Top 10 Worst Websites You’ll Wish You Hadn’t Seen
There are some things that are DIY, and there are some things that are not. Websites, mostly, fall into the second category. Jo Throup of branded3.com showcases some of the worst the web has to offer. Original article available here. Image courtesy ultradownloads.
Remember back in the mid-nineties when websites were a bit of a novelty? They didn’t really serve much of a purpose and, all things considered, were pretty hideous to look at. Common design features were primary colours, flashing letters, poor quality pictures (sometimes hastily Photoshopped together to create a digital collage).
As the web has evolved considerably over the last couple of decades, site design and functionality have changed massively, too.
Unfortunately (and surprisingly) there are some websites that are still stuck in a bit of a time warp, sporting clunky designs, an overload of information and some pretty poor quality images. These are surely the worst websites on the internet.
Thinking of replacing your old bath tub? Go right ahead, because this website doesn’t really persuade you to do otherwise. A combination of flashing poor quality imagery, tiny fonts and garish colours in conjunction with the limiting frames that minimise the site to a small window in the centre of the screen, makes this one of the worst offenders on the web.
Presumably, bottle collecting enthusiasts the world over already know about Mrbottles.com, the online hub for everything you need to know about your bottle collection. Aside from the pillar-box red typeface clashing with the colourful bottles in the background, there are also some poor quality pictures of happy bottle owners on rotation.
Jami Lin “Love Love LOVES helping you to evolve” but could use a little of her own advice to revamp her website. Collages of images, videos, links, adverts and copy are all crammed into the centre of the site. This surplus of images and text is a little overwhelming and offers little in the way of clear navigation.
Turn your sound on for the ultimate online experience…
Okay, so the title and imagery certainly go a fair way to suggest the purpose of this website, but if you’re really clueless about this company, the numerous floating images of raw meat should give a couple of hints. This isn’t the worst site on the web at the moment and there’s useful information at the bottom of the page, but it’s just a baffling shame that users need to scroll past numerous pieces of floating meat to get there…
This Florida-based company might have a site design that’s stuck in the past, but they’ve also decided that the best way to encourage user engagement is to completely bombard them with information on the homepage. A few small, low quality images are scattered throughout the page, but nothing to break up the large amount of text. It hurts.
Even though Penny Juice has a page that asks “Who is Penny Juice?”, the blindingly gaudy colours drown out any form of explanation. There doesn’t appear to be any navigation tabs to help you find out more. But there is a picture of a baby and a speech bubble and everybody’s favourite font: Comic Sans.
Another offender from the 1996 school of web design is the Bolen Report. This site also crams as much information as possible onto the site, boasting as many as four full feature articles on the homepage.
For decades, James Bond has been gracing the silver screen as a charismatic, charming and ultra-slick secret agent. Yet, the website for the James Bond museum, with its stark background and Times New Roman typeface is a little underwhelming. Barely echoing the character of Bond himself, the homepage is a sour shaken and stirred cocktail of menus, hyperlinks and random imagery.
There’s little clue as to what this site actually is. Looking a bit like an early web version of the Argos catalogue, this site is genuinely baffling. Scroll down and you’ll continue to see more of the same cut-and-pasted low quality images with links. There’s a search box at the top that’s handy – providing you’ve got some idea of what you’re looking for…
RUDGWICK STEAM SHOW! This in-your-face site makes full use of collage imagery, primary coloured fonts and random floating GIFs! It’s difficult to glean any useful information from the incredibly busy homepage. Even the navigation tabs at the top of the page don’t provide any helpful information. Users have the option to scroll through the images of Punch and Judy, tractors and chickens interspersed between random details about the event.
If your website has appeared on our list then, please don’t be offended, but it might be time to consider a redesign (if you can still access it, that is…).
