Recently Kevin Pine
shared an argument he uses
with clients in his site design business. It goes like this.
Picture the greeter in WalMart stores, the one that gives you
a warm welcome, offers you a cart and a flyer announcing specials
for the day. Suppose this person was directed to turn aside
every tenth person who enters the store, saying, "Sorry, we don't
want your business today." Then asks them to leave.
If this were repeated throughout all stores, WalMart's bottom
line would drop. One might guess by 10%, the number of people
being turned away. But the drop would be considerably more, for
costs of salaries, inventory, general overhead and such would
remain constant at least in the short term. Thus the drop might
exceed 20%
No successful business is likely to try this "new" technique,
for it obviously would lead quickly to bankruptcy. Why then do
so many webmasters apply similar methods with such determination?
A Partial Answer
Anyone who has ever created anything, be it a bookcase, a
novel, or a website, knows how difficult it is to be objective
about the results of efforts largely driven by our emotions.
Since we created it, we even embrace flaws we recognize. For to
do otherwise might mean discarding the result and beginning anew.
To succeed, a writer must discover what people want to read
and a pleasing way to present their content. That is, they find
a way to satisfy the needs of their customers. Else success
eludes them. The same is so of home builders, musicians, and
shopkeepers of all kinds. It is also true of webmasters.
The Lack Of A Reality Check
If you open a brick & mortar business, up front costs must
be expended. And the on going monthly expense begins
immediately. Profits must soon cover, else you go broke. Each
day you total your gross, subtract a percentage for overhead,
and quickly determine how much you can tuck into your pocket.
Except that start up costs are minimal, the above applies
equally to an online business. However, many choose to ignore
these realities. They can afford to do so for a considerable
period of time, because the overhead on a website amounts to
pocket money. Since they do not have to pay the rent or for new
inventory, they can avoid facing the reality of impending failure
almost indefinitely.
Solid Guidelines Are Absent
One of the problems all webmasters face is the lack of
uniform guidelines. In opening an offline business, you have
ample resources available that point the way to success. While
many also apply to an online business, specifics about the Web
are lacking.
Many come to the Web determined to do their own thing at any
cost. Go for it, if that's your wish. But to succeed, reverse
the emphasis. Do what your visitors want in the way they want
it done.
First Comes A Flawless Site
If your website is not closing sales or achieving its
purpose, as in generating leads, then fix it. Else pack it in.
This is the reality of offline marketing lacking on the Web.
Offline, shutting down will soon be forced upon a failing
business. Online, valuable time and dollars are wasted in
sustaining a site that does not get the job done. Since we
are not being hounded by bill collectors, we continue with
some vague hope things will somehow magically turn around.
If you don't know what needs doing to put your site on
track, get some help. Look for forums or newsgroups into site
performance. Swap your time in evaluating the sites of others,
for their's in examining yours.
If you can afford it, hire a professional. Learn what he
or she knows that will help. Then go find another. No one
individual has the whole of this game in hand.
Learn The Rules
If you've been online for a time, you already know some
rules. You may need to learn more. Use Verdana or Ariel on a
white background, for either is much easier to read on a monitor
than Times Roman. Limit main or bounding table widths to 600
pixels. Narrow cells/columns as required so that line lengths
are a maximum of 65 characters. These are simple things. While
many continue to debate them, it is wasted effort.
While breaking these rules may not turn away ten percent of
your visitors as our hypothetical WalMart greeter did, why risk
it? Why do anything that annoys a visitor, thus encouraging him
or her to leave? While it's true you can not please everyone, it
also makes sense to minimize site characteristics that may annoy.
About Branding
Of the continuing debates about doing business on the Web,
the one I ignore completely is the notion of branding.
"..., the quicker picker upper." This is branding.
Chances are you connect this immediately to Bounty paper
towels. You may even remember one of the actresses featured
in the TV commercials.
If I were standing before a shelf of paper towels, all things
being equal, I'd probably reach for Bounty. But when I think of
the megabucks expended in boosting this name, it's difficult to
believe the manufacturer has recovered costs. There's not much
profit margin in paper towels.
Forget It
On the Web, branding is often associated with splash or entry
pages, those artsy slow-loading presentations within which you
must find a link to the main site.
This won't work for a small business. You have no chance of
obtaining brand name recognition without a major corporate
presence and an awesome dollar commitment. So forget branding.
And forget those splash pages.
Are You Turning Away N% Of Your Visitors?
The validity of many rules can be difficult to demonstrate.
This is a no-brainer. Check the hits on your splash page and
compare the count to that of the page it links to.
Now tell me you are confident you can succeed in business
turning away over ten percent of your potential customers.
WalMart couldn't make it happen. And neither can you.
About the Author
Bob McElwain
Want to build a winning site? Improve one you already
have? Fix one that's busted? Get ANSWERS. Subscribe
to "STAT News" now! mailto:join-stat@lyris.dundee.net
Web marketing and consulting since 1993
Site:
Phone: 209-742-6349