There are over a billion Web sites out there. Suppose you want a winning Web site, one that attracts designers and does more than showcases datasheets. Winning on the Web takes more than just piling data higher and deeper.
- Data on the Web has little value.
What happens when you have lots of something and low demand for it? It has little value, like trillions of Web data bytes.
- Web data loses value.
So if you put data on the Web, it automatically loses value—high supply, low demand.
- Put your best, not worst on the Web.
If data loses value when it goes on the Web, then you should put your best there to add value, not your worst. Dumping stuff on the Web is a losing strategy.
- The Web demands more than print.
If I write an article that you think is wrongheaded, you generally won't toss the magazine. You'll turn the page. Why? Psychic investment (used to the magazine) and physical investment (physical action of getting it). But on the Web, it's one click in and one click out. Annoy readers, and they're gone, perhaps for good. So, Web text and layout must be much better.
- If data lacks value, then what has value?
What's the ying to data's yang, the antidote to data's low value? It's insight. The more data there is, the more valued is insight into that data.
- Winners and losers.
The communications age is 100+ years old. It's a multiplier, multiplying access to the best. That's why a Major League Baseball first baseman earns $10 million. He replaces 10,000 local first basemen. You can watch the best. So too in communication-leveraged arenas are there few stars and lots of spear-carriers. Moreover, only a few Web sites in each category will be stars.
The good news is that you now know the bad news about attracting Web viewers. Remember, quality matters, especially on the Web. Winning means delivering perceived value.
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