In Part One we reviewed several things to that we would avoid when creating a website. Here are some additional stand outs, that we would avoid.

Blank Space.

Many web designers try to fit in as much as possible onto a single page and in doing this the page becomes so cluttered with text boxes, images, ads, links, etc. that it becomes one big "mish-mosh" (how's that for good English?).

Give the page plenty of empty space. Make it easy to read, see and understand. Even if your writing lengthy articles group your content in order for the viewer to easily scan the page to get an overview. Of course we want the viewer to read everything, but it just doesn't work that way.

It has been shown that people like bite sized pieces and don't like very cluttered pages.

Spelling, Grammar, Vocabulary.

Could it be more obvious that you should have correct spelling, proper grammar and a good vocabulary. You would be amazed at how many web sites that I look at where it looks like it was written by a "Fifth Grader". The question remains, "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?"

Now don't misunderstand, we're not looking for a literary genius here. You don't have to be an F. Scott Fitzgerald, or an Ernest Hemingway, but you should be able to properly phrase a sentence and write so that you're not going to be laughed at.

I know that when I read the content of a web page I can quickly tell you whether this is a person or company that I would want to do business with.

And with "SPELL CHECKER' you have absolutely no excuse.

Oversized Pages.

A big "No, No" is an oversized page, in "Length" and most especially in "Width".

The length, and this is one of my faults, is not quite as big a problem, but should still be kept within reason. It has been shown that, unless there is considerable interest, most people will not scroll down to the the bottom of a very long page. Try categorizing your content and add more pages instead of going "on and on and on", on a single page.

Now the width is a whole different story. That is a definite violation of the rules. I don't know where the rules are written, but it's against the rules anyway. Having to scroll width is without question poor design and planning. People hate scrolling width.

Although computer monitors are ever changing their viewable area, my suggestion is to keep the width, at least for the moment, at around 900 pixels.

Interestingly enough, when I view my site on my older 19" monitor it takes up entire screen, however, when I look at it on my 15" laptop it takes up about 75 percent of the width.

Overall Poor Quality and Omissions.

Have you ever looked at a site with blurry pictures or graphics? Or, have you looked at a site that has so much left out and omitted that it leaves you with more questions than answers.

This is just plain sloppy work. There is absolutely no excuse for it. Yes on occasion we all make mistakes, but, if you continually see the poor quality throughout the website, as far as I'm concerned it tells me that this is a company that I'd prefer not to do business with.

Generally, the website is your first exposure to the company. If they can't put their best foot forward when they are trying to attract customers, what do you think that you're going to get once you are a customer.

There is an awful lot more that we can discuss regarding negative impressions, but in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series ”Website Impressions – Be Positive” I tried to outline some of the more obvious, errors, mistakes, omissions, etc.

See link below in the resource box to Website Impressions - Be Positive, Part 1