Examples of Bad Websites

Here at boogersite.com, we often wonder what prompts someone to send in an example of a bad website.  Did they just stumble across it?  Are they a disgruntled ex-employee?  Or...have they gotten nowhere trying to convince the company that a website redesign is long overdue?  

In the case of this recent submission, it's hard to tell.  If you can get past the design (or lack of it), it doesn't take a professional to see that some very basic information is missing.  A phone number!  An address!  

Although...looking at this website for a web design firm, it may be unlikely that you'd actually WANT to contact them.

After a lengthy internet search - okay, it was a few minutes, actually - we learned that the Bond character is about entitlement, sex, and violence. He can appreciate fine wines, shoot adversaries in cold blood (and with a certain pleasure), and acquire information on his enemies by seducing their mistresses, who usually end up dead as a result.

The recently-submitted bad website for the James Bond 007 Museum doesn't bring to mind any of these traits.  If this website was a movie character, it would be an annoying motormouth that you couldn't wait to get away from.  Kinda like Jim Carrey.

It doesn't take a professional to see the issues with this website.  After outwitting decades' worth of villains, let's hope Bond doesn't lay down and die of embarrassment.

We've all heard the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words", right?  Unfortunately, the image used as the main focal point of the lastest bad website is not worth anything.  Distorted, blurry machines on a shop floor aren't going to present your facility as modern and capable. 

We know nothing about 'injection molding machines', but a quick Google indicates they can cost between $12K and $150K.  Spend a tiny fraction of the cost of one of your stated '8 machines' on a website, and you'll likely get more paid use out of them. 

People - spend some money on your business website.  Yahoo! SiteBuilder is not the way to go.  If you have a REAL business, charging REAL money for your products or services, don't cheap out on the one salesperson that works for you every day, all day, and all night every night.  Please realize that the overwhelming majority of people (in fact, who DOESN'T?) look up a company online before deciding to do business with them.  Don't leave yourself hanging out there with an embarrassing or homemade website.

When it comes to bad websites, some of them are easy to spot.  This newest entry has obvious problems, such as the use of what seem to be wingdings in the header for some reason.  The url is also different from the name of the business, which could be on purpose.  Notice the url is what a person might actually search for to find this service business.  Shady?  Or just tricky?  Most of the images are broken too.

To be fair, this business has a lot of good reviews on a popular review site that begins with a "Y" (not going to give them any free referrals, though you can probably guess.)  Replacing keys, getting you into a locked car or apartment, and providing many other locksmith services - they seem to be good at.  Web design, not so much.

UPDATE:  Good for you, American Lock and Key - congratulations on your new website! 

Sometimes, a website is submitted that is just plain ugly.  Some poorly designed websites are confusing or busy, with slipshod or absent navigation.  Quite a few are all-Flash websites, believe it or not there are people out there still excluding all iPhone and iPad users.

In this case - the website for this company strikes us as disappointing and lonely more than anything else. It's a substantial company, we checked.  Earnings, according to a popular and common website used to look up company data lists an annual revenue in the range of $10-20 million.  Yes, we said 'million'.  So why have this sad, nearly empty website?

The navigation, which you'll have to click on the thumbnail to see, is weird.  The buttons are dual-purpose. If you click one, the label changes.  History changes to Fabrication.  Galvanizing changes to Fabrication.  And so on.  Weird...and ultimately - not doing anything to impress website visitors.  Your website should speak for your company - and this one's saying "Help!"