It’s become rather obvious to say that having a website is essential if you’re in business.
Let me challenge that supremely conventional thinking.
Some websites are doing their firms more harm than good. Such websites should be taken down or fixed, pronto. Every day these sites are up is another day of lost opportunities, potential customers screaming for the exits.
Telltale Symptoms of a Frankenstein Monster, Business Killing Website
If your website’s News page was last updated in 2006, you’re telling visitors you’re either doing nothing or too lazy to report it. Goodbye.
If your website has an impossibly complex contact form, you’re telling visitors you shan’t easily stoop to hold court with them. Adios.
If your website makes contact information hard to find, you’re telling visitors you don’t want to talk to them at all. Sayonara.
If your website has teeny tiny fonts, you’re telling visitors over 40 to get lost. Aufweidersehen.
If your website is one, big, jargon laden information dump, you’re telling visitors you care about you, not them. Au revoir.
If your website uses frames, you’re telling visitors your company was hot stuff in the 1990’s. Ciao.
If your website’s content is full of spelling and grammatical errors, you’re telling visitors you’re careless and will drop the ball. Paalam.
If your website’s navigation is like a maze, you’re telling visitors your company can’t think clearly. Dosvedanya.
If your website has incomprehensible content, you’re telling visitors you can’t think. Aloha.
Tell Us What Scares You Away
What have I missed? What scares you off b2b or b2c websites?
What scares me most is music or speech that plays automatically – always makes me jump out of my skin… then move away from the site as fast as I can
Joanna Youngs last blog post..Why I Talk About the Weather on Twitter
Joanna, Bingo! That should have been at the top of my list. It brings up the whole notion of splash pages and Flash animation … the former should be abolished and the latter should be used sparingly.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..If You Have Lots to Say, Say It on a Business Blog
Brad,
Wow – how many languages do you speak?
I have never personally thought about how web sites could actually do more harm than good, but come to think of it, I would not be surprised if this was indeed the case for many sites which fall into the categories which you mention.
My pet favorite are sites which automatically load some form of pop up advertisement as soon as I land on the page. These people are more concerned about selling me something than meeting my informational needs.
Another pet peeve is when sites highlight a price of $39.95 American Dollars and then try to charge me $49.95 when I arrive at the payment screen. The difference – a ten dollar discount for which I was ineligible because had not previously purchased any of their products.
Please, please, don’t highlight a price of $39.95 and then try to charge me more! If any website does this, then:
“Annyeong-hi gyeseyo!”
Andrews last blog post..Guest post and thanks to all readers
Well! I see we’re having a “battle of the high school pictures” today Brad!
Joanna hit on the one that gets my goat most often – music playing without my permission (always a problem at the workplace!). And Andy touched on the other one – an instant pop-up ad that completely covers the home page until I click on it.
That’s when I make like a tree and leave!
Robert Hruzeks last blog post..April Fool’s Day, 2009
Hi Andrew, Very obnoxious examples all. If we open up the discussion to e-commerce sites, our list could grow incredibly, monstrously long. May be a topic for another post.
Hi Robert, My actual high school photo is under lock and key.
You’ve got to wonder why companies use pop-ups and music, knowing that it annoys so many people.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Does Your Website Scare Customers Away?
“But,” the webmaster replied, “You were so anxious to reduce phone calls to customer service I just assumed you were tired of being bothered by anybody….”
Go ahead. Hide the phone number deeper and deeper in your site. Make me email you or IM or wait for your call…. I’ll find a company who really wants to talk!
Not that I’m lonely or anything.
Fred H Schlegels last blog post..Have You Nipped Your Team’s Creative Spirit In The Bud?
Brad, excellent assessment! I participated in a Trigger Event webinar last week and one thing they said that resonated with me personally was to make it even easier for customers to choose you, to lower the barrier to entry by half. It really made me think about my own site and I found I have not made it as easy as possible. One thing that irritates me on a site is having to hunt for how to contact the firm. I mean sheesh, if you want customers make it easy for them to reach you!
Karen Swims last blog post..It’s April and I am the Fool
Fred, A breakthrough in corporate org structure – the Customer Non-Service Department.
Karen, So true. Contact info is an easy thing to overlook because we really have to think about from the customer/visitor’s point of view … we all know how to contact ourselves, so we don’t give it a moment’s thought.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Does Your Website Scare Customers Away?
@Brad, well most days I know how to contact myself but some days it feels like an overseas call. bwahahahaha
I’m with everyone else, hate music that you cannot control, flash intros that you cannot skip, pop over ads that cover the entire screen and I’m not fond of sites that lack humanity and warmth.
Karen Swims last blog post..It’s April and I am the Fool
Karen, I love your last point about humanity and warmth. A blog is an excellent way to address that issue …
That bwahahah? Are you morphing into Roberta Hruzek?
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Does Your Website Scare Customers Away?
@Brad, that Hruzek does have a way of rubbing off on you.
Love your thought on the blog…in this day and age there just seems to be no point to being a cold, dead brand. Hey, to follow up on your earlier point, I’d love to see you do a post on ecommerce. Not my area of expertise at all and I bet others could gain from your knowledge.
Karen Swims last blog post..It’s April and I am the Fool
Blinking text, yellow highlights and over-hyped copy (which was why I focused my April Fools Day post on that) – that drives me bananas.
Barbara Ling, Virtual Coachs last blog post..Rainbows follow ME in search of GOLD – Make Money and Lose Weight
Barbara, True, true, and true! Tacky billboard effects may work on billboards, but not here. Oh yeah – which reminds me – reverse print (white font on black background) – spells immediate click off for me.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..An Online Marketing Fairy Tale
Hi Brad – You know the words for goodbye in a heap of languages. I’ve never come across Palaam and Dosvedanya.
Many of the things you mentioned already really put me off a website – especially frames.
Two other things that really bug me are the automatic video that just comes on. And the homepage where you’ve got to guess where to click to get in.
I just don’t understand the companies who use automatic video. Most people don’t want to be interrupted by uninvited noise.
I do a lot of my Internet browsing in the morning before the rest of the family get up, so it’s really annoying when these silly videos wake them up. A lot of the time, I switch of the sound on my pc just incase – and it’s a pain having to switch it on and off all the time, just incase I’m interrupted.
The ones that don’t make it obvious where you’ve got to click bug me too. It’s like they’re assuming you have all the time in the day to guess how to get into their website.
Cath Lawsons last blog post..Does Your Sales Copy Suck?
Hi Cath, You ask good questions about why companies choose the utterly annoying media options. Some firms I know do this sort of thing because they are unfamiliar with the web, and are still wowed by technological “wizardry”. They assume visitors to their site will be equally impressed. Firms also tend to focus on first-time site visitors, not returning visitors. Bottom line – think about what the CUSTOMER wants from your website, not what YOU want from your website.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..An Online Marketing Fairy Tale
I’m turned off by large blocks of cramped text. Let it breathe. A little white space never killed anyone.
Hi J, Yes, you are right … one of my concerns about my new theme as well.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Business Blog as Base of Operations for Online Marketing
Your post made me laugh but you’re actually right. Just today I went to this website where I wanted to contact the owner and couldn’t find his/her contact form. This told me the very same thing your stating above that whoever owns the website he or she don’t want to talk to the visitors at all, and one thing for sure I am not going to return again. I also hate sites and especially blogs that stay anonymous. If you are out there to promote something, you owe it to your potential customers to atleast introduce yourself.
Salwas last blog post..The Mass Media Marketing Marathon
Hi Salwa, You are so right! Business blogs should be more personal than other parts of a company’s website. If a blogger’s identity is withheld, the natural response is to be suspicious – definitely not good for business.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Influence Customers with Meaningful Terms in Meta Descriptions
I heartily concur! Especially with the typos. Nothing is more distracting to me. Also, really hate it when everything – buttons, banner, background – is animated. It makes my head swim and I usually don’t take the time to figure out how to wade through it all.
Libby, Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Animation … grr. Unless your website is for a carnival or a clown convention, I think you’re better off without it. Do you know why big consumer sites like Nike use so much of it? There must be some segment of the online market that likes it. I can’t figure it out.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Best Buy vs. AT&T – A Tale of Two Customer Experiences
I think that this is really interesting, I suppose content is the big thing in most of these points!
I particularly like the point about the news not being updated, not only are you showing customers you can’t be bothered to write anything or you aren’t even there anymore, you may also be missing out on SEO opportunities.
I think the key to a successful website is, as a business person, present it as you would present yourself to a customer. Also, write the way that you would speak to the customer to make them aware of your products and services. Like you say jargon is a no go and most business people probably wouldn’t use it when conversing with customers, so why use it on the website?
Danielle Ingrams last blog post..Google One-Line Sitelinks – May 9, 2009
Hi Danielle, Thank you for visiting and sharing your comments! The thing with old news on the news page is often a symptom of the start-and-stop syndrome that affects marketing initiatives in general. People tend to start projects and then let them fizzle away as other priorities take over. Like you say – not a good idea to do that in person or on a website. But on a website, you’re telegraphing your lack of follow through to the whole world.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..How to Prepare Yourself for Launching a Business Blog