Don't Suck

I had the privilege to attending a webinar on advanced marketing analytics, hosted by the amazing Avinash Kaushnik yesterday and was absolutely blown away. Avinash had incredibly harsh and amazing ideas to help dig for valuable information in the garbage pile of data that is often available through web analytics. The whole webinar was awesome, and if you ever have the chance to hear Avinash speak I highly recommend it. But here is what I left with; the thought that has been echoing in my brain and pushing me to think in new ways ever since: Don't Suck.

Avi (my new, personal pet name for him) emphasized again and again the same idea thing that I have complained about but never really focused on for years: websites are too often designed around what the company wants to share, not what the visitor wants to see. And while some might argue that the two are one in the same, they are absolutely not.

Think of the last time you visited a website, for any reason, that you immediately left. I have done it numerous times. I use Google a thousand times a week, searching for content, ideas, material, competitors, etc. And so often I come across a website that is so useless; that offers so little of what I'm looking for, even though I know somewhere deep inside their matrix of a crap-shoot is valuable information, that I leave without a moments thought.

It all comes back to that same simple idea: Don't Suck.

Eliminate all the Gobbledygook from your website, copy or visual, and find ways to interact with your visitors, not "sell" to them. No one wants to be sold to. It's not fun. You feel uncomfortable, bullied, and annoyed. Give your visitors what they want: meaningful, valuable information they can use. And if you build a relationship of trust with them, promising again and again that you don't suck, and that you are here to provide them with what they are looking for without asking for their immediate payment in return, they will become your customer. Not only that, but they will become loyal, vocal customers of yours. Which is what we all need.

This entry is more of a brainstorm for me than it may be valuable for you. But it is something worth thinking about. I'll follow up when I have more to offer on the subject. But in the meantime, how have you made sure your website doesn't suck?