Is Your Website A Turn-Off?

by Cheryl Williams Levey
Copyright (c) 2003 Cheryl Williams Levey. All Rights Reserved.

Have you ever visited a website that was so poorly written that you actually felt sorry for whoever it belonged to? Have you ever refused to do business with a particular company because their website had so many errors on it that you were afraid to buy anything from them? After all, if they can't even present themselves professionally, how can they possibly offer a product of value? Right?

Unfortunately for those companies, that's not always right, but it is what happens, and they lose at least one sale, and potentially thousands. One person can recommend positively -- or negatively -- to others, after all.

Is your website content sloppy? If so, fix it as soon as possible, because otherwise I can guarantee that you are losing business. If you don't know how to fix it, ask someone for help, even if you have to pay them.

Here are just a few tips:

For the words:

• Keep it simple. Don't try to write a novel, or use huge words that the average person generally won't know.
• Use bulleted items instead of long paragraphs.
• Use a conversational style, as though you are talking directly to someone.
• Group information appropriately on separate pages of your site to avoid confusion.
• Describe or explain everything clearly and completely.
• Ask for feedback from your visitors and then act on it when you get it.
• Proofread, proofread, proofread, and then ask other people to proofread too! AND, immediately correct the mistakes that are found!

For the look:

• Make sure the colors you use are pleasing -- fire engine red with green letters is painful!
• Keep the look of it simple and stick with standard conventions, e.g., having every page of your site look the same (same colors and layout), providing navigation buttons on every page, etc.
• Minimize the use of images and bells and whistles (like Flash) -- too flashy means too long to load, and people click away.
• Especially minimize the use of animated images -- too much movement on the page distracts from the content and causes confusion.

Make sure your website is clean and professional and your business can boom!