Some of Alan's views on this digital marketing malarkey ... there's more on: AlanCharlesworth.com

Sunday, December 30, 2018

Plain does not mean bad

For all those who feel that I'm wrong in my opinion that 'plain' websites are more often than not best in achieving the site's key objective, take a look at one of the most visited web pages on the Internet ... the home page of Google Chrome.
Notice how it leads with the brand name followed closely by the search box. 

It then offers the user a list of  the websites they [in this case, me] use most often.

However, this posting has two purposes. The second is with regard to the use of icons/symbols instead of text.  

In the image below I've removed the words. I'm guessing that you will recognize some [Google, ebay] but what about the others? 

Obviously, I know what they are as they represent websites that I often visit. But what about the red tree icon? It's the badge of Nottingham Forest  ... but which website does each represent? I would be guessing, with a 50% chance of getting it wrong.

Below is the same page with text only.


It might not look as pretty ... but there is no confusion as to where each link will take the user.