What makes you scream when you stumble upon a website? For me, it is cheesy music with no way to shut it off.

Signs of Webmaster Newbies

All of us have been “newbies” at one point in our webmastering lives.To make what we thought were impressive sites, we spent hours searching the free javascript sites, dhtml sites and so on for copy-and-paste scripts.

First timer’s websites are easily spotted with their smorgasboard of javascripts, animated gifs, sounds and other components. Unfortunately, this makes a site look amateur.

Creating an Amateur Image

You might have a brick and mortar business that’s been around for the last decade, with tons of satisfied customers.  On the Internet, however, your visitors do not know who you are.A professional online image will create trust.  When designing your website, here are some things to avoid so that your business does not look amateur or like a fly-by-night operation:

  • Dark, heavy backgrounds with hard-to-read fonts - For a business website, it’s best to use a plain white background and black text so that your visitors can read it easily. Some first timers are tempted to have “fancy” backgrounds with different colored text. Not only does it make your text hard to read, but if you are including pictures of products, it is hard to make them blend in with the background.
  • Pages that are larger than the browser screen - There’s nothing more irritating that trying to read a web page that scrolls across the screen. Generally, web users use 1024 x 768 as their desktop resolution. Try to remain within those confines.
  • Sound effects - Everyone has different tastes when it comes to music, but even if you discovered music that appeals to every single person alive, don’t make it automatically load on your site. With a music site, there are scripts that will allow the user to click “play” at his or her option. The same goes with audio advertisements or other background sound effects — have a pause or “off” button.
  • “Cool” effects - About 8 or 9 years ago, it was real “cool” to have a flash presentation on the index page. Most everyone was doing this. This does not help establish your online reputation. Flash introductions take a lot of effort to create and in the end, many are just downright stupid. These intros can take a long time to load and most people will not wait around to view them. Another thing that beginners think is “cool” are page fading effects, animated images and scrolling text. When I first started designing pages, I added these things, thinking it made me look like I was adept with web design. However, the harsh reality is that these effects are a wate of time and a turnoff. I’ve seen some sites, designed by supposed design specialists, where the links scroll by really fast and you have to “aim and shoot” just to be able to click a link. Do not bother including these effects. People visiting your site are looking for specific information or products and are generally not looking to be impressed with the scripts you have embedded.
  • No clear navigation scheme - Many people enter a website by the interior pages, not at the home page. You need to provide them a way to easily navigate through your site. Menus that are positioned on either the left or the top of the web page are the most popular and will be most familiar for your visitors. The key is that you keep your menu in the exact location throughout your site so that it is consistent. A lack of a clearly defined and consistent navigation menu is a sure fire sign of an amateur web design.
  • No search feature - Particularly if you have a large product line that you are selling or if you have a content rich site, always include a search box to help your visitors. Google’s fre search box is a tool that you can use if you don’t know how to include a search feature.This creates a “user friendly” site and shows that you care about your visitor’s experience.
  • “Secret” prices - If you’re selling products, include the price. Don’t try to force your potential customer into the shopping cart just to find out what the price is — it’s rude and many will not do it.
  • Policies - An amateur site will not include privacy policies, terms of use and, when selling products or services, returns and shipping policies. It’s a good idea to provide contact information, particularly if you are selling products or services.
  • Under construction pages - “Under construction” or “coming soon” pages are a surefire way to announce that you’re an amateur. Do not bother linking to pages under construction. Add a link to your menu and sitemap once the page is completed and uploaded.
  • No online shopping cart - If you are selling a product, provide a way for people to purchase your product online. If a web surfer is beyond the ‘research mode’ and ready to buy something online, he or she wants to be able to buy it immediately. For the most part, your potential buyer is not interested in spending the time mailing in a check or money order. Paypal is a good option if you don’t have a merchant account and if you’re selling digital products, services like Clickbank are worth considering.For people who already have a merchant account, there are free and quality shopping carts available, like Mals-e.com, which also provides an affiliate program option.

What’s Your Gripe?

Newbie or pro, you can voice your opinion about what makes a stinking website at the NotGuru’s survey about poor website design.If you’re looking for giveaways, software and tips to help your fledgling online business, the Not Guru blog delivers plenty of resources every day.  Take the site design survey today and feel free to submit your comments - the results are quite interesting.