NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Surfing w/Graphics Off - Rising Trend?
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Surfing w/Graphics Off - Rising Trend?
Donna Dolezal Zelzer (djz_at_efn.org)
Wed, 24 Dec 1997 18:44:20 -0800
At 11:26 AM -0500 12/20/1997, Simple Gifts Farm made this statement of rare
insight:
>
> The interesting thing in all this from a web designers point of view is that
> many sites are extremely user unfriendly if the graphics are turned off.
> You don't have to go very far into the most "popular" sites to find sites
> that don't work without graphics (try IBM for example with 1) a slow
> computer and 2) no graphics).
> As a marketer I'm surprised that any company would shut out the 20% (I'm
> actually surprised that number is so low) who do run the net without
>graphics?
>
As a marketer it surprises me, too. From the smallest homepage to the
biggest corporate megasite, a major reason to be on the web is to
communicate: to share information, to sell an idea or way of life, or to
sell a product or service. And if people can't use your site, you're not
going to be able to convince them of anything (except maybe not to come
back!)
Obviously, details depend on what a site is for. A site selling art needs
to have graphics of the art -- but the site can still be designed to be
useable with graphics off, and a visitor can turn them on if they are
seriously interested in looking at what's being offered.
i think sometimes site designers and/or the owners of the companies make
some assumptions about people that may have little basis in reality: That
people with money to spend (that is, the ones who really count when it
comes down to actually making a sale) will have the best and fastest
computers and the fastest internet connections, and thus will have
graphics, java and javascript on, and also have all the latest plugins.
Well, apart from the fact that a lot of people with fast computers and
great connections still turn graphics and so on off, I don't think that the
state of a person's computer equipment says much about the state of their
pocketbook. For example:
1. Someone with a lot of money to spend may have an older system because
computers just aren't that important to him.
2. Someone with the latest gadgets may have no money to spend now because
she just spent it all on her computer.
And don't forget mobile computing. People on the road, esp. those who are
connecting with a wireless modem, are nearly always going to have very thin
pipes. And that means they want lean, fast-loading sites with lots of
useful information in text format.
And I'd venture that most people who do mobile computing also have money to
spend, so they're not a group to overlook.
Donna
---------------------
Donna Dolezal Zelzer <djz_at_efn.org>
The Online Birth Center (pregnancy, birth, midwifery, breastfeeding)
http://www.efn.org/~djz/birth/birthindex.html
Subscribe to the OBC News -- a free weekly newsletter!
Send a message to mailto:Majordomo_at_efn.org and put _only_ the words
subscribe obcnews
in the _body_ of the message
Write to mailto:owner-obcnews_at_efn.org for a sample copy
----------------------------------------------------------------------
This week's Online Advertising Discussion List sponsor:
Hoover's Online
Sign up for a FREE 30-day trial subscription to Hoover's Online.
In-depth company profiles, news and more! Search by company, industry,
location and sales. Go to http://www.hoovers.com/trial/oaft.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Online Advertising Discussion List To Unsubscribe send UNSUBSCRIBE
http://www.o-a.com/ to online-ads-request_at_o-a.com
