Are Bells and Whistles Necessary?

Are Bells and Whistles Necessary?
by Brooke Long

When thinking about your Web site, have you ever said, "I went on the web and I saw blinking buttons, scrolling text, text that flies in, drop down boxes, and so much more. I want all of that on my web site!" These are all fun, eye-catching features that can be added to a Web site to attract and keep the attention of your site visitor. So, you share these desires with your Web designer and come away from the conversation thinking, "What?? That costs more? I don't understand…that is all easy to do right?"

The answer is: no. Generally, these items are not included in the cost of a basic Web site. These are features that require specialized knowledge and can take quite a bit of time to do.

You can go on the web and see all kinds of things that you want in your site. But do you really need it all? The first step in putting together a truly effective Web site is effective planning. Consider these questions as you start the process:

What are you goals?
Who is your target audience?
a. What is their current belief or mind set towards your products or services?
b. What do we want them to think/do after receiving our message?
What is the unique selling proposition? What is unique about the brand?
What is the brand positioning?
Who is the competition and what are they doing?
What are the key messages to communicate? What is the tone of the message?
What must be part of the creative development?
a. Slogans/taglines
b. Trademarks
c. Visuals
d. Other
What is your budget?
What is your timeline?

Taking the answers to these questions into consideration in planning your site will guarantee that you have a site that connects with your prospective customer. Now that you know the information to be included in your site and what pages you will need to display that information you can concentrate on making the site attractive. The goal is to develop a look that complements your company's personality - you'll want it to be attractive and eye-catching, but not overdone.

So - again I ask - do you really need these visual items on your web site? Make sure that you know that there are some items that you NEED, but there are many more that you WANT. Once you determine your budget and share it with your Web designer you will find out what you can HAVE.

Web sites are a great tool for marketing your company, products and services. They can really even out the playing ground for big and small companies. However, many of the things that you may think are necessary…aren't. You need a Web site that is easy to navigate, provides the information that users want, and looks good. Often, by adding too many of the extras the end result is a cluttered site that turns people away - exactly the opposite of what you were trying to do.

So, decide what is really important to you remembering that a great site doesn't have to have all of the extras. But if you have the budget they can be added - just make sure that it is done tastefully.