what works on the web

In the late '90s, every business was suddenly expected to have a web site, whether or not they knew why. But this sudden rise to prominence preceded any real understanding of what the web was good for. Companies created web sites because they needed a web site, and that was that.

But 10 years later, a great deal has been learned about what works and what doesn't on the web. Whether you're launching a web company, building a site for your book club, or bringing your business online, there are some general principles you can follow to help you avoid the most common rookie mistakes.

4 great pieces of advice:

1. Match user & business goals.

2. Use the web for what it does well.

3. Emphasize functionality over fun.

4. Start simple & stay focused.

match user goals & business goals The first thing you should figure out, as mentioned previously, is why you need a web site (10 things the web can do for your business, p. 11). But it's essential to think through not only what you need, but what your users need. For the web is a voluntary medium. People will only visit your site when they want to, and will only take out of it what they need.

So before you start planning, put yourself in the shoes of your typical users. Think about what they're coming for and not just what you want them to take away.

"You have to answer the fundamental question, 'What is your objective?' before you go online," said Beth Vanderslice, former president of Wired Digital. "Know how your web site is going to get you closer to your customer and why your customer will want to go there."

Balancing user & owner goals:

• The corporate site. A corporation may want to reposition itself through exciting design and beautiful prose explaining its strategy. But the customer just wants to find information on a specific product.

• The portfolio site. A designer may want to strut his stuff with an immersive multimedia presentation. But the potential employer just wants to learn who he is, where he studied, and what kind of work he does.

• The grassroots political site. A local cause may want to plump up its membership roster, raise money, and get people to events. But the visitor just wants to gain a deeper understanding of the issues.

Now, none of these goals are mutually exclusive. In fact, each of these sites can quite readily accomplish its primary goal while helping its visitors as well. But if the site owners don't consider both set of goals their own and their users everyone will lose.

use the web for what it does well Too often, web sites merely mimic another medium, with TV-like commercials, for instance, or documents that were designed for print. Both will appear slow, clunky, and misplaced on the web because they are.

So before you recycle an old idea on to your web site, think through how it might be given a new life that's more appropriate to the medium.

"The Internet is at its best when it's letting you do something you couldn't do before, or do something faster and easier and cheaper," says Martha Brockenbrough. "What eBay did was take something that exists in the offline world classified advertising and use the power of the Internet to make it better. So you have to think, 'What's offline that could be improved with the power of the Internet?'"

emphasize functionality over fun This is a lesson many sites learned the hard way: The web is best used for utility, not entertainment. Many early web companies, including HotWired and the Microsoft Network, focused on entertainment, using TV and magazine models to describe their sites. And many corporate sites in those days were flashy and fun, focused on entertaining customers with animation and games.

"Back then, we would talk clients into doing the 'coolest thing ever' because that's what the medium had to offer," says Lance McDaniel, now VP of Creative at consulting firm SBI and Company, who worked on several of the earliest corporate sites, including those for Levi's, Dockers, and Harley-Davidson.

But times have changed. Most web users are now focused on getting things done, and most web sites now focus on useful, practical applications for their customers.

"For the most part, people don't use the web for pure entertainment," McDaniel says. "So if they're coming to, say, the Clorox web site, they're not there to be dazzled by your fun Flash animations. They're coming for information: 'My shirt's not white enough, how do I get it whiter?' or 'I just drank some bleach, what do I do?'"

And while McDaniel likes to reminisce about the early web, he doesn't miss it: "The web is much better now than it was when we started out. The fun sites are fun and the informational sites are informational."

Think about what users are coming for and not just what you want them to take away.

Indeed, there's still room for fun online. There are successful entertainment sites featuring games, animation, and music But it's hard to finance them and hard to build a substantial audience. So for now, fun is the exception and not the rule.

start simple & stay focused When you're working in a medium where anything seems possible, it's easy to get carried away. But the best results often happen when you keep the web site as simple as possible.

"I have really learned that less is more," says Janice Fraser, a partner at consulting firm Adaptive Path who has developed many multi-million dollar sites. "Doing a few things really well is far more important than having so-called full-featured web sites."

Simplicity, as a strategy, makes sense for more reasons than one. From a business perspective, it keeps the site manageable, maintainable, and priced within reason. But it also makes sense for users, who find streamlined products easier and more appealing than their complicated counterparts.

And once you decide on your key features, do everything you can to stay focused. "Figure out what needs to be on the web site, and leave it at that," says online marketing expert Hunter Madsen. It's common sense advice, but it requires a certain amount of restraint.

"It's easy to think of all sorts of fun things to add to a site that a customer might enjoy because he's a human being. But you need to stay focused on what he would find relevant because he's here for your product."

10 things the web can do for you

1. Reach new customers & markets. The web can help you find (and keep) new customers, regardless of location or lifestyle.

2. Convert people with a passing interest into customers. After seeing your ad, hearing your name or passing your store, new customers or prospects can visit your site and learn more.

3. Encourage repeat business. Using email and your web site, you can keep existing customers (or readers or members) informed about new products, articles, issues, or events.

4. Reduce bad leads by clarifying who you are, what you do and (importantly) what you don't do.

5. Follow up on ads & press coverage. When your organization places an ad or gets covered in a magazine, the web lets readers learn more.

6. Save money on printing & postage. Organizations large and small save money by replacing printed collateral and mailings with a web site and email.

7. Provide better, faster customer support. Although some customer service must be done live, many kinds of questions are better served by a web site, including company background; location and hours; and product specifications.

8. Save money on phone support. No matter what the size of your organization, fewer phone calls means more money and time.

9. Gauge customer interest in products or events. By looking at what visitors look at, you can get a rough sense of their appeal. This can be helpful when planning events, ordering new inventory, or predicting sales.

10. Stimulate creativity! Don't get carried away, but ... it's OK to have fun with your site!