Visiting a website is like dating your company. Most of us are awful at dating. My first experiences usually involved my talking too much in a desperate attempt to hide my terror. In hindsight it may have been better to appear nervous than a jabbering lunatic. Some people find their usually fluid vocal skills dry up to the point of paralysis, to find themselves eating in silence, only occasionally punctuated by inane small-talk about the weather and how nice their food is. Many websites commit the same sins; either saying far too much or far too little on their main pages. New visitors account for around 70-80% of most website’s visitors. So their first impression of your company is either ‘silent-enigmatic’ or ‘manic-deranged.’

Regardless of your business type, you need a website. This much is clear. And while most business owners are starting to come to terms with this, businesses continue to spend significant amounts of money on a website that simply "didn’t work." Either it didn’t do a good job selling or simply didn’t address any of the things important to wary customers.

Don’t let this happen to you. Make sure your site will give customers the information they need before you invest in a flashy design. Here are some of the sins of web design (and dating) that you should be sure to avoid.

Too Flashy

People often make the mistake of pulling out the stops on dates – and ultimately going overboard. The same can often be said with sites and their use of Adobe® Flash™. It's sexy, it adds sizzle, and graphic designers love it. But should you use Flash in your Website? The even bigger question is: should you build your whole Website as Flash? The answer is not a simple yes or no, but a happy medium. Adding Flash to your web pages, instead of building your web pages entirely out of Flash, makes sense. By building your entire website out of Flash, you are bypassing the very language upon which the web is built! All web pages are built with HTML. But when you make your whole website Flash, you are for the most part bypassing HTML. All of a sudden, search engines can't read your site. Your content is practically invisible to them. So, if you are going to use Flash, how should you do it? Consult a Flash website development company in order to find a balance of content and flashiness; use Flash to make your content look fantastic.

It’s not ALL about you

Yes it’s good to talk about yourself (on a date and on your site)… but not too much. Customers don’t head to your site to hear how awesome you are. They’re there because they have a problem they need you to fix or a question they need you to answer. Your website should be designed to help them quickly achieve whatever it is they came for. Too many references to "I" in lieu of "you," too much sales talk instead of helpful information, and too much of you not addressing their fears/wants/desires will turn people away from your brand, not on to it. Your customers don’t care about you–they care about how you can help them.

Information overload

Everyone knows copy is really important to a website. From an SEO perspective, it gives the search engines something to index and enhances conversion optimization. From a usability perspective, it gives the user needed information to encourage them through the buying funnel. From a… well you get the point. You need copy. Arguably, on a truly nice and usable site, the copy will be formatted in a way that is not overwhelming (broken up by pictures, bullet points, ordered lists etc.) However, sometimes, the sheer volume of product description can actually turn users off. Make sure that you’re taking all phases of the buying funnel into consideration when designing how massive copy will appear on the site. Take care of your impulsive, ready-to-buy clients up top and then let the other information settle into tabs or at least below your strong calls to action. Otherwise, you risk overwhelming your user. A website information architect may assist you with organizing the site in order to deliver a thoughtful design that engages users to take action and increases your organizations' results.

Keeping up to date

Customers are discriminating. You can bet that when they land on your website they’re going to check you out a little and assess whether or not they can trust you. They’re going to check your copyright date to see if it lists 2011 or 2006. They’re going to look for old statistics or other signs you haven’t taken the time to update your content. They’re going to check your company blog to see how often it’s updated, if you reply to commenter’s, if people are talking back, etc. They’re going to look for signs that you’ve created a dynamic website, instead of one lying around in stagnant water. Before your customers get there, take a look around yourself. Would you hang out with you?

Treat visitors to your website like you should have treated your dates, and you’ll be making the right impression from the start. If you avoid these common mistakes with web design, it’s likely that the first date will be more successful – hopefully leading to a second or third date – and maybe even marriage! The company website says a lot to consumers about the business and indicates to them whether or not they are interested in doing business with you – and that’s why you started the site to begin with!