Website Mistakes - September 2005


Web design Sunshine Coast

is 12website.com.

Is your website annoying? If so, there’s a good chance you’re driving away a huge chunk of your customer base. And you may not even know why because only a quarter of the ones you’ve ticked off will tell you the reason. At Sunshine Coast Web Design we analyse the trends. More on this in website visitors.

The Center for Media Research reports that over 70% of consumers said they’d give a company the old heave-ho if they find a “pet peeve” on their website. But only 25% of them say they’d complain to the companies about what they found objectionable. More on this in web design function.

"The Internet has matured to the point where consumers demand an easy online experience, especially if you are competing in a regional area as we are on the Sunshine Coast. ... Consumers are warning companies, 'You're going to lose my business if your web site experience is annoying,'" says John Lee, vice president of Hostway Inc., the author of the survey. More on web design research.

The consumer’s list of website pet peeves:

  • 93% find pop-up ads to be annoying.
  • 89% don’t like installing extra software.
  • 86% hate dead links.
  • 84% are annoyed by confusing site navigation. More info
  • 83% dislike registration log-on pages that block free content.
  • 83% said slow-loading pages are an annoyance. Homepage info
  • 80% are annoyed by ineffective site-search tools.

The aesthetics of websites was slightly less important to them, but the numbers were high enough to merit concern. Just under 60% thought moving text was annoying, while 55% felt strongly that poor choices of colors, fonts and formats were annoying. More web design basics.

The reactions to these annoyances were quite strong, at least in words. Of those surveyed, 74% considered themselves likely to unsubscribe from company promotions or messages, 71% were likely to view the company negatively, and 55% were likely to complain to their friends and associates about the site. Consider your web advertising carefully. It can be very beneficial if you pay attention to details.

If accurate, these numbers are a huge indicator that the look, feel, and overall experience of your website can make or break your online business.
One way I've found is to poll a few select users offline who won't stop using your site because they're your friends, but will still give you an objective answer (not a "yes I like it, no I don't" type of answer.)

For more information on effective web design that creates on return on your investment Get in Touch.

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