By Jessica Swanson

“Everything is designed. Few things are designed well.”– Brian Reed

One of my good friends (let’s call her Annie), started up an online business a few months back and can’t wait to share her brand-new, razzle-dazzle website with me.

So, as we sit sipping Starbuck Lattes, Annie unveils the site in all its glory.

Let me be the first to say that this site is absolutely gorgeous. It’s slick and fancy with all sorts of extravagant bells and whistles. (And, by the way, it should be gorgeous, considering the exorbitant amount of money Annie spent on it!)

But, alas my Shoestring Marketing eye zeros in on a BIG problem.

This site isn’t going to make Annie any money. Zilch. Zero. Zip.

How could I possibly know this?

Because Annie’s site is committing a handful of deadly website sins.

The 7 Deadly Small Business Website Sins Revealed

1) The “Just Another Pretty Face” Website

This website is all form and no function and doesn’t serve any purpose whatsoever. It’s a classic mistake that small business owners make when they hire a graphic designer to create their website.

The graphic designer (who is not a marketing specialist), does their job and makes the website look pretty. Mission accomplished.

But, unfortunately, in the website world, pretty isn’t going to pay the bills.

2) The “I Paid the Kid Down the Street” Website

Here’s the opposite of the “Pretty Face” website. This site screams homemade; it’s sloppy and amateurish and gives visitors a negative first impression.

Even worse, it’s littered with broken links, grammatical errors and glaring typos.

Don’t represent your small business as a shoddy, unprofessional company.

3) The Website “Brochure”

Here’s another mistake that small business owners make when outsourcing website design.

Many web designers create the typical “5-page” website, but don’t include the crucial elements that make it a “marketing machine.”

As a result, the site turns out to be a boring static brochure that doesn’t compel visitors to return.

Today’s websites need to be educational and interactional with new content added frequently.

4) The “Unorganized” Website

There’s nothing worse for your visitors than a site that’s cumbersome and difficult to use.

If your users can’t find what they’re looking for they aren’t going to stay and try to figure it out.

5) The “Super-Annoying” Website

Unfortunately, these sites still exist and they’re chock full of flash, animation, annoying music and aggressive pop-ups.

Although these “bells and whistles” are meant to impress visitors, I promise you that they don’t.

Remove any website frills that cause aggravation and irritation.

6) The “I Don’t Care About SEO” Website

SEO doesn’t have to be a scary undertaking. But, unfortunately, too many small business owners feel that simple SEO is beyond their capabilities.

But, if your website isn’t search engine friendly, then you’re losing money every single minute of the day.

Take the time to learn about titles, meta-tags, keywords, back-links, on and off-page optimization. I promise that it’s not as scary as it seems.

7) The “Capital Offense” Website

In my opinion, there’s nothing worse than a website that doesn’t convert.

It should educate, inspire and motivate your visitors; it should convert your visitors to interested sales leads and eventually convert your leads to customers.

The bottom line is that if your website isn’t making money for you, then it’s not working. Period.

What do you think? Am I leaving anything off the list of website offenses?