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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Yvette's Bridal Formal

What in the name of all that's holy IS this thing?  The person that submitted this site said "It looks like a crayon box threw up on it".  That is far too kind.  There is NO navigation, NO organization - nothing.  The url indicates this site may be for bridal formalwear, but among the shout-outs to friends' websites, and random blurry photos of girls playing dress-up - we don't even see a way to buy whatever Yvette is selling.  There are links to "delicious yummy recipes", as well as "fashionable literature" - whatever THAT is. 

We weren't willing to risk our corneas by clicking around this site too long, and anyone looking for bridal formal wear will surely move on to a site that presents wedding gowns in a more professional and appealing manner.

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Hillstock Services

The logo of a grinning, rolling, toilet-on-wheels worries us.  Has it broken free of its wax ring, to go after the person that 'sprinkled when they tinkled' and didn't clean it up?  Yikes!

Just as worrisome: this website was done entirely in Flash for no reason. These are static pages that don’t require Flash. This will limit your audience. Why would you tell people to go to your website ON YOUR WEBSITE? If this site is meant to sell or rent the “Luxury Toilets” from Hillstock Services, then their phone number ought to be plastered all over the place.  You have 3-5 seconds to let people know what the purpose of your website is. At least their service is tailored to your "indervidual" requirements.  Spell check, people!

Worth noting - if the photos on the landing page are of the interior of what are essentially portable toilets, they look awesome.

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Master Butcher

First off, if you have to tell someone how to use your website then you are doing something wrong. Our first impression is that Othmar wants people to know that he is a Master Butcher – but there is also a whole "About Me" section on being a tiger tamer.  You animals had better behave, that's a Master Butcher you're dealing with...

Vegetarians, cover your eyes now - the stated purpose of this site is to become a source of information for the meat eating public. FYI, From 7/2005 to 2/2007 this website had 140,258 visitors.  Those must have been prime years for the meat trade.  By the way, the main logo of a website is supposed to be a link back to the index page, but it doesn't work on this site.  As informational as this site wanted to be, it was last updated in 2006 where a message board was added (this link is dead. Othmar must be busy with his meat).

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Bullet Maker

Does anyone else find it ironic that a website for an ammunition maker is also promoting the Marvels of Fruit?  Mixed messages aside, when you build a website you should have a theme for it.  The design theme (such as it is) doesn't go any farther than the front page.  This website is confusing as they make bullets (we think) but are they making them out of bananas and oranges? If you are going to make and sell bullets then skip the fruit!

The author warns us that interrupting him to check on your order status only slows him down.  How 'bout an online order status area, then?  Don't bother leaving a phone message either, he doesn't call people back.

Ammo and oranges - rock on!

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Ling's Cars

Ling's Cars qualifies as a bad website due to cluttered and busy pages, lack of consistency, tons of flashy blinky things and no sense of a color scheme. At the same time this site is genuinely funny and they are not afraid to make fun of themselves. The site receives almost 1.5 million visitors a month, so something they are doing certainly attracts people to their site.

Despite Ling's success, the pages on the site are a mess. At the same time, this is also part of the site's charm. They have an amusing web game that is impossible to win, talking heads and "chinglish". Ling even claims to show you how to get a free car if you stop smoking.

In this case we would have to say that this site is an exception to being a true 'boogersite'. We are not saying that it could not be improved but the unorthodox method appears to be working.

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