LESSON 6

Objectives:

Explain the importance of Web design in Internet marketing.

Identify the characteristics of good Web design.

Analyze how marketing and Web design are integrated.

Additional Essential Readings:

Dr. T's Web Design Tips Using Netscape Composer

Web Pages that Suck, ch. 1

Web Pages That Suck, ch. 2

Web Page That Suck, pp. 110 - 118

 

 

Don't let it fool you.  Web page design is NOT techie; rather it is pure marketing, through and through!  Think about it.  When you teach your students about retail, what are some of the things you want them to know?  Merchandising?  Layout of the store?  Product selection?  Promotion?  POP displays?  Signage?  Ease of checkout?  Customer service?  Customer/Employee relations?  Target/niche marketing? Positioning?  This list could go on and on.  Now think about a Web based business. Each of these topics we just listed is determined through Web page design!  Good Web page design is NOT determined by how many flying and singing monkeys move across your screen doing back flips (and that's a hard one to convince your kids of!).  It is determined by how it creates Web site usability, ease of navigation, and aesthetics.  They are all important (and aesthetics may rank third on this list of three!).
 

• A tale of two lawyers.  Tell me this doesn't just SCREAM scads of information about each of these two firms....
• First, take a look at Franklin, Cardwell, and Jones, P. C.
• Then take a look at R. W. Lynch
AAAGGGHHHH!  Are you seeing a slight image difference here???  What is the Web page design telling you?  We know about Lowell "the Hammer" Stanley, but do you think that Franklin, Cardwell, and Jones will EVER use this service?  The FCJ site has made an effort to appear conservative, reserved, and very "low key" and professional (although for my own tastes, the marbled background is a bit much). The Lynch site has dancing Javascripts, text scrolls, an "injury helpline" bar on the left that chases you as you scroll down (a reference to an ambulance would be WAY too easy here), rotating images...  You get--and can SEE--the picture.  On a happy note, the Lynch site has been toned down.  There used to be a header about an inch tall that would constantly rotate CASES, CASES, CASES! in animated lettering that would've made "The Hammer" proud.
 
• 39 percent of test shoppers failed in their buying attempts because sites were too difficult to navigate. Imagine what would happen if your bricks and mortar business lost almost 40% of its potential customers because they walked in your store and couldn't find what they were looking for because your aisles were built in the shape of a maze? Imagine if Wal-Mart stores were built this way: (Flanders, Sept. 2000)

You can print out a fantastic Web page design guideline by going to Dr. T's web page design tips (Flaherty, 2001)***.  One of the foremost authorities in the nation today on "Marketing on the Internet," I use this page religiously while teaching this course.  Without her help, our curriculum in Virginia might still be under construction.  Using these guidelines not only might help you with the Marketing principles listed above, but will also help you to avoid what I call "The T. J. Maxx syndrome."  That is, the "store" looks so sloppy that you don't want to be there, and you feel that nothing inside can be of any great value.  There are far too many T. J. Maxx's online.  Wait until you see some of your students' first pages...

***See the end of this lesson for a lesson plan suggestion using Dr. T's tools!