Worst Web Sites 2008:
The Contenders

Submitter’s comments: Last evening I opened a very handy Christmas present from my wife — an “Emergency Dynamo Lantern.” As the outside of the box describes it: “5 LED Bulbs,” “NO Batteries Needed.”"30 seconds of Hand Cranking generates 15-30 minutes of light!” It is manufactured by JLR Gear.

While my wife and daughter and son were cooking today’s feast, I typed the URL into the browser to learn what other handy products they make. The home page has pretty pictures, and the categories for their products are listed (sideways though). So, I click on “Products” and what do I get?

THIS AREA IS PASSWORD PROTECTED

PLEASE
ENTER YOUR PASSWORD” [login] (I’m ROTFLMAO)

Thank you for logging on to our site. Unfortunately, this section of the web site is for our retail customers and for our internal use only.

If you need help or more information about our products, please feel free to contact us at: 510-777-9894.

Their product is very handy. Their web site is very unhandy. I suppose they mean that only the retail resellers can have access. But, don’t most manufacturers also display what products they make, and, list the retail stores where you can go buy them?

Vincent Flanders’ comments: Oh, boy! This is wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong. As I wrote in Biggest Mistakes in Web Design 1995-2015:

These ladies are laughing at you. Why? You designed your web site for your needs, not their needs. It gets worse. After they stop laughing, they’re going to one of your competitors’ sites and buy something…

Nobody cares about you or your site!

Really. What visitors care about is solving their problems. Now. Most people visit a web site to solve one or more of these four problems:

They want/need information

They want/need to make a purchase / donation.

They want/need to be entertained.

They want/need to be part of a community.

Too many organizations believe that a web site is about opening a new marketing channel or getting donations or to promote a brand or to increase company sales by 15%. No. It’s about solving your customers’ problems.