by Matt McGee
One World Telecommunications
posted: February 10, 2004
In our introductory
article on professional web design, we offered a list of web design techniques that should
rarely, if ever, be part of developing a professional web site.
The list was presented with little explanation, which is what we'll
do in this article to further explain these rules and their exceptions.
As a reminder, the list is as follows:
Rule #4: Thou Shall Not Do Any of the Following
Rules 1-3 are about what you should do. Here's Professional
Web Design 101's list of what NOT to do with your
business web site.
Thou shall
not:
- lose focus (do you really need local weather or the latest
stock quotes on your blue widgets site?);
- use a frames-based design;
- fill your site with "coming soon" pages;
- use music on your web site (unless you're in a band!);
- use a hit counter;
- host your site on a free, advertising-based service;
- hire an amateur designer and expect a professional web site.
Thou Shall Not: Lose Focus
Too many businesses try to be something they're not when they
create an online presence or storefront. There are a lot of things
you
can add to your web site, but just
because you can doesn't mean you should.
You can add local weather information, general stock quotes,
or things like live chat rooms or message boards to your web
site.
We've seen many clients want to add a local touch with links to
the chamber of commerce or city hall, thinking it would help add
a sense of community to their site or help customers learn more
about the company's hometown. But in most cases, it's just not
appropriate; customers come to your site to learn about and do
business with you, not to find out if it rained today in your hometown.
If you're a publicly traded company, adding your company's stock
quote is a good idea -- it serves the "investor" customer
group. But if you're a private company selling widgets, who are
you serving by posting general information about the stock market,
or general headlines from a free newsfeed source? (Answer: no one.)
Focus on who you are and what you do, and make sure your web
site reflects that. Focus on your customers and learn what they
want
from your web site, then give it to them in spades. Those are
the foundations of a professional web site.
Thou Shall Not: Use a Frames-based Design
"Frames" are a way of presenting web pages. It basically
presents several pages in different "frames" as if they
were all a single page.
Let's make this quick, because frames vs. no frames is an old,
old debate: a frames-based site is:
- not as a search engine-friendly as a non-frames site
- harder to bookmark than a non-frames site
- more difficult to print than a non-frames site
- and from this designer's perspective, more difficult to maintain
Generally speaking, frames-based design has become associated
with amateur status over the years and you don't want to present
a web site that
makes your business
look amateurish.
Every once in a great while, there may be an exception to this
rule; there are occasions where frames may be the most appropriate
way
to present something
on
the web. But in general, any potential benefit of a frames-based
design can also be accomplished in a more professional and user-friendly
way
with other
types
of programming that don't involve the use of frames.
Thou Shall Not: Fill Your Site With "Coming Soon" Pages
A "coming soon" page tells your customers that you intended to do something
(create the actual page), but weren't prepared enough, organized enough, or otherwise
competent enough to actually get it done. Is that the image you want to present
to your customers?
A "coming soon" page leads your customers to a dead end. In your retail
store, would you put a sign over a door that says "yellow widgets" and
then have that door lead to an empty room?
A "coming soon" page also impacts your search engine friendliness if
your site is being submitted to human-edited web directories: most will not list
a site with "coming soon" pages because it's a sign of an unfinished
web site, and they don't want unfinished sites in their directory.
Better idea: if the page isn't ready, don't even list it in your
site navigation. Add it when the page is ready.
Thou Shall Not: Use Music On Your Web Site
Like frames, using music on a web site was determined long ago
to be a hallmark of amateur design. Yes, your web site can
play music;
that
doesn't
mean it
should.
As more people use their workplace computers for personal web
surfing (and an early 2003 survey suggests 85% of us do!),
it's your job
as a site owner
to adjust
for the fact that many of your web customers might be visiting
your site from a quiet office. And what better way to get them
to leave
your site
quickly than to have music start playing as soon as they arrive?
Do you really want
to shoo
so many of your customers away?
The obvious exception, of course, is if you have music- or
sound-related products or services. If you have a band or sell
music for a
living, you'll want to
put sample sound files online. In that case, the sound should
never auto-play when
a page is loaded -- it should only play after the customer
chooses to hear it, and to avoid any chance of confusion, you
should
clearly state
that
clicking the link will begin the playing of the sound file.
Thou Shall Not: Use a Hit Counter
Hit counters are tacky and amateurish. For most businesses,
they don't show how many people visit your site, they show
how few.
And besides,
from a technical
perspective, "hits" offer no indication whatsoever of how many people
really look at your web site.
Better solution: ask your hosting provider if they offer
a web stats program.
Thou Shall Not: Host Your Site on a Free, Advertising-based
Service
Again, tacky and amateurish. Success on the web is all about
building trust, and taking the cheap way out for web hosting
is no way to
build trust with
your customers. These types of hosting services are unreliable
(your site will be "down" often),
and the advertisements are nothing more than a nuisance to your customers. If
you're serious about doing business online, find a reliable web host that offers
the features and support you need, and be willing to pay what it costs for reliable
web hosting.
Thou Shall Not: Hire an Amateur Designer and Expect a Professional
Web Site
Anyone can purchase web design software off the shelf and
create web pages; in and of itself, that's not difficult.
This does
not make that
person
a web designer.
(I can buy some nails and lumber and hammer it together;
that doesn't make me a builder. I can try to defend myself
in court;
that doesn't
make me
a lawyer ... and I'll probably lose.)
There's a great difference between building a web page
and developing a web site. There are millions of businesses
online,
and the
successful ones
didn't
have
their secretary's cousin build their web site with
Front Page in between lawn mowing duties and trips to the mall
with his
buddies.
Find a professional design shop, ask them lots of questions,
take a look at the sites they've designed, and ask
their past clients
about
the company
you're
considering.
Find out if they provided a good bang for the buck,
because no matter how big (or small) your budget
may be, you
want to make
sure you
get a good
value for
your money.
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