Content Presentation is more Important than Quality
February 3rd, 2009 | 42 comments
You and I both know that title is not true when looking at value, but when it comes to conversion it is true in many cases (not all.) If you’re presenting your content, whether it be text, video, audio etc. with an ugly self-made or poorly designed template/theme then I guarantee in most cases you’re earning alot less money than you could be!
As one of the most respected Marketers in the world, Zig Ziglar once said “You cannot climb the ladder of success dressed in the costume of failure.” (thanks Bridgett) In my opinion this is one of the most underrated tips out there. The Internet is full of free information on just about everything under the sun. How do people decide which site/page to trust? Whichever one is presented the best… Whichever one looks more professional and credible.
You can certainly argue the fact by saying there are several UGLY sites out there that have gone on to be a big success, like CraigsList and Grizzly’s blog, and I would agree, there are some butt ugly sites out there that have done extremely well. But, using CraigsList as an example, would it have grown even faster if it had looked more professional and credible? I bet it would have!
Do you need to invest in expensive graphics to increase conversions? I do and every site of mine that I’ve upgraded from ugly basic graphics to killer, eye-catching graphics has earned me more money in the long run either directly or indirectly! But the answer is no, you don’t have to. If you simply can’t afford to outsource your site’s design to a talented designer you can still increase conversions, assuming your layout isn’t already clean and professional, by finding a free template or theme out there that IS clean and professional.
However, that’s normally not the problem. Most people already know they can find nice looking templates/themes out there for free. The problem arises after they implement that template! They throw up a bunch of affiliate banners, they put adsense all over the place, they tweak the template when they don’t have the necessary coding knowledge… they take something that did show a great deal of potential and credibility and they murdered it by filling it full of adverts and messing with things they shouldn’t have messed with.
I see this EVERY SINGLE DAY! If you’re just getting started in this business and you have a site or two up there’s a very good chance I’m talking about you! Take this advice and run with it! It’s much more powerful than it seems!
You wouldn’t go shopping dressed like a bum would you? If you want to be thought of as a credible source, your content needs to be presented in a credible way!
P.S. One reader contacted me to inform me that the image I am using in this post is offensive because the man is black. To that person and anyone else who finds this offensive I’m sorry that you look at the color of a person’s skin! There was absolutely no racial motivation in my choosing of that image. The image was used to enhance the blog post and help get a point across. The guy is a bum, there are black bums, white bums and bums of every other race. Those who tie race into that are obviously concentrating on the wrong thing!
image credit: erokComâ„¢
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3rd February, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Good advice as always Josh. We only get one chance to make a first impression, so it makes sense to make it a good one!
3rd February, 2009 at 5:48 pm
I agree but even beyond that, your site should be easy to navigate. I do fulltime internet marketing for a local company, promoting interpretive signs. I have talked to numerous clients who have said our site is easy to move around on and they get lost on other such sites.
I have been on sites where I wanted to order and never could figure out how.
As to graphics, personally, I think graphics are a must – but they need to tie into your theme.
3rd February, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Then again, I don’t go shopping in a Tux either. Plain and simple clean design goes a long way in my opinion.
3rd February, 2009 at 5:50 pm
I know that when I first set up the blog I’m writing now, it was an Adsense-ready theme that was too busy. I have a better one now, and I took out the ads because they were so annoyingly not related to my content, but I know I could still do better.
3rd February, 2009 at 5:50 pm
That is very true Josh. I did that on some of my sites. I am working on a new template on this site and trying not to destroy it to bad.
Steve
3rd February, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Yes, Josh, appearance shouldn’t matter and we shouldn’t judge people by appearance… but we do.
Peggy
3rd February, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Josh — as you know you have beaten this into my head — and I have seen conversions increase as a result. I really appreciate your advice — and this one is a real gem.
Thanks!
Mark
3rd February, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Hey Josh,
I’m with you on this. All my mini-sites have professionally designed templates, including free squeeze pages!
If I don’t know someone or a company, I’d judge them initially by how they present themselves to me.
Good stuff.
Welly Mulia
3rd February, 2009 at 6:12 pm
The key is to be unique from the others. Once you stop following the rest, you create your own unique identity.
Since most people are not going to bother about their website’s design. You then need to design your site properly to be unique.
If everyone starts designing flashy websites, you then need to be plain.
The idea is to be different from others so people can see you.
Contrast helps people to remember you !
3rd February, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Interesting post. I do know that graphics and sleekness do play a part as far first impressions but I don’t necessarily think that it is the most important by any stretch of the imagination (I know you aren’t implying this either).
What would I consider the most important? Social Proof. If other people say how much they like your site…ie. great posts, good product, ect…then you could have a butt ugly site and still do very well with it.
3rd February, 2009 at 6:30 pm
I noticed when i re did one of my sites to make it look better that people stayed on it longer and looked around more
Although when i was doing adsense my ugly sites had a much higher CTR!
I guess it all comes down to experimenting and figuring out what works!
3rd February, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Josh,
You are dead right with the first impression thing…getting this right on or off of a budget can be quite a challenge. There is always a subjective aspect.
Sticking with the basics will certainly help. Thanks for your insights.
P.S. Craigslist’s formula to keep it simple and not spend money may have made ugly an exception…but they didn’t sacrifice function and loads of money to get there. A rare example, true but usually it’s ego and creativity that gets in the way.
3rd February, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Very true.
I used to flip sites. I noticed I could command a bigger sum if I had taken the effort to change the header/footer graphics and then try to sell.
3rd February, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Hmm. First the problems I have. There are some pretty heavy qualifications in here Josh: always “in the long run”, have “earned more”. Give me some idea of how much I may profit for the effort and expense involved.
Other countries aren’t as into packaging and selling as the US. I live in one of them (Australia) so you may be speaking more to the US audience.
The big agreement I have is that it is about credibility. I think this is much more about content than presentation. And how presentation relates to credibility can be tricky. How much is too slick so that it looks like just more hype (eg. those damn long sales letters which always turn me off). Certainly it’s about not filling it with ads, but what do you think are the elements that shouldn’t be messed with?
3rd February, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Particularly like the quotation from Ziglar; puts an old MLM myth (does anyone do MLM anymore??) into the trash can.. the idea that a big money business is one you can do in your pyjamas / undies. Nice to hear better sense.
3rd February, 2009 at 10:36 pm
I totally agree about this.
I wrote a comment today on a very heartfelt blog, written by a person who seems committed to saving people. There were lots of hallelujah type comments, but I couldn’t get over the lack of paragraphs and the terrible typos, so he ain’t gonna save my soul!
3rd February, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Key and succinct points yet again Josh.
Humans are SO visual therefore it makes sense to pay a lot of attention to that aspect. Websites, clothing and so on.
The visual is also one of the key pathways to the deep psyche.
Alex Webley
3rd February, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Great post… It’s also very important to mention that Usability is as important as looks and is a definite part of decent design…. I have seen some amazing looking sites that just didn’t cut it when it came to finding things like navigation buttons and such simple things…. Firstly grid everything out and get all the important things in the right place, then skin it with some nice graphics
.
PS… to whoever thought that image was racist!! WTF!! It’s more offensive to bums than anyone else
4th February, 2009 at 12:58 am
There is a lot that goes into making a successful website. Good content and attractive presentation are definitely important, but I’ve seen some beautiful websites with very good content still flounder because they aren’t built on proper keyword research and construction.
All other things being equal, I would agree that a visually classy layout is going to convert better than an amateur model with flashing banners and unrelated ads.
4th February, 2009 at 1:07 am
Josh,
First impressions are key. Making my sites look good was always difficult for me and that’s why I moved over to WordPress. With all the themes and plugins available, it just makes everything easier.
Jonathan
4th February, 2009 at 2:06 am
I agree with you but…..
Surely it depends mostly on the niche and its objective?
I don’t think there’s any need for expensive graphics etc, if the aim of the site is purely to give information. So long as its written well without lots of typos etc.
However if your in a big ticket niche then you need to provide a level of professionalism to match.
Ray
4th February, 2009 at 3:40 am
I think one of the most important things about the style and look of a site is that it is appropriate for the audience that the site is addressing. As Zig would say, the right clothes for the right occasion. If I am a Realtor pulling up to talk to a millionaire farmer jeans, and a nice shirt are a lot more appropriate than a $1,000 suit. On the other hand you dont wear those same jeans when showing a million dollar home. Its all about communicating with YOUR audience. That said I am doing a personal study on what people like in site design and I would love to see a listing of sites that people here think are exceptionally well designed and why. Its possible that we could all learn something.
Wayne
4th February, 2009 at 6:07 am
I used to work in direct marketing and in that business there is a rule of thumb that said the following scale of values applies:-
The list (= people who see your mailing) is worth 100
The offer (=what you are selling) is worth 10
The creative (the mailing piece) is worth 1.
On the internet the list is the very last thing that most people consider – who your readers are.
I agree that All things being equal the appearance of your site is important but it mustn’t be achieved at the expense of the other two things.
Would you buy from a tatty looking shop if the shop next door looked smarter ? Of course not, but if you never found the good-looking shop you would never be able to buy from it.
4th February, 2009 at 9:01 am
Ok Josh,
I’ll listen to your advice and make my sites MORE beautiful (I should have done this for while already…).
As for the man, I’m a tall black man, and I didn’t see anything wrong with your picture.
God bless,
Franck
4th February, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Josh, if Craigslist is the only site that succeed by being bland then maybe that’s a good model for classified sites, but that’s it. The hard part is making nice looking sites when your graphics skills are limited and your budget is small.
4th February, 2009 at 4:36 pm
honestly, the uglier the site, the higher CTR I get on Adsense. Some ugly sites get 35% CTR which is just nasty.
however, I hate having those sites because deep down, I want my sites to look professional and pretty. LOL
it is a quandry I guess.
and as far as the pic of the bum, I honestly thought it was a character from a Quentin Terantino movie or something., ROFL
4th February, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Granted, I will admit that I skimmed the actual post, but the title itself didn’t lead me to write the full text. I think presentation is key, but everything must have quality – both the presentation and the content. I think focusing more on the presentation works for the short term, but fails in the long term.
People will find out as they want quality – meaningful and relevant content and interactions.
4th February, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Josh do you think this applies to all kinds of sites? Even adsens?
5th February, 2009 at 12:44 am
I agree that generally you have to have a good looking site, but I have the same question about the Adsense based sites – are they and exception, or have you found the better graphics to be true with all of them?
Best,
Shane
5th February, 2009 at 6:32 pm
josh, very good article, I agree with you and the rest of the comments that are posted. they complement your idea.
But the way, I am developing a product and I would like a professional created pitch page. would you recommend somebody?
much success
jose
5th February, 2009 at 7:07 pm
hi Josh,
Quality content presented professionally!
Presentation is the first step, of course.
I know of a few one man blogs that look like they must belong to Fortune 500 companies, and I know of some big company blogs that look like a one man shop!
~ Steve, aka trade show booths
7th February, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Josh,
I agree with most of it but when you look at someone like Matt Cutts’s blog which is pretty ugly then you can see that content is secondary to the main event, ie. Matt giving us his thoughts and views. I do agree though that fior any newbie who hasn’t got a reputation that they should make presenting their blog in a professional way as an absolute priority.
7th February, 2009 at 9:34 pm
@Mark,
I think Matt Cutts’ demonstrates the benefit of being famous (and an authority). The funny thing is that he can’t actually say exactly what google does… but people can’t wait to hear what he says. So he doesn’t really have to worry about presentation or quality content… he just has to say anything. ~ Steve, aka trade show booths
7th February, 2009 at 9:41 pm
I think there is a difference between looking credible and looking professional.
Does anyone else? This may be the way the words are used in the US – that professional = credible.
7th February, 2009 at 9:46 pm
I regret, Mr Harrison that I completely disagree with you: the absolute priority is to make your web site SEEN. After that you can make it look nice.
9th February, 2009 at 9:18 am
hi josh, nice article, this blog is worth to explore
btw i know this blog from Grizzly
cheers
14th February, 2009 at 4:29 am
I actually think creating relevant information that is in high demand and short supply is more important than quality and presentation put together. Of course if you add presentation and quality to the mix then you have something of very, very high value.
14th February, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Hey Josh,
I’m a ugly duckling. I agree with you totally. I have been playing with wordpress for the last two months. I have eight wordpress websites that I have been promoting.
I have spent my time getting links and learning about other things first. I am starting to get some traffic to some of my sites and I am going to redress my sites.
Great Post at the right time for me.
Molly Tracfone Deals
16th February, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Exactly the opposite of Grizz’s advice… He likes you, but he says ugly sites earn more.
16th February, 2009 at 9:49 pm
@ Freddy – Does he say ugly sites earn more or ugly sites can still make good money?
If he says ugly sites earn more i disagree, but I have a feeling that’s not what he says.
His blogspot blog isn’t the greatest looking site on the Internet, but he’s managed to created a nice following with it. Would he make more money with a cleaner, better looking layout? Most likely.
Long-time readers don’t care what it looks like, but a newbie who doesn’t know any better is going to pick a cleaner site when given the choice.
I think he could definitely improve his adsense CTR with a more focused layout.
It all depends on the person’s goals with the site.
And as I mentioned before, I’m sure some sites, for one reason or another, do better with an “ugly” layout.
My experience is that MOST sites will do better when the content is presented in a more professional manner.
24th February, 2009 at 5:49 am
Excellent quote from Zig Ziglar – he’s one of my favorite motivational speaker. I also appreciate the prodding to excellence you give in the area of site design (graphics). This is an area I am already planning on improving.
26th February, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Indeed, the idees are who bring visitors, not the quality. Just because visitors can like different types of writing.
John