So you have a product that you want to sell on the Internet. What is the first thing you think about? Some may be thinking, "I need to set up a link directory, or maybe fork over some cash to overture and get some traffic in here." Others may be thinking, "I need a lot of great content to keep those precious visitors here." "Catchy url, that's what I need," may be on some people's minds. But even if you do all those things; if you have bad site design, you're going to have a hard time selling.

Take a moment and think about the hundreds or maybe thousands of sites that you've been to. Now think about how many of them that you have actually bought something from compared to how many were selling something. I think it would be safe for me to say, you didn't buy from Charlie's Bargain Basement that is fashionably designed in orange with puke green frames? Did you chance your hard earned money with Guido's Lava Lamps with the mysql errors, just so you could get a couple dollars off? What about Betty's Fine Fishing Worms? It clearly states at the bottom that it hasn't been updated since June 2000 and looks best in Netscape 4.0. Did you still buy there?

Now why didn't you?

One of the largest problems on the Internet today is Trust. I bet you've heard the saying, "Never judge a book by it's cover", but that rule does not apply to the web. Are you breaking any rules that may be driving visitors away? Let's talk about a few things.

1st rule - Colors. I've heard this one a couple times: "But this black background looks cool." Now think of the top retailers on the Internet. What color is their background? I wonder why they are all white? The first thing you do when you go to a site is look around to see if it's even worth your time. Dark backgrounds are -10 points right off the top for me. Studies show that people click a lot more links when there is a white background. One reason is that some people have a hard time reading white on black. Personally I feel a headache come on in a hurry if I stare at a site with a dark background for too long. Others may feel claustrophobic or intimidated and next thing you know poor design has frightened those precious visitors away. Unless you're interested in selling chokers and leashes to Goth teenagers, keep your colors light.

2nd Rule - Errors. The king daddy of site design taboos in my book. Have you ever had this one happen to you?: You've found the perfect price for the perfect gift. You went to check out and, poof: 404 error. You click the back button and try again; still no dice. Do you call their customer service number and take a chance of launching yourself into a black hole? Personally, I will search for another site that sells the same product. The error site just lost a sale and possibly a repeat customer. Limit your errors. Not just the 404's, but broken graphics and even misspelled words. Complexity is a big one here. The more complex your site design, the higher the chances of an error occurring. Keep it simple.

3rd Rule - Logos and Graphics. Another problem that can make your site look very unprofessional. This is a place to not skimp. Find yourself a good graphical artist and invest in a good logo. Don't get some huge, complicated logo that will take forever to load. Forget about weird neon colors, animated animals, flames, fonts, etc. Keep your graphics simple, sharp and professional.

4th Rule - The little things. There are probably hundreds of things that can scare traffic away from your site. Here are a few:

Updated dates - Don't include them. Many people have sites that will not need to be updated on a regular basis. Including an updated date can only do one thing: make your site look outdated.

Site Counters - Ugh. I still see these every now and then on seemingly respectable sites. "Hmmm, they've only had 3,000 visitors since August, 2001. There must be something wrong with them." It may just be that the counter is broken, but how are you going to tell them that?

Too Many Ads - Link pages are great, but there is a place for them, don't crowd your navigation or product pages with too many ads. It's ok to sell a few spaces but don't draw attention away from your products/service/content.

There are a lot of things to remember when designing your web page, but most importantly you need to ask yourself, "Would I buy there?".