Splash Pages Are Rarely A Good Idea
here are a few web sites that support the theory that splash pages are usually a very bad idea (and I agree):
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/10/11/splash-pages-do-we-really-need-them/
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/speed/tweak/splash/
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990530_comments.html
http://www.usabilityfirst.com/glossary/term_79.txl
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/how-to-convince-a-client-they-dont-need-a-splash-page
Barack Obama's Web Site Gets Our Vote
This week I visited barackobama.com and was struck immediately by its patriotic, but very contemporary look and feel. It contains the usual colors (red, white and blue), but a different delivery that emphasizes simplicity and fit. It's airy and is clearly of the genus, web 2.0, with its user-driven / social networking content and features.
His positions are not organized alphabetically or by order of 'importance'. They are parsed into categories like: People, States, Action and Issues. This is in stark contrast to Hillary Clinton's site, which in many cases lists her speeches by date or her positions numerically. Last week, she changed that on her site and now organizes by voter group. Way to learn from your opponent, old girl.
Upon signing up to his site, I was requested to make a small donation or a matching donation just once. Up front. Simple. So I did. This should underscore to anyone soliciting sales online that simple pitches early in the transaction or the shopping phase are more effective than late-arriving pitches or ceaseless ones that appear on every page.
After I left the site about a half hour later, I found that already I had a letter from Barack (we're friends now and that's how it looks on my iPhone when he mails) asking me if I would like to have my voice heard. Literally. I opened my friend's email and was given a simple set of instructions that would enable me to call good folks in Texas and Ohio and tell them what I thought of my friend. Wow. From my home, simply by going online, I can avail of a pre-approved list of home phones and call them from my home - all in the name of mass mobilization. This is viral email marketing at its best because it was sent to me even before I left the site, asking me to expand my own self-expectations and get involved. Did I make the calls? I came close, but I'm just too shy. Plus I don't like people calling ME at home - especially campaigns. Nevertheless, I was impressed by their site-to-mailbox-to-phone-to-site funneling and the grand scale upon which they are mobilizing their supporters and winning new converts around the country.
Finally, we looked under the hood. Some of the technologies he's using to make the site effective and simple to use are appropriate to the task and well executed. Overall straw poles in our office give it a thumbs up which is rare indeed for campaign sites in our experience.
We hope everyone visits all the candidate sites this year and examines their positions and experience closely. Then, go out and vote.