Greed
In the movie "Wall Street," Gordon Gekko famously declared, "Greed is good." The impact of this mindset may be particularly acute in the context of the current financial crisis, and as you can imagine, greed is often "bad" on the web. This may manifest itself in websites asking their visitors for too much information. For example, we've seen many website forms asking for a fax number. Do you really need a visitor's fax number? If you can cut down on the information you require the visitor to provide, conversion rates will almost always go up. For example, Delta Air Lines made some simple changes to a web form on its site, including removal of the "suffix" name field, and those changes drove a dramatic increase in revenue.

Always ask yourself if you are requiring visitors to commit too much before being allowed to work with you. For example, do they really need to register before viewing some of your content?

Another way that businesses demonstrate greed online is the obsessive pursuit of search engine optimization (SEO). Although a strong SEO strategy should be a cornerstone of your web presence, very often businesses load up their site with content for SEO purposes. Greed for the Google spider often creates a bad experience for the humans visiting your site.

The path to heaven
Most companies that step back and honestly evaluate their websites quickly discover that they are bigger sinners than they had realized. Redemption is often only achieved by a comprehensive program of website optimization through multivariable testing and content targeting. This helps you discover what works for each of your customer segments, provides an engaging experience for all visitors and supports your online business goals. Whether you are a religious person or not, walking the righteous road and avoiding these deadly -- yet common -- sins will ultimately lead to website design salvation.

Seth Rosenblatt is vice president of product marketing at Interwoven.