Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Design and Content : Unrealistically shiney servers; Smiling people with headsets. Cliche?

[HostMidwest]

It seems that every day, new web hosts sprout out of the ground. Yet, I've found that most of their websites all follow the same design idea. Lots of happy-looking people doing business, shiney servers (maybe ones that use a flash presentation to twinkle), and pipes/data lines going all over the website.

I don't know about you guys, but from the people I've talked with, those kinds of designs no longer inspire confidence.

I do most of the designing on my own website- and it shows in the fact that the design looks like it's out of the '90s, and things don't line up perfectly. At the same time, I think that fields of grain and signatures are more reassuring and down-to-earth to clients than, well... techno music and flashy, unrealistic servers.

I was just looking for your comments on this: have "flashy servers, smiling people" gotten to the point where alternative designs might provide a better image for the company? I know hosting's about speed, but it's also about reliability, and ultimately, trust. Can a potential customer really trust a cliche website?

Looking forward to hearing your opinions.

PS: I know a lot of people in graphics design (offline) who can meet my needs; please don't PM me with offers for templates, design, etc.

[the_pm]

Yep, I've beaten this point to death. It was cool three years ago. Today, it's old, tired, and lumps you in the same category with every eBay scam host that buys $50 template sites and steals people's money.

[BigBison]

Well, that's one group who utilize these images. What I think they're doing, though, is copying the big boys. The big boys won't stop with the shiny happy people and the shiny happy servers, until they cease being more effective than other site designs. I'm sure they do consumer feedback testing on new designs with the budgets they have, they use what gets results and the "look" gets copied.

[Zoren]

I think the sites you are referring to have their place. They are not my personal preference, but I can appreciate why they have appealed to people. Sites like media temple or those done by ceonex present a high tech, professional image to potential customers. They obviously have connected with a large group of customers. I think there will come a point when these designs no longer resonate with people and something else will replace them.

No matter what style is sought after, good design is the key. Attention to detail, balance of content, appealing use of color & typography will appear in any good design. This is true if you are using images of super computers or wheat fields. This is all subject to personal taste.

The redesign I'm doing for my hosting site has a retro feel. Old world European / Americana themes & images. I am using a mix of warm, neutral colors. Images harkin back to the 1930's. My hope is that people identify with this design. I want to present a familiar, sentimental theme along with images of stability and craftsmanship. I have no idea if the general public will connect with the site or not. Previews with friends & colleagues have been positive. Only time will tell. Some things don't go out of favor. People love antiques & old movies. Maybe there is a place for a vintatge hosting site.

I think the service you provide and your reputation are worth more than your website's design. That's hard for me to say as a web designer. A slick site with poor service won't last and a basic site with an enthusiastic customer base will continue to thrive. This is true here at WHT and I would guess in the industry as well.

[BigBison]

Originally posted by Zoren
I think the service you provide and your reputation are worth more than your website's design. That's hard for me to say as a web designer. A slick site with poor service won't last and a basic site with an enthusiastic customer base will continue to thrive. This is true here at WHT and I would guess in the industry as well.

Exactly. What I'm going for with my scenic lakeside bison herd image, is a page that makes people stop and look at it. What I'm selling comes second to that. As shiny happy people and server sites proliferate, savvy consumers will skip right on past looking for something different. Perhaps.

[Zoren]

Originally posted by BigBison
Exactly. What I'm going for with my scenic lakeside bison herd image, is a page that makes people stop and look at it. What I'm selling comes second to that.

Not sure how my post came across, but although I think the Image is very important, content is king in my book.

As shiny happy people and server sites proliferate, savvy consumers will skip right on past looking for something different. Perhaps.

I hope so. I left out an important category in my example of the two extremes. A slick site with a great company behind it will ascend to great heights.

[the_pm]

Well, that's one group who utilize these images. What I think they're doing, though, is copying the big boys. The big boys won't stop with the shiny happy people and the shiny happy servers, until they cease being more effective than other site designs. I'm sure they do consumer feedback testing on new designs with the budgets they have, they use what gets results and the "look" gets copied.

I agree with you to a point. The big boys who invented the formula and have mastered its nuances have pulled it off well, and having sustained such designs since they were first introduced to the Web, have grown reputations for themselves that work in conjunction with their look.

But that's very different from pulling the look out of the can and thinking it's going to create your reputation for you, here and today. Like OP said, he's heard from a lot of people that this type of design no longer inspires confidence and calls trust and confidence into question. I tend to agree, and many people with whom I've talked feel similarly.

As shiny happy people and server sites proliferate, savvy consumers will skip right on past looking for something different. Perhaps.

I think we're thinking a lot more alike than it appears

[RHS_Sam_DZ]

I was just discussing this exact topic with a client a couple of days ago. He wanted that high gloss crap-tacular look for his site. He wanted the happy people in their business attire..Starbucks in one hand .. leather brief case in the other .. blah blah BLEH!

My exact words .."No matter how much you polish a turd .. it's STILL a turd! You want to stand out from the crowd .. you don't want to blend in. I'll design you a website, but I won't build you a polished turd. Your Choice."

I am a designer ... I know all about the criteria of target market, demographics etc ... But there are so many different approaches to designing a web site for a hosting company ... yet no one tried to come at it from a different angle.

STOP BEING SHEEP AND THINK ABOUT THE DESIGN!!!

[the_pm]

My exact words .."No matter how much you polish a turd .. it's STILL a turd! You want to stand out from the crowd .. you don't want to blend in. I'll design you a website, but I won't build you a polished turd. Your Choice."

That brings up an interesting topic. Do you give the client what (s)he wants, or is there an internal measure of integrity that prevents designers from developing certain styles of sites, and have you really broken your integrity in doing so if you've made it clear from your professional perspective that you think your client is making bad decisions?

But there are so many different approaches to designing a web site for a hosting company ... yet no one tried to come at it from a different angle.

Sure people did - that's how the whole cliche came to be in the first place. There will be new design trends in the industry coming soon enough; I'm sure of it

[RHS_Sam_DZ]

Sorry that was suppose to be TRIES .. instead of trieD.

About your question ... I like to let the client get involved as much as they want to be..as long as it's not causing any problems or conflicts ... I like for them to tell me what kind of look and style they want .. what color scheme they would like ... and I design their site based on their input/feedback ... As a designer, I have the freedom to pick and choose which clients I accept and pass on. If they just downright insist on a design that I insist on NOT designing ... then I'll happily send them on their way. That is, of course, the very last option involved.
Bottom Line .. I will not sell myself out just to make some money from a web site. My passion, dignity, integrity, taste, pride and self worth will not allow me to.

[Joshua]

Originally posted by HostMidwest
It seems that every day, new web hosts sprout out of the ground. Yet, I've found that most of their websites all follow the same design idea. Lots of happy-looking people doing business, shiney servers (maybe ones that use a flash presentation to twinkle), and pipes/data lines going all over the website.

I don't know about you guys, but from the people I've talked with, those kinds of designs no longer inspire confidence.

I do most of the designing on my own website- and it shows in the fact that the design looks like it's out of the '90s, and things don't line up perfectly. At the same time, I think that fields of grain and signatures are more reassuring and down-to-earth to clients than, well... techno music and flashy, unrealistic servers.

I was just looking for your comments on this: have "flashy servers, smiling people" gotten to the point where alternative designs might provide a better image for the company? I know hosting's about speed, but it's also about reliability, and ultimately, trust. Can a potential customer really trust a cliche website?

Looking forward to hearing your opinions.

PS: I know a lot of people in graphics design (offline) who can meet my needs; please don't PM me with offers for templates, design, etc.

I think that alternative designs are great, however, they must be designed cleanly and effectively. Here are some alternative examples I like:

http://home.verio.com/hosting/powerplatform/hosting/
http://www.serverbeach.com/catalog/
http://server80.com/fs/index.html (One of my designs)

I'm currently working on a design for a shared hosting venture (ResellerPeak), and it's going to be very simple - It's a simple "square" design without many images (only one photo on the whole site) that just gets to the point.

In terms of your site, I could see you leaving the field of grain as the header, but you'll have to work to make your company name and slogan fit in better. I'd also suggest changing the font color on the navigation buttons (as well as the style of the buttons), get rid of the blue/white curve on the left side (as it doesn't fit in), and space out your content boxes on the main page.

-Josh

[Joshua]

Try placing this header on your site, and see how something this small can start to change a site's image, without overused stock photos.

[BigBison]

Originally posted by Zoren
Not sure how my post came across, but although I think the Image is very important, content is king in my book.

Nothing wrong with your post! You are right about content being king, that's how someone finds your site. If, once they've arrived, they see the same imagery everyone else is using, they'll move on. How well my theory works remains to be seen, but I'm hoping that by presenting a visually compelling image that isn't like anything else out there, someone who has found their way to my site based on content won't have any reason to leave in a hurry based on tired images.

[Zoren]

BigBison,

I think your approach will speak to a number of customers. It's true that a large portion of hosting sites seem to fit the style we have been discussing. How this affects potential customers will be varied, though. People that are a part of this community or that would use it as a tool to find a host will notice a similarity in design. I don't think the average personal or business customer will have had much exposure to it. The average person wouldn't know a TM site from a unique one. I don't know that they care. Many of my customers have only seen their telco providers' site and possibly register.com's hosting pages.

Again, I am not here to defend the trend we're discussing, but I think some members of this forum suffer from overexposure. You'd think we were discussing geocities home pages from 1998 the way some people react to them. I think it's important to note that a huge number of virtual sites are hosted by companies with these types of sites. Ceonex and Template Monster don't appear to be suffering from the disdain that many of the designers here have for them. It's not my favorite style but it works for many companies at present. In a few years we'll be discussing how tired next years new trend is.

[Kryl]

The corporate look is something that I have grown very tired of. It was nice a few years ago because it defined a business website. Now, I avoid shopping at any place with these recycled design concepts.

I make a tendancy to try and suggest avoiding this design feature these days to the people who I help at my job, as it is becoming one of those things that has become truly overused.