80% of websites are broken

Peter Bowen · 05-11-2008, 10:48 PM

Early this year we analysed the sites of about 700 of our clients. Almost all lacked components that SEO experts say are vital for Google to be able to rank pages. These were errors in initial building that have cut the results since day one.

Three months ago we started checking to see how many other sites had these issues. We've studied 310,000 sites. We only looked at how many were missing Page Titles and/or Page Descriptions and/or had enough text to be useful. (marketing issues, not technical issues.)

The results are distressing. About a third had broken page titles, about half had no page description at all, and about a sixth had no text! Strange, but true.

The full report is 6 pages long, in simple English designed for our small business community. If you want to read the full website marketing report click on the link.

Cheers

Pete

ChrisS · 08-11-2008, 04:13 PM

Nice research. The incredible thing is these "broken websites" could be fixed relatively easy!

Leilerdee · 20-11-2008, 03:58 PM

Unfortunately, this isn't a surprising revelation. I have seen it in most of our clients' sites too. Even more unfortunate is that, as ChrisS says, most of the issues are easy to fix!

But that is why SEO people are here

To guide them along...

Peter Bowen · 20-11-2008, 04:08 PM

The total investment in non-performing websites astounds me. I'd like to put a number to it but I imagine it is tens of millions of pounds (or Euros for Leilerdee south of the border).

The website snake oil salesmen have had a field day.

Leilerdee · 20-11-2008, 04:12 PM

(Thanks for the inclusion Peter

)

lishiguang · 20-11-2008, 11:00 PM

Thank you for the report. Very interesting facts!

RuthStewart · 18-12-2008, 05:19 PM

Hello,

May I ask, are these broken sites just sites that people have bought the domain of and just left? Or invested some money in and then not carried on with?

I suppose if 95% of businesses fail in the first year, then all those websites will just be left there. Although some of them could be sold as assets.

Shame really,

Ruth Stewart

Peter Bowen · 18-12-2008, 06:17 PM

Hi Ruth,

There are a few parked domains and adsense farms amongst them but for the most part these are the online representation of offline businesses.

Someone has paid good money for the domains and the site development and is still paying for the hosting.

It represents the waste of millions.

Cheers

Pete

05-11-2008, 10:48 PM	#1 (permalink)
Peter Bowen Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Bangor, NI Posts: 40	80% of websites are broken Early this year we analysed the sites of about 700 of our clients. Almost all lacked components that SEO experts say are vital for Google to be able to rank pages. These were errors in initial building that have cut the results since day one. Three months ago we started checking to see how many other sites had these issues. We've studied 310,000 sites. We only looked at how many were missing Page Titles and/or Page Descriptions and/or had enough text to be useful. (marketing issues, not technical issues.) The results are distressing. About a third had broken page titles, about half had no page description at all, and about a sixth had no text! Strange, but true. The full report is 6 pages long, in simple English designed for our small business community. If you want to read the full website marketing report click on the link. Cheers Pete

08-11-2008, 04:13 PM	#2 (permalink)
ChrisS Business Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: England Posts: 76	Re: 80% of websites are broken Nice research. The incredible thing is these "broken websites" could be fixed relatively easy!

20-11-2008, 03:58 PM	#3 (permalink)
Leilerdee Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 9	Re: 80% of websites are broken Unfortunately, this isn't a surprising revelation. I have seen it in most of our clients' sites too. Even more unfortunate is that, as ChrisS says, most of the issues are easy to fix! But that is why SEO people are here To guide them along...

20-11-2008, 04:08 PM	#4 (permalink)
Peter Bowen Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Bangor, NI Posts: 40	Re: 80% of websites are broken The total investment in non-performing websites astounds me. I'd like to put a number to it but I imagine it is tens of millions of pounds (or Euros for Leilerdee south of the border). The website snake oil salesmen have had a field day.

20-11-2008, 04:12 PM	#5 (permalink)
Leilerdee Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 9	Re: 80% of websites are broken (Thanks for the inclusion Peter )

20-11-2008, 11:00 PM	#6 (permalink)
lishiguang Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 46	Re: 80% of websites are broken Thank you for the report. Very interesting facts!

18-12-2008, 05:19 PM	#7 (permalink)
RuthStewart Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Paisley, Scotland Posts: 10	Re: 80% of websites are broken Hello, May I ask, are these broken sites just sites that people have bought the domain of and just left? Or invested some money in and then not carried on with? I suppose if 95% of businesses fail in the first year, then all those websites will just be left there. Although some of them could be sold as assets. Shame really, Ruth Stewart

18-12-2008, 06:17 PM	#8 (permalink)
Peter Bowen Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Bangor, NI Posts: 40	Re: 80% of websites are broken Hi Ruth, There are a few parked domains and adsense farms amongst them but for the most part these are the online representation of offline businesses. Someone has paid good money for the domains and the site development and is still paying for the hosting. It represents the waste of millions. Cheers Pete

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