Some people see the Internet as an extension of traditional print and video media, capable of communicating and delivering content in traditional ways, only faster. Others see the Internet as an exciting new place, where the traditional techniques of delivering content are blurred and mixed into entertainment and brand-new features sure to take the breath of any visitor.
The good news is that the Internet is both of these things, and the bad news is that the Internet is both of these things. The challenge is to figure out the best and most appropriate mix for each application.
Of course you want a web site that stands out, that makes visitors gasp and dive in, that delivers your message effortlessly while entertaining and challenging and comforting and educating, all at the same time. We all want web sites like this. The Internet has, however, for better or worse, evolved a standard look and feel for web sites. This is both good and bad. This is good in that most any site you visit navigates in the same or similar way as most other sites; it's bad in that deviating from the standard invites confusion and frustration.
Look around the Internet, especially at sites that you like, sites that deliver information efficiently and quickly, that are easy to navigate. Chances are, these sites have the following features in common:
Comfort. Familiarity.
Think of your traditional corporate or government letter... letterhead at the top, left sidebar with corporate officers and other contact information, footer at the bottom with page numbers, large content area for the actual foreclosure notice. Almost every newspaper (you've seen one, right?) has a masthead at the top, a box somewhere (usually on the bottom left of the front page) to direct you to specific content inside, columns of information divided by large-print headings. We are used to getting information in this general layout. It works. It doesn't mean that anything else is wrong or can't work, just that this one always works.
of course not. just look around. many sites do their own thing, and successfully.
but....
if you want to deviate from a standard, any standard, you have to be aware that you are deviating from it and accept the consequences. drastic deviations in layout, especially in weird and wonderful navigation experiments, may confuse and frustrate visitors, especially those not comfortable with surfing web sites. depending on the purpose of your site, this might be perfectly ok. just be aware... and beware.
take a look around this page... header at the top, menu across the screen, footer at the bottom, large easy-to-read content area that draws your attention away from the navigational details and delivers the message. not complicated, familiar. always beware of deviations from the standard. even doing something simple and cool, like not capitalizing the first letter in a sentence, makes paragraphs more difficult to read. doesn't it?
by all means, explore and dream and play. but be careful that it doesn't get in the way of delivering your message.
There are many ways to make your site stand out amid the forest. These ideas are not new, but they tend to get buried in the rush for cool features. Again, let your content speak.
Everyone's first visit to a web site is an exciting experience... what will it look like, how is it laid out, what cool graphics and features await? These are the easy things to do, and most everyone generally gets them right.
It's the people who are truly interested in your message that you ultimately have to be paying attention to. What about their second visit? The third? The 200th? Why would anyone come back to your site? If there is no reason to return, they won't. If people revisit and see nothing new, no new content, no new expectations that can only be satisfied by future visits, then there will be no future visits. Period.
New content doesn't mean revising the entire web site once a week, even though some people do just that. It can be as simple as automatically rotating through seasonal styles, pulling random photos out of a database for each page, incorporating calendars and news lists, establishing a forum to elicit discussion between visitors while you get some sleep.
The content of a site belongs to you, not the person who writes the underlying computer instructions. Why should you have to go through a webmaster to change your content, and hope she gets it right? Who needs a gatekeeper to stand between your message and your audience?
The goal is true empowerment, where those responsible for the content are also responsible for updating the web site. In an organization, these tasks are easily distributed so that no one has an added burden, but everyone gets to reap the benefits of participating and making the web site a vital and integrated part of the whole.
The following are just some of the interactive features of the web sites we have been fortunate enough to collaborate on. All of these features display new and fresh content that is easily changed, updated and administered by the site owners themselves through hidden and secure login:
You will see many examples of these features as you browse through our annotated portfolio. Look around, dream of new applications and features. We can help you make it happen.