The Big Red Fez: How To Make Any Web Site Better
by Seth Godin

List Price: $12.95
Our Price: $5.60
You Save: $7.35 (57%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.98 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions

Book Summary Information

Book Reviews of The Big Red Fez: How To Make Any Web Site Better

Book Review: An Appealing Concept
Summary: 5 Stars

Godin uses a number of different real-world Web sites to illustrate what is and is not effective; he also explains why. (Presumably many of those responsible for the ineffective Web sites have read this book and made the necessary revisions since it first appeared about 18 months ago.) One of the book's most interesting points concerns the quite different mentalities of the engineer and the marketer. The former assumes that smart people have plenty of time, know precisely what they want from their online surfing, and can make a considered decision if provided with sufficient data. In stunning contrast, the marketer assumes that people are busy, ill informed, impatient, not very thoughtful and eager to click on to something RIGHT NOW. The marketer also believes that if you don't give the visitor the right object (or objective) to click on to immediately, the visitor will hit the "Back" button and leave.

I presume to add another difference: I think that most visually complicated Web sites resemble the front page of the U.S.A. Today newspaper (especially the Friday/Saturday/Sunday edition) whereas the most effective Web sites resemble the most effective billboards along a highway. Percentages vary but research studies suggest that online surfers spend about 90% of their time visiting the same ten Web sites Also, that after a unsatisfying experience, the percentage is even higher; that is, approximately 95% of online surfers never return to that Web site.

One substantial benefit this book provides which I did not anticipate when I began to read it is that the same principles which Godin recommends to increase a Web site's effectiveness are also relevant to the design of marketing and sales collateral materials such as direct mail solicitations and printed brochures. Because of the immense clutter through which messages of various kinds struggle to reach their destination, and because this clutter is certain to become even greater, Godin's concept of what he calls a "purple cow" (explained in a book of the same name) has compelling importance: become and then remain remarkable for as long as possible. Web sites, letterhead, business cards, products, services...indeed contact and communication in any form...must attract and reward attention or are certain to fail. Period.

Those who are responsible for Web sites or who heavily depend on Web sites to help achieve their business objectives are strongly urged to check out all of those which Godin features in his book. Also be alert to various lists of award-winning Web sites, especially those selected by online surfers rather than by technicians. For example, the finalists in competition for the 1st Annual Web Site Award sponsored by WIRED magazine.

One final point: This year's Purple Cow may well be a Plaid Kangaroo in 2004.

Summary of The Big Red Fez: How To Make Any Web Site Better

According to marketing guru Seth Godin, a web site visitor is a lot like a monkey looking for one thing: a banana. If that banana isn't easy to see and easy to get, your visitor is gone with a quick click on the "Back" button.

In this supremely practical, cut-to-the-chase book, Godin identifies what it takes to create web sites that satisfy visitors and keep them coming back for more. And he's at his prickly stickler best using real-life examples to illustrate the essential truths and ridiculous fictions about how a web site should work. Packed with his inimitable wisdom and compelling hands-on applications, The Big Red Fez is a must-have tool for anyone working on the web.

Advertising Books

• Subjects > Business & Investing > Marketing & Sales > Advertising
• Marketing > Direct
• Computers & Technology > Business & Culture > Web Marketing
• Networking
• Web Development > Web Design