What drives you nuts when you visit Web sites?
I'm reviewing Web sites today and truth be told, I'm a little cranky.
I can't take it any more.... my brain is numb from reading all the text on the Internet. Sure the Web is a great place to market your business, but here is a little notice to those who haven't been paying attention.
Warning - a little rant follows!
I already spend far too much time online!! Give me education, entertainment and exclusive value on your Web site.... if it's important info I'll need, give it to me in a PDF so I can print it off and read it the old fashioned way, reclining on my sofa!
Give me great images, powerful headlines and a little multimedia - when I want it! Don't make it play automatically, I'll decide if I want to listen. Just because you love it, don't force it on me.
About your logo - get rid of it. I know you paid a designer big bucks for your logo 10 years ago, but frankly logos are for buildings and letterhead. Leave it there and leave it off your Web site. I know who you are, your Web site address is your online logo. And for those of you still with a splash landing page that says something like click here to enter - Sorry, that's one too many clicks to get to what I'm looking for, it's back to for me.
I'm getting older, make that font larger . . . . Please make the font larger. Please please please make the font larger. OK. sorry about being repetitive. There is just no way I'm going to read your 10 point font.
I like my feed reader, it makes it much easier to gather the info I want from a variety of sources and view it the way I want to. Make it easy to subscribe to your feed by providing a button and or the RSS code. You've seen the little orange icons - use them. If you aren't sure what a feed is, please see the tutorial on understanding feeds.
It's your content that matters, design is a nice option, but really, let me have the facts. Use simple clear language that helps me get what I came to your site for.
If you really can meet my needs talk about the Benefits of your product or service to ME! Use language and words that I am familiar with. I know your amenities are nice, but just give me a few good reasons why you can meet or exceed what I'm looking for, provide value for my money, and give me assurances that I can depend on you!
I can probably find your product or service elsewhere, let me know I'll get the best value from you and I need to look no further - especially if you have listings in other places online.
If you want me to start a business relationship provide me with easy - every page access to your contact information like phone number and email address.
Hey, I want to engage with me, how about opening the door to a conversation with a Call to Action. You wouldn't go to a trade show and stand around waiting for people to walk up to you and start a conversation.... engage me with a call to action. Hey, I know we've got what you are looking for - Something like: "Call Now, we're here to help you."
I know, I know, you worked with a Webmaster and aren't they supposed to know all this? Unfortunately, there is no one holding out certificates in common sense Web design. The best people to get design ideas from for your Web site is your ideal customer. Ask them what they think, allow them to give you honest unbiased info, and listen to them.
And if you need some design done to your Web site, hire a Web architect, not a Webmaster. Web architect should understand design, usability, search engine optimization, and more. They should design your site in good templates that allow you to change or edit content whenever you want to using simple editing programs like Adobe Contribute or a Content Management system.
OK, I'm feeling better now, getting away from the computer now, I've had my say.... what drives you nuts when you visit other people's web sites?
I can't take it any more.... my brain is numb from reading all the text on the Internet. Sure the Web is a great place to market your business, but here is a little notice to those who haven't been paying attention.
Warning - a little rant follows!
I already spend far too much time online!! Give me education, entertainment and exclusive value on your Web site.... if it's important info I'll need, give it to me in a PDF so I can print it off and read it the old fashioned way, reclining on my sofa!
Give me great images, powerful headlines and a little multimedia - when I want it! Don't make it play automatically, I'll decide if I want to listen. Just because you love it, don't force it on me.
About your logo - get rid of it. I know you paid a designer big bucks for your logo 10 years ago, but frankly logos are for buildings and letterhead. Leave it there and leave it off your Web site. I know who you are, your Web site address is your online logo. And for those of you still with a splash landing page that says something like click here to enter - Sorry, that's one too many clicks to get to what I'm looking for, it's back to for me.
I'm getting older, make that font larger . . . . Please make the font larger. Please please please make the font larger. OK. sorry about being repetitive. There is just no way I'm going to read your 10 point font.
I like my feed reader, it makes it much easier to gather the info I want from a variety of sources and view it the way I want to. Make it easy to subscribe to your feed by providing a button and or the RSS code. You've seen the little orange icons - use them. If you aren't sure what a feed is, please see the tutorial on understanding feeds.
It's your content that matters, design is a nice option, but really, let me have the facts. Use simple clear language that helps me get what I came to your site for.
If you really can meet my needs talk about the Benefits of your product or service to ME! Use language and words that I am familiar with. I know your amenities are nice, but just give me a few good reasons why you can meet or exceed what I'm looking for, provide value for my money, and give me assurances that I can depend on you!
I can probably find your product or service elsewhere, let me know I'll get the best value from you and I need to look no further - especially if you have listings in other places online.
If you want me to start a business relationship provide me with easy - every page access to your contact information like phone number and email address.
Hey, I want to engage with me, how about opening the door to a conversation with a Call to Action. You wouldn't go to a trade show and stand around waiting for people to walk up to you and start a conversation.... engage me with a call to action. Hey, I know we've got what you are looking for - Something like: "Call Now, we're here to help you."
I know, I know, you worked with a Webmaster and aren't they supposed to know all this? Unfortunately, there is no one holding out certificates in common sense Web design. The best people to get design ideas from for your Web site is your ideal customer. Ask them what they think, allow them to give you honest unbiased info, and listen to them.
And if you need some design done to your Web site, hire a Web architect, not a Webmaster. Web architect should understand design, usability, search engine optimization, and more. They should design your site in good templates that allow you to change or edit content whenever you want to using simple editing programs like Adobe Contribute or a Content Management system.
OK, I'm feeling better now, getting away from the computer now, I've had my say.... what drives you nuts when you visit other people's web sites?
1 Comments:
What drives me nuts is when a website has a link to another site and I follow that link and maybe there is some other interesting things that gets me sidetracked. After a while I realize that I wasn't finished viewing the original webpage but now I have to go back into my browser's history because the new page didn't open in a different tab or window. Oops, lost that one.
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