Use A Free Hosting Company
By using a free hosting company, you could be provided with a large ad on top of your website which will be visible before your content. This can put people off, and above all, can look ugly. You will not also have a unique URL, so it will be obvious that you have used a free hosting company. Free-webs are a great place to start if it is a personal website, but for a company trying to look professional they just won’t cut it. No Content Above the Fold
Avoid large headers that cause visitors to scroll far down the page. It is your content that has drawn a visitor to your website, so give them a reason to stay there! Splash Page
A splash page is a single web page that appears before the main body website, and will usually say, “Click here to enter”. They can be full of images that take a long time for people to load if they have a slow connection, making it harder for your visitor to access your website. Avoid splash pages so that you don’t annoy your visitors. A Flash-Only Website
Admittedly, flash websites can look brilliant; however, more often than not, they are heavy with content that can take a long time to load even with a broadband connection. More importantly though, search engines will be unable to index each page of your website meaning you will have a difficult time in increasing your natural search engine ranking. Not Cross-Browser Compatible
Your website should be accessible by all, so ensure that your website can be viewable by most, if not all browsers. Background Music On Your Website
Automatically setting music to play when your website has loaded is deemed annoying by most website users. Sometimes, there is no visible ‘Stop’ or ‘Pause’ button, putting people off and causing them to exit your website quickly. A Second-Best Domain
Why have a .net when you can have a .com or .co.uk? Unless the domain names have already been taken, opt for the best – most people will automatically search for a .co.uk or .com URL in the first instance. Pages Not Being Found
There is nothing more irritating for a web user than to come across your website and find that the page they need “cannot be found”. Instantly, they will exit your website and find another that can help them. The chances are they may not ever return to your website again. Build A Website Based On Tables
Building your website out of tables is a very bad move these days. XHTML and CSS is what you should be using. You should still use tables within your site if needs be, (for price lists for instance), just don’t have your whole site based around them. Pop-Ups
Pop-Ups will seriously put people off from visiting your website, especially if they appear whenever any page is opened. Sometimes, website owners are paid for them to appear on their pages, however, the fee just isn’t worth the loss in traffic or sales. Avoid them! Slow Loading Pages
Pages that contain hundreds of large images not only take a painfully long time to load, but can often crash people’s browsers, or just slow down their computer, causing them to exit your website out of pure frustration. Inconsistency
A professional website will be consistent with the type and size of fonts used. Do not be inconsistent, or this is the image you will present to your customers! Scrolling Horizontally Across The Page
A website that is too large for the screen, forcing visitors to scroll horizontally is extremely annoying. The entire content of the page should be viewable across the screen, only forcing the user to scroll vertically to continue reading. Alternative Software
Websites with forums for instance, look to have a thriving community of active members. However, not using the right software to host it can cause people to leave your website if it persistently crashes and has maintenance issues. Choose the right software from the beginning to ensure that members remain interested rather than choose to go elsewhere. Did You Know?
Did you know that Crushed Ice has a professional team of web developers who are dedicated to creating the best websites? Visit the Crushed Ice website today or contact the team for more information. |
