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Following are some mistakes of a business websites.
· Websites with outdated, irrelevant information
· Lack of timely response to questions, concerns or suggestions
· Incomplete, missing contact information, directions
· Confusing, hard-to-navigate websites
· Limited or no ability to engage/interact/communicate with the business owner via website
· lack the “personal touch” and one-on-one approach
· technical issues—such as websites being too slow, crashing or freezing up too often, or being hard to use on a mobile device
Many the web site fail to update the information from time to time. Mainly very much exaggeration than the actual strength. It often lacks precise contact information and leave the scope for two or three e-mail address with insufficient/untimely response. Most of the website are developed by external agencies and concentration is given for feedback and intervention at the time of constructing them.
Already well explained by the professionals
Incomplete data/information & frequent updates.
The major and costly mistakes in the development of business websites are:
Mostly copying other websites work and mistakes. Not really creative enough to say WOW a great job.
Thanks Brahim !
Unorganised content layout such putting inaccurate, inaccessible, insignificant or out-of-date content. Bad navigation accentuated by the absence of textual descriptions for all links.Complicated registration forms.Cluttered pages. Undesired background music.
Many websites have enormous holes when it comes to basic low quality of design, design should stick to concepts of your Business, “look and feel” of the interface, should be device responsive (supports all devices like mobile, iPads..), page loading times, broken links, redirection bla bla bla..for more details check out the article which i wrote at "How do you make SEO better?"
~Rashu
1. Sliders are Mankind’s Worst Invention:
I’m going to make a wild estimate here and say that almost half of all business homepages utilize sliders these days. For those of you not familiar with the term, a “slider” is a section of the page that shows images (usually with some type of headline) that rotate every few seconds.
Despite their popularity though, sliders are a design disaster.
As searchers looking to solve our problems quickly, they slow us down. They are distracting. They rarely if ever convert. And because they’re “time sensitive,” they don’t allow for a longer textual message. (Have you ever found yourself reading a slider message only to have the next image scroll across the screen, cutting you off? Bet you loved that, didn’t you!
Currently, Chevrolet has sliders running across the homepage of their website, something that is completely distracting and ultimately hurts their main message and user experience.
The solution to this problem is simple. If you’re using a slider currently, just stop. Refine the message. Make it cleaner. Make it easier. That’s what the searcher wants.
2. Headlines should never be about YOUR STUFF.
I love this subject, likely because, from what I’ve studied, only about5% of businesses do it right.
Here is the core principle to understand: People don’t care about you, nor their business. Their only care is the problem they’re trying to solve.
This is why a great homepage headline is about the problems your company solves, not about the product you offer or the service you provide.
Notice how GoDaddy effectively uses a headline that is written directly for the searcher (YOU) with a need, versus talking about their stuff, company, etc. It’s simple, direct, and very powerful.
If you want to read an extremely popular post on this subject, go here, but I’ll give a quick example.
Let’s say you’re company offers cloud computing services. If you were like most businesses, you’d say something really ineffective like:
Offering cloud computer services globally. Fast. Reliable. Cost effective.
These are the types of statements web and branding companies work with their clients for months to develop and they’re awful. Why? It’s not about the customer.
So to make it about the customer instead of the company, here is an example of doing it right:
Keep your company’s records digitally backed up forever without experiencing downtime ever again. And save huge in the process.
See the difference?
3. No one cares about company news
Can anyone tell me why companies are so fixated on posting *their* news on the homepage??
Look, the only time company news is relevant is when you’re a public company (or startup) looking to inform your investors or the industry. Beyond that, stop yapping about your latest company award that really means nothing to anyone other than those that actually work for you.
Yes, I know this sounds harsh, but this goes back to understanding the “It’s about them” paradigm. This is why it’s fine to have a news section of your website, but the homepage is simply not the proper place in the majority of cases.
If anyone could put “news” on their homepage it would be Apple. But they don’t, because they understand the power of simplicity and the need to focus on user experience.
4. If you’re looking for them to convert, give them LESS
Less is more.
Less is more.
Less is more.
This may be the most important “best practice” of great homepage design as we move forward in the digital age . Remember, consumers define a great web experience by being able to find what they’re looking for and finding it quickly. With this reality, slamming a bunch of text, or buttons, or calls to action, or videos can get confusing and have the opposite desired effect on the searcher.
For this reason, it’s critical as a company you understand what the goals of your site are, including that of the homepage, and then design it accordingly, not allowing for unnecessary distractions.
5. Stop trying to tell them everything about your company
As mentioned earlier, the purpose of a great homepage is to get the searcher to page two. Once they’re there, they’ve now indicated what they’re interested in and the teaching (from you to them) can begin.
Many businesses don’t understand this principle and end up slamming their homepage with text—stuff about the company, its history, its people, etc.
Although all this information may be nice, it’s out of place on the homepage
Not only is this fiberglass pool manufacturer’s homepage bad because of the black background combined w white font color, but also because it has way too much text– something that just distracts the visitor and dilutes the initial message.
