Synaxiom Media Group Inc.

The majority of websites on the internet today have critical errors in their design and this in tern relates into dissatisfied visitors who will not return to your site. Therefore we have compiled this simple list of what not to do when designing and developing a website.

1. Firstly, make sure that your site is as conventional as possible, while maintaining its individuality. Most of your users will spend the majority of their time surfing other sites. So if your site conforms to most websites visual interface it will give your visitor a sense of control over your site. The familiarity will help in making your visitor feel comfortable and he/she will enjoy the visit a lot more. If the user has to ‘learn’ how to use your site, he/she will be frustrated and probably leave to never return.
2. Use proper page titles that are informative and clear to the point. This has more than one function. When search engines index your pages this is what will be displayed to your potential visitor. Hence it is pivotal that you title your pages properly.
3. Avoid popups and opening new windows at all cost. This simply irritates the user and most popups are blocked by filters that most users have installed on their systems.
4. Most visitors are inherently allergic to ads and they tend to ignore them. Therefore try to avoid having your graphic content from looking like they may be advertisements. Simple text advertisements are the better form of having advertising on your website. Avoid banners and other graphic based advertisements if possible.
5. Having a bad search on your site. When all else fails and your visitor cannot find the information they are looking for they resort to the ‘search’ on your site. If the search does not result in intelligent relevant results it will further frustrate your visitor and he/she will leave your site.
6. Avoid PDFs for pages that are meant to be viewed on screen. Therefore you must have HTML versions of all documents that are present on your site as PDFs.
7. Links are what navigates your visitor through your site. Make sure that you differentiate visited links so the user can easily see what information he/she has already accessed.
8. Links should appear clearly so that the visitor can navigate through your site easily. Back links are a must in order to give the user a sense of direction and to avoid the visitor from feeling lost within your site.
9. Avoid using Flash or JavaScript when it comes to your main navigation.
10. Make sure that your site is cross browser compatible.

Read our resource ‘Meeting Proper Quality Standards for Web Design & Development’ for more information on building a quality website.