Web Design, Graphic Art and Hosting
Make Your Website Stand Out!
Author: Joi Sigers
"Do a common thing in an uncommon way."
I, personally, think about this Booker-ism at least once a day - and have since first reading the quote over ten years ago. Whether I'm doing something as domestic as baking bread or as crackerjack as writing (while wishing I withdrew my words from the same vault Booker did!) - I forever have this quote in the back of my mind.
One of the areas where I wish more people heard Booker's voice is in the field of Web Design. What better place to strut originality than the web?
A person's website is an extention of them.
Example: Mike Downs has a golf club business - "Irons by Mike". He can't physically be in everyone's home telling them about his custom-built clubs or how he'll shave strokes off of their game with his grips, alone. So his website is his more than just his mouthpiece - it's the only piece of him that most people will ever see.
This is Mike's one chance to stand out from the rest! He's doing the Common thing, which is making a website. But will he do it in an Uncommon way?
"Irons Mike" has to realize that there are countless websites out there competing for his visitors.
Look what shows up when you search "golf clubs" in Google : Results 1 -10 of about 9,970,000. How'd you like to try to stand out in that crowd? (After reading this article, try it yourself. Search your area of expertise or interest. Look at the results. Then realize that you're trying to stand out from this crowd!)
So how in the world can you master the needle-in-the-haystack shtick?
Your site will need an uncommon look, should have uncommon content and you should surely have an uncommon way of doing things!
- Does your site look different from other similarly-themed websites? When visitors are at your site, do they know they're at your site or could they conceivably mistake yours for another? If this is the case, you don't have nearly enough individuality coming through.
- Look at the competion. What are they doing that you could do differently? If they all tend to use shades of blue, go with green. (For the love of Booker, don't use blue if all the rest are blue!) Do they use common, cookie-cutter templates? If they do, you owe them a personal "thank you" because nothing's easier to break away from than templates!
- One way to make your content fresh and special is to write it yourself. Use a conversational style and write just as though you were writing to a friend. After all, strangers are simply friends you've yet to meet.
- Above all else, adapt the personal manifesto of giving your visitors something they can't get anywhere else. Give them a reason to like your site. Give them a reason to talk about your site. And give them a reason to come back to your site.
1. Not common; rare.
2. Wonderful; remarkable.
un·common·ly adv.
un·common·ness n.
Find a nice corner of your mind to set Booker's quote - someplace of prominence where you'll always see it. Now you're ready to go set the cyber world on its collective ear with a rare, wonderful, and remarkable website!