I think today I can say with confidence that every single client I've had who contacted me for a brand new website absolutely loathed their current one. I mean hated- with a passion. I wonder if this kind of stuff is how you hear stories of people destroying their computers.
The reason people hate their sites is always consistent- the site won't let them do the stuff they want to do! Most people suffer with sites that require a Ph.D in C++ programming simply because they don't know how to fix it.
We all know there's a better way, but it's like that pile of clothes in the middle of the floor when you're a teenager. Or that big mess in the attic that seems to grow every winter. You know things would be so much better if you just bit the bullet and did it, but putting in the time just seems so… lame.
So you put up with a website that stinks until you can't stand it anymore, then pay some nerd 1,000 miles away way too much money to make a new one that you still don't understand and isn't really that much better than the first.
Or you're in the other crowd. You don't think your website is that bad, or you think that just having a website is enough. Maybe you even see the value in having a site and think that having one gains you access to one more market that you wouldn't have otherwise. Have you ever considered that unless your site is just right, there's a good chance your site is driving people away from your business- never to return.
Your color scheme looks like a box of Crayolas just threw up. The concept of “white space” seems more like what happens when you spill Liquid Paper than a design concept…. The list goes on and on.
These are just a few of the more extreme problems you might be a victim of and there are hundreds more that are significantly more subtle. The specifics of all of this are exactly what I'll be getting into during the course of writing these articles. This is just the chain ride up the first hill before the big drop. Hold on tight- your website is about to get a lot better.
