Original: whatUseek.com, Newsletter 2002-08-21

Top 21 Web Site Mistakes

I have seen so many web sites make the same mistakes over 
and over again. You can easily avoid them! Just run through
this list of mistakes and crucial points, and double check
your  site! 
1. Using Free Hosting: This looks very unprofessional. 
Browsers may well think if you aren't willing to pay the 
$20/month for hosting, you aren't very serious about your 
business. 
2. No Domain Name: The same thing goes for not owning your
own domain name. You can get a domain name for  $10/year -
there's just no excuse for not doing it anymore. 
3. Slow Download time: Don't make people wait for your 
site. Keep the graphics to a minimum, and keep the sizes 
small. If you need larger pictures to show details of your 
products, use a thumbnail on your main page, and link to
the larger picture. Let the visitor know that it will take
a while for the image to load, and ask for their patience.
You can also speed up image download time by using an
image compression tool. 
4. Unnecessary "cool" stuff: Unless you're a web designer
or  graphic artist that specializes in creating flash
animation, or rotating logos, you probably shouldn't have
such things on your site. The "tip of the day", ripple
effect, stars following  the mouse pointer, etc. - unless
you know that visitors keep coming back for these things,
or they contribute in some way to the bottom line, can
them. They can slow down the download time considerably,
and most people would rather read your content anyway. And
please, don't put music on your page - some people may be
browsing at work, or at home when people are sleeping, and
they'll back out of your site plenty fast if it starts
playing the Hallelujah Chorus. 
5. No Meta-Tags: There's plenty of tools available to help 
you create proper meta-tags. Without them your site won't
be properly indexed in the engines, and you're making it
harder for people to find you. Definitely worth the time
to do it right. 
6. Lack of Clarity: Don't make your visitors guess who you 
are and what you do. Make it clear in your headline and in 
your first paragraph. Phrases like "welcome to" And 
"congratulations, you've found" are over used. Just get to 
the meat. 
7. Visible Hit Counter: To many people it's a sign of 
inexperience online, and you really don't want people to 
know if your traffic hasn't been the greatest. However, you
do want to keep track of stats on your visitors for your
own purposes, so investigate what stats, logs and records
your hosting company can provide for you. 
8. Hiding Behind your Site: Put your contact information 
(email, mailing address, phone number) somewhere findable 
on every page. This helps establish credibility, and lets
your visitor know you're a real person. 
9. Typos: Proofread your copy, and then have two or three 
friends do it too. Spell check won't catch everything, and 
misspelled and misused words cut your credibility as a 
business person. 
10. Browser Incompatibility: Check your web site with a 
variety of browsers and window sizes. And don't say "this 
site was designed to be viewed with XXX" - why on earth 
would you want to alienate the rest of the online
population?  They might be interested in your product or
service, but if they can't view your site, they can't buy.
Spend the time double checking your site, and then you'll
know that it works for everybody. And be sure that
everything fits into a 600  pixel wide screen. 
11. Unclear Navigation: You want people to be able to make 
their way through your site, not get lost or confused, and
just click out. Be consistent: If you have a side bar with
navigation buttons on your home page, put it there on
every  page. Also consider having a row of plain text links
to all the pages on your site at the bottom of every page.
Help people get around your site. You might even want to
put all of your info on one page - that way they don't
have to click around to  get to the point. 
12. Too Many Options: Don't confuse people by giving them 
too many choices. Think about the one (or maybe two) things
you want them to do on your site, and seriously consider 
getting rid of everything else. At the very least make sure
you give them a minimum of choices per page, and organize
your site very carefully. 
13. Busy Background Images: Yes, there are a lot of really 
nifty backgrounds out there. Don't use them as the main 
background of your site. Keep the ornamentation to the
side, or use nested tables, so that your text is black on
white. Not terribly exciting, but very readable. And do
keep it consistent - a different background for every page
can be confusing and distracting. Surely you want your
visitor to be paying attention to your text, not the
background. 
14. Unreadable Fonts: Make sure your fonts are of a
readable  size, face and color. If you decide to use
colored text for emphasis, don't overdo it - it looks
childish. If you are running a business, try to stick to
fonts that are clear and easy to read (verdana is good) -
you can show your personality by your style of writing -
just make sure people can read it. And don't type in all
caps - it's harder to read, slows people down, and some of
your visitors will consider it "shouting" and very rude.
If you want to emphasize something, bold it, or put it in 
a different color. 
15. No Headline: Spend some time with your headline, and 
try out a few different ones. You might be surprised at how
a few changed words can increase your sales. Just because 
what you have now is working doesn't mean you can't 
improve on it. 
16. No Testimonials: They can be a very powerful sales
tool.  Write past buyers and ask for a testimonial. If
you're just getting started, offer a free sample of your
product or service in exchange for a testimonial - it'll
be worth it! Make sure you use real names -other wise it
tends to look like you made it up. 
17. Features Instead of Benefits: Stress how your product
or service will help the visitor. Your web site shouldn't
be about  your product (or service), it should be about how
your product/service will solve the visitor's problems. 
18. Not Building a List: Have a newsletter, offer an
article  via autoresponder, have a contest, do what it
takes, but get your visitors email addresses. That list
can be a goldmine.  You can mail them about updates to your
site, new products, recommend other products (for a
percentage of the sales).  Send them helpful bits of
information - win their trust - and many of them will buy
the things you recommend. 
19. No Guarantee: Make the visitor as comfortable as 
possible with ordering from you. Emphasize no-risk, hassle-
free 100% money back guarantee. And make the guarantee be
for as long as possible. If you give them a year to try it 
out, they're much less likely to return it than in a month.
If they have to hurry and try it in a month, they may be
more critical, and more likely to return it. A strong,
long-term  guarantee will usually not increase your
returns, but will increase your sales. 
20. Problems with the Ordering Process: Need it to be
secure  and as easy as possible. If you've got your
reader's to the  point of purchasing, don't let anything
get in the way. Find a way to take credit cards online,
and if you're selling a downloadable product, figure out
how to get it to them as soon as possible - internet
surfers have a reputation for wanting instant
gratification. 
21. Not Asking For It: Ask for the sale. Ask them to 
bookmark your site. Ask them to tell a friend, subscribe to
your newsletter, whatever.  Sometimes they just need a
little push, so push! 
---------------------------------------------------------
Author: 
Corie J. Conwell has been working on-line for four years 
now. She is the author of "Web Site Secrets Exposed!" 
http://wus0.com/c.go?bc=1182186.
---------------------------------------------------------