So you think you need a fancy website? I don’t think so …

Well Yes, It probably goes contrary to everything you know about websites. I realize this is very opposite: your website is, after all, the central hub of all your marketing efforts online. And whether you’re a retailer, a restaurant, an architect, or a supplier, you do need a website. You just don’t need that website.

It’s very tempting to add features (as they call if flashy and modern). We want bells and whistles. We want that damn website to make this fly and dance. And for those who have very little experience designing these things, it’s extremely tempting to ask for everything, all at once.

Don’t do it. Let’s approach this from the perspective of say a retailer.

Focus on the necessary
Before you even start thinking about the styling of that creative flash animation on homepage which takes a hell lot of time to load, stop and ask yourself: do I really need this feature? You may surprise yourself.

Better yet, if you’re an artist building a website, ask yourself: do my fans/customers need this feature?

Think like your audience. Fans / customers really only want a few things when they visit your website – especially if they’re visiting for the very first time, like:

  • About you or your company
  • Your Products or Services
  • Why should they do business with you
  • Photos and videos
  • How can they get in touch with you

That’s it. No, really, I mean it. If you don’t believe me, let the analytics do the talking. Survey shows the your top ten most visited pages are some combination of the above. I too, in my long experience, found of all pages views are attributed to those four simple categories plus the homepage.

So you want to put a social network on your site? Want to build a fan base? Maybe you want to get fancy with the newsletter registrations? Integrations with Facebook Connect and the like? Hey, I’m all for it! But don’t even consider those things until you’ve got the other features nailed down. You just might find that you can get all the features you need without breaking your bank (any developer will build those four sections above for a very minimal cost).

This gets you the most traffic, and in-turn business.

KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid)
Simplicity is the heart of great technology. Don’t take my word for it, ask Steve. Or as Arthur C. Clark put it: any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Ask yourself, if you add that feature to your website, will your fans/customers know how to use it? This question might be more difficult to answer than you think.

Content Is Not Necessarily King
Content is only king if it’s accessible. YouTube is a perfect example of this. If you make the entirety of the world’s video content available in one place, only the good stuff will float to the top. iTunes is another great example – Apple redefined the music industry by making recorded music easily accessible – and streaming services are quickly leaving iTunes in the dust, as they make music even more easily accessible.

Get fancy afterwards
There’s no reason your website shouldn’t blow me away with bells and whistles, but you can always take care of those when you’ve really fine tuned everything else. If you’ve already optimized your site for usability and consumption, then you can devote even more resources later toward building out that fancy animated website. Because everybody like dancing and moving stuff, right? (Note: not necessarily)

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