Is a bad site better than no site?

You know your website is out of date. It's still good to have something on the web, right? Unfortunately, no.

A bad website undercuts your image and does not allow you to make the critical positive first impression. If you go into a restaurant and a rat runs across the floor, you will leave, right? If a potential customer enters your site and is met by a flashing pop-up ads or 1990's style, why would they stay?

Here are some red flags. If you answer yes to any of the following questions, at the very least your site needs immediate attention. If you answer yes to multiple questions, considering pulling the plug and starting from scratch.

  • Does your website content run across boundaries or dividers on the page? (Look at your website in several browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari to get an accurate answer.)
  • Are the color palette, graphics, and other brand images/messages consistent with those on your other marketing materials?
  • Is the navigation consistently located on every page? (Sometimes it is acceptable to have the navigation location change from the home page to other pages so long as it is the same across all other pages.)
  • Is the purpose of your website and the nature of your business immediately clear?
  • Is there a splash page or other hurdle for visitors to cross in order to get to your site?
  • Do images or other content take more than two seconds to load?
  • Are your graphics made up of clip art or poor quality images (bad composition, lighting or resolution)? Including your logo!
  • Does it take several seconds for your eyes to adjust to the bright contrasting colors or flashing icons?
  • Is all your content center justified?
  • Is font styling consistent and easy on the eyes?
  • Does sound automatically start when a visitor enters your site? (There are very few exceptions to this rule.)
  • Do pages scroll more than 2 1/2 screens?
  • Is your background tiled images?
  • Is the content on your home page more than 1 month old?

By now, you know your situation. If you honestly answered no to every question, pat yourself (and your web designer) on the back. If you answered yes, better get to work. Hint: Get in touch with us.

01-15-08