Since posting Issue 4, I have been reflecting on what I learned during the course of writing it! First: I can confirm that I am in fact a Geek (I suspected that I was and am now quite proud of it). Second: Not everyone automatically considers this a good thing (Very disappointing). And finally: I should never use my girlfriend as a sounding board for blog ideas. (She thinks it’s a good idea too!) Having come to terms with these facts, I felt confident to write this Issue of Web Marketing 101.

Web sites are composed of many elements, however, for the sake of this blog, we will be simplifying it down to two very important elements - text and graphics. I know what you may be thinking: that perhaps my title is a little exaggerated. Well, pull out your handy dandy score cards and we’ll see where we are after a few rounds.

Round 1: Take a page from the history books!

Let me start off by saying that I am “Old School” when it comes to web design. (Stop chuckling please). That means I follow the tried and true standards that are as relevant now as when they were initially put in place years ago. HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) was developed by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989 to help a bunch of physicists share their research. The early web sites of the 1990’s were primarily text and contained very few graphical elements; this is because the goal of these early web sites was to make information available and accessible.

Today, technology has given us more bandwidth, and with that available resource many web designers try to create web sites with more visual bells and whistles. Yet the goal of most web sites has not changed; they still primarily supply information, whether it is about our company, our products, or some piece of vital knowledge. Since acquiring information and knowledge is why most people visit a web site I’m scoring this 1 for Text. 
 
Text:   1
Graphics: 0

Round 2: We all live in a visual world!

I’m a meat and potatoes guy, so I consider myself a person of, let’s say, substance. But even I have to admit it’s nice to eat in a restaurant that values presentation. As a web designer and developer, I can appreciate the need for information to be presented in a way that is visually appealing and attractive. In fact, it’s one of the favorite parts of my job. A creative “look n feel” is an important part of developing a web site. That being said, and with the holidays right around the corner, I will use this analogy: “The world’s worst Christmas gift, packaged in the most beautiful wrapping paper and crowned with a gorgeous bow, is still the world’s worst Christmas gift!” Unfortunately, I’ve been hypnotized by the dancing, singing elves and have been convinced to score this round to Graphics.

Text:   1
Graphics: 1

Round 3: Have two issues of Web Marketing 101 taught us nothing?

Text, after losing the last round pulls out the big guns. That’s right, Search Engine Optimization. If you haven’t read SEO: Shedding Light on a Dark Art, you should click on the link and read issues 3 and 4 of Web Marketing 101.

In a feeble attempt to counter this, the graphics fans want me to mention Alt Tags. Alright, I will. It’s true that HTML has provided us a way to let search engines, text based browsers, and screen readers know what an image represents. By the way, “Alt” stands for “Alternative Text”! THAT’S RIGHT… SCORE ONE FOR TEXT... (Sorry, got a little carried away.)

Text:   2
Graphics: 1

Round 4: A Picture’s Worth A Thousand Words!

Sometimes images are just absolutely necessary. It’s much easier to show an image depicting your product than it is to describe it in the copy. In addition, frequently updated photo galleries featuring events can draw people back to your site.

Graphics can play an important role in setting the tone and character for your web site when used properly. Brand identity would be extremely difficult if not for logo graphics, and nobody can deny how compelling and attention grabbing a visual advertisement can be compared to a text–based ad.

Text, however, would like me to mention that a page should never really contain just images and that descriptive text should always be added to image galleries and splash pages. However, this round has clearly been won by Graphics.

Text:   2
Graphics: 2

Round 5: I don’t care what Aesop says… Rabbit means fast and Turtle means slow!

When I started in this business, the rule of thumb was, if your site took longer than 10 seconds to load the visitor would move on. Page load time was a critical factor and good web developers took it seriously. So, we developers would attempt to keep the page and all it’s components under 150 K. Today, customers want to put up large files that are a thousand times that size. The problem is that while technology has given us better computers and faster forms of Internet access, that allow us to do more in that 10 second window, our attention span has also become shorter. What we would have been willing to wait 10 seconds for 10 years ago, we want in one second today.

For this very reason the rules and concepts of good web design have not changed. Less is more… slow is bad and fast is good. The consumer wants their information and they want it now. Since this is the cardinal rule of web design… I am scoring this last round to Text.

Text:   3
Graphics: 2

Take a look at your own scorecard now. You may have scored this differently than I have and that’s fine. Each of us has to weigh the options for ourselves. You’ll need to consider a few things to determine the balance of text and graphics to achieve on your site. What business you’re in, the objective of your web site and then what your customers would expect and want to read and/or see on your web site. 

Remember that all web sites are not created equal. What will visitors leaving your site say about it? Will they say it looked nice or will they say it provided the valuable information they needed. We hope they say both and that the graphics helped present and represent the information. But if it were only one or the other, which do you think would get them to come back? I’d always for vote for substance.. yes,  well- written, informative Text!!

Well, until next time, I will remain your Web Marketing Geek… John W Svoboda!

P.S. I’d really like to know what you think and would like to encourage all of you to post your comments and/or questions at the bottom of this blog.

CBOSS can help you determine if you have the right balance of text and graphics. Whether you are using ArchITech CMS or have a static web site, give us a call.