"Keep It Simple" Applies to the Web Too

I've had quite a few conversations along very similar lines recently, so I thought I'd share a few of my thoughts here. not surprisingly, given what I do, this relates to web sites.

A lot of people seem to get frightened as soon as you mention "the Internet" or even "computer". Many break into cold sweat when they start to think about putting information about their business online. This fear and dread has been amplified by the high cost of design, development and ongoing maintenance often encountered through what I call "boutique" web design shops.

Now let me state right here and now - these designers do a BRILLIANT job, the sites they produce are, more often than not, works of art, and this degree of aesthetic design is clearly necessary for certain types of business. For example, if your business is a high quality, luxury spa resort, then you might want to induce a feeling of decadent pleasure in your site visitors.

But let's be honest here - very small business people can't afford the high-end fees (and don't get me started on the "can you afford NOT to?" line!) - so they often end up trying to build something themselves (often with a free blog or similar), they are lucky to know someone who can do it for them, or they simply give up.

Quite often they still end up paying a lot of money to have things fixed up, though they may also wind up with a perfectly adequate site that suits their ne3. They happen to know someone who can do the job for them.

This is where a bit of experience helps - because far from feeling that a simple site with few graphics is a poor one, or a failure of some kind, I applaud them, I enjoy visiting them, and I actively encourage people to take the path of simplicity.

The fact is, with most business web sites, the first time someone visits they may get a "wow" moment at your great flash animation on the welcome page. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th times it gets a bit wearing, and they might not bother to visit a 5th time. Those high quality graphics might cause your site to load very slowly for someone who hasn't got a super-fast connection - possibly causing them to leave before they had a chance to see how great your business is.

I have an analogy that I think works quite well in a limited way; a big flashy site is a lot like a big flashy car salesman, and I would prefer to deal with a more straightforward, no nonsense, no fluff guy any day of the week. A plainer, simpler site is exactly that, it sets out to inform you, and encourage you to become a customer by telling a compelling story. No smoke, no mirrors, no selling the sizzle without any sausage to back it up...

Simple sites are faster loading, they are more easily digested by your potential clients, they don't offer distractions so people are looking at the information instead of the shiny things - like I said, I am a HUGE fan of these sites!

Simplicity was actually one of the driving principles behind Avallach's latest venture. Express Webz is about saying to small businesses (1- and 2-man bands, "mom and pop" businesses etc.) "tell us about your business and we will create for you an online presence that is comprehensive, responsive, and not bogged down with heavy design artefacts." I truly believe that very small businesses are overlooked, and their needs are not catered for by the boutiques, or the large design companies.

The people running these small businesses don't want to become proficient or expert in HTML, PHP, file transfers, bandwidth and CPU allowances... They want to run their business, and (ideally) have the ability to hand over the responsibility for "web stuff" to technicians and experts.

I'm trying desperately to avoid turning this into a sales pitch - but it's basically difficult to do so because my sense of a kind of "injustice" towards these business owners is partly why Avallach offers the services that it does.

Ultimately I'm just as happy to talk to people and encourage them to do their own thing, as I am if they ask us to do it for them. I suppose what it llhcomes down to is I am still essentially a geek, so I still enjoy being able to talk on a techie subject :)

Look, if you're running a (very) small business, you aren't online at the moment, but you want to be - remember to keep things simple, focus on the important stuff, and have a go if you feel like it. You can't break the Internet trying to write a web page!

A the best with it anyway
Gaz