several methods. Make it easy
to shop by product type, alphabetically, by size,
by gender, by manufacturer, or by any other criteria
shoppers are likely to use for the products/services
you sell. |
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A Few Other
Common Mistakes
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Use of Frames |
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Scrolling Text, Marquees, and Constantly
Running Animations |
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Complex URLs |
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Orphan Pages |
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Long Scrolling Pages |
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Lack of Navigation Support |
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Non-Standard Link Colors |
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Outdated Information |
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Overly Long Download Times |
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Legibility problems due to small fonts
and low contrast |
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Non-standard links that violate common
expectations |
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Flash with no purpose beyond annoying
people |
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Browser incompatibility |
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No contact information or other company
information |
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Photo enlargements that don’t show
the users the details they expect |
