Thinning out your site
Aaron kickstarted a thread on another blog recently. The suggestion he made, in response to a question about predictions about the web in 2006, was to thin out the size of one's website. In recent weeks we've been talking about the New Year and how our product and service offerings should be adjusted. One thing that keeps coming up is our disdain for site size -- and by that I mean too much size. You'd think we would say he bigger the better (more stuff, more billable time, right?), but instead, we are considering ways to enforce size restrictions, opting for the less is more approach.
Why? Sites get big quickly. Sites also get big unnecessarily. Site owners too often want to make sure they get every possible bit of information a potential customer might be looking for up on their site. And who could blame them? If they were printing a brochure, the cost would be prohibitive, but with the web, what's another page? Just a bit more time on the bill and then we've got it there just in case somebody actually needs the info. It's the ever present "brochure site".
I bet there are basically zero web designers that have not, at some point in their career, put together what one might consider a brochure site. You know the site -- 5 - 20 pages of stuff that means more to the site owner than it does to the potential customer. To some degree, a few of the pages on this very site probably fit the criteria. Brochure sites, in this author's opinion, tend to be virtually worthless.
But, I think that the term was given incorrectly. Consider what a brochure is. At least in my experience, a brochure is something that is focused on a particular service or product. And since all you're paying for is an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet with a gate fold, you had better make sure that the message is concise. I think many site owners start with that premise, but it quickly gets out of hand, especially if you have multiple decision-makers fighting for the spotlight. They lose sight of the "concise" and "focused" part of creating a brochure.
Can we take back the brochure site? I think we can. It starts by, as Aaron suggests, cutting the site in half -- if not more than half. Distilling the message to its absolute core. Eliminating unnecessary copy and graphics, including the ubiquitous stock imagery. Stomp it out! Spit on its grave! Hire yourself a good designer, a good copy writer, and make the brochure site work for you!
Start with a single idea and don't muddy the waters. You can do it! Domains are cheap. Hosting is cheap. There is absolutely no reason you can't have an individual website for each unique service or product you offer. I'm not saying to ditch the company's site -- they have their place too -- but, think about what your customer is looking for and design each "brochure" site for that person.
As for TDCD, we'll continue the discussion about size restrictions. I think in the long run our clients will benefit from the new rules...
Phil Hertzler | 12.12.05 | 0 comment(s)
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