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.
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USA Today
Go on, try to read some news here, we dare ya'. In some cases, just going to this "news" website, you'll get a gigantic autoplaying ad. There's a useless graphic that invites you to 'news below' but it doesn't work. If you somehow find a way to get the actual website to display, go ahead and click on a story. We'll wait. Yep - now all you see is an impotent lure to subscribe for $9.99 a month.
NO THANKS.
There are plenty of other places that serve up the news willingly, without playing games with site visitors. Rot in peace, USA Today.
The Beauty Lounge
Today's bad website is missing an FAQ section, so we'll make one for this place:
Q: Why does the content only take up half the screen?
Q: Why is the page title "Home?"
Q: Why is there no navigation?
Q: Why is there no address?
A: NO ONE KNOWS
NSTA
If you ran a business called the National Security Training Academy, it would seem like a no-brainer to have a secure website. Right? At the very least, you'd secure your online enrollment form. Right? Fail on both.
Today's submitted bad website was made back when having 22 keywords or phrases wasn't unusual. That's no excuse for keeping them these days, especially when none of those words or phrases appears on the site. Do you see Fire Alarm Installation Methods anywhere here? Nope.
Text on the website indicates that the training you can purchase is "is designed to help electronic persons stay abreast of the complex and expanding electronic security industry." This old website doesn't do much to foster that impression.
Paris Machining
Have you ever heard of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne? A quick reminder: a young woman bears a child out of wedlock, and is forced to endure public shame by wearing a red (scarlet) piece of cloth in the shape of the letter A. Can you imagine this method in practice today? But back to the plot and its relevance to today's bad website.
Look at the footer of this site. It's nothing but keywords. This practice is so old and useless it's laughable. But let's call it what it is: shameful. Checking on the company taking credit for this unfortunate gaffe we find a parked domain at GoDaddy.
SHAME!
Atlas Screw
Isn't it kinda cute? This old website was 'last modified' in 2005 - so maybe it's not even for an active company any more. That was THIRTEEN YEARS AGO! When you have text on your site that tells how long you've been in business, it's better to say 'since YYYY' because that will never become outdated. When you say 'for XX years' it's immediately outdated when the calendar year changes.
There's really not a lot here. You can try the nav buttons, but you'll get very little reward for doing so. Then, you'll need to use the back button to return to the landing page, as the nav doesn't carry over to the subpages.
