The Wrong Kind of Web Site

A long time ago, (okay, maybe the ‘90s) small businesses that had web sites were mostly thought of as being cutting-edge and technically savvy.  Remember those days? Merely having a web site sent the message that the company was competent, professional, and innovative.

Helping, or Hurting?
Now, however, having a web site is basically an expectation, something that is essential to most small businesses today.  But having the “wrong” kind of web site can actually be worse for your business than having no web site at all.  Here are some tell-tale signs that your web site may actually be hurting your business rather than helping it:

• The site hasn’t been updated in years
• The site commits web “sins” such as frames-based design, Flash intros, doorway pages, blinky-flashy images, or image-based pages
• Confusing or inconsistent navigation among web pages
• Visitor counters
• Busy, repeating backgrounds that hurt readability
• Horizontal scrolling
• Pop-up ads
• Not enough quality content
• No strong call to action
• Uses a “pre-canned” template design that is not consistent with branding
• Cannot be correctly read by search engine spiders

(Of course there are many others, but those are the biggies…)

Sending a Message
Most small businesses would love to be perceived as competent, professional and innovative, but the wrong kind of web site sends the opposite message about your business.  So ask yourself – does your web site help or hurt your business?  Does it give visitors a great first impression, or does it send some other, less positive message about your company? If you aren’t sure of the answer, then it’s probably time for an upgrade!