“Why are you sticking your tongue down my throat?” I wanted to ask as I visited her law firm website.

Seriously, I’m not even sure we should kiss on the first date and yet she’s hitting me with both barrels plus a giant tongue. It’s overwhelming.

Here’s what I mean:

• Phone number. I’m on her website and there’s this big, bold phone number dominating the page with “Call NOW!” blinking. Why is it blinking? And it’s in red.
• Slider. There’s a slider in the center of the page, and images are coming and going. Boom, click, boom, click…things keep sliding by, and new pictures pop in place.
• Pop-up. Now there’s a pop-up blocking my view of the slider and the phone number.
• Chat. And then out of the blue comes up a half-dressed young woman offering to chat with me. “Do I have any questions?” she wants to know.
• Actual person. I’m settling down when, from the left side of the screen, comes a tiny little person talking to me as he walks out onto my computer screen.

It felt like a hug, turned into a kiss, and the next thing I knew, I was being smothered to death by a website. When the little person came out, I stopped breathing and realized I might not survive.

Gimmicks much?

How does this website mess happen? Did she start with a nice, clean, simple site and then get sold one add-on after another? Was she sitting in her office when some vendor called offering to sell her live chat for just a few dollars a month? Did another vendor call offering pop-ups? I can’t even imagine how things got to this point. It’s a mess.

The Key to Making a Good Online Impression

She needs to stop adding and start subtracting. She needs to look at the site like a prospective client. She needs to think about the impression she’s making.

It’s possible, but not terribly likely, that some of these “features” help her grow her business. But all of them piled on top of one another become a negative. They distract from her presence rather than serve as an enhancement.

She needs to stop saying yes to the sales reps and start saying no. Personally, I just avoid their calls.

It’s time for her to go back to basics. Strip away all the cruft, clean up her act, and think carefully before adding any of the extras back into the mix. Sometimes less is more.

What kind of impression does your site make? I’m all for a gentle kiss at the end of the first date. The big tongue thing needs to wait until we know each other a little better.