Yeah, I have a provocative title, but it is so true. I have had the pleasure and displeasure of being on sites and microsites that have left me with the impression of being a pre-school teacher during arts and crafts time. Yes, we have art, but stick figures and mish-mashes of uncoordinated colors devoid of meaning do not account for the higher versions of the craft. What does this mean for the poor sap who owns these kinds of sites and stores?
Lets look at this from a shoplifter perspective. Sure, in the brick and mortar sense of the word these lovely people are looking for high value commodities or commodities that they need. They usually target stores that provide for their needs the stores are usually inviting and want to sell and therefore make it easy to navigate their establishments so pilfering is made all the simpler.
If the store experience is hard to navigate, and you cant find what you need, guess what you not only alienate customers, but your friendly shoplifters too. When this concept is applied to the website and microsite space it drives home the point you have to create a user experience that people want to be engaged with. Shoplifters are a crude extreme example but they drill into the fact that if no one wants to rob you, that means your store and offerings give off the impression that you have nothing of value to rob, in which case customers likely see your sites and microsites as valueless as well.
I have driven home the point of a simple equation in previous posts that when executed builds value and nets profit for your sites and microsites.
The equation is simple Aesthetics + Functionality + Relevant or Specific Content + Solid Web Platform + Marketing=Profit and Traffic
Find a platform that is user-friendly, has a high functioning content management system, and then build sites and microsites that evoke a customer centric experience.
In short Dont even put out a site or microsite if no one would even want to rob what you have.
