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.

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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.

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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.)  

 

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Small House Cakes

Were we wrong to be expecting a website for a bakery which produced small cakes in the shape of houses?  Maybe for realtors to give to clients when they buy or sell a house?  Apparently we WERE wrong, but it's a cool idea.

What we have instead is mysteriouly still undefined.  What IS a "Small House Cake"?  Breaking a primary rule of web design here, we can't tell from the landing page.  Front and center is a Get Quote button.  For a cake?  Must be expensive.  Let's check the Gallery, and see what is really being sold here.  Guess what?  Nope.  Just the black and white landing page graphic repeated (for some reason) three times.

Let's hope that if this IS an actual bakery that they are w-a-y better at baking than web design.

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Sunny 101.7

iHeart Radio stations are not known for their originality.  Most of them play the same playlist, every day, ad nauseum.  So it comes as no surprise that websites for their many stations also lack taste, originality, or even a modicum of design.

If you were compelled to visit a radio station website, what do you surmise you might be looking for?  Maybe - the name/artist of the song that is playing, or was played recently.  See that here?  Nope.

Maybe a way to request a song?  As IF these corporate stations would stoop to caring about what YOU would like to hear.  But still...hope springs eternal.

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Easter Crafts for Kids

This website should actually be titled, "Ads for Sprint!" Because that's what you'll get.  The thumbprint screenshot to the left shows (already) a banner ad, a mid-screen banner, and another at the bottom.  And we haven't even gotten started!

IF you were to click on the thumbnail to the left (and why would you, just listen to reason here...) you would see, below the fold, two sentences about the topic. And then?  EIGHTEEN ADS by the halfway point.  Mostly for Sprint.  Then we quit.  So should you.

 

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