35. Animated overlays
“Stuff… falling from the sky… can’t read text… head is hurting… must run away….” Have you seen a site like this? One that thinks it is cool that it is snowing or cats and dogs are raining? The falling objects…
34. Moving targets
“I’m interested in your new release, but you’ve put the title and release date in this scrolling marquee that sort of stutters across my screen… then stops… then picks up again. All I get to see is the last word…
33. Shifting landscape
“Whoa. A second ago I was looking at this starscape, and now I’m on a notebook-looking page. Am I still on the same site?” Playing with different designs is fun, but a professional site should look consistent throughout all the…
32. mystery meat navigation
“There’s nothing here but a bunch of images…?” Links that don’t appear until the visitor rolls over something are known as mystery meat navigation and they’re about as appealing as the public school lunch entree. They hide the site’s content…
31. Follow the bouncing ball
“Clicking your menu options is like following the bouncing ball. I can’t keep up!” There’s a place for games on the web. Your navigation menu isn’t one of them! Don’t make your visitors chase links. If you’re using drop-down menus,…
30. Clicky clicky
“I’m clicking the book cover images, but I’m not going anywhere and I can’t find any other links on this page. I’m stuck!” Always link your book covers, either to your own page about the book or to the booksellers…
29. Guessing games
“Your home page is blank except for phrases like “step beyond,” “into the mists,” and “above the clouds.” I don’t have time to play guessing games…” Your website is not the place to play hard to get. You should be…
28. Mouse droppings
“I’m too distracted by the text following my mouse cursor to look at your home page…” Mouse droppings don’t belong in your home or on your home page. Exterminate them.
27. Unpublished
“Your Quest of the Protagonist series sounds fabulous! But, wait — I can’t find them anywhere! And no one has heard of them. I look on your website again… only to find in some small print on a random page…
26. Who are you?
“The only place your name is on the site is the cover of your book. Where am I again?” Make sure that your name is provided in text (not just an image!) on your site. It should be in the…
