So what I want is a radical cutting
edge site with loads of flash intro's
and games and all that stuff. Right?
Wrong! Well you could be right if
you are creating a site for radical,
cutting edge loving people but if your
site is meant to be used by lots of
people then what you need is a static,
run-of-the-mill, obvious kind of site.
I know this sounds boring and you
think it will turn people off but the
truth is it will do the opposite. You
see most people don't like to have to
learn new things every time they do
something. What happens is that when
Jane/Joe Average visits your site they
are expecting it to work in a certain
way. Things like navigation bar down
the left hand side; logo in the top
left hand corner that is linked back
to the home page; home page that is
actually called a home page etc. If
they go to your site and they start
looking around and think lets get back
to the home page but instead all they
can find are buttons that say "HQ"
or "Church" instead of "Home"
then they will be lost and decide to
go somewhere else. If they are looking
for the nav bar and it is hidden at
the bottom (which is actually off their
screen because somebody forget to tell
them that everyone is using 1024x768
these days instead of 800x600) they
will soon go somewhere else.
Sad but true most people like ordinary.
This is one of those times when what
people really want is to get to the
content of the site. They don't want
to have to learn how to get it and they
don't want to have to re-learn it the
next time they visit. Have you ever
visited the Supermarket only to discover
they have moved the milk to another
isle (grrrrrrrr!!!) annoying isn't it.
It is the same thing with a web site,
if you have to learn a new way of getting
around for every site you visit it gets
very frustrating. You want quick easy
content.
There are exceptions of course and
they are things like cutting edge radical
sites and artists/graphic designers
sites. We all expect to be forced to
search around for stuff on these sites
and so will take the time to learn how
to get around. People who visit these
kind of sites are expecting something
different/radical. However most of the
time we can't be bothered.
The web is the same as Church. Whatever
we do in Church will filter out a few
other people. If we have a room full
of old people, young people will be
unlikely to visit. If we sing hymns
only then those who like worship songs
will probably stay away etc. You get
the point I hope. If we have loads of
flash stuff on a site then those who
don't have the plug-in (this is a surprisingly
large number despite the Macromedia
rhetoric) will go off somewhere else.
If our site is hard to navigate then
anyone who is a little tired or has
been looking at web sites for a while
will go somewhere else. If our site
is designed for a 1024x768 screen resolution
and someone with a monitor set at 800x600
visits the site they may not be able
to use it (this is a large number of
people by the way even if they are seen
as a smallish percentage in a statistical
kind of way).
Remember it is very easy to leave
a web site; your sites demise is always
just one click away. Try to build a
site that is open to as big a number
of people as possible. Try not to frustrate
those who visit.
If you would like professional help
with designing/hosting etc your web
site then please feel free to contact
me at chris@browncow.co.uk
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