5 Business Website Turn-Offs

I do a lot of web surfing, looking at different business websites. Sometimes I'm searching for information for my own business. Sometimes I'm looking for opportunities. It always amazes me how many websites just turn me off immediately.

Here's my list of my top 5 business website turn-offs:

1. Audio (or video) that comes on as soon as you load the page. This is more than annoying; it's a real intrusion. So many sites have started doing this that I really have to keep my speakers turned off most of the time, lest all my employees be bombarded with an annoying audio in the middle of the work day.

2. Blatant sales pitches. I don't mind a nicely crafted sales letter, but sites that push the hard sell with a bunch of razzle-dazzle remind me of the worst used car salesman stereotypes. The number one criteria for me for doing business with someone is trust. If your site is pushing a hard sell, you won't be getting my trust.

3. Too many graphics and colors. Some people think that a whole bunch of graphics and big print in wild colors is attractive. It's not. In fact, too much glitz distracts from the message of the site, and there are just too many sites out there for me to spend much time on a site that is just visually overstimulating.

4. Anonymous sites with very little information. If someone wants me to buy something (or join a business opportunity) they should tell me who they are and give me some basic information about the product or service. The whole attitude of "Our product is just too complex for you to fully understand it from a website, so you have to leave your information so I can call you an tell you all about it," is just insulting. When I see a site like that, what I hear is either "I don't want to invest enough time in this to develop a good site with enough information," or "I really just want to get you on the phone so I can try my hand at convincing you to buy something you don't need or want."

5. Sites that have a "please don't go yet" popup that comes up when you try to leave the annoying site. It feels like the equivalent of a salesman following you out the door. If the salesman had done a decent job of providing information in a respectful manner in the first place, you might not be leaving. Grabbing me on the way out is the best way to ensure that I will never do business with them in the future.

As I develop my own marketing sites, I try to keep these things in mind. My goal is to develop trust and convey the genuine respect that I have for my customers and prospective business partners.

What are your thoughts on this?