Examples of Bad Websites

Go ahead, blink a few times.  Your first impression that this is an interactive map of a subway system is incorrect.  Well, no wonder!  "you need to download Flash 8 to view this site properly".  Come on, everyone, hop into the time machine and go back to 2005 with us!  (we should buy some Google stock while we're there...)

IF you can see the horizontal nav choices, 'Who We Are' seems to be a historical montage of unreadable business cards.  'Resources' offers a free download that won't, and 'Contact Us' is pretty unfriendly. 
A basic best practice of having your logo always link to your home page was also ignored here.  Seriously, for a company that offers "Web Sites" as one of their 'solutions', you'd think they'd have a better one of their own.

What are we supposed to do on this site?  If we own a seafood restaurant, and were searching for a new supplier, it would be unlikely that we'd run across this company online.  Why?  There isn't a single keyword associated with this website.

Can we order fish for our restaurant?  Not on the website. What makes this company a better choice than our current supplier?  It doesn't say.

If your site is meant to promote a product or a service - you should show off what you sell!  Include pictures, a description, and if appropriate, PRICING.  Then, provide an easy way to order or request information.
If you include photos on your site, make sure the resolution is high, and that there is a way to step through the photos.  Filling the screen (or part of it) with a photo leaving no way out other than the browser's back button is rude.  The only button we're going to click is the "X" to close the page.

This is what happens when bad 'build your own website' tools happen to good people.

A professional web design company would've never sold you a landing page like this one, trust us.  No one should ever have to click 'enter' to get to your website.  Once we do, however, we land on a 13 page long 'Current Works' page.  No address, no way to contact these craftsmen - which should be on every page.  If you're going to use a template, we'd think that template should have a spot for company name/address/phone/email on every page. 

Also suspect is the meta information.  If the template came with defaults, there should be a reminder to change them to your own.  Does anyone think this site is about Financial Planning?  Because that's what the keywords are all about.  Beautiful handiwork deserves a better showcase than this.

Hiram\\\\\\'s Tire & Service Center:  well, that's what the page title says!  And other than a cheery (and unnecessary) "Welcome To Our Web Site" message, there's not much else going on here.  By the way - there is NO NEED to welcome users to your website.  Your design should do that.  If you think you're being cute and original, think again. If you Google "welcome to our website", there are 724 million websites that say the same thing.

Please, people -  if you're paying for a website, at minimum you have hosting charges even if you built the website yourself.  So why not finish it??  None of the other pages (About Us, FAQs, Products & Services, Specials) has any content whatsoever.  Why have the site out there if the content isn't ready?

We actually waited to post this user-submitted website, to see if the promised content was going to be forthcoming.  Alas, we are still seeing pages 'under construction'.  BIG no-no. 

When 'pixel playhouse' was submitted to us, the domain extension was not included.  The submitter asked if the site was a joke.  Therefore, we've checked out both .com and .net, and they're both boogersites!  Double trouble!

On the .com version pictured here, we can't figure out what the domain name has to do with a page that is promoting cheap web hosting.  And when we say 'promoting', it is a loose definition of the word.  All this site really does is show you many competing options.  Why, if you are truly in the hosting business, would you have Google ads all over your site that compete with what you're trying to sell?

Doesn't make any sense.   Read on below for the other 'pixel playhouse'.