Here is a quick list that you may find helpful to follow when doing web design to ensure that your website is usable to retain the most amount of visitors possible.

1. Pop-Ups

They interrupt the browsing session, pop ups should not be used unless necessary. They can also be mistaken for advertisements. This is the same for having pages open automatically in new browsers – users like to have 100% control so keep it that way unless specified.

2. Changing window sizes

The same argument as the one against pop-ups holds. Some users set their size of their browsers, e.g. Internet Explorer to use them for further browser sessions. It would be very frustrating for the user if the window sizes keeps changing to what they normally want.

3. Small fonts

Font sizes shouldn’t not be any smaller than 10pts for body copy, it is hard to read and it tiring for readers. Follow the web 2.0 style: large fonts are the way to go.

4. Unclear text links

Links on a page should be clear. Make links obvious by making them different to the body copy with the use of colour, font-weight, text-decoration and or Have precise obvious links and lead to the destination they describe.

5. Dead links.

Fix all dead links or 302 them. Pages which go to 404 errors frustrate users and also affect page rankings.

6. More than one animation per page.

Take for example, if you are on a page looking up information about home loans, but there is a side bar with a moving advertisement and an moving gif image under the content and something else in the header, your eyes will get distracted. Animations distract users from the content of the page.

7. No contact form

If visitors can’t contact you easily, they lose trust in you. Contact forms should be a must in all websites, or at least a phone number which is easy to find. Not having a contact phone or phone number on a website is bad customer service which may reflect in your company’s image.

8. Links open in new windows

Visitors want to have control over everything what happens in their browser. If they’d like to open a link in a new window they will. If they don’t want to, they won’t. If your links open in a new window you make the decision which is not your decision to make.