The Guard dog
A guard dog will protect its owner from intruders at all costs. Sometimes it might have trouble distinguishing between passers-by, intruders, visitors and friends.
Frequently even friendly visitors have to be personally guided inside by the owner.
Guard dogs are loved by their owners; visitors, though, are often fearful and won't make the effort to come in.
The Guarded website
Nobody really sets out to make a website that deliberately deters visitors, so most guarded websites end up that way by poor design and inadequate understanding of their target market. They often start out as showdog websites.
With any website the owner is never there to escort a visitor past the front gate, as they might be with a dog. The business owner doesn't even know that the visitor is standing there wanting to come in. The visitor simply pauses then moves on to a competitor with a friendlier website.
Guard dog websites frequently come into existence because the owner loves the logo or their business premises so much that the needs and behaviour of their prospective visitors are ignored. There's usually little or no content on the home page.
Such sites are loved by their owners (or start out that way), who can't understand why they're not getting many visitors who stay around or make contact. They might even have been optimised for search engine exposure, but all that has done is increase the number of passers-by but no visitors.
There are two primary reasons why a website ends up as a guard dog. One, there's an ornamental branding or splash page that the visitor has to fight past to enter. Two, there's nothing on the home page that gives any indication of what's inside. In many cases it's both.
There's a third reason, too. That's when the home page insists that the visitor download and install particular technology before they can view its contents.
Passers-by keep on passing by. Quality visitors, which are those who become customers, are few and far between. Search engine optimisation won't help either - all that will do is generate more passersby that simply pass you by.
One thing's for sure about guard dog websites - they do more harm than good for their owners.
Are you about to buy a guard dog website?
Signs that you could be buying a guard dog:
- The home page graphics or your logo is touted as the centre-piece of the website.
- Your designer insists that you should have a splash page.
- Conversations centre on looking good instead of business outcomes.
- You're not asked about business goals and strategies.
- The provider talks as if having a successful website is about programming, computers, graphic design and IT.
- You're not asked about your customers and their needs.
- Complementary off-line business strategies are not asked about.
- You feel that your business needs are being sidelined.
- It feels complicated instead of simple and straight forward.
How to ensure a thoroughbred website
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