Got Web Ideas? Fishing for the Answers?
Think Outside The Code First!
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Facts, Thoughts, and Opinions About Web Development and Business Strategy
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One of the most important things that I try to point out to new clients is not to go overboard with design. Business Websites,
which are always data-driven, should concentrate more on their functionality and specific problems that they solve for people.
I can certainly understand a person's desire to have the best looking Website out there but "best looking" does not mean "best
money maker" by any meaning of the word.
Design is often something that I feel people waste a lot of money and time on. Now,
wait a minute. I am not saying a Website should look like hell. What I am saying is that it is completely possible to make a Website
look good without going overboard with graphics, rockets, and bombs. What people want is your information and tools that make their
life easier. Yet that often takes a back seat to having the Hale Berry of all Websites.
Data driven Websites contain robust features that execute quickly and, as a whole, perform and simplify a specific complex task. Data driven
Websites are beyond the typical, "this is who we are and this is what we do", format. Yes, there will be at least one
simple page with information about who you are and what you do. However, the data
driven features of the Website truly define what you do and how you uniquely do it.
For that reason, stay behind the eight ball of what your Website will actually do.
Focus on the functionality and navigation of the Website. It out-weighs advanced
design and other awe inspiring features
that really have no specific value other than to look good. No matter how advanced
the Internet has become, or will become, users of your Website want to get from point
A to point B as quickly as possible with the least amount of distractions.
Text, Words, and Information
Take a look at the eBay Website
or the Yahoo Website. What
do you see? Two of the most successful Websites on the Internet that have not changed
very much since they were released. A simple logo, light on graphics, and high on
text, words, and information. That's what people want. Your Website will have far
more value for what it does rather than what it looks like. People will use your
Website with loyalty if you provide a specific service that makes people's lives easier.
What your Website looks like will have little say in how appealing it is to the masses.
You do not want to go in to a new Website trying to knock the socks off someone with
killer design. That's a waste of money. Rather, you should focus more time on using
text, words, and information. Design, color, and display are important factors in
establishing credibility and professionalism. However, most of those things can be
done with plain text and the color schemes supported by all Internet browsers these days.
Overloading a Website with graphics and gimmicks such as flash causes three major problems.
- Time and money wasted on things that really do not relate to the problem that
your Website is supposed to solve
- It slows it down especially when such an extensive design is also incorporated
on pages that are data driven (i.e. generated from database queries)
- It makes it much harder to change and manage as growth
forces you to add new links and features
- You will severely limit your chances of getting good
ranking in the search engines
If you can tell someone something they do not know or provide a service that
makes a person's life easier then they will pay little attention to what your
Website looks like permitting it is not a scrambled mess. If you have searched
all over for a recipe to make potato
pancakes and you finally find one but it is written in Times New Roman
(which you hate), are you not going to read it because it is written in
Times New Roman?
A Website should look pleasing to the eye but try and use text, words, and
information to do so. That is what attracts attention. Don't try to establish
credibility or think your Website will be more usable because it has more graphics
and gimmicks than the next guy.
More Mileage out of Straight Links
There is a perception that the more rockets and bombs you have going off on your
Website the better it will be. In ten years of providing development and consulting
I have yet to come around to this way of thinking. It simply is not true. If your
Website is located in the United States and you offer State specific services, such
as real estate listings, then you might be tempted to make a nice map of the U.S.
with each State hot linked to the individual listings for it. It makes sense but
if someone is looking for real estate listings they just want to get to the State.
There is nothing more straight forward than a list of state links in alphabetical
order. If you put a map and a list of links on the same page you will find that
more people will use the links than the map. Remember - text, words, and information.
Don't Over-Estimate the Knowledge of the Peeps
Getting to the above example, you would be surprised how many United States Citizens
could not tell you which state is which from looking at a map. Is that L shaped
state in the Pacific Northwest Iowa or Idaho? In case you are wondering, it is Idaho.
If you simply say Idaho or Iowa then the user can get to where they want to go without
over-burdening their brain.
This brings up a very good point about Websites and what they really are. A Website
is nothing more than a software package. Just like you have to learn how to use
Microsoft WORD or Microsoft Power Point for your PC, many people need to learn
to use a Website in the same fashion. It is not uncommon for our clients to
have train people on how to use their Website. It varies per industry but it
is a reality. Internet and computing knowledge is not consistent across industries.
It's fascinating stuff. eBay has been around forever yet we still hear people say
things like, "I want to sell my car on eBay but I don't know how to use it!".
For whatever reason, software can be intimidating to people. Don't assume that because
we are now many years down the Internet road that a vast knowledge of computing has spread about
the masses. It hasn't. If a user can check their email then they can use the Internet
as far as they are concerned.
Google, eBay, and Amazon.com are not the best looking Websites in the world. It is a good thing that
therir profit does not depend on it.
It is the service they provide that people crave. Try and stay in this mindset instead of going
overboard and laying a couple extra thousand just to have the best looking Website in your Industry.
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