Are You Stupid?
Don't get offended... You'll see where I'm going with this shortly. But let me give you the background story.
Recently one of my consulting clients was asking my feedback about some possible website designs. Most of the websites he selected were very busy and used Flash. I advised him to keep it simple and definitely stay away from Flash heavy websites or anything else distracting. See why here...
Time Wasted...
Too often when people get started in this industry they spend too much time trying to pick fancy themes or designs for their website. For some reason they are under the impression that somehow this will make them more money or seem more professional.
But the fact of the matter is what's really going to make you money is your content and delivering it in a way that is easy to digest with the least distractions possible. With some niches it may make sense to have things like a lot of videos, images and even dreaded flash. But for most of us, it's really your content that will help set you apart!
Keep It Simple Stupid!
The key to any online success is to just give people what they're looking for! Educate and entertain them along the way and you'll earn some more cool points and a rabid following! You don't believe me? Look at Google.com!
It's probably the simplest looking websites on the planet but they make billions doing what I've argued; Keeping It Simple & Stupid! You can see some other simple designs that make tons of money as well right here such as craigslist, ebay. etc.
So why aren't you keeping "simple, stupid" when it comes to your own website? If it works for one of the richest companies in the world, wouldn't some of that work for you as well?
Apparently Kyle & Carson agree with me and why they have limited the theme choices of starter members in the last couple of weeks. Clearly too many people were becoming so fixated on it that it was causing inaction and confusion. So they decided to make it simple and stupid!
You should keep this philosophy in mind with your other marketing efforts as well! Don't make it complicated because if you do, you're less likely to act and we all know you're not going to make any money unless you do!
In any event, I hope this article was helpful. As you can see I wasn't trying to offend you. It was just my usual Eddy way of getting your attention and making you think. =) Let me know your thoughts and feelings below. Do you get what I'm saying? Were you initially offended? LOL
I know in the past I've been guilty of being fixated on themes and design to a fault. I wonder if others have gone through the same thing and are still going through it.
Hopefully this gives you some insight! Chime in below and let me know what you feel!
Recent Comments
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You sure "kept it simple, Solomon!" Thanks for bringing this out. I have been seeing so many websites that are so glaring to the eyes that I don't even want to look at them; others have very dark background that I couldn't even read the content. Perhaps you can create a tutorial on samples of "no-no-no" websites. I hope we all get to read this blog post.
Betcha, that's what I like to do! LOL I've actually done a lot of video consultations where I show clients problem areas on their websites. So maybe I'll do a training like that. Thanks for the suggestion.
My pleasure to see your training coming up. I am still restricted to create one. LOL! Kidding aside, that would be one of the most appropriate tutorial for newbies. I know we already have one by Kyle. But a detailed one with a number of examples would be great ~a one-stop place where we could see all the details in creating website designs! Thanks in advance!
Thanks for this post, Eddy. Nothing to disagree with here. I know that one of my biggest problems is a natural tendency to procrastinate. I've forced myself to become better at taking action, but that tendency remains. In retrospect, I can see that part of the issue was that I was fixated on getting things just right before moving on to the next thing. For example, I did not want to publish my website before it was "ready." I wasn't "keeping it simple, stupid." However, something I read in WA by Kyle convinced me to do so before it was "ready" and then to work on improving my website. I'm glad I did.
Josh, bad habits die hard my friend. I think we're all guilty of procrastination. But you do have to get to the point where you do pull the trigger and just see what happens. Otherwise you can always find a reason why it's not ready. And I think a lot of folks use selecting a theme or design as that very reason not to jump in. But fortunately we have each other to push us out of the nest so we can finally fly and clearly that's what Kyle did for you.
Thanks for sharing!
I agree completely. Iam in the process of developing my website and I can use this as a
guideline to making it more effective. Thank you
It is so true that most popular websites are simple. People don't search the internet to see the beautiful web designs. They search for whatever they want online.
Amen!!! I think too often you have designers that dictate design who inherently are very creative which is great. But it should come at the cost of usability and simplicity. Think about Apple they create beautiful products but so did Sony. The reason Apple beat them is because their products tend to be simple stupid to use. After all my 5 year old daughter and even my 5 month old son can get my iphone to work and do things.
I am equally stupid to keep my site simplest, still finalising the contents but special attention to not so stupid blog,thanks.
Thank you for that, my website theme is extremely simple, yet I have had comments that I should make it more colourful.Well I am simple and usually straightforward, that's me.Sounds like I should keep it that way.
You're welcome. A little color here and there and even some usage of imagery to break up post or having a nicely designed logo or header is great in my opinion as long as it doesn't overwhelm people and distract them from your content. I get annoyed when I visit a website and people just haphazardly smack banners and videos on it. It tells me all that I need to know and I leave.
So there is nothing wrong with adding some pizazz to your website to liven it up. You just don't want the addition to overwhelm people. Thanks for chiming in!
Not offended at all; I am old enough to realize that maybe I am stupid in some aspects of my life, so this just became curiosity to find out how this applied to me if at all. Agree on the simplicity approach - I simply switch off if it gets complex,
Hudson.
Glad to hear it Hudson. I pride myself on being a simple simon. So I too get turned off if something is too damn complicated especially if it's a website where I'm trying to get some good information. I've left many sites if I'm bombarded with videos, audio or clutter. So I'm totally there with you!
I don't know about anyone else but I go anywhere. whether it is on the net or irl if it is really flashy and busy it just makes me leave. I am very prone to sensory overload. ty for this :)
Hey Darlene, thanks for chiming in. And there are a lot of folks with the same issue and even if they didn't most folks want a simple to navigate design,
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I think that is very sound advice, cant stand flashing text and glowing logos......Now, wheres my flash4dummies book gone.....
LOL Ameny MikeyB. It annoys the crap out of me too. I'm like just let me get to the damn content already! Thanks for chiming in!
oh glad I chime in LOL......