YOUR WEB SITE IS COSTING YOU MONEY. IT’S ALSO FILLED WITH SIMPLE MISTAKES THAT TURN OFF VISITORS BEFORE THEY HAVE A CHANCE TO BECOME CUSTOMERS.

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.

5 Responses to “The Big Red Fez: How To Make Any Web Site Better”

1. Nancy Loderick says:

   April 13, 2010 at 12:00 am

   I still don’t know the significance of the title, “The Big Red Fez.” Yet, I still enjoyed this book. Yes, the book is a quick read. Yes, the concepts are simple and may seem very obvious to some folks. But, these concepts are not obvious to everyone, as seen by the many poorly designed websites out there.

   The key concepts of this book (or should I say booklet):

   **websites should be designed for the end-user, NOT the engineers.

   **keep websites simple. There should be different landing pages for different users, e.g. newsletter subscribers, buyers.

   **be clear on your website goals. Each page should have a call to action.

   **thank customers for their business. A very simple thing to implement, but not many websites do this.

   **test! And keep testing. Just because the shopping cart on your website worked last week, doesn’t mean it works now. People will leave your website and won’t bother to tell you it’s broken.

   **if you mess up, apologize sincerely.

   I especially liked the format of this book. Seth shows a webpage, describes what is wrong with it and gives tactical suggestions on how to make it better. Seth also shows examples of well-designed web pages.

   Critics have complained that Seth used his clients’ web pages as examples. I don’t see anything wrong with that.

   While this book was a helpful read, I don’t think it’s worth $10. I would suggest borrowing it from the library. Seth used to offer a free e-book version, but has removed that option since his publisher bought the rights.

   Reply
2. Kelly R. Rosenleaf says:

   October 13, 2009 at 12:00 am

   Seth Godin is a genius. This book is an easy and fun read. Practical advice with examples on how to make web sites effective. I’ll be able to implement change immediately.

   Reply
3. MarsMan says:

   July 1, 2009 at 12:00 am

   As someone suggested, you are better off reading Steve Krug or Jakob Nielsen. I like Seth Godin and many of his books, but this one was just not worth the money. Maybe I know too much, I don’t know. I would save your money and by one of Seth’s other books.

   This book has too many pictures and not enough substance or insight.

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4. John D. Carmack says:

   May 3, 2009 at 12:00 am

   I have such high expectations of Seth’s books. My expectation of The Big Red Fez: How To Make Any Web Site Better was no different, and it did not disappoint! If you are in IT and have any say whatsoever in the user interface, especially on the web, drop everything and get this book! Now! If you are a front-end developer, get this book. If you are an IT manager overseeing software applications that run on the web, get this book. If you are a project manager overseeing web projects, get this book. If you are a QA engineer and test the front end, get this book. Oh, and did I say to get this book?

   Compare the price of this book (under $10) to any user interface guide, and tell me what gives you the bigger bang for the buck!

   Godin presents the material from the viewpoint of a user. We in IT need to face the fact that it is the enduser who is going to either validate or invalidate the interface. Unfortunately, some engineers forget that it is the enduser who either is going to use the thing or quit and do something else. If that enduser is internal, then you might have a captive audience, but you will also have a lot of trouble tickets and user frustration. If that enduser is a customer, they might just decide your competitor’s site is easier. Not only does Godin provide very practical advice, but he does so in a way that is humorous and engaging.

   Godin starts off by telling us that engineer’s and marketers view user interfaces differently. He then will have us imagine a monkey in a red fez. You know, the kind that you see in the pictures of organ grinders and such. What motivates the monkey? Bananas. The monkey searches for the banana in the same manner that a user will search the web site for the payoff.

   Before I get too far along, Godin isn’t looking down on people. He includes himself in this by saying “we” and “us”. He stresses the point that “we” are often too busy and “we” are distracted too much to really think very long about a web page. In fact, he later on tells us that the average person decides whether or not to stay on a particular web page in 3 seconds. Therefore, the banana must be so obvious that it sticks out on a web page in 3 seconds or less.

   OK, let’s get the cons out of the way first. Or, should that be “con” singular? Godin puts in a lot of screenshots, thankfully. However, be sure to have your reading glasses on! I was reading it with my lower powered glasses, and it was a bit of a struggle. Fortunately, the accompanying text pointed out the important bits.

   Still, I have to admit that there were times when I was reading through the book and I was ready to exclaim “hallelujah!” Just about every pet peeve I’ve ever had with websites is in this book. Rather than read a long review, read the book and see what they are. I can understand why Godin says that 60% of all online shopping carts are abandoned just before checkout. I know I’ve done it.

   You don’t want to lose a potential customer in a maze of unrelated activities that frustrate them. Decide what the goal should be and put the banana in an obvious place to lead them there. Make it simple to view and simple to use. Imagine how much easier tech support would be if everyone did this!

   One point that project and software managers should be able to relate to is measure the changes. You don’t know if you are improving or not unless you measure.

   Once again, even though Godin writes from a “marketing” point of view, he hits a homerun with IT management concerns as well. Go to his site, go to the link at the top of this review or go to the library, but read this book!

   Reply
5. Mark Deo says:

   March 31, 2009 at 12:00 am

   This is a great book for designing web sites that are easy to use. There’s really not much to read, Seth Godin took screenshots of websites with before/after and good/bad examples of the techniques he discusses. After applying some of the techniques included in this book, I have had a far greater response to my own web marketing efforts.

   Reply