19 Things NOT To Do When Building a Website
I belong to a wonderful and resourceful group of women web developers/designers and one of them kindly posted this link 19 Things NOT To Do When Building a Website.
As far as I’m concerned it is required reading for clients and wannabees so DUMBASS mistakes won’t be made.…
Logo Design
First I have to state that I am not the most pleasant person in the morning especially if I haven’t had enough coffee. As previously mentioned I subcontract for another developer. She warned me the logo she was sending was awful. Well awful was a complete understatement.
Obviously the company, which had a fairly decent logo before, hired an inexperienced graphic designer or they were a friend/relative. Bad, bad idea!!! The new logo was seriously WTF! Did they look at the graphic designer’s portfolio? Or where they afraid to hurt …
Flash
Flash is a very useful tool and when used correctly enhances a website. Unfortunately there are some that believe, incorrectly I might add, that their entire site should be Flash. Or maybe their web developer (groan) thought they could¦well make a lot of money off of a client that is uneducated. Flash sites should œdo something interesting and not act as a œstatic site.
Flash drawbacks:
You have to sit and wait for it to download.
It’s lousy for search engine optimization
You can’t bookmark or print anything.
It’s expensive …
Awards
I absolutely just love watching the Oscars.
So that got me to thinking about design awards. I have to admit to groaning whenever I see some website that has won a non-industry recognized award. You know the awards I am talking about. The ones that all you have to do is have a website, or pretty close just to having a website and you get an award. Oh puhleeze!!!
Now real awards are:
http://www.webbyawards.com (Web Sites)
http://www.stevieawards.com/aba/
http://www.aaf.org/ (Advertisement)
http://www.iabc.com/ (Business Communication)
http://2006.bloggies.com/ (Blogs)
http://www.podcastawards.com/ (Podcasts)
http://www.gawds.org/poll/ (Accessibility)
Web Standards
If you already have a website has it been done to the web standards and guidelines (HTML, CSS, XHTML or XML, 508)? Is it viewable, no make that usable, across all of the different browsers?
Web sites that are done according to the web standards and guidelines load quickly.
Do you know how well is your website coded? Do you know what it looks like across the various web browsers? If you are considering other website developers check out how well they have complied with the standards.
Does it add value?
A rule that I learned several years ago* is when you are considering adding a feature or some gadget to a website is œdoes it add value? Unless it adds value don’t add it.
*Learned that tidbit as a contracted mid-level web developer at Intel Corporation.…
Photography & Images “ Make or break your website
The photography or images on your website can make it or break it. Ever wonder why some websites just seem to look so much better that others? It’s the photography and the client understood the importance of quality photographs or images for their website.
You cannot expect your web designer or developer to take the images you have provided that have been taken in poor light or at a poor angle and make them look like million dollar shots. It isn’t going to happen. Sorry, but that’s the harsh truth.…
Selling Products
You have a product or merchandise that you want to sell via your website. Not a problem. The problem comes when you make people call you to order. Hello!! Unless you are awake and sitting by the phone 24/7/365 you aren’t going to sell much of anything. Or have much of a life.
Hire a professional to set you up on a cart with a method of credit card payment or even just PayPal.…
Email address on your site
If you have an email address listed on your website or use a contact form, and you receive an email, please respond to it. If you do not respond to a customer’s inquiry they will most likely look elsewhere.
And check the email at least once every single day.…
Treat them like gold
Yes, you need to treat them like gold. There is the old adage that for every one bad experience it will reach ten people faster than one good one.
And businesses need to treat their webmaster or web designer like gold.…
