Every business can benefit from a website, whether it’s a simple CMS to give information, or an ecommerce site to sell your products on. But, having a bad website can have truly gruesome side effects for your business.

We’ve gathered some of the scariest sites on the internet so that you can see what not to do on your website.

1. Arngren.net

This site is an instant nightmare. Visually, it is overwhelming with the number of products plastering every centimetre of the display.

On top of this the site has a side scroll which should never be used, along with animated images that distract your eye from landing on one place. Navigation options are all over the place, pages take over 4 seconds to load, and, to add insult to injury, the site isn’t at all responsive. Then, just when you thought this horror was over, you realise that the site doesn’t even use HTTPS even though it’s selling products!

2. Lings Cars

Lings Cars will give you a frightful taste of all the worst things about the 70s. The entire purpose of the website is offering cars for lease, but with the neon background and animations, you’ll be too on edge to pay any attention to this.

3. Gates N Fences

A real dot com doom, this website has us so confused where to look, and squinting to read the top banner. This is evidence that there is such a thing as too much information when it comes to your website, especially when it’s as horrifyingly organised as this is.

4. Pacific North West X Ray Inc.

We want to blow the cobwebs off this website- the use of WordArt-like titles and a 90’s colour scheme makes us feel like it hasn’t been updated in decades. While the navigation is front and centre, it is clustered and lacks any logical flow. It addles the brain and makes us terrified to click through anywhere else for fear of what may appear. The colours and lack of definition make it hard to focus on the important CTAs. This site also does not use HTTPS or any sort of mobile-friendly interface.

5. University of Advanced Technology

Someone has put a lot of effort into this site, but we fear it was just time wasted. The moment you hear “Advanced” and “Technology” in the same breath you expect a website that will inspire awe. Well, far from awe, this inspired terror. The page loading speeds are pretty frightening, and trying to find any information is harder than finding your way through a haunted house.

6. Best Electronics

With a scroll as eerily long as this site’s you’ll be begging for less text and more images. It seems that even when it’s introducing new products, this website still doesn’t feel the need to relieve the tortuous screeds of texts with images. The only thing we are thankful for is that it’s not in comic sans.

Differences between Good and Bad Website Design

By looking at these awful sites we can learn quite a few things to avoid if you don’t want to be on the worst websites design list:

• Pages that have too much going on can cause people to immediately click away
• Intuitive, easy to find navigation is important to the user experience
• CTA’s should be easily identifiable to allow users to take the next step
• A clean, visually appealing layout and the interface is easier for users to digest
• Fonts and colours should be applied consistently without using multiple types, sizes, and colours
• Every site should have a purpose with the flow design around that purpose

This Halloween Dentons Digital will be giving away a £50 amazon voucher- all you have to do is tell us which website is the scariest.

The competition will go live on Facebook on Thursday 31st. Make sure you like the Dentons Digital Facebook page in advance so that you don’t miss out.