Shh, I am going to tell you a secret.
You ready?
Selling the steak makes a lot more sense than selling the sizzle. This is doubly true in regards to online marketing.
I know it sounds weird. Especially to those who aren’t used to someone in marketing telling them something that would have the boys at Sterling Cooper spinning.
But what is the sizzle with internet marketing? It is the flashy website with a ton of production value. And cool widgets that move and flash and dance (hopefully metaphorically). Video, flash, but not a lot of, well steak.
And the steak is relevant content.
I want to be clear that this post is not to beat up on my graphic and designer friends. Design is very important. And clearly very hard. I know this since I can’t do it very well.
However it isn’t as important as people tend to think. Functional trumps pretty every day of the week.
Here’s why.
Beauty is Less than skin deep: You can have the most beautiful website in the world, but if people don’t find it relevant it doesn’t matter. Google values links over everything else. If you aren’t relevant you won’t get links, hence you won’t be valued by Google. (Hint: value translates into a higher ranking).
Search engines don’t have eyes. The way Google or Bing sees your site is not the same way a human sees it (at least not yet). You have 2 markets to appeal to, humans and search engines. Both value good content. Only one values design, and even to them it is secondary. So where do you think the most value should be placed?
Pretty doesn’t convert. How a website functions and how easy it is for someone to use drives conversion on your site. Conversion is when someone does something that you want to happen, i.e. buy something or signup for a newsletter. Having the newest gizmos or a cool feature can distract from conversions instead of enhancing them.
If people can’t figure out what to do on a site the website isn’t doing its job. Build for function first and foremost. Design is just the icing on the cake.
Or steak. I think I confused my food analogies.
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