The Island of Misfit Websites

by: Andy Eliason

There's millions of them out there. Countless millions of websites that just don't work right, or have that one quirky feature, or are weighted down with too much text, or float away for not having enough text to anchor them down. Still others have the prettiest graphics and the snazziest animations, yet somehow they just never get noticed.

Those poor, poor websites. All they need or want is a nice home where people will love them and take care of them.

The Internet has opened up the commerce opportunities to almost anyone. Unfortunately, this has opened up commerce opportunities to almost anyone. And this includes those companies who offer basic and bland website templates, companies who create a “flashy” site that search engines can't index, or companies that practice questionable means to try and cheat the search engines.

These are all design flaws that can relegate your website to that lonely, lonely Island.

Web design is a step in creating an online presence that you simply cannot skip. A professional website design can make all the difference between online success and exile.

There are a number of website elements that can keep you in front of your loving audience where everything is warm fuzzies and cozy income.

An efficient, powerful website has to be more than pretty pictures. More than informational text, and more than animation. A professional web design includes these things, but to avoid the Island (or even to escape it), it has to be a lot more.

Your website does need to have appropriate graphics. They need to catch the eye without being an eyesore. They have to be memorable, but they can't be the only thing they remember. But even with the right graphics and/or pictures, remember that so far you've only gone skin deep. There has to be something else underneath them, which could include convenient links or even more convenient alt tags.

And then there's those misfits on the Island that just don't seem to have any real clear way to present its actual function. Your site navigation, your links, your sidebar navigation, and an intuitive interface are absolutely critical to staying off the Island.

Multimedia and animation have become inextricably linked to popular websites and modern web design. It's another great way to catch users' attention, but it can also be detrimental if it's done wrong. Done correctly you have a fun, entertaining, and interactive site. Done wrong and you are annoying, and crass, and it's back to the Island for you.

Add to all this the search engine optimization that has been included with so many sites. These procedures can work with your site to make its journey from a server to a search engine and to a home a sleek, smooth, and effective one. Or it can bog the site down with clunky copywriting or old outdated SEO techniques so it will be harder than ever to find it. Or worse, someone may have used some completely unethical practices. In these cases, it's not that your site will be sent to the Island, it's that you'll get sent to the Island and dragged to the highest cliffs where you will be tossed down and destroyed on the rocky surf below.

All of these facets of professional web design can be brought together under the heading of conversion rate. When you pull all these things together and deliver a complete and unified package, you can keep your users happy and they will frequent your website and convert from casual visitors to real customers.

The Island of Misfit Websites can be a scary place. But many websites have only ended up there as a simple result of neglect. Rescue is possible, but your best bet is to avoid it completely by taking these things into account when you first start building your website and your online presence.