Just like we all think our kids are the cutest, and their incessant wailing at the playground isn’t bothering anyone, most of us have a hard time taking an objective look at our own websites. After 10 years of reviewing websites and explaining the results to customers, I’m still amazed how enlightening some of the most obvious observations can be. It’s not because they aren’t designers, or aren’t intelligent enough to see the problems, it’s that they are too close to their own baby and sometimes need a face full of cold water to bring them back to reality.

We’ve come up with a quick checklist to start you on your journey of “site”-realization. Some of these may seem obvious at first glance, but you may want to check your website before giggling…

10 apparently not-too-obvious “no-no”s in website design:

1. Center-aligning important titles
2. Having any links in a standard blue, Times New Roman font
3. Using more than 3 font families your site
4. Having ANYTHING underlined that is not a link
5. Having a welcome letter explaining what a great resource your website is
6. Images with a faded edge
7. Using a lot of “click here”s as links
8. Having a link rollover effect that makes the text bigger
9. Having a website that expands to fit the width of browser (no you are not amazon.com)
10. NOT having the most important action on your website (contacting you, downloading something) immediately accessible on all pages

Admittedly, there are times where some of the above can be accomplished in a professional way – but in your case I recommend staying away at all costs.

Identifying and admitting to these problems is just step one in turning your website around and making it work for you, not against you. If you’d like to see what else might be wrong with your website, and more importantly what you can do to clean up your act, visit our Free Web Review page and request a free assessment. We don’t promise to solve all of your business problems, but we do promise straightforward, non-sugar-coated feedback that you can actually use.

Good luck!