4. Lack of clear instructions on the home page explaining how to get essential information from the site. Web surfers want to surf with speed, not study in a library.

5. A home page that requires you to click on something to enter the site (that's called a portal page). What's the point? You've already entered. Why in the world would you care to enter twice? Would an architect design two doors you'd have to go through to get into a bathroom? Would a sane contractor ever build it that way?

6. Confusing site organization, difficult navigation, dead links.

7. Boring writing. Not much can be done about this one. Creative writing isn't available from a web site designer at any price. If they were creative writers they wouldn't be doing web site design.

Good design includes the following qualities:

1. Text that is easy to read. Don't be afraid to use a large bold font against a light colored background.

2. The fastest downloading speed possible. If you're going to have a lot of photos, consider grouping them into one photo section so that people will expect that portion of your site to download slowly. Avoid gimmicks like flash graphics. And for goodness sake, don't make people download a plug-in just so that they can view your page.

3. A clear mission statement on the home page explaining what the site is all about.

4. Something on the home page that explains what the other pages are all about.

5. A home page that is a home page - none of that "enter" nonsense.

6. An organized site that has structure which can be easily understood.