Flash screensavers on the first page of the site
Flash screensavers on the first page of the site, probably the most dangerous mistake of corporate sites. Firstly – the page with the splash screen is loaded for a long time. Nevertheless, I want to remind you in most cases corporate websites are created for commercial purposes.
Secondly – the pages are badly indexed by search engines. So, it is necessary to invest much more effort (and money) in website promotion. The decision, whether this beautiful splash screen at the beginning, which the lucky ones, waiting for the completion of the download, will miss without looking, worth it, is up to you.
Bulky design
Electronic version of the company's booklet. The abundance of images, a complex font that either does not display as it should on the user's computer, or is translated into a picture, which further increases the page size (and hence the load time), does not contribute to optimization. How to deal with this? Remove all the unnecessary, abandoning the visual series, which do not carry a semantic load. At the same time, if you are lucky to have a good web developer, your site will only benefit. By the way, the trend of web design in recent years is the minimization of graphic images in favor of an interesting structural organization and skillfully selected fonts. Moreover, there is even a rule of 15%. It is just as much of the page area (maybe less) that graphic items should have.
Many companies place images of products on their websites. In this case, it is recommended to have smaller versions of the image on the page, and place the photos on separate pages that are opened when clicking on the corresponding picture.
Incomprehensible site navigation system
There are many ways to make it difficult for a visitor to search for information on the site. For starters, you can simply hide the panel far away – for example, by lowering it down the page, for the scroll bar. You can place at the top, above the banner, in the so-called “blind area” (all that is above the placement of the top banner, is usually ignored by the visitors).
A good way to get the visitor to break his head is to use a variety of pictograms as a navigation system. In addition, the harder and more ambiguously they are – the better (it is not about the “envelope” that has become a classic badge for reference to the company's electronic mailbox and some other universal symbols).
Well, the easiest way to get a visitor to “wander” around the site is to hide the information he needs in some subsection. It often happens that the invitation to cooperate for wholesalers, for example, is hidden in the subsection “about the company” or “our products”, and even there is disguised under the mysterious word “partners”. If you are not sure how easy it is to navigate your site – ask a few of your friends (who have not seen your site before) to find certain information. Well, watch yourself how easy it will be for them to do it. At the same time, you will get tips for improving. Do not forget the classic rule of navigation – reaching any point of the site with two mouse clicks. In addition, for accuracy, place one more menu item – a link to the site map – only in such a way you can be sure that you will save even the most dysfunctional clients.
Missing contact information
The need to have contact information on EVERY page of the site on a visible place is constantly discussed. Still a lot of sites hide much needed information for the potential client as far as possible. In general, a few more tips: by publishing contact phones do not forget to specify the city code (!!!) and of course, contact information on the corporate site must contain the address of the electronic box. This is the law of the genre, so to speak. The main thing is for this box to be working! Too often, even on the sites of very large companies, there are dead electronic boxes. Perhaps at the time of launching the site they were alive, but eventually they were replaced (because of SPAM, for example) and nobody changed them on the site itself. As a result – failed customers, lost income …
Incomplete homepage
Perhaps the worst option that can be presented for the main page is the director's greeting or the happy faces of the staff. The main task of the main page is to make it clear which information the site contains. In other words, strive to identify all the proposals that may interest the visitor and try to place them above the scroll line.
In addition, of course, do not forget to focus on the very name of the company, more precisely its logo. In general, the main page of the site, while maintaining a single stylistic solution should be markedly different from the rest of the pages.
Lack of search function
If your site contains more than 100 pages, it makes sense to add a search function. It greatly facilitates the search for necessary information and somewhat negates the existing shortcomings of navigation. In this case, the length of the input line should be sufficient to make it convenient not only to enter the searched text, but also to correct it if necessary.
However, it is not necessary to go to extremes by placing on the site a search line with the ability to search information on the entire Internet.
Unreadable text
Unreadable text can be made both by the “skill” of its authors, abusing professional terms, loving ornate words or lengthy digressions, and the very presentation of the text. Often you have to deal with pages, the text on which is a continuous sheet without paragraphs, subheadings and accents. The advice is simple – put the paragraphs, subheadings and accents in the text. The general rule is: one thought – one paragraph. Moreover, the more concisely this idea is expressed, the better.
Non-updatable information
It's not enough just to make a website, you need to constantly maintain and update it. Optimum – at least once a month.
Superfluous functions
It is great to use of all the possibilities of modern site building. The main thing is to really use them! Think about whether you really need a guest book or forum on the site. Do you have a person in the staff who will be involved in its promotion and administration. Too often, these sections turn into garbage, filled with SPAM of porn sites and networkers.
Just in case!
The most important error is the creation of a site without a specific goal. Just to keep up with the competition. In such cases, as a rule, there are miraculous screensavers, elaborate design, numerous forums, bulletin boards, guest books and outdated information along with dead mailboxes.
About the author: Melisa Marzett is a prominent writer. She is a woman with fantastic talent for writing. Her imagination and ideas will impress you. Read her posts at http://onlineclassmentor.com.