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!
Infor POS
As someone said "this bad website has too much going on" and they're right. An 'accept cookies' bar blocking the top, a giant video that thankfully isn't autoplaying, and an intrusive chatbot already pestering us even though we haven't had a chance to click anything yet.
Chatbots are like a pushy store clerk that accosts you the moment you walk into a store, asking "is there anything I can help you with?" Just calm down! Give people a chance to look around before you - ALL OF YOU - pop up a dang chatbot. It feels like we're being watched.
Makana Design
A website was submitted that was pretty bad - so we decided to see who was responsible for it. Jackpot. The 'designer's' website is worse. From pages with nothing but lorem ipsum text to a portfolio full of no-longer-live websites, this isn't a company you'd hire if you wanted a professional website.
Grammar and puncuation errors are everywhere. "When business is not running nothing moves. to the high profile to the low budget trying to get on their feet, one thing is for sure we all need a little help." or "The Logos the business colors come into play when you went to high school."
Does this make sense to you?
Roadside America
Riddled with ads, today's bad website is presumably a resource for those wanting to take a road trip. Sounds good - but this disorganized site has us already wanting to stay home. The advertisements for mortgage rates get in the way, as do ones for Oral Care, and Spectrum. Seriously! Tone it down, we can't tell the ads from the content. Well actually - the site's text and arrangement is so old, that the ads stand out as modern, colorful, and appealing.
"The World's Largest Ball of Twine" is such a cliche when speaking of out-of-the-way places, yet there it is on the landing page slideshow.
The tiny search box doesn't work (very) well, we tried "Dollywood" and it came up as the THIRD result behind a bridge in Colorado, and Lorretta Lynn's childhood home. Weird.
Ken's Service Center
Just when you thought keyword stuffing was finally dead, someone's pointed out a similar method. By a dealer website provider! Check out the paragraph in the lower left. It's nothing but a pile of text vomit, mentioning the name of the business, what they do, and where they are in a manner that doesn't make sense to human eyes when read.
Ken's Service Center 8 times. Tires 7 times. Auto repair 5 times. Hanover 13 times. Columbia 12 times. MD 23 times.
All that in a small paragraph, and linked to other pages within the website. Cheap attempt at SEO, and it will fail every time.
Voorhees Rubber
"Candy Molds Made of Live Rubber" - YUM! Anyone else's mouth watering? We didn't think so. At first glance, we couldn't tell what this website was for or about. At second glance, we noticed that headline. So they make candy molds? Then why the photo of what looks for some reason like we're in the board game of Clue.
Strangely, this website is for a rubber company. How can you tell? Not from the landing page images. Not from the menu options. Recipes? Testimonial? (Just one.)