What NOT to put on your website

When people ask me what to include on their website to make it work, I always start with telling them what NOT to put on their site:

1. Just say no to the flash intro. Sure it was cool in the 90s, but today it is annoying to get to a site and have to wait for the intro to complete and the content to load. Don’t give viewers a reason to leave  your site before even get there.
2. Keep it simple and limit your color scheme to 3 main colors.
3. Pop-up ads are bad. Just don’t do it. No one likes pop-up and it is never a good idea to have your reader interrupted.
4. Don’t make your users hit the back button 15 times to get back to the home page. Include a homepage link on every page.
5. Extra fancy fonts – sure they are fun and whimsical but they may not be readable on everyone’s website. Ditto for tiny fonts.
6. Unless it is absolutely necessary don’t require someone to log into your site in order browse. A better option is to have a signup link on the site for readers to leave an email if they want to subscribe to a newsletter or to get more information.
7. Never auto play music or an audio file on a website as a reader enters your site. Let the reader push the button after entering  your site if they want to hear music.
8. There is nothing worse than a website that has no contact information. Someone might have valuable feedback for you about your content or product.
9. Don’t make navigation confusing. A simple navigation structure allows readers to find the information they want quickly which allows them more time to enjoy the content on your site.
10.  Don’t forget to put a photo of yourself on your ABOUT page. A tasteful photo of yourself adds credibility. People like to know that you are a real person and not a robot out to take their money or give them bogus advice.

Sumy Designs is here to help you put together a website that is both functional and beautiful. Contact us for a free estimate.