No, this isn’t a site critique. I’m sure the Palmer College has a website but I haven’t even looked at it. So what does the college have to do with web standards? Read on…
Last night my family and I went down to the local Coldstone Creamery. They had a small event going on to support the Make A Wish Foundation. There was free ice cream for kids in pajamas (mine were thrilled to change into theirs for the trip), Plinko games, face painting, clowns etc for the kids to enjoy.
Also present were representatives from a local chiropractic firm. They had a couple massage chairs setup and people could get a free 5 minute massage as a promotion for their services.
I passed on the massage but was given one of their marketing brochures that I looked at while eating my free (even though I didn’t wear my pajamas) bowl of ice cream.
Throughout the brochure the name of the “Palmer College” kept coming up—it was made very clear which principals of the firm were Palmer College graduates, and that they all practiced the “Palmer method”.
So what?
Exactly.
That’s the question I kept asking myself while reading the brochure - so what!? I have never been to a chiropractor. I have never heard of Palmer College and have absolutely no idea what the “Palmer Method” is - and the brochure did nothing to help.
What’s more - I don’t care. As a potential chiropractic client all I care about is—can you make the pain go away? Can you make me feel better? Have you had other clients with my issues and were you able to help them? How long will it take? How much will it cost me?
Now flip to the web development world. This morning I went to look at a new site for a company that does pretty much what Boyink Interactive does (since I’m in the middle of redesigning Boyink.com I’m naturally curious to see what others are doing).
The site made it immediately clear that they were all about “web standards”—the phrase was in the title bar and in the lead-in paragraph. They are “passionate” about web standards in fact. The portfolio section again mentioned web standards.
But - like the chiropractors and their “Palmer College” nowhere on the site does the company explain either what web standards are or why they would be important to a potential client.
I see this quite a bit - web development companies who, judging from their own sites, feel that their adherence to web standards is the second most important thing to communicate, right after the fact that they do web development.
And I have to think that potential clients are asking….so what?. What is a “web standard”? What does it do for me? And if it’s a “standard” then why is it so great that you do build sites using them—doesn’t everyone?
I mean - what if you were looking to hire an electrical contractor and while checking out their web site all they kept talking about was how great it is that all their work meets the building codes in their area? Wouldn’t you kinda think - “Well, yeah, I would certainly hope your work meets code - that’s mostly the reason I’m hiring a professional rather than doing it myself”.
Now don’t get me wrong - I understand what web standards are and why we build websites on them. And I understand the desire to try and differentiate ourselves from our competitors. And I know that there is a feeling in the web development world that we should be “educating” our clients and potential clients about web standards.
I think this often comes off as arrogance on our part - that web standards are so important that everyone needs to know about and understand them.
It just hasn’t been my experience that many clients really care - at least about web standards in and of themselves. I don’t think they should - that’s our job as web development professionals. Try flipping the situation around and put yourself on the receiving end of this type of “education” from other professionals. Do you care to be educated about the Palmer College? Do you care to be educated about the electrical codes in your area? Do you care to be educated about the background and history of Health Savings Accounts or the newest change the income tax codes?
Or - like me - do you only care about how those things can immediately impact and benefit your life and your bottom line, and would rather leave the extended knowledge of them to the professionals?
For me, I’m re-thinking my marketing approach. I want to make sure I highlight the benefits of web standards, but will probably be using those specific words a whole lot less in the future.
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