What do you visitors and potential customers have to say about your website? Why do they suddenly leave? Let’s take a look at some of the common complaints users give when asked about the sites they visit.

1. It takes too long to load! When the internet first became available to the general public, it mattered little how long your site took to load. But that has changed. The average user now expects your page to load in eight seconds or less! Yes, eight seconds. It has been proven through studies that a customer viewing an online store, who waits much more than eight seconds, will move on to another site even if it means paying more for the item they plan to purchase. This free site contains information that will help you to decrease your page load time (Doctor HTML).

2. The links don’t work! If a user cannot find what they need on your site, they will look somewhere else for their answer. Broken links can be easily avoided with a little time and attention, so there really is no reason to hear this complaint about your site! There are free services available, such as Xenu`s Link Sleuth(TM) that will perform link checks to make sure that your users find what they need.

3. I don’t want to sit through this fancy introduction scene every time I visit your site! Flash is the HOT topic right now among designers. Just about every web designer position description includes Flash as a requirement. Used in moderation, Flash is a great tool for catching the eye of your first-time visitor. However, it is important to give returning users and dial-up users an alternative to your fancy introduction. Remember that the key is to design for ALL users, and to keep them coming back to your site.

4. I just cannot find what I need! Setting up the navigation for your site is a matter of common sense. You should provide a home button to bring users back to your front page – on every page! You should also provide users with a site map and a table of content, where they can easily find what they are looking for in as few clicks as possible. Most of the time if a user needs to click more than three times to get to the information they need, they will leave your site and find it somewhere else.

5. I have a question, and I don’t know who to ask or how to contact them! It is very important to give your users a method to contact you. Depending on the purpose of your site, the information you provide may vary. If you are selling a product, you should provide an email address, telephone number and physical address. If you maintain an information website, then at the very least you should provide an email address for feedback. Maybe you want to consider an “About Us” page, that tells users more about you, your company and why your site is there in the first place.

6. This site just will NOT work with my web browser! In the past, it was common to write your html and test it only in Internet Explorer and maybe Netscape Navigator. This has changed. Today, there is a whole host of browser packages available including Mozilla Firefox and Opera. As a designer, you need to be aware that most of the users of these “non-standard” browsers are technically savvy and will not visit your site if it doesn’t load for them. Verification of your html is simple. Try this free program, and see for yourself how you can improve your site in just a few minutes! Tidy GUI

7. I need to give you information about me, but this form is taking forever and the questions don’t make sense! The rule of thumb for a web-based form is if you don’t need the information, don’t ask the question! Unfortunately, not every form developer follows this rule. If you are designing a form for your users, ask minimal, clear questions that allow your user to provide you with the information you need without taking more of their time than you need to.

8. I can’t tell where the links are! Although removing the underlining from hyperlinks, and changing the standard blue color to match the text color of a page looks better to the designer, it often servers to irritate the end-user! Keep your links obvious, make visited links look like visited links by changing their color and always use the link text to give the user an idea of what’s behind door number one! Don’t use non-descript text such as “click here” or “for more information.” If you are linking to the Human Society, then tell your users that they are going to go to the Humane Society Website if they click on the blue underlined words.

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