It may seem a bit backwards for a web design firm to tell you that the website we or someone else might build for you won’t be perfect. We’re basically undercutting our own core mission, right?
The thing is, the age-old maxim “Done is better than perfect” is accurate, especially in the world of internet marketing. We’ve mentioned before that the foundation of digital marketing is testing and testing and testing. It’s impossible to test your website, a landing page, or even a new product if you spend so much time tweaking the little stuff to the point that it never launches.
Here’s another dirty little secret (we like to share those) about your website – your typical end-user is probably not going to spend more than two seconds looking at a certain background picture, reading a long paragraph of copy, or even watching a sales video. We’re not as bad as that crummy goldfish attention span you keep hearing, but unfortunately browsers do just that – we browse, skim a site like it’s a college textbook, and make a gut decision. Sometimes we’ll come back to look at the site if something stuck out at us, but overall that little spot you’re agonizing over on your website will probably have little to no impact on your user’s decisions.
This is of course not to say that you slap some crap up and call it good. Let’s not go too far here. The key is to find balance. You provide good copy for Google, the users that do actually read, and the casual browser that you’ve hooked with your message. (Content is probably the easiest thing on your website to change plus it’s beneficial to update from time to time anyway.) Dynamic pictures and images are visually pleasing, but they also help you sell your product and give your company a professional image. And by heavens, if something is broken on your site, people will get frustrated and leave.
Every time we work on a website, we have a list of our standard best practices that we adhere to and make sure our clients do the same. Those standards, working together, are what make a website great and convert. Copy, design, and programming combined in the right layout provide a visual flow that tell your browsers what to do and help convert them into buyers. But chances are they’re probably not going to care if that picture of you is cropped a little differently.
So remember on your next project, tone down your fears and give it a whirl. Websites are fluid and easy to change down the line, so getting it perfect never needs to be a worry.