Daily Inspiration 10-7-12

"It's tempting for people to obsess over tools instead of what they're going to do with those tools. You know the type: Designers who use an avalanche of funky typefaces and fancy Photoshop filters but don't have anything to say." -- Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson from the book Rework. We run into this frequently where someone is enamored with flash artwork on websites, moving things, buttons that make noises when you scroll over them, extravagant design work, all with little or nothing in the way of content about their business and what and how they do it, and they're confident that this will make the difference in their being on the web, getting found and making an impact. I like to remind people that the highest traffic site on the entire web is the most plain site there is: Google.com.   I was just watching some of the X-Factor TV show tonight and seeing some spectacular staging, lights moving about, and I'm sure the fire explosions are coming soon, but if the act on the stage doesn't have the talent and the presence and the connection, it is all just hot air and lights.   It's a proven fact that on the web, content is king. The more you have to say, the easier it is to get found. It can be structured in a lot of ways, but it is the content or the substance that makes the difference. The web is all about information first.   A lot of people don't know that you can have tons of content that is not included in the navigation buttons, yet is very searchable. We recommend adding a page a month or something like that where it is constantly expanding. The benefits are enormous.   It's all well and good to have an attractive website. Making sure there is substance along with that is the best advice I can give.

Great Questions: Who? What? When? Where? How? And Don't Forget: Why?   Spread Some Joy Today--by praising people in various ways. 'Hey, Great Job!' That's a good start.