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As a builder or purchaser of SEO-friendly, W3C compliant websites, you put a lot of effort and perhaps considerable money into making sure your website is great, that people love it and want to stay and buy your product or use your services. The last thing you want is for people to find your site, then decide that they hate it and can’t wait to leave. In an effort to avoid that ever happening to you, let’s take a look at what makes people hate a website and want to leave it immediately.

People hate bad design. Ugly and awkward design will drive people away, even if the content is good. Too much flash, or flash improperly used, can be a killer, except in very specialized implementations. Inconsistent layout that is confusing and difficult to use will make your customers seek somewhere else as well. Color schemes and layouts that are unique yet tasteful and highly functional are the way to go.

Lack of focus isn’t a good thing either. People want to find what they are looking for, and not be lead astray. But if you insist on distracting them from your content and your purpose and sending them off elsewhere to pursue other goals, they may just take you up on it and go. And who could blame them?

Outdated content is a quick way to lose people as well. If you hire a professional designer to make you a great site, be sure you include some update budget when considering the cost. You want people to come back, for sure. But you also want them to find something different and fresh to interest them each time, so that they will continue to return to your site.

Poor function in all its several forms is deadly to return traffic. Slow loading pages, sites that are not cross-browser compatible, and sites with poor navigation or broken links, all turn people off and turn them away as well. Usability is important, and special consideration needs to be given to users working with disabilities, in order to reach everyone, whatever your message may be.

There are a lot more details to consider. The matter of browser compatibility alone is a large one, and very important for keeping people on your pages. Fortunately, your highly skilled professional web designer is ready for the task. A qualified and dedicated designer will consider usability in all its forms, as well as cross-browser compatibility, search engine optimization, and the requirements for W3C compliance when designing and building a site for you.