Examples of Bad Websites
There are countless examples of embarrassing website designs and development out there. These are the latest examples we have discovered. For each site below we provide a brief analysis to assist you in avoiding the same pitfalls.
After looking at the websites and critiques below, please visit our free advice area.
Help us clean up the Internet!
Superior Web Solutions
If we told you that we'd found the worst website ever - would you believe it? This one you will have to experience for yourselves. One little thumbnail screenshot can't show you the otherworldly horror that is this all-Flash website. iPhone/iPad users - sorry. You won't be able to see a thing, as this website is entirely made of Flash.
If you do visit this site, set some time aside, it is fascinatingly bad. Go ahead, click around. The Studio 1 and Studio 2 areas show some offerings for your website that are simply stunning, in a terrible way. If you decide to Shop, get ready for an elevator ride. Trust us - just do it.
We hope you're in a Halloween mood, because this is a truly scary website.
YOU WERE WARNED.
MJ Fire Protection
Bad websites can be found all over the world, and here's one from the UK. The person who submitted it said: "so much text all over the site, too much to take it all in. Cluttered. And awful design and colours." We agree - and even though WE'RE fond of boogersite yellow, a website selling something as serious as fire protection may want to go with something less glaring.
This is indeed a cluttered website, and there's no reason for it. If you sell and service fire extinguishers, that can be easily presented and described. The use of images (rather than text) to outline services is not going to be searchable or readable, and when you take a small image and make it larger, what happens? That's right - it gets blurry.
We're not ones to point fingers - whoops, actually, yes we are - and in this case, clicking on the link for the person/company taking 'credit' for this monstrosity will show you all you need to know.
All Star Kids
When you come across a website that has an actual assertion that it was created and is managed with FrontPage 2000, you've got to stop and take a look - which is exactly what happened with this recently submitted bad website. "Does FrontPage still work?" we were asked. Apparently, there are some dusty and wheezing servers out there still chugging along which can still host FrontPage.
The use of script fonts especially in the navigation is odd, but what's bad is that the navigation menu choices actually change when you hover over them. If you click - are you going to get a page about what it did say, or a page about what it now says.
It really doesn't matter what you click on, there's nothing useful here.
Sacor
Keywords are important - right? What would you guess a website was about which included the terms: plugs, knives, spears, forceps, scissors and hooks? That's right - EYES!
Actually, although the landing page leads you to believe this may be an eye doctor, it's really a surgical instrument supplier. Using something like EasySiteWizard is no way to convey an impression of quality and professionalism.
Another flaw is that the landing page has no indication of where this company is. There's a toll-free number, and a Canadian flag - but no street or email address. The fonts are all over the place, and the navigation is neatly hidden on the 'wrong' side of the page, and in light gray. In short, the application of some professional web design would work wonders for this eyesore.
Serial Killers
When you come across a website called serialkillers.net, you're afraid to look - right? Not us! This is gonna be great!
Well...not so much. Rather than a rogue's gallery of faces, all with reward amounts posted under them - we have a website that appears to be a collection of blog posts, most of them promoting personal - ahem - 'enhancements', shall we say? What a ripoff! Why waste a quality domain name on advertisements for products that a self-respecting serial killer would not admit to needing?
Seriously - when planning your business website, seek out a domain that actually indicates what you do, if not the actual name of your company. Your customers, and the internet, will thank you.