Good communications can be hampered by bad web design practices.

Illegible type: There is still this dumb trend of making websites with teeny tiny light gray text. Why? Do you actually want customers to read what is there? Type is there to impart information – it is not a textural element.

Limiting the view: More and more customers are buying larger and larger screens. So why do we still see websites with lots of text set inside tiny frames you have to scroll to read. How is that making it easy for your customers?

Unclear intention: What is your website’s primary purpose? Is it to entertain customers? To show off your web developer’s technical prowess? To add to your designer’s portfolio? To present useful information to customers? To help customers make purchasing decisions?

Stale information: Is your website up to date? Has it been designed to enable you to keep it up to date? Is frequently changing information locked up in fancy animations that only the web developer can change?

Divorced from your operations: Does your website work with your business processes and resources? Or does it exist as a standalone entity that is unrelated to your operations? Are all the key operational stakeholders in your business involved with your website in some way?

Unsearchable and uncopyable text: Most, if not all, information on the average business website should be in “live” text. Search engines can then effectively index your pages. Users can search within these pages and copy and paste your contact details. Text trapped inside Flash animations or set as graphics is pretty but useless.

Unnecessary distractions: How does having a splash page actually help customers? Do you make customers watch an ad before they can enter your shop? Why are you promoting your web designer, or your favourite web brower, on your homepage? How does that help your customers?

Crappy design: Increasingly, customers’ first contact with your business is via your website. An ugly or awkward website will not help your cause. A good design does not have to be expensive or painful if you get the right designer. Using your neighbour’s 12 year old is probably false economy.