Website Ideas

And a staggeringly large number of sites offend, make nothing, or frustrate the user into leaving.

What makes a bad website, is failure to do what it set out to do!

The goal of a website is to sell something, persuade, invite, and attract people to come in and spend some time within its confines.

To achieve that goal, a designer must provide efficient function that works nearly every time. They must avoid confusion and unnecessary delays. They must not use elements which distract from the purpose of the pages, or which annoy so badly that the user cannot stick around without developing a headache or triggering seizures! The site must invite, offer, and then deliver in the most effective manner.

An ugly site that functions will beat a gorgeous one that doesn't, any day!

A simple site that is useful and logical will outperform a complex one every time.

A predictable and efficient but unimaginative site will grow more than a creative but confusing site, without exception.

Every site will have a problem at one time or another. The problems listed here are ones that render a page unusable or ineffective, or so annoying that they do not leave a good impression with the visitor.

We're not talking about the nit-picky little things that professional web designers sit around being snobbish about. We are not concerned with minor coding issues, or the debate over whether your site should use CSS or plain HTML. We aren't worried about whether your pages are absolutely as professionally designed as they could be.

No, we are talking about the glaring errors that are so bad that we wonder whether the site builder even LOOKED at the site, or tried to USE it! We mean those features that are SO annoying that you just know that the site owner never bothered to think anything beyond the fact that they just learned a new trick and are determined to show that they can use it!

We invite newbies to learn here, so they can avoid the problems that will stop them cold. And we invite practiced website users to let us know if we left out something that drives you nuts!