Certainly, we’ve all seen examples of excellent websites. Unfortunately, more often than not, a site will grab our attention, not for how good it is, but as an example of a "Don’t." What differentiates a mediocre site from one that is outstanding? Surprisingly, the difference comes in the little details that could easily have been corrected.

Here is a list of ten design mistakes that literally drive me to distraction!

1. Errors in Spelling and Grammar

For some unknown reason, I was born with the gift of editing! Spelling and grammar errors seem to jump right off the page at me, and I am unable to concentrate on the content, only the presentation. If you know that you have a problem in this area, ALWAYS spell check. Period. Copy your text into a Word document, spell check, and then copy it back. No excuses.

Of course, the spell check doesn’t catch words that are used incorrectly and often tries to substitute words that make no sense in context. Read what you have written out loud. If you are a really, really bad writer, consider hiring a freelancer to write, or at least edit, your copy. The investment will be worth it in the long run.

2. Color Schemes that are not "Reader Friendly"

Have you ever gone to a website and been unable to read the text because the font isn’t light enough to be seen on the dark background? Or perhaps, the background is a bright, bright color and the white or black text seems to "float" over the blinding background "noise." Think about it. People are paying good money for sites that are practically useless to the average consumer because they can’t read the text! What’s the point?

Think "easy on the eyes." Use neutral backgrounds (grays, blues, soft pinks, or yellow) with a contrasting color (darker shades of the background color or black). For some reason, a lot of websites seem to be using black backgrounds with blue print. I can’t read it. Try to avoid white text on a black background, as the text can appear to "move." Instead, use dark blue or another dark shade of a primary color as a background with white text. It makes a big difference. Look at the page objectively. Maybe you can read the page, but can the general public?

3. Choosing the Wrong Font Style and Size

Font style is almost as important as color. The rule of thumb is to use a non-serif (Arial, Verdana, MS Sans Serif) for pages that will be read online. Serif fonts tend to be distracting to the eye and more difficult to read on a monitor. However, serif fonts are recommended for documents that will be read primarily in hardcopy version. A lot of "do-it-yourself" web pages still use the Times New Roman as the default font. Change it. Your page will look more polished and professional, and, as a result, will be easier to read.

Pay attention to font size as well. If the text is too small, it is hard to read – that’s pretty obvious. But large font can also be distracting in that a person with normal (or corrected) vision will have a hard time adjusting to the larger sized font. For text, stick to between 10 and 12 point font.

Please, please, please… stay away from "cutesy" fonts unless you are creating a child’s web page. I find it hard to take a page seriously if it is designed using Comic Sans MS font!

4. Not Enough "White Space"

Web pages that are designed to convey information must depend on words to accomplish that task. There’s no argument there. But too many words can overwhelm the reader and negate the entire purpose of the site. Never, ever publish a website with one solid page of text. Text should be "chunked" – that is, broken down into manageable pieces – allowing for a break between pertinent thoughts. Create sub-heading titles. Utilize bullets and other formating tools. Use bolding and italics to emphasize important points. If appropriate, use text boxes and graphics to further break up the page. Make your page "reader friendly," and more people will read it all the way through. A huge chunk of text is a guaranteed turn-off.

5. Overdone "Flash"

Okay, I will admit, a little Flash, well placed can beef up a website. But, if I try to open up a website that is so heavily laden with Flash that it takes more than a minute to load on my "whiz-bang" little laptop, I am going to close it! There are few things more frustrating to me than waiting for a website to load. I am not a patient person, and Flash does not impress me, at all! If it makes sense, and is quick to load, okay but, if you are only using it to impress, skip it.

6. Music that the User Cannot Control

I love to surf the Internet in those "down" times when my brain is overloaded and I can’t write a single word. I hop around from site to site, visiting links and gathering new information. The people with whom I work have no idea what I am doing most of the time. They probably think I sit at my desk all day working like a demon. Most of the time I can get away with this. But, once in a while, I will pop into a site, which, for some reason I cannot fathom, has background audio going on. I’m not talking about a musician’s site – I expect music when I go there. I am talking about background music on a site where you would not otherwise expect it.

What’s worse than being startled out my wits by a sudden outburst of music, is to be unable to shut it off. If you must use music, make sure you offer your readers the option of turning it off easily and quickly. When I hit on one of these sites, I just close it out and don’t bother returning.

7. Anything Cutesy

I could create another sub-list under this topic! I hate little, trailing cursors, and stars or snowflakes that litter up the background of a web page. Cartoons and other animated features annoy me no end. Enough said…

8. Pop-ups

The only thing that bugs me more than cutesy are pop-ups of any sort. If they are advertisements, I close them out as quickly as they appear. If they are part of the web design, I am annoyed beyond reason. Why do people include a link on their main page that produces a pop-up? I can’t "save" it as favorite or link to it? It is useless to me.

9. Links That Do Not Open Up New Browser Windows

I feel the same way about links that do not open up new browser windows as I do about pop-ups. If I click to open up a new page, I expect to be able to close it and not lose the original page. More often than not, I discover a page while searching online and may not remember the name or URL. If the page disappears when I close out the window that I opened, I am not always able to quickly return to the page in which I was interested. It is so easy to set this up.

10. Links to PDF files

Snore, groan… what’s that? Why that’s the sound of millions of web surfers waiting for PDF files to open up so that they can read them. PDFs should be banned! They are bulky and cumbersome, and should only be used for files that are meant to be printed out and read (user manuals, governmental documents, etc.). PDF links are just plain cheesy.

Some of these points may seem patently obvious. But if they are so obvious, why are we still seeing websites that include some of these features? I am not a web designer but I have been an Internet user since the beginning of time, and am dismayed to see that some people still have not learned. Hopefully, this list will help!