June 21, 2007

Internet Marketing: It’s the ugly sites that get the sales!

Though it may seem that all of the sites you’ve been visiting lately are all about looks - with java, flash, and all of the bells and whistles - don’t for a moment allow yourself to be fooled into believing that these sites are the ones making the best sales.

True, these sites can be extremely attractive. Their graphics are very impressive, and they can be very entertaining to watch. However, the problem with this type of site is that after you’re done having a look at all of the flashy features, you leave.

In fact, though there seems to be a very serious trend among site owners to spend enormous amounts of money on web graphics, there hasn’t at all been an increase in sales as a result of these expenditures.

That’s right. As popular as graphic-laden sites have become, there is not a shred of evidence that proves that they help your sales in any way.

In fact, the sites that seem to be making the most money barely have anything to them at all. They may or may not have any additional graphics at all, the colors are very basic, and they’re most just text.

What does this mean? It certainly isn’t that the uglier your site is, the more it will sell, though that would be an easy first guess.

Instead, it means that the extremely fancy sites are deterring sales in some way. These have been identified as follows:

- the more graphics there are on a site, the longer it will take to load. Keep in mind that the majority of web users are still using dial-up, and will give up if they have to wait too long to see the actual “meat” of the site.

- the fascinating and impressive graphics distract the visitors to your site from your message, and from your call to action.

So the point to remember is that pretty sites don’t necessarily equal increased sales. Though this doesn’t mean that designing an ugly site will guarantee you better business, you may get your point across more effectively.

The key is to test your site over and over again as it evolves to ensure that any expensive changes that you wish to make are worth the money you’ll be spending.

Mark

Posted by Mark at June 21, 2007 8:07 AM

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