Saturday, September 26, 2009

Good for business

Although the work I do can really only be found on the web, I’m a huge proponent and advocator of having “less” on the internet. This statement will no doubt have producers shaking their heads in disagreement, but what I’ve been noticing has been a trend with agencies to over-produce for their clients. Very often, I will see clients sold on the idea that it is imperative for their business to have a trendy, custom-built, CMS-driven, W3C-compliant, accessible website because this will help reach their targeted audience.

As of yet, I don’t know of any established brands that have required one nor have I seen upcoming brands flourish by solely depending on it.

I’ve been looking at hardgraft.com and have been very pleased with its overall online presence. Are there any flashy, complex Javascript that makes things fly out or bounce around on the page? No. Do they require a bevy of art directors and designers to implement layers upon layers of designs and drop-shadows to make their products look “sexy”? No. Do they need an iPhone or Facebook app to help promote their business on the social landscape? No. All these additional things help to do one thing: drive the cost of development up.

I have no doubt in my mind that by building an iPhone app for a client, it will generate additional exposure. By building a scalable CMS, the client’s team will be able to easily update their site and grow with their business as it expands. Accessible websites will allow for a greater web audience and a sexy design will get them noticed. The question I have to all this is whether any of this matters in the longrun if the clients’ business goes bankrupt after having spent the majority of their advertising budget on a website?

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