Does Your Fancy Web Site Suck?
Odds are it does.
Tim Wall posted a great article over at Church Marketing Sucks yesterday. Why Your Fancy Web Site Sucks is aimed at churches, but replace the word “church” with “business” and he could be talking to you.
Your web site really sucks when you try to be fancy. Yes, I’m talking to you, Mr. Front-Page-Guy with your blinking animations and scrolling text. But I’m also talking to you, Mr. High-End-Web-Guy with all that stunningly beautiful functionality few people care about or use.
Go read the whole thing. It’s great stuff!
Majoring in the Minors
The trouble with most fancy web sites is they major in the minors. Snazzy functionality and animated flash graphics are meant to enhance the experience of the web site.
All too often they become the website.
It is easy to become enamored with all the cool things our site can do and loose site of the reason we have the web site in the first place. We get all wrapped up in the how and neglect the what.
It’s About Effective Communication
Our web sites, whether for our business or for a church, are about one thing and one thing only: Effectively communicating our message to the widest audience possible.
When I see a new flashy element gizmo on a site I usually think, “Oh. That’s pretty cool.” But it is almost never enough to make me come back to that same site.
On the other hand, an average looking professional web site that is constantly sharing more and new information will keep me coming back time and time again.
Check out Tim’s incredibly complex formula for making sure your web site doesn’t suck:
1. Write fresh, new content and put it on your web site.
2. Repeat step one multiple times daily.
That it.
We do that and we will be communicating our message more effectively. And more people will be receiving it.
In business, more people receiving our effectively communicated message translates into more sales, increased revenue, and healthy business growth.
But if our fancy web site sucks, we might as well just light the pile of money we spent on it with a zippo, rub our hands over the blaze, and soak in the heat for a moment.
At least that way we’d get something back for our money.
Great points Chris. In my blog secrets a week or two ago I talked about too many widgets on a blog, not focusing on the content.
It all adds up to noise. Noise distracts. Why try and develop a community with all the distractions? Why try and confuse people? Deliver it to them simple, straight.
Thanks for the reminder
Jason Alba
CEO – JibberJobber.com
:: self-serve career management ::
Jason, you are spot on. [He said looking sheepishly at his own sidebars.]
One of the reasons Google was so popular early on is because they focused on one thing and did it very well with an incredibly simple site. Others were adding lots of clutter to their search sites. And where are they now?…
JibberJobber.com
… I use it for blog marketing
I agree with the comment you posted about how an average looking web site that is constantly sharing new information will keep the client coming back. This is something I look for in many websites, yes the flashy websites are interesting but the content is even more meaninful. Simple websites give you the information that you need faster than a flashy one. Oh by the way if anyone needs good professional SEO this is a great site to go.