9. Orphan pages. Memorize this: Every page in your site needs a readily seen link back to the home page. Why? Sometimes users will forward a URL to friends, who may visit and may want more information. But if the page they get is a dead end, forget it. Always put a link to “Home” on every page, and make your site logo (usually found near the top left side of the screen) link back to your home page--that will quickly solve this problem.

via The 10 Most Deadly Mistakes in Website Design | Entrepreneur.com

The rest of the points were pretty well known: disabling the back button, broken links, poor navigation, outdated information, slow site, pop ups/ new windows, and too many or clashing fonts, colours and styles.

About colours, fonts and styles - Make it readable! Contrasting, easy to read plain fonts. For a long time it was popular to have pretty looking pages in shades of light grey, beige, and so on. Pretty, but unreadable.

I would debate the point about having your name, address and so on. If you have a business you could include a business address, or mail box, whatever you choose to use.

Also, including social media links. I think they are better left at the bottom of your site, for people who have read something of your site. Otherwise, people will not read and just skip to the social media links as a short cut. Not really the order you want them to look at your site.

Years ago I wrote a column for the adult side of a site, BackWash. Its still around in archives online but stopped publishing long ago. It was mostly fun to write on the adult side. I wrote about myself and my experiences involved with men and BDSM.

My conclusion was, the main problem for women involved with BDSM is being over run by what men want. They say one thing, but don't really listen or really consider what she wants. For them, overall, it is a fetish. Whether they are dominant or submissive. That was my experience over a few years.

Anyway, I wandered away from the BDSM dating and ideals, later I stopped writing adult stories or columns, or ideas. Now and then I find something I would still like to write about. But, its off putting to write about adult topics along with everything else. The two don't mix so well.

But, today I found the site Chyrpe, an adult dating application based on the idea of female led relationships, also known as FemDom, Domme, and other words and phrases. I wonder how many of the women joining are professionals, likely almost all of them. That seems to be the only way it really works. There will be the very few who are not in a professional/ paid relationship.

They have a contact form for 'Ambassadors', a paying thing. I was interested because I have bills to pay, who doesn't. But, the form wants social media links with traffic/follower stats. I haven't had that for years. If that's how they choose Ambassadors, I'm not going to get anywhere with it.

Also, the whole thing about starting that up again. Yes, it could be fun, a lot of fun some days. But, it was also disappointing. Mostly because I was still honestly hoping to find someone (real) at that time. I never did. They were all fake, or fetish based, all about how they could serve me before even knowing (or asking) what I wanted. (I was sent dick pics before they even asked my name, just ASL and sometimes my measurements and weight) They were self serving and expecting me to perform a role. Wear the tight, shiny, skimpy clothes and a ton of make up and high heels. Well, that still isn't me.

I am still debating applying for the Ambassador thing. If I do, I can at least see what they are thinking the Ambassadors do. That would be interesting. So, I guess I will.

On a side note, I found my old link from the asstr.org site - shedragon

I think I wrote this before 2009. I'm not sure. I looked up the Inherited Values site with the Wayback Machine today. My friend, Deanna, created, ran, everything, the site. I wrote for her for awhile. Mostly posts about hobbies and collectibles.

I try not to gamble or collect things because I know this is a hazardous area for me. I seem to be one of those people who become obsessed with everything, at least for awhile. I also like to try almost everything – everything is fodder for my curiosity. I especially like arts, crafts and history.

On Flickr I have my photos of abandoned farm houses and many other abandoned or just old places. I have two Flickr groups: Ontario Rural Ruins and Canadian Rural Exploration.

Does the house in the photo look haunted to you? To me it has the mystery, romance and bluntness of history and craftsmanship. With a side of weathering and pure determination to survive the elements. I do have some feelings about the paranormal but I don’t look for them in an old house or building. I have yet to feel anything spooky when I explore. Though I did once shriek when I thought I had stepped on a toad in the long grass.

There are some things I collect: bone china posies, postcards and odd other things which aren’t coming to mind right now. I don’t keep them very organized or catalogued and I don’t join groups with other collectors with the idea of trading or buying more. I just like the randomness of a great find. I should have been an archaeologist, except I’m allergic to dust, mold and mildew. To me, the value of a collectible is in the finding of it as much as the beauty of it. I shop at thrift shops but not gift shops.

I love history. History I can reach out and touch is as close to time travel as I may ever get. As a Pagan (Earth Witch) I feel connected to history, it’s traditions and the foundations it has given us. The invention, ingenuity and thriftiness that early people had to develop to survive, that is what I see when I look at old objects and old buildings. I also treasure the art and crafts which have endured into the present. Objects which we no longer use and may not even know how to use any longer. Sometimes I feel a sense of loss for the road not taken and the knowledge lost to us. I like to read about odd crafts, new crafts and hobbies too as these are our own contributions to what will become history in time.

When not out taking photos of derelict farm houses I am writing on the web. My own little monster project is Word Grrls. My main site is ThatGrrl.ca. Most of my other projects link from there.

If you Twitter I am @thatgrrl. If you StumbleUpon I am thatgrrl and if you Tumblr I am also thatgrrl. Nice how that all works out.

In the end, I'm glad it was a site I wrote for and a site that did pay writers.

I have awards and accolades:

• A member for over 15 years
• Published at least 300 articles
• Had at least 100 simultaneously featured articles
• Had at least 300 followers
• My articles were read over 100,000 times

Currently my articles have been read 236,022 times.

I haven't used keywords much at all. Mainly, its hard to find any for my niche, other than those I'm already using. But, this would be a better way to use keywords on the front of your site. Plus, it isn't just useless SEO. Answering questions about your topic, niche, or business is great for readers too. I will have to think about how to do this with my site, its current navigation may need to change. I think posts would have to move in order to use a static loading/ introduction page.

Ask & Answer Keyword-Based Questions

...don’t stop at keyword optimization, of course. Powerful copy that carefully leads users into the conversion funnel is equally (or even more) important.

Asking a relevant (popular) question on your page is one of the best ways to prompt users to stop, read, and finally opt in to find the answer. Asking a question triggers a natural answering reflex in people encouraging them to interact.

Tip: Any time you find a good keyword to focus on, use question research to find related questions to build your opt-in form around.