The Internet is chock full of websites on every topic under the sun (and some outside of it too). So if you have a website and want users to keep coming back for more, you need to pamper them and cater to their tastes. But there are some sites that irritate rather than invite and intrigue as they are supposed to do, and this is because:
• They use pop-ups: These are the biggest intruders when you’re surfing a web page, especially if they pop up at an inopportune moment when you’re reading something important. Users are never going to read what’s on them and are more focused on closing them quickly.
• They open new windows each time a link is clicked: With the convenience that tabbed browsing offers, it’s now a nuisance to navigate between different windows, especially when you’re used to organizing your desktop content according to different tabs and windows based on the subject you’re looking up. A website that insists on popping up new windows for each link is a definite no-no in my book.
• They use dark backgrounds: Have you ever tried to read your own site? If so, you would realize that dark backgrounds hurt your eyes and make reading extremely difficult, more so if you combine it with text that is small and in a dark color too.
• They pressure users to subscribe: Any website that requires you to subscribe and provide a number of personal details is just not going to get as many users as they would like. More than 50 percent of its visitors are likely to leave even before they enter because they don’t have the time to fill out forms.
• They play music in the background: If you’ve got many web pages open and hear music streaming from one, it’s going to be one hell of a task to try and find the damn page that is making the noise. Although it may be music to your ears, it is noise as far as the user is concerned.
• They include text that flashes: You may want to highlight certain words, but if you use flashing lights to do so, you can bet that they’re not going to be noticed because your reader is going to rush to find the close button to stop the pain in their eyes.
• They have wide pages that require users to navigate from side to side: A web page that requires you to use the horizontal scroll bar makes reading difficult and concentration hard.
This post was contributed by Nicole White, who writes about online web design school. She welcomes your feedback at Nicole.White222 at gmail.com
