I usually notice a couple of things I'd change when browsing various web sites, nothing major, and usually not important, but nonetheless. Most times I quickly forget about it and move on.
Last night however, I noticed something on a local web site that really caught my attention (and held it). On the home page of this particular site I was 'greeted' with the following message, in a very prominent location:
What's wrong with this? A couple of things come to mind:
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Warning, this is a new and improved site.
The entire feeling surrounding a warning message is one of negativity, especially when paired with the colour red and a clearly recognizable icon. What's wrong with a new and improved site? To me, this is a good, perhaps even newsworthy bit of information. Definitely not one warranting a warning.
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We're not quite done fixing what was broken but we don't care if you see it.
This is like me going to a job interview wearing skinny jeans with zippers at the bottom and a stained muscle shirt (never again). In short, the message immediately communicates that something is wrong and that visitors should expect to see things out of place. Again, an immediate negative connotation that doesn't need to happen.
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The most important news we have for you is a warning.
The placement choice for this warning makes it the most prominent thing in the content area on the home page, the eye is immediately drawn to it. The company has won numerous awards for excellence in its field but the visitor wouldn't know because the warning message overshadows nearly everything else.
Since I'm not in the business of calling out other professionals and local businesses I'm going to keep this one strictly confidential. My suggestions are merely that and likely worth about as much as you had to pay to read this post.