Still?!

For tonight, I feel like I will leave you with one final website frustration that I saw on site today. All my understanding about websites will never leave me with an answer to this question. I will never understand why this happens or why any company (regardless of their size) would allow this to happen.

After this rant I can only assume that you are very curious what I have to say. I warn you, it's simple. There is nothing complex about this annoyance. When I visit a website, I can't stand it when I go to a link and the link is not valid.

Seems simple, right??! Yet, it happens more than you know. Imagine yourself on a site and you are looking for more information on the company or service. Then, when you least expect it, you are dropped on an incomplete page. Very annoying. I told you I would have a new set of grievances.

If you have found an example of this type of "sign of a bad site" we completely understand. We can only hope that this is not an issue of the future for you or any company trying to make a mark online.

Buttons?

Well, I would like to add as one of my most hated things of 2011 is the social media buttons. Some sites like to add social media buttons when they have not paid any attention to what social media is. You know you have seen it. A company starts a Facebook account and after that does nothing to add to it.

How can you add a Twitter button and not have a complete Twitter account? Or how could you add a Facebook button and not know how to post on Facebook?! These are serious questions that some companies are facing. Could it be time to add a Social Media Expert to your company? I guess only you can figure out that question.

For example, I recently encountered a company that didn't know the difference between a group page and a face page. How can you effectively run a campaign on Facebook without understanding the difference between the two. More importantly, why would you spend time doing so? It could seem like a waste of efforts.

Well, I guess it is time to change focus. Till the next post...

Things To Look For

Part One

Well, I recently decided that it is a new year and maybe I should look for things in websites that I have yet to look for before. Yep, that is right, I am going to forget my old hang-ups and looks form some new and annoying traits in websites. Get ready to say good-bye to the:

The Color Theory: More is Better Ah, hate to be the one to break this to you, but it is not. Professional web designers spend hours choosing the appropriate colors to use in moderation. The key here is moderation! Can You Add Anything Else? Have you ever found a site and you don’t know how they fit all this information on one page? Just like color, content should be clean and simple. What Am I Looking At? Have you found a site where the text actually sits on top of other text? How are you suppose to read the site never mind understand what you are looking at? All of This Moving is Burning My Eyes Alright, Flash is cool, but in moderation. You might want to catch our attention, but Flash animations rotating around eight or more spots on the page can burn our retinas and make us nauseous. Links How many links should really be on a page? I guess this point might be debatable, but we have all seen an excess of links that makes a site just horrible to visit.Horrible Music Honestly, this is one of my favorites. You might stumble upon a beautifully designed site and forget to turn your speakers down. Before you know it, horrible music is pumping from your speakers all throughout your office catching everyone's attention. Ugh.

New and more current things to watch out for are coming about!

Stayed tuned!

I Heart Feedback

Well, thanks to some feedback it seem like my theory is somewhat correct. Ugly sites can gain just as much attention as their "more functional" counterparts.

Sure, sure... we get it. Ugly flash and odd layout choices can have an impact on the same level that normal well-designed sites can have. It is kind of like a Jersey Shore episode? It get so ridiculous you can't help but watch?

Obnoxious flash will get you every time! Who hasn't been able to look away from a page? I guess again, we are back to the fact that sites want to make money. Can you blame them? Sure, everyone is out to make cash so that is why we encounter some of the odd and well, hard to look at sites that almost MAKE us talk about them. I guess it may be time to stop rambling and get back to some fun examples. Be patient friends! This month has been fun-filled and now I am trying to catch up on all the madness we call the internet. BRB!

The Number One Reason...

It is incredibly easy to figure out why a site is designed poorly and stays that way. In reality there can only be a few honest reasons a site stays ugly and likes to look ugly. Why do they leave those flashing colors and why do they leave those tacky images? The question will always remain, but one thing will always stay the same. Why do these sites remain ugly? On the top of that list, I can imagine a site is poorly designed to gain attention and to make MONEY!!!

Sure, most sites are made to make money. Some spend thousands and thousands on design concepts, concise copy, effective images, and a smooth clean look. Others spend ten dollars on the weirdest textures, patterns, colors, and copy they can find.

The big question is which design model is more effective. Now, more than ever, some of the worst looking sites are gaining just as much attention as their well designed counterparts. Think about it, do you enjoy visiting an ugly site or a clean, everyday, functional site. Obviously, you can tell, I like visiting the ugly ones. ;)

I Have Decided That the Thing I Hate the Most Is...

Outdated content. Yep, I said it. It really drives me crazy! I hate doing a search on well, just about anything and find information that is outdated and not useful. Really! We need all of these sites to update their information every once in a while. Please, I beg you! Update your sites and give us some new content to read. P L E A S E!

Another thing I hate is a slow internet connection. Speed dictates everything. For example, this month flew by for me. One day it was February 1st and now I realize that is is February 21st. Another thing speed has an impact on is internet speed. A slow internet connection on an old computer system can make even the best designed site a pain to visit. I find myself in the second month of the year with plenty of grievances already. One can only imagine how many more sites I encounter that drive me nuts and small, but meaningful online issues that drive me nuts.

For now, have a good night everyone and I will share some of my most recently poorly designed websites starting tomorrow.