The Click #010
3 months ago, I received this email:
Hello,
I am a new start landscape supplies company.
I require an e-commerce site based around a
product catalogue. Do you have any examples
of this type of work that you have done?
Regards
Angus
PS I AM IN A HURRY TO GET SOMETHING STARTED
I phoned back and got chatting to a hyper-enthusiastic Dundee man. Angus told me his budget: £5000.
Mint came back with a proposal, utilising off-the-peg ecommerce software. Price: £1500.
A quick, cheap website
The Turfandstuff.com site has rough edges. The visual design is rudimentary. The text doesn’t give you any feel for Angus, or his company. The checkout is clumsy. Etc, etc. I had to sedate Noam, Mint’s designer, before he’d let us launch.
Turf isn’t your typical ecommerce product. It is bulky. It perishes. It’s a product people might want to inspect before buying. Would turf customers respond to online marketing? Would there be other unforeseen problems?
£3500 in the bank
In the 6 weeks since we launched, we’ve discovered that people will buy Angus’s turf online, even if they live far from Dundee. Plus, we’ve discovered that AdWords is a cost effective way for him to advertise.
This means it makes sense for Angus to distribute nationally - something that had been a longer term plan. We are still figuring out whether it is better to present the business as a turf specialist or as a landscape supplies company.
But Angus has now had contact with over 100 customers nationwide, either through personally delivering the orders, or arranging them. He can look at his web stats. We’re in a much better position to consider those sorts of decisions.
Tomorrow I’m writing the website plan - stage 2. And, with all we’ve learnt, we are in a great position to drive things forward.
—–
ENDNOTES
When quick and dirty doesn’t work
Before you rush off and ask your website designer to slash 70% off the budget, it is worth noting that quick, cheap versions aren’t always appropriate.
If your site primarily acts to promote your company, then the site must demonstrate the consideration and attention that you give your customers. This polish takes time and money. (If you want to try something cheap, consider a fantastic one page
site)
If your site needs to plug into complex back-end systems, then this will normally involve expensive systems integration work.
Why prototyping is becoming more feasible
Quick prototyping was part of the dot-com hype. It died when people got burnt.
What’s changed? The rise and rise of cheap or free MySQL/PHP web apps like Wordpress, Mambo, PHP-Nuke and JShop (used for Turfandstuff.com). Apps that let you quickly build rough solutions for many needs.
In pitch meetings this week, I’ve twice used Skype and Salesforce as examples of great websites. Neither explains their technology on their home page. Both focus on (1) benefits of their product (2) ease of use and (3) user numbers.
I’d always thought these sites highlight user numbers to look busy. As the chippie yelling “keep the queue” knew, if you look busy, people want it.
Talking about Gmail’s ever increasing storage, Seth Godin points out another reason. Things that change are more interesting than those that don’t.
When did this happen?
The most fabulous of all web applications, Google Maps, has launched for the UK.
Also launched is Google Local. Local search is the hot new thing in search. Disappointingly, in the UK version you have to register via rapacious Yell.
The Click #009
The web is all about words. Design may look nice but it is effective copy that enables you to achieve your goals. (Noam, Mint’s creative director, might disagree, but…)
Lots of people who’d never have written for the public 10 years ago now contribute to websites. If you find yourself in such a position, here are seven tips:
1. Make it scannable
People often don’t read web pages, they scan them. Sub-headings, bolded text and numbered lists work well. On the front page have lots of small bits of copy with links to the full articles.
2. Don’t boast
Big claims can make readers doubt what you are saying. Often good is good enough - you don’t try to hire the world’s best babysitter or accountant - and it’s much more believable.
3. Be human
Firms don’t do business with firms. People do business with people. Demonstrate you are human with jokes, stories and by admitting weaknesses. (For big firms this is a tricky job best left to professionals. For small firms, it means just be yourself.)
4. Omit needless words
Reading on the web is slow (25% slower) and scrolling is a hassle, so this rule is even more important than it is in print.
The big problem is knowing which words are needless. Two bits of advice have helped me. First (from Steve Krug) is write a draft, wait a week and edit it to a quarter the original length. It’s a harsh discipline but it works. Second (from Richard Gabriel) is read poetry. Well… I struggled. I’ve learnt more from studying tightly written factual books. Two I’d recommend are The War Against Cliche and The Language Instinct.
5. Imagine you are in a pub
The web is an intimate medium. Speak to each reader individually, in the second person singular. Imagine how you’d explain your point over a pint. You’ll naturally make it interesting. You’ll avoid the airy generalisations that are the bane of web writing.
At Mint, twice we’ve made big improvements to a client’s front page by replacing the happy talk with an edited version of what they’d told us in the first 5 minutes we met them.
6. Write great headlines
John Caples, a copywriting legend, devoted more than 50% of his time on a project to perfecting the headline. Most readers read the headline and nothing else - so make sure it communicates something valuable.
A cracking example is this classic from David Ogilvy: “At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock”.
7. Use testimonials
Getting to be believed is a huge problem. Testimonials are often the solution. Also, they are likely to be read - they are tasty bite-sized morsels.
My favourite testimonial of all time is for VOIP application Skype. “I knew it was over when I downloaded Skype,” from Michael Powell, chairman of Federal Communications Commission. If you can get the head of the trade body that you’re competing against to say something like that, you don’t need any advice from me.
In conclusion
There aren’t any shortcuts. More than anything, effective writing takes practice.
If you’ve got a tip you’ve found useful, we’d love to hear it. Email: andy@mintdigital.com
Noam spent the weekend assessing work for the International Society of Typographic Designers. He’s come back buzzing with enthusiasm. Sites he’s excited about: SAS Design, Experimental Jetset, Graphic Thought Facility and, last but not least, John Lewis
The Vauxhall End at the Oval nears completion. (Enlarge)
