Just Keep It Simple!

We have notoriously been blamed for having a simple system, too simple say the webmasters and that does not work for modern websites. Webmasters need this and that and over the top everything to have a good website that people will use.

And our focus has always been simple, easy to navigate, fast to load and compatible with all browsers on all devices. Something the business owner can manage and something the users can understand without downloading plugins or installing the newest browser.

And I have written extensively about how these "Professional" webmasters are more focused on design and not so much about the content or the effect of the website on an individual business.

But with the release of the new HealthCare.gov website it points out a whole new light. A whole new perspective on what webmasters do wrong and why too many and too much will destroy a website and in some cases the business it represents.

For all my complaining and trying to explain to our customers why they should keep it simple I think the heathcare.gov website says it better than anyone else.

For one, it just does not work. After a full week, nobody could even find one person of the said millions of users that actually was able to sign up for a health care plan. Millions of users, nothing working.

So lets look at why and what the webmasters did this time to screw it up.

It appears that the submission page used over 2000 lines of html code, 56 javascript files and 11 CSS files.

The result was crushing. Not only was it too much for the servers to handle, the compatibility issue was awful. With the site only working on new browsers, alienating mobile users and anyone with older computers.

Now, lets think for one minute. People that can't afford health insurance yet, do that have brand new computers? New browsers?

Do the elderly or poor without health care now know how to download the latest browser? Or are they using an old computer their grand children or friend gave them a few years ago?

OH, the site is so cool and so modern, sure. But wouldn't it be better if it just was simple and it worked?

Think about the millions of people that tried to sign up. Were they impressed?

I don't think so.

But lets get back to the 56 javascript files and 11 css files they are delivering. Guess what, it was too many files for the servers to manage and crashed all of them. They had to shut down and make changes and try to add more servers to handle the load they created.

The website could have been built without any of them. The files only relate to user experience and the design of the website. The website could have been completely functional without the overhead of all those sloppy design elements.

Did all that extra overhead make the user experience any better?

Of course I asked that question as a joke.

So aren't these webmasters supposed to understand what the server limits are?

After all, they got paid $693 Million dollars to build this website. That is a lot more than the $20 we charge here at pageBuzz.com, so shouldn't they know what they are doing?

You would think so, but that was clearly not the case.

3 years and nearly 700 million dollars later they have a pile of crap that just does not work.

Can they fix it? Maybe in another 3 years and another 700 million, maybe another billion, who knows?

Now, if you think that a professional webmasters know more than you, then you are wrong.

Because even though they know how to build websites they are clueless about your market, about what it means to you for your customers to be able to use your website. How important that the website is to you and how hard you worked for the money you are paying them.

Nobody knows your business like you do. Webmasters are after the glory, the sensationalism of having the best looking design with the latest functions and flash.

But is that what you need?

Or do you need something simple, the right tool for the right job.

Do you want a Hollywood style blockbuster movie trailer on your front page that only works on the google android browser? Or do you want a simple slideshow that everyone can see even if their computer is 10 years old.

I don't have any stats, but I think it would be interesting to see how many people still have computers that are 10 years old. I know mine is way older than that and it still does everything the new ones do, so why would I spend $2000 on a new one, just to see your website?

It is like webmasters are just out of touch. They don't realize that everyone did not buy an ipad the day they came out. That people drive cars that are 10 years old because new ones are too expensive and that not everyone is downloading the newest software, browsers and technology every day.

Most people are still trying to grasp email and what a website even is at all.

So creating all of these amazing designs, sure that is cool. But as a business website requires more restraint, more reserve, slow down a bit and let people catch up.

Nobody wants to be a heathcare.gov. Nobody wants their site not to work. Nobody wants to spend $700 million on a fancy new website and find out later that there is no engine under the hood.

Now I have been told over and over our designs are too simple by webmasters, I always tell them, if you build it on pageBuzz it can be what every you build. Don't blame us for keeping our own designs simple, you can do whatever you want.

If you want to go over the top, building on pageBuzz wont hold you back.

But like most of them, they are looking for buttons to push to get high end designs without doing much work and we just wont give that to them. Because we have never been accused of having websites that don't work. And we are not going to start today.

For us, we would rather have simple designs that work than fancy designs that don't.

Don't be a heathcare.gov, keep your design simple and manageable.

Enjoy the business your website brings you and don't get into a cycle of paying webmasters to fix the problems they created in the first place.

Simple is always better.