Sunday, 6 May 2012

Business v Pleasure

Google, Bing, Yahoo. 
 
These are all names virtually everyone is aware of and trusts. The first place you go to if you want to know something is pretty much going to be one of those three.

They all offer an amazing amount of services to business's and users to provide information and traffic to millions of sites across the globe.

There's no denying what they provide is invaluable to people.  But I, and maybe you, offer a different view to this. 

All the research I've completed, all the hundreds of pages I've viewed and all the advice I've received on getting a website out there and known is based around getting listed on one of the big three. 

Google Rankings being the most prominent of ways to get traffic to your site is certainly a useful way of getting people to know who you are but lets get down to the basics here....higher ranking doesn't always mean mean higher quality. 

Sure those big name stores command respect because they have a name people trust, and with that come slick, smart websites. But lets not forget those users that are creating amazing things on a shoestring budget but don't have the money to produce the dynamic fast moving graphics style website. 

There are millions of people out there creating things from clothes to wood carvings,  jewellery to cupcakes and everything inbetween. Take a look at any of the user based websites on places like dmoz.com and you'll see a difference, those that will base the look of their website on what a search engine will looks for, and those that will base it on what is right for their their image and their client base. 

We automatically think slicker is better, but just because someones website doesn't looks as slick and smart as the bigger companies that doesn't mean that  it can't offer far more in both experience and value for money. Sure nobody should compromise on security of their finances over the internet, but as long as websites have security such as paypal offer why should anything else matter?

Should a website have to have all the text, tags, meta beta and every other letter of the greek alphabet on view jsut so it can get higher on a search engine? Why can we not put the user first and provide a service or goods in such a way that the site is easy to use and have a homely feel to it? 

I for one am a little tired of seeing everything added to a site to get it a higher ranking, lets just give the user and consumer the best experience possible. 

No doubt there are the internet and coding purists who will tell me how much traffic is produced by all these differnt elements on a website, but you know what? I'd rather use Big Bob's Auto Repairs than a main dealer to fix my car because I know which one is going to give me the best customer service. The same goes for websites. 

Thanks for reading. 

Jacquib
www.jacquib.biz

4 comments:

  1. I know what you mean. The problem is that a lot of small craft sites look messy and unproffessional. Compromise is the key here, having done the research and built myself a couple of sites ( wix.com, very easy to use w good results ). A simple site with good clean graphics inspires confidence in the buyer.The problem is also the traffic, if you don't get the traffic then you have to find sales some other way.It can be so soul destroying to have to think of everything , including blogging, in terms of keywords and meta tags but again, compromise is the key. Sorry to have left such a long comment but I've thought a bout myself a lot - pet subject of mine!

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  2. Thanks for the comment Whitney.

    I agree a compromise is certainly needed, if nothing else a certain level of quality and professionalism needs to be in place to ensure satisfaction.

    Alot of people seem to want the quick win solutions but there's no better way of building a small business than getting out there and telling the world your here!

    Good to hear your views!

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  3. Hello, I've popped across from UK Handmade to read your post. A good read and good points well made.

    Sarah xx

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