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Must a Site be Ugly and Agressive?

by wadevanlaius
13 replies
I don't mean to offend anybody in this forum, but I am wondering: Most IM sites I laid eyes on look strikingly similar and are often just plain ugly. And extremely aggressive.

I can't imagine that this is because there are not other options. I mean, OptimizePress and all other tools provide everything I need to create a site pleasing to the eye. So I am wondering: Do IM sites NEED look like that? Do they convert that much better than a site like Groupon? After all, Groupon is also very interested in higher conversion rates.

What do you think?
#agressive #site #ugly
  • Profile picture of the author David Keith
    sites like groupon are more portal type sites. most IM sites are either buy or loeave and never come back kinda setups. they are built to convert and work that way.

    a pretty site like groupon has people coming back all the time and interacting with their site in multiple ways. thats not what makes IM style sites money.

    trying to reinvent a the wheel is not better. Just because youe new square wheel looks better, sure doesnt mean it will perform better.
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  • Profile picture of the author David Keith
    and btw. dont listen to people who suggest in a forum what they like. people lie about what they like vs what actually separates them from their CC number.
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  • Profile picture of the author Slade556
    I'd say ugly and aggressive websites don't convert well at all. It's like Antonio said, simple and elegant is best. The websites you laid your eyes on that are 'ugly' are probably built by people who don't know any better when it comes to web design (or they don't have the money or the will to invest some to buy a good looking theme).
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  • Profile picture of the author Shankar Rao
    both won't work.

    You site should be decent and easy to navigate from the user point of view.

    Build the site and see you like the site as an outsider. If you think its decent fine otherwise improve on it
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  • Profile picture of the author johnben1444
    As a graphic designer and SEoer my official sites is completely different from each other mainly due to the business nature.

    What kind of sites have you been looking at?

    All forums look alike even though there are ones that appear completely different.

    News sites tend to look familiar so do every business. However, nothing stops you from testing because thats the only credible way to really ascertain your conversion rate. You don't have to do what everyone is doing but do what works for you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Talha Ahmed
    For me it is all what converts best with less time in developing and less cost as well. Just an example, if a bridge site with free template give me CR 5% and a complete professional looking website with some extra bucks spending gives me CR 7%, I'll go with the first one and will make more similar websites to increase the volume rather then spending time and money on the second one.
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  • Profile picture of the author agmccall
    Originally Posted by wadevanlaius View Post


    What do you think?
    The question is "What do You think"

    Maybe you see so many of them because they do work.

    So, what you should be doing is making your own and testing to see the results first hand.

    al
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    "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." Thomas Edison

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  • Profile picture of the author Brent Stangel
    What do you think?
    The copy is more important then the design. Good copy will sell on ugly sites while bad copy will not sell on the prettiest site online.

    Testing is the only way to know for sure.
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  • Profile picture of the author microscopes
    Digital Marketer did an interesting study with their Survival Life website.

    They originally tried a clean and minimalist website - it was doing subpar. They then switched to a messy website and their site bloomed.

    When it comes to testing, I’m a big believer in testing BIG!

    In other words, if something isn’t working, don’t make a minor tweak…go to the opposite end of the spectrum and work back to the “middle” or you’ll wind up doing test after test with little or no change in result.

    So that’s just what we did…

    We swung the pendulum all the way from clean and minimalist to cluttered (and as some have told us) downright UGLY!!

    More specifically, our new site design included a lot more content on the home page. There are multiple columns, tips, popular posts, and even banner ads.

    Crazy as it sounds, this cluttered design beat the crap out of the slicker, cleaner version…it wasn’t even close! Almost immediately, we began to see our key metrics tick upward.

    Time on page was up.
    Pageviews were up.
    Even our unique visitor numbers began to rise because the increase in pageviews led to an increase in social engagement, which actually brought us FREE TRAFFIC!!
    After multiple tests across multiple sites in many different markets, our research suggests that a slick, minimalist site layout – like the ones virtually all major ad firms recommend – can drive engagement down and cause your readers to devalue your content and site as a whole.

    I know this isn’t what people want to hear, and I know I’ll get a huge backlash from the design community. But data doesn’t lie, and neither do bank accounts.

    So I have a question for you…

    “Would you rather have a high-traffic, high profit site or would you rather be ‘cool’ and win design awards?”
    http://www.digitalmarketer.com/6-million/
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  • Profile picture of the author discrat
    Originally Posted by wadevanlaius View Post

    I don't mean to offend anybody in this forum, but I am wondering: Most IM sites I laid eyes on look strikingly similar and are often just plain ugly. And extremely aggressive.

    I can't imagine that this is because there are not other options. I mean, OptimizePress and all other tools provide everything I need to create a site pleasing to the eye. So I am wondering: Do IM sites NEED look like that? Do they convert that much better than a site like Groupon? After all, Groupon is also very interested in higher conversion rates.

    What do you think?
    There are some ugly ones out there.

    I don't know how some live with themselves. Just generic, impersonal train wrecks.

    I like to make it engaging and very personable when creating sites in the past.

    I would go in this direction


    - Robert Andrew
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  • Profile picture of the author Janice Sperry
    You can guess or you can test!

    Every niche is different and the overall purpose or goals of each website is different.

    P.S. Guessing is for amateurs that will never succeed the way they could with continued testing.
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  • Profile picture of the author selfdisciplineacademy
    You can make your site look beautiful & great.

    However, the key is to not let this fancy stuff distract your audience.

    For example, fonts..

    Arial has proven to convert better in niches like the IM niche

    So, go for it, just remember not to distract your audience
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  • Profile picture of the author nmwf
    Originally Posted by wadevanlaius View Post

    Do IM sites NEED look like that?
    No, they most certainly don't. The problem is that some people follow a template that was provided inside some kind of "marketing course" or guide. And because they're looking (and actually expecting) to get rich quick, they don't take the time to craft the site toward visitor preferences if they even know what those are or how to get them.

    You're looking at the sites of noobs. Best to ignore them and focus on your own.
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