Godin uses a number of different real-world Web sites to illustrate what is and is not effective; he also explains why. (Presumably many of those responsible for the ineffective Web sites have read this book and made the necessary revisions since it first appeared about 18 months ago.) One of the book's most interesting points concerns the quite different mentalities of the engineer and the marketer. The former assumes that smart people have plenty of time, know precisely what they want from their online surfing, and can make a considered decision if provided with sufficient data. In stunning contrast, the marketer assumes that people are busy, ill informed, impatient, not very thoughtful and eager to click on to something RIGHT NOW. The marketer also believes that if you don't give the visitor the right object (or objective) to click on to immediately, the visitor will hit the "Back" button and leave.
I presume to add another difference: I think that most visually complicated Web sites resemble the front page of the U.S.A. Today newspaper (especially the Friday/Saturday/Sunday edition) whereas the most effective Web sites resemble the most effective billboards along a highway. Percentages vary but research studies suggest that online surfers spend about 90% of their time visiting the same ten Web sites Also, that after a unsatisfying experience, the percentage is even higher; that is, approximately 95% of online surfers never return to that Web site.
One substantial benefit this book provides which I did not anticipate when I began to read it is that the same principles which Godin recommends to increase a Web site's effectiveness are also relevant to the design of marketing and sales collateral materials such as direct mail solicitations and printed brochures. Because of the immense clutter through which messages of various kinds struggle to reach their destination, and because this clutter is certain to become even greater, Godin's concept of what he calls a "purple cow" (explained in a book of the same name) has compelling importance: become and then remain remarkable for as long as possible. Web sites, letterhead, business cards, products, services...indeed contact and communication in any form...must attract and reward attention or are certain to fail. Period.
Those who are responsible for Web sites or who heavily depend on Web sites to help achieve their business objectives are strongly urged to check out all of those which Godin features in his book. Also be alert to various lists of award-winning Web sites, especially those selected by online surfers rather than by technicians. For example, the finalists in competition for the 1st Annual Web Site Award sponsored by WIRED magazine.
One final point: This year's Purple Cow may well be a Plaid Kangaroo in 2004.
This is a must-read for anyone that USES the Web, let alone for those whose work is making it. As an interactive marketer, you bet I'll be giving this book to my clients each time they want to put their entire company's history in the homepage. Way to go, Seth!
In this 100-page book, Godin advocates the simple marketing principal of putting only, as he says it, "one banana" per page - that is only asking the user to do one thing at a time by focusing on the question, `what do you want the user to actually do?' He demonstrates the effectiveness of this principal by having a single main point for each two-page site-review.
The book also provides a simple metric for designing sites - the further along (or closer to giving you their money / permission / etc.) the more valuable he or she is. As such, the site should direct users along the path to purchase (etc.) not sidetrack them with other suggestions or paths.
The book is not a collection of general principals, but rather a critique of over fifty actual web pages, some praised, others picked apart. As such, the application of the principals is crystal-clear.
The book is clear and concise and (like many of Godin's other books) is a must-read for anyone designing, marketing-through, or engineering a website.