It’s official that intrusive ads top the list of web turn-offs

6th October 2006 – A new poll, issued in National Customer Service Week, finds that websites are still not meeting customer expectations. The poll, undertaken by leading web usability consultancy Webcredible, found that nearly half of web users find intrusive adverts the most annoying thing about websites. Users also complained about not being able to find what they need, with almost a third of respondents stating that was what really frustrated them.

The poll showed that the following issues annoyed people most about websites:
• Intrusive ads – 41%
• Not being able to find what they need – 29%
• Pages taking a long time to load – 14%
• Poorly written content – 9%
• Poor search results – 7%

Trenton Moss, director, Webcredible said: “National Customer Service Week is all about recognising the crucial role of good customer service in building business success, and organisations often forget that a great online experience has a valuable role to play in this. They must work harder to minimise frustrating features, such as inappropriate ads, lengthy downloads and poor navigation, in order to develop a positive online relationship with their customers.”

Webcredible works with a wide range of companies to help them optimise their website’s usability and accessibility and suggest the following top five tips which should be no-brainers for any self respecting web designer:

• Know your users – Always be aware of who you’re talking to. If your main focus is party holidays for 18-30s, don’t feature quiet weekends in the country; and if you do insist on having ads on your site, make sure they’re actually relevant to your users!
• Give people what they expect - Don’t reinvent the wheel by using unknown symbols and imagery; this turns users off as you’re making them work harder to find what they want
• Be clear – Don’t have a messy website with too much content, users don’t like to be bombarded with masses of information within seconds of landing on a site
• Be Upfront – Make life easy for your users by putting sale offers or promotions on your home page
• Search function – Have a clear search functionality that users can find easily

The poll, which took place on Webcredible’s own website, ran throughout June, July and August and received 1211 votes.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

For further press information please contact:
Kathryn Cotsworth or Louise Andrews
Wildfire PR
Tel: 0208 339 4420


About Webcredible:
Webcredible is a UK-based web usability and accessibility consultancy, dedicated to making websites easy to use, accessible to all and ultimately more effective. Launched in 2003, Webcredible has enjoyed year-on-year growth of over 300 per cent and is now one of the most respected consultancies in the usability and accessibility industry.
Webcredible works with a long list of private and public sector clients based in the UK, Europe and North America including T-Mobile, Norwich Union, Yamaha, the BBC and the World Health Organization.