The Seven Sins

Failing to understand that the most important element of any Web site is content, content, content.

Web surfers are looking for information about your products and services. Such technicalities as design, color scheme and "artistic merit" should be transparent to the viewer. Too much "art" in a Web site can be compared with too much makeup on a woman: If it calls attention to itself, it has defeated its purpose.

A site cluttered with pointless gimmicks, such as animations and intrusive graphics that do nothing to enhance your message, will be a turn-off for most viewers.

Perhaps you’ve seen sites alive with dancing bears, cartoons, pulsating banners, and other irrelevant devices. If you’re like most online viewers, you have little patience for that sort of nonsense. Such schemes may have a place on a high-school student’s Web page, but not on your business site.

Commercial software packages have made it easy to create digital distractions. Unfortunately, some Web designers have the notion that their clients will be disappointed if they don't pepper them throughout the site.

You should make sure that your designer understands how you feel about unnecessary distractions. Graphics that are primarily decorative in purpose should be kept to a minimum. In Web-site design, less is more.