The Surprising Truth About Ugly Websites: Ugly Simply Sells Online

The Surprising Truth About Ugly Websites
By Mark Daoust (c) 2006

Ugliness has never looked better. I have spent the last few days
examining a surprising trend in web design that has made ugly
websites look absolutely irresistible. No, it's not the bolded,
18 point Times New Roman font shouting at me as I access the
page that has me excited, nor is it the harsh colors that have
actually managed to make my eyes hurt and distort my vision. In
fact, it's not even that logo which is so pixelated from being
processed, resized, saved, and edited so many times that it
appears to be blurred to protect the identity of the company who
owns the website that has me singing the praises of ugly
websites. What is it?

Ugly sells.

That's right � ugly websites are surprisingly effective in
making money. As a person who puts business before technology,
a profitable website is a website that is an unbelievably
attractive website to me.

The Case of Plenty of Fish

I was struck by an example of just how effective ugly websites
can be this past week as I was browsing through some web related
news. I stumbled across the story of Plenty of Fish
(http://www.plentyoffish.com/ ). This is a very plain looking
website that offers a free online dating service much like
Match.com (but without the subscription fee). There was nothing
specifically impressive about the website that stood out to me,
in fact the site was actually rather ugly.

What caused me (and I am sure several other people) to take a
second look at the website was its reported earnings. It is
reported that this website brings in over $10,000 from Adsense �
in one day. Yes, you did read that correctly. For those of you
counting, that is $300,000 per month and nearly one million
dollars in just three months.

The example of Plenty of Fish led me to consider how an ugly
website could be so successful. As I looked around, I suddenly
realized that this was not the only successful ugly website.
Ebay is unbelievably ugly; Craigslist has never won an award for
innovative design, and IMDB has never even bothered to format
their text out of the default Times New Roman. What is it about
ugly websites that makes them so successful?

The Ability to Convey Trust

A while back I wrote an article on Controlling Your Visitors
Eyes (http://www.site-reference.com/articles/Website-Development/Controlling-Your-Visitors-Eyes.html ). The main point to this
article was that you have less than a second to convey your
marketing message to your visitor, and that every aspect, from
your font selection, to the colors, navigation, and layout of
your website plays a part in conveying your marketing message.

When I wrote this article, I had beautiful, CSS designed
websites in mind. The idea that an ugly website could present a
positive message never crossed my mind. Yet the fact is, ugly
websites do have the ability to present the perfect marketing
message. What is that message?

You can trust us. We are a family run business and do not employ
a marketing team. Our website is simple, but functional. Most
importantly, our goal is to serve our customers, not necessarily
learn HTML.

As Internet professionals, we often forget that a large part of
our society is actually afraid of the Internet. Although online
shopping is growing, most people still have concerns about
online security and the impersonal nature of the web. Most
people do not know how to surf efficiently and use only the
default tools that are given to them when they take their
computer out of the box.

And this is one reason that ugly websites can sell. The lack of
professionalism and a polished look leads one to believe that
they are dealing with an individual. Websites cannot be trusted,
but individuals can be trusted.

Function Over Form

Although the above theory holds true in many examples, I believe
there is more to the success of ugly websites than just
conveying trust. Many of the websites that I referenced above
have one underlying trait that can be attributed to their
success: they are extremely easy to use.

Google is probably the best example of how functionality over
form can lead to success. When Google initially launched, every
other major search engine was in the process of transforming
themselves into a portal that would offer users all the
information they could possibly want, and probably more than
they really would want. Google, on the other hand, made their
website ridiculously simple. There is one purpose to Google � to
search the web. Nothing else was there to distract you from this
one goal. It certainly did not hurt that Google was able to
serve up relevant results, but the simplicity of the system was
key to winning over users.

Sites like Drudge Report and Craigslist can also trace much of
their success back to their functionality. Drudge Report is a
very simple website that is essentially a collection of links to
news stories. Most of the time, the Drudge Report does not even
link over to content on their own website. Users who wanted an
interesting collection of links to various news stories could
find them all on one simple page. Craigslist also boasts
simplicity. The website is simple to browse, simple to post, and
simple to use. Because of its simplicity, it grew.

The general lesson here is simplicity. A beautiful website may
draw a user in initially, but a simple website will keep your
users coming back. If one of your users gets lost trying to
navigate your website, check out of your web store, or find
simple contact information, then you unnecessarily are
increasing the chances that this user will simply leave.

Ugliness By Application � Not By Rule

Although ugly websites are often easier to use and can convey a
unique sense of trust, ugliness is not a rule that should apply
to all websites. In fact, the vast majority of websites can be
improved by adding formatting and focusing on good site design
principles.

There are two general rules that you must keep in mind when
building your website: 1) What type of message will resonate
with my visitors, and 2) Is the site easy to use?

Knowing the answer to the first question is knowing what type of
visitors you are trying to reach. Are your visitors web-savvy
and thus looking for a well-designed website? Are your visitors
uncomfortable with the impersonal nature of the web and just
looking for a simple website that is easy for them to use? Are
your visitors scared of using online payment processing, or do
they prefer the convenience of paying online where they do not
have to talk to a person?

The second question is a rule that should apply to every
website: functionality is more important than the design of your
website. This does not mean, however, that a beautiful website
cannot be easy to use. What this does mean is that you should
never sacrifice the usability of your website for a fancy design
effect or a more visually appealing website.

In Conclusion � It's Not Necessarily Ugliness That Sells

As website owners, it is very easy to get caught up in the
design of our websites. We want to present our businesses to
visitors in the best way possible, and as we get familiar with
web technologies and design techniques, it is easy to focus
solely on the design of a website from the standpoint of what
looks good rather than the message our website conveys.

What we need to keep in mind, is that websites are meant to be
used � used for reading, used for networking, used for shopping,
etc. Websites, like any other marketing tool, convey a message
and are an invitation for visitors to trust us. Our design needs
to reflect this.

Take a moment today to look over your website. Is it really easy
to use? Have you been more worried about the look of your
website than its functionality? Would it be more effective if it
were simpler in its design?

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Mark Daoust is the owner of Site Reference
(http://www.site-reference.com/ ).

This article may be reprinted as long as all links are active,
including a link to the article's original location which can be
found at (http://www.site-reference.com/articles/Website-Development/The-Surprising-Truth-About-Ugly-Websites.html )
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