15 Outdated Website Practices

15 Outdated Website Practices

that make your website look like from the Stone Age

1. Flash Intros – Most flash intros look like rubbish, are completely pointless, take ages to load and are just outright annoying for your visitors.
2. Not Visible for Mobiles or Tablets – Over 40% of the total web traffic now comes from mobiles and tablets. If your site isn’t visible on either, then that is a huge chunk of visitors you are missing out on.
3. Poor Navigation – Your menu should be easy to find, decrease your bounce rate and increase conversions with nice clear menu options.
4. Slow to load – People expect web pages to load within 3 seconds. Remove anything that is slowing your site down or people will feel like they are using the old dial-up internet service.
5. Animated Gifs – Why these were invented we’ll never know. You might think they are funny, your visitors will think they are awful.
6. Visitor Counters – Have you not heard of Google Analytics? You don’t need to show people how many visitors you have had (or not had).
7. Too Much Text – Trying to cram as much text as you can into the smallest possible space will make your site look like school essay, that just reminds people how old they are.
8. Outdated Text – Does your site still say Copyright 1999, or was your last blog post 5 years ago? Visitors will just think you are no longer trading.
9. Stock Images – Don’t use images that can be seen on a million of other websites. Take time to personalise your site so that customers get to know you.
10. Outdated Fonts – Using an old font can give your site a very outdated feel. If you are using Times New Roman or Comic Sans then have a rethink!
11. Free Email Service – If your company email address is similar to mycompany@hotmail.com you look like an amateur. Order a domain name and as well as email hosting to be more professional.
12. Repeating Background Images – We get it, you love your logo, but do you really think people want to see it repeated 20 times behind the rest of your site though?
13. Cluttered Design – If you have tried to fill every blank space on your site you’re just making it hard for your visitors to find the important stuff.
14. Under Construction – If you haven’t had a chance to design your site yet displaying your logo and contact details is far much better than the old under construction image or notice.
15. Lorem Ipsum on LIVE site – Lorem Ipsum is a pseudo-Latin text used in web design, typography, layout, and printing in place of English to emphasise design elements over content. It’s also called placeholder (or filler) text. If this is STILL on the LIVE website, this means you have not supplied your designer with this information.