10 Reasons Why Your Website Kinda Sucks, Part 2

He's sad about your website... and so am I.

One of my favorite posts to write so far, 10 Reasons Why Your Website Kinda Sucks, touched on the first 5 of ten reasons why I think a lot of websites – while often a valiant attempt from the developer to do something good for their client – miss the mark. Like, 6 feet away from the mark.

I tried to set this up so that in the first half, things that were more basic online marketing over design were discussed. What affects your visitors’ perception of who you are and what you do.. those elements needed to be bunched together much like the ones I’m about to mention now. As usual, this stuff places the responsibility of the success of the website on the shoulders of the developer. We’re the ones that are supposed to be knowledgeable about these kinds of things, right? Current on our market, familiar with our clients’ particular niche, and able to provide our client with their legitimate requests and desires… even if we’re not quite able to do it ourselves.

This time, let’s talk about the core stuff. The stuff that is more design-focused. The core of what we do… the basics. Here are the last 5 reasons why I believe that most websites — including my own — kinda, well, suck.

1. Misusing Stuff — I think the easiest way to explain this one would be to reference the Standards-Compliant world’s favorite reference:

   “Tables are for tabular data!”

   When we build websites, we’re expected to do it the fast way. The “economical” way. Our expectations of ourselves should demand that we also do it the right way. So that means no cheating and using flash for your fancy shmancy menus – step your game up and start studying the CSSPlay menu bank. No more flash for your fancy shmancy slideshows. Step your game up and go with a slideshow ran by one of those incredible JavaScript frameworks. No more cheating and using one big image for your navigation. Step your game up and start learning about CSS Sprites (or even sIFR, if you muuuuuuust use Flash.) ^[1]

2. Too Trendy — Somewhere between Apple and ADD, the “Oooh look, shiny” website trend was born. When I think of trends, I think of fashion… and I’m sure you know people who follow too closely to fashion trends. It’s like one year, everything is flared jeans and the next year, straight legs. And your people who follow fashion trends like it’s their job… they ditch the old clothes and rush out to spend their money on something new. Let’s face it. In this day and age (and as an American with clients who’ve run to me aiming to start making money online because they’ve lost their jobs), a lot of clients can’t afford to shell out money on redesigns to keep up with those trends.

   

   Stop drinking the kool-aid... leave the trends alone!

   Of course, we should always be looking to create our own sense of style, but it’s tough when a client is pushing to “just clone this.” If nothing else, develop a style that borrows lightly from trend, but in a manner that can last beyond it. As the current aversion to “oooh shiny web design” syndrome is brewing, you can already see how the more well-received designs are moving beyond stickers and glass buttons and “BETA.” Help safeguard your client from feeling that they need a redesign in a few months.

3. Forgetting Your Audience — I think this one is kind of funny. I was recently researching websites for pick up artists. It’s already tough to be in that field and not be seen as misogynistic (sorry, but it’s true), but most of the websites that I saw didn’t help that perception. Not properly understanding who you’re designing for is a major pitfall. Understand who you’re targeting – go where the popular spots are for people seeking dating advice. See what works for those websites and try to figure out why. Determine how well those things would work for your client, and then incorporate it into your own style and make it better for your client.

   To round out that example: if pick-up artists have clients who are already slightly embarrassed that they are seeking out these kinds of services, already a little insecure and feeling kinda lonely, don’t inundate them with images of “sexy girls in suggestive poses” and Rico Suave over there holding a martini glass like he’s the major player. That doesn’t appeal, and it won’t work. Do a little more digging. [Charge for it, but your client will 100% make up for the difference.]

4. Readability — Now, I swapped this in for something else… partially because I got a couple of comments in the other half of this post about MY type being illegible. Damn it, I’d like to think my posts are pretty decent and I hate that my message got lost in someone’s inability to read it. Can you imagine how sucky that might be for your client?

   

   Read my text! Oh, wait...

   Now, I can modify my own CSS (and I hear you, guys, I’m all over it) but can your clients? How long will it be before they get a complaint? How many potential customers must they sacrifice before they become aware of the problem? This also goes for color schemes… something I’ve also done. Luckily, this one is much easier than font sizes in different browser/OS combinations. Run the page through the Color Contrast Analyzer.

5. Undefined Elements — This is something that I see mostly in blogs. When you have a lot of information from different posts all bunched together in one big blob, how does the average user distinguish what applies to where? I recently visited a blog that had such a piss-poor sense of organization, that I couldn’t even tell which post the dates applied to. I mean, no clear effort or consideration was given to the visitor. Think about people who think Photoshop is a verb, not a noun – people who don’t understand web design or structure. All they know is that the pretty stuff shows up on the page, and you read it. Make life easy for them. Use gratuitous white space.

Having said all this, I think there is one bottom line that is undeniable. These are definitely my opinions, and as I’ve been freelancing for several years… I’m not exempt. Sometimes, I look at websites that I’ve done for my first clients and I cringe… wondering if it would be good web karma to offer a redesign. However… that bottom line needs to be that you’re fulfilling the desires and needs of your client equally. If your client wants you to duplicate Apple’s website, let them know how often Apple actually redesigns that home page. Put your skills of persuasion to work and show them some more effective designs from your favorite inspiration galleries. You need to make it your business to give the client what they want, while ensuring that they have what they need. That’s why they hire us… and it’s what makes our services so valuable.

[1] I know it sounds like I’m against Flash, but I’ve done enough watching over the shoulders of the not-quite-so-net-savvy to know that most people don’t upgrade their Flash just because your website tells them to do so. As beautiful as some of my favorite Flash websites are, it just can’t be all things to all people and sometimes I find it inappropriate. That’s all. Adobe still pwns us all.

Categories: Inspiration • Organization • Web Browsers • Web Design

Tags: • design elements, marketing, Organization, trendy, usability, Web Design, your website sucks