Aesthetics & Conversions: WTF?

[Jared Jammer]

I'm a confused newbie, and I'd like to seek some clarity from you billion-dollar big wigs.

The confusion is over the aesthetics of a website and how it affects conversions. This confusion is based on two things I've recently heard from two I.M. megastars, Ryan Deiss and Seth Godin.

First, there's this from Mr. Deiss (around 35:30):

"More times than not, simple and ugly outperforms professional and pretty. And I don't know why, and I don't like it. I mean, I would much rather create very beautiful sites, but . . . and this is changing to an extent, but I think a lot of people may, they wanna, you know, they connect more. Again, it's why is NASCAR more popular than Indy driving, than Indy Racing, you know? It's because it's more believable, and it's more approachable."

Now, just two nights after hearing Deiss say that, I read this article from that Dollar Tree Gandhi, Seth Godin:

Seth's Blog: Pretty websites

"Pretty websites are rarely websites that convert as well as unpretty ones."

He then rambles on a bit more about the point, but it's succinctly summed up in the above quote.

This is all confusing to me. From day one, I've been preached the idea that sleeker, more professional-looking websites establish trust and authority. This, in turn, increases conversion rate. Yet, here we have two guys who've earned more in the past week than my family has earned throughout its entire lineage telling me it's wrong.

So, what gives?

 

[-God-]

I think you've got your options a bit wrong and the topic is slightly misleading. A simple site should always win over a site with the latest and greatest.

It doesn't have to be ugly and I don't even think they mean ugly. They mean sites with fuck all on them. Sites trimmed down to the bare essentials required by the end user. Get out of the way of the customer and give them what they came for.

Anyone worth their salt knows the most important thing in a conversion process is a simple UX and getting the goal in front of the user with as little fuss as possible.

Nobody goes to Google to search for "pictures of anal train on pretty website with 10 levels of navigation and glorious logo." They want blokes hanging out of each other's arses. What people visit a site for is what they want and expect. Everything else is fluff and we need to get the fuck out of the way sometimes.

If it doesn't make money or help the end user, bin it.

 

[HostZealot]

The thing is - different people define "simplicity" in different ways.

What does customer want from a "simple website"? They want to order in 2-3 clicks, not in ten. Each excessive click is a step away from purchase, so your website should be distinctive - "I want fried potatos. - with Chicken McNuggets? - Yes. - Sauce? - Nope. - $6, have a great meal!"

3 clicks and you have what you came from. If you would like a salad - it is in another section nearby. Sodas - here is what we offer. IF A CUSTOMER wants something else - they can order it themselves, not declining 6 unneeded offers to buy for a single order they came for.

In the end of the day, people want to get what they need with minimal efffort. That's it.