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Top 10 Ways Websites Makes Me Suffer
believe some people ways that a website misses the
create and publish websites boat and contributes to hair loss
for the sole purpose of and nervous breakdowns. Notice
tormenting their visitors. the common thread that runs
Browsing various websites and throughout each of these. Namely,
navigating the Web can often be a bad website neglects to
like trying to read on an consider the site visitor's
airplane while a kid kicks the experience in some fundamental
back of your seat and the baby ways.
next to you alternates between
screaming, crying and drooling on 1. Animation
you. There are some excellent Seven year-olds like watching
websites out there to be sure, animated cartoons on Saturday
but there are also a lot of morning, business people,
dreadful ones too. The latter are professionals and most other
the bane of so many people's adults don't. Sites that include
existence, especially those who showy Flash animations as an
use the Web regularly. ‘Intro', animated gifs on every
page, or flying words are really
The Net continues to grow in annoying. They take away from the
popularity and importance for content and distract the visitor
consumers and businesses alike. from achieving their goals.
Therefore, the quality of sites Unless your site is an
needs to keep pace. Creating and entertainment site, try to avoid
maintaining high-quality websites maddening motion. However, if
is more important now than ever. your product or service can be
Higher quality equals more better demonstrated using Flash,
revenue. Quick Time, or other multimedia,
which is common, offer your
The following lists the top ten visitors the chance to click a
link to view it. But don't force to read text on the Web than in
them. other mediums such as books.
Additionally, Web users are
2. Too much scrolling notoriously impatient, so make
Once I scroll down a full your content easy to read and
screen's worth, my eyes start to non-intimidating. Use titles,
blur, I feel slightly lost, my sub-titles, small paragraphs,
head spins and my interest wanes. bullets and numbering.
Computer monitors really aren't
the best medium for reading. The 4. No obvious ways to contact the
Net and many sites are so big company
that it's important to always If all you supply is an email on
provide a clear frame of your website, your legitimacy may
reference for your visitors at be questioned. Why can't you
all times while they're on your answer the phone? Why hide behind
site. If a page requires two full an anonymous and cold email
screens of scrolling or more, address? Make it easy for your
simply split it up into multiple existing and potential customers
pages. to talk with you.
3. Long, text-heavy and blocky 5. Unchanging or out-date content
paragraphs of unbroken text If I start reading content on a
I really have to be into a topic site and soon discover that the
or desperately need to glean the content was written three years
information to trudge through big ago, I split. Since there's so
chunks of unbroken text online. much information out there, my
If I'm just shopping around for a reasoning is there's got to be
product or service, you've lost comparable information online
me if I have to endure this kind that's more current. If you keep
of torture. Again, it is harder your content fresh your site will
attract repeat visitors. And really don't bode well for
repeat visitors are more likely keeping the interest of site
to turn into customers. visitors. On the other hand,
sites that speak directly to
6. Long page downloads potential customers about how
It's amazing that this is still a they can solve their problems,
problem. When I click on to a make their lives easier, safer,
site and have to sit there richer or more comfortable have a
waiting for it to appear in my much better chance of keeping the
browser, I start sweating, eyeballs glued.
picking my teeth, tapping my
toes, rolling my eyes and soon 8. Non-explanatory buttons or
want to throw my computer through links
my office window. I'm obviously a Here are some examples of buttons
little impatient, but again, I that leave me dazed and confused:
know there are other sites out A wedding site with a button
there with the same information called ‘Blanks', a boating site
that will download more quickly, with a button named ‘The
so why wait? I'm gone. Lighthouse', a book site with a
button called ‘The Inside
7. "Me, me, me!" instead of "You, Story', or a Web design site with
you, you" a button called ‘Tea Time'.
Generally speaking, no one cares They sound like Jeopardy
about you, your company or your categories. Imagine trying to
thoughts. What they do care about find your way on a highway where
is what you can do for them. So its various signs read ‘Over
sites that show pictures of the Here', ‘Moon Beams', and
company building or tout their ‘Lollypops'. Good luck
deep philosophy on the way navigating your way through. It's
business should be conducted the same with navigating
websites. Button and link names navigation system each time they
need to tell the visitor where enter another section of your
the link leads to. Make it as site. They too are hungry; for
easy as possible for a visitor to useful information and they're
know where they're going before even more impatient.
they click. However, there are
times when naming a link an 10. Inconsistent look & feel
ambiguous name may pique the When the look & feel completely
curiosity of a user and get them changes from one page to another
to click on it. But as a general in a website, I think I am
rule, keep your links and buttons visiting another site, another
as descriptive as possible. company, a partner or subsidiary.
I get very confused. This screams
9. Inconsistent navigation poor planning and often results
Imagine sitting down at a from tacking on new sections
restaurant and the waiter comes later after the original site was
over to you and hands you five built. This can lead to
different menus, one for the design-drift. It may be tempting
appetizers, one for the soups and to stray from the original
salads, one for the entrees, one design; you may have a better
for the desserts, and one for the design now. But wait till you do
drinks. Annoying. Now imagine if a complete next-generation
each menu had a different format, re-design of the entire site
layout and method for listing the before introducing a new look &
items. Brutal. I really don't feel. If not, lots of visitors
want to work that hard at picking will be scratching their heads
out my dinner, I'm hungry and I with one hand and possibly
just want a meal. Don't make your clicking away with the other.
visitors work hard either by
expecting them to re-learn your Finally, any site that employs a
number of these notorious scream and know deep down inside
features is particularly painful that pulling my fingernails out
to experience. When I click to a wouldn't be as torturous as
website that has five different having to remain there a minute
fonts and colors, scrolls down to longer.
the core of the Earth,
incorporates zinging words and Jason OConnor
big fat blocks of text, lists no Copyright 2004
phone number and has content
written and dated in 1996, I
About the Author:
Jason OConnor owns and operates Oak Web Works, LLC http://www.OakWebWorks.com - the synthesis of Web marketing, design, and technology. Jason also runs http://www.BestShowTicketsLasVegas.com where you can buy Las Vegas, Broadway Show & Concert Tour Tickets. mailto: joconnor888@hotmail.com
Read more articles by: Jason OConnor
Article Source: www.iSnare.com
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