Fundamental virtues your site CAN display

An orientation to service of others

“What can you do for me?” Unless people are coming to your site in search of entertainment, they come wanting something for themselves. What do you offer them?

Think this question out well in advance, then make your value to site visitors obvious. Offer problem-solutions, in accessible format and language. Offer downloads. Offer some stimulus to thought. Offer narratives which tell stories of people with whom others can readily identify.

Do not be afraid of giving away what you might prefer to sell. Few people, offered a plan for improving their daily management of depression, or chronic pain, for example, will be able to do it entirely themselves. But, offering such a plan, if it’s sound and appears well validated, says a lot about your value as coach, counselor, service provider, case manager, etc. It makes you valuable, and thus memorable. It validates your generosity and compassion. It also simply feels good, to give in this way to others.

I will tell you that I’ve very amply repaid in my professional practice when I’ve given away services, ideas, and my time. It always surprises me, in the best possible way, because the payback was never anticipated. You can only come to experience gratitude of this sort in one way. Take the leap.

Simplicity

Have you ever watched a little girl try to dress like her mother? She tends to “shoot the works”. She wants it all. The effect is rarely what she’ll go for when she has more experience. Skilled communicators value moderation (although excess can certainly work, occasionally). Visual understatement rarely offends, and often compels. This same value works in writing, too.

If your website is complex, its parts can still be plainly evident, and thus confer a sense of simplicity to the visitor. This will act to make the content more accessible, that’s the whole point, isn’t it?

Focus

Related to the idea of simplicity, this is what I call a “refining” value. It’s about staying “on-message”, even if your content roams far and wide. I find that it’s a value which must be worked at repeatedly, over time. Websites tend to absorb content over time, becoming “fat”. They also need to squeeze out content, losing weight and returning to a sense of effective clarity.

We live in a noisy world. Effective websites go in the other direction. They calm, clarify, and foster a sense (or a hope) of well-being. Clear focus greatly facilitates this outcome.

Good (or good enough) writing

If you don’t know what this is, get help. Good writing isn’t just one thing, but it IS a relatively small group of things. Virtually anyones writing can get better if they will but (a) value the quality of their writing, (b) obtain and listen to feedback from fair, objective critics, and (c) work persistently at learning how to write better.

Good writing is undeniable hard work. It takes real effort. Take shortcuts and you’ll be found out. Good writing is also invigorating, and mind-clarifying. Simply working at a serious writing task can have much the same effect. I myself cannot imagine a life without writing-work. If you don’t like to write, in some fashion, you’re going to have trouble with your website, unless you get help.

Good visual design

Some folks can do it, and some can’t, just as with writing. Visual design taste certainly varies, and one way or another you’re certain to offend someone with your choices. “Not enough color!” “Too much color – not enough whitespace!”

Everything I said about “good writing” applies to good visual design. You might find it worthwhile to reread that section above, replacing every instance of “writing” with “visual design”!

Originality

A great teacher of classical music composition once told his graduate students to simply “surprise me”. Originality is often deeply personal, and that can mean that you will have to take risks to be original. About this problem, the best idea I’ve ever heard is that “going out on a limb” is a perfectly good idea, for, after all, “that’s where the fruit is!”

At the same time, true originality is not common. A reasonably acceptable substitute is material which is personal. This is probably a major reason for the popularity of blogs. (I have a blog on my professional website for precisely this reason – it’s a chance to be more personal.)

Another shortcut to originality is excitement. Follow your excitement. Work it. Package it. Report on it. Share it. What excites you is likely to engage others. You will, of course, need a vehicle – and that’s where concerns of good design and good writing become quickly essential.