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CUSTOM UK · July 10th, 2008

They say a good tag line draws in the customers.

Hi. A lot of folks building their own web sites are confronted with a massive amount of confusing choices. What programming language to use, what type of graphics, which cart, hosting packages, payment gateways. The list is literally endless.

So what makes a good site, what qualities can help make a site more successful than the rest? We all have our own ideas on the subject, so I'm going to suggest a few thoughts of my own.

To me, a site has to load up quickly. We automatically assume everyone now uses a high speed connection, but that alienates our potential customers that do not. A slow loading site is a pain - period.

Flash (or splash) screen intros. Why do designers do them? I always compare these with attempting to go into a real life shop, whose doorway is blocked by an irritating and annoying street entertainer. "Get out of the way buddy, I want to go in the shop".

The home page of a site should tell me where I am. Have I walked into the right shop? Can I look around and see the things I want? Are there signs telling me where the different items are located. Compare your home page to the reception area of an hotel. If people don't like it, they'll walk straight back out.

Colour schemes are a matter of personal choice. Some people like yellow writing on a lime green background. Trouble is, most folks monitors are calibrated differently, so what may seem clear on one persons monitor, may be virtually unreadable on someone elses. A site needs to have enough contrast in its colour scheme, to make allowances for that.

My final thought is on payment. We've all been to 'realworld' shops where nobody is at the payment area, we wait a couple of minutes, then reluctantly put down our items and walk out. Online shops shouldn't suffer from that problem. It's amazing how many sites have payment buttons that don't work, bring up the wrong item, or refuse to deposit things in the basket.

So there you have my few opening thoughts on the subject. Sure that others will want to add their 'two cents' to what I have already said. So tell us all what you think makes a good practical construct for a web site and more importantly what you find irritating in web sites.

Hope all this helps someone.

wizz · July 10th, 2008

Man, I'm glad I'm not the only one who HATES those stupid flash intros! You are SO right - all they do is get in the way!

Sure, they can be pretty, and I'm sure they show off your design talent well, but seriously... if there's a "Click to Skip Intro" button anywhere on that page, I'm gonna find it and do it!

Great post!

Progeny · July 10th, 2008

Good post Will. I find intros and as above i always skip them. The other thing is having to click too many times to pay for the stuff. You don't go into a shop and have to go to 3,4 even 5 different places before you can pay and get out! I usually give up unless i REALLY want the goods.

Lee

CUSTOM UK · July 10th, 2008

Thanks for your input and constructive comments, Tammy and Lee.

How about the rest of you? What do YOU think makes a web site a real pleasure and what makes one an absolute pain?

The answers you give, will hopefully help some of the people building their own sites.

Reckless Tees · July 10th, 2008

I think a good site has to be easy to navigate and should answer all the questions a potential customer may have...shipping, shirt details, returns, privacy policy, etc. Also, all or most of your products should be on the front page. Make as few clicks as possible to get a sale.

queerrep · July 10th, 2008

I agree with you, Will. I'd like to add that poor spelling really turns me off and makes the site seem very unprofessional – even if the design is top notch.

PressForProfit · July 10th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by DREAMGLASS


	Thanks for your input and constructive comments, Tammy and Lee. How about the rest of you? What do YOU think makes a web site a real pleasure and what makes one an absolute pain? The answers you give, will hopefully help some of the people building their own sites.

I give a big thumbs down for background music. Especially if it begins again each time you click a link.

dmob · July 11th, 2008

Although it may be difficult to display most of your designs on front page, I expect to see sufficient designs that reflect your style and company. Usually if I don't see images of the designs on the front page I'm out of there.

Also photographs need to be bang on the button. If I see amatuerish photos, I presume the rest will be the same.

I also can't stand sites that open with flash, where's that close button?

David

Rodney · July 15th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by DREAMGLASS


	Thanks for your input and constructive comments, Tammy and Lee. How about the rest of you? What do YOU think makes a web site a real pleasure and what makes one an absolute pain? The answers you give, will hopefully help some of the people building their own sites.

There are a lot of great posts on how to make the best t-shirt websites here:

5 Best Practice Tips for creating a successful T-Shirt Website? (14 pages of great tips

)

ambitious · July 15th, 2008

I also hate looking a websites that have all kinds of advertisements from different companies promoting there products, banners every where,etc..

The Mad Designer · July 20th, 2008

If I want to contact someone from the website, I like to do it from a contact form. I dont want to find the email address in the status bar, surf over to my webmail, and type in the email address. Id rather just do it right at the site.

Daniel Slatkin · July 20th, 2008

The primary reason that designers use a flash intro is that it gives the rest of the site time to load and optimize. I would never use one without a click to skip intro button, but they do give a site time to load making the rest of the navigation seamless. I am no pro by any means this is just what I learned in a class. I look forward to hearing what you think makes a great site. Still trying to build one myself I have built a couple bad ones though. Good luck and prosperity to you all.

CUSTOM UK · July 20th, 2008

If a site doesn't load up and optimise within ten seconds, without the flash screen, then to me its very badly designed and can ultimately cost you lots of sales.

With any site you only have a few seconds to grab your customers attention, before they quickly move onto the next site. Not everyone has high speed broadband connections and that slow loading site could take a couple of minutes to come up with regular dial up connection.

One of my big annoyances, is when you wait for what seems an eternity for someone's homepage to load, only to be presented with a giant image of their industrial unit and a contact phone number. Why have a web site when you don't have details up there, or even an email link? Is it me, or do some businesses seem to be missing the plot when it comes to the Internet?

Do keep your thoughts rolling in about what you dislike most about web sites. This thread is to help out folks planning to build their own sites. This is a completely open thread and everyone is welcome to post their own annoyances.

pshawny · July 21st, 2008

I recently came across a website that was using silly animated gifs. That just looked dumb. Animated gifs were so last year, lol.

Solmu · July 21st, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daniel Slatkin


	The primary reason that designers use a flash intro is that it gives the rest of the site time to load and optimize.

That only makes sense if the rest of the site is flash too... which it shouldn't be

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