June 7, 2010

Why Do So Many Websites Look the Same?

Remember about 10 years ago when WebCrawler, HotBot, Excite, AltaVista, Lycos (my personal favorite) and of course Yahoo! were all fighting for your attention to be the #1 search engine? If you can remember (or use the Way Back Machine to look back) you will see that they all looked the same: A header (with logo and tagline), search box, list of categories, ads, maybe a news feed and a bunch of other bells and whistles that made the sites overwhelming. Then all of a sudden Google came along and changed the game: Logo, Search box, Search Button, “I’m Feeling Lucky” Button, and… that’s it.

When it comes to presenting your company (and yourself) you have two choices to make. You can act like everyone else, or you can do something different. On the surface, there certainly is a good case to be made for following in someone else’s footsteps. After all it is usually 1) easier, 2) safer, and 3) cheaper. However, when it comes to marketing and design those words are the kiss of death. When was the last time something caught your attention by being safe?

If your goal is to be a leader you have to show what makes you different and that means you have to follow a different set of ground rules. In fact, successful marketing is achieved by 1) avoiding the obvious, 2) taking some risks, and 3) investing some money. Google’s homepage made people sit up and pay attention. Its simplicity made it distinct and actually began to define its brand. Their site was (and is) 100% ownable, memorable, and recognizable.

Website design faces a similar problem today. If you take a close look around the web you will be amazed at how many sites look the same. The sheer proliferation of websites that have gone down the path of stock design templates is astounding (these sites offer generic website designs available to anyone and everyone). Possibly the bigger problem is that professional designers are falling into the same aesthetic trends because once again it is easy, safe and cheap.

Here are a few websites that have caught our eye lately because they have veered away from the common design vernacular of their competitors and took a road less traveled:

Methode Electronics, Inc.
Norton from Symantec
Lyons Consulting Group

Good websites communicate information well. Great websites do the same and provide the user with an experience that is unique, entertaining, and reinforces the brand. Just remember when it comes time to redesign your website that Google is now worth over $150 billion.

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Categories: Website