Nerdy Web Sites

Tuesday, July 8th, 2003 at 3:44 PM | Category: Meryl's Notes Blog No comments

Before you jump to conclusion that this is about good Web sites with a lot of technical stuff, it’s not. That would be a geeky Web site. Nerd is an “unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person” per Merriam-Webster. With that cleared, the rest should speak for itself.

Here’s how reporters know when they’ve reached a nerdy website.

  • They enter on a page that says “welcome to my website,” then they have to click again to get to the homepage. Even nerdier is a message that says
    “website under construction–please return later.”
  • The home page is plastered with an annoying “wallpaper” background that
    usually consists of the company’s logo repeated over and over again, with
    text slapped on top of it. Or a big, clunky graphic covered with text.
  • They can’t find contact information–including an address, phone number
    or email address–on the homepage.
  • They can’t find a button that says Media Room, or Press Room or About Us
    and have to go searching to find what they’re looking for.
  • They try to search quickly but can’t because the website doesn’t have a
    search function.
  • They see things that rotate, spin, move, jump, dart, flash or crawl
    across the screen.
  • Without warning, they hear music and a voice that welcomes them to the
    site.
  • They see a little box on the homepage that shows the number of people
    who have visited the site. Retail stores don’t have a flashing sign that
    tells how many customers have come through the door. So unless you’re
    McDonald’s, you shouldn’t either.
  • They find a site built in frames, which many older browsers don’t
    support. Many search engines don’t index them properly either. Frame
    scrolling bars waste precious space.

Reprinted from “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week,” a free
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