So…What Is A Website, Anyway?

One of the most basic elements of a campaign that is incorporating new media is a website.  When I worked for a national hosting company we would always tell our clients that having a presence on the web was essential in the market today.  I really do believe that.  But I have been witness to some truly badly designed websites that make me believe that if one is not going to take the time to design a good website then they shouldn’t design one at all.  According to everybodygoto.com there are some simple elements of a good web design in the era of Web 2.0:

1. Adherence to design standards.
2. Consideration of cross browser compatibility.
3. Visibly provides all the information that your visitor needs to know as soon as they visit your website.
4. The Web Accessibility Initiative is laid out to make the web an equally accessible place for people that may be challenged in various respects.
5. Simply designed for ease of use and maximum search engine spidering.
6. Provides intuitive user interfaces to engage users.

Now for those of us who aren’t web designers here is some advice from another web designer who is focused on taking those commonalities and creating “pages that are distinctive, natural, brand-appropriate, subtly memorable, and quietly but unmistakably engaging” .  Jeffrey Zeldman from A List Apart examines some things a website is not:

“Web design is not book design, it is not poster design, it is not illustration, and the highest achievements of those disciplines are not what web design aims for. Although websites can be delivery systems for games and videos, and although those delivery systems can be lovely to look at, such sites are exemplars of game design and video storytelling, not of web design.”

Zeldman is able to succinctly define web design as:

“ the creation of digital environments that facilitate and encourage human activity; reflect or adapt to individual voices and content; and change gracefully over time while always retaining their identity.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself!  Websites are so important for a variety of reasons.  Websites provide information to customers.  It can contain simple items like hours of business for a brick and mortar store.  It can also contain major systems like a whole virtual store.  But a good website should always leave its visitor with a clear impression of the organization and the feeling it wants to convey to the public.  It should be like being there without having to be there. So a website needs not only to serve as utilitarian purpose but an emotional one as well.    This is essential for branding and creating loyalty to that brand.