Flash Sites – Flash In The Pan?

Julien Jordan recently stated:

I hear experiential websites are on their way out, being replaced with social networking websites and content driven websites. Has the end come to those cool, flashy, experiential sites?

Sites like http://www.planetinneed.com/ , or http://www.paybeautyforward.ca/en/

Have people stopped wanting to be taken through a rich experience in favor of connecting to real people, or in favor of searching out information? Are people paying less attention to the cool, and more attention to the simple? Have people started to care more about the marketing campaign itself than the way it’s executed online?

If so, has the industry noticed? What sites are getting the awards? The ones that help the users find information, and make it easy for participation? Or, are we still awarding the cool animations, the cool video, and the cool interactivity?

Keeping in mind the global financial situation, how does the “cool” translate into ROI?

When I read this posting from Mr. Jordan, it crystalized the discussion many of us are having in the web design / development world. Seems that often, the business owner is looking for something that “dazzles” the eyes, something that is “showy” or cool. The irony is, that same business owner wouldn’t be able to figure out the purpose and/or navigation of the website they want built.

At the end of the day, business is about ROI. Websites that are designed to showcase products, convey information and push the sell forward, must be simple to navigate, with clear and rich information. If the site doesn’t help push along the relationship, its useless.

Companies also go to the opposite extreme. They build their own websites using some “assistance” site and mass used templates. I understand watching the wallet, but for most small businesses, this is their only marketing avenue. When you go the “cheap” route, you end up with words and stock picture that sit on the web, doing nothing to convert leads.

It doesn’t matter how much you invest if it brings a return, but there is no amount of money so small that it should be wasted.

So, what should a company keep in mind?

• Their site needs to be easy to use & easy to understand
• There has to be a clear marketing function built into the website.
• Make sure there are significant and clever calls to action.
• Brand the site to carry your consistency, showing you are an established company that can be trusted.
• Marketing campaigns must be apart of building and tracking conversions.

Keep in mind that web marketing is the ONLY trackable and measurable marketing tactic out there, so you can invest with confidence. That said, having a site that brings it all together is the key.

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