Folks, I've been building Websites now for a little over 12 years. Things have certainly changed out there during that time.

 

But that was then, and this is now. So what as a business owner should you avoid in a Web site TODAY!

 

I'll list these in reverse order. # 1 of course being the most important.

 

 

5. No White Space.  With all the social online media, movies, news, email, etc etc, Americans spend a lot longer on their computers. Make it easier on our eyes by having lot's of white space on your site. Ton's of text and odd, dark colored backgrounds with multicolored text is hard on our eyes.

 

4. No Scannable Headlines and Bullet Lists. American's don't like to read on the computer. They're in a hurry, and they want to scan the headlines and see bullet lists. For example: I want to know your refund policy. Don't make me read a whole page of text that's all the same size to find it. Have a headline that says Refund Policy and bullet point out the important facts.

 

3. Stagnant Content. When was the last time you changed your Website content? If you don't care about what's out there neither will your potential customers. What are you doing now-a-days? What's new with your business? Google will love you also if you change your content consistently.

 

2. No Phone Number, etc. I, like most people, sometimes just want to pickup the phone and call you. Please don't make me look all over your site for your phone number. I've actually seen it in 6 point font in the footer on a site. Make it large and prominent on the top of the page. Or if you don't want them to call, then put an email address there. Make it easy for people to contact you.

 

1. Business Owner Focused Websites. I cannot tell you the amount of times I've done my initial consultation with the owner of a business, who tells me what he/she wants her Website to look like and say. Now yes, it is a reflection of his/her company, but who is the Website really for? The answer is your customer. Always, always build your Website based on the needs of your customer, not what you the business owner want or like. This is such a hard one for business owners. Think of it this way. Does the CEO of Sprint, Verizon, McDonalds, Weight Watchers sit down and design their Website? Even the IT group doesn't design the Website. Those companies have customer usability experts who actually design the Website. Just say "NO" when you decide to build your Website without a Web expert to help you. :-) "Or" always think customer needs first.