Go to eBay, arguably one of the most popular website for bargain hunters. Check out the navigation for the categories on the left hand side. No flashy buttons that blink and pop when you select them. There are two reasons to have text navigation on your website. One is that graphics take time for your browser to load. And the other, more important reason, is that they are search engine friendly. The text can be read by the search engines and is considered 'relevant content'.
Again, looking at eBay, notice that they have a couple of eye catching graphical blocks or banners that are promotion a couple of items or categories that they are pushing this week. But they do not have a confusing amount of little boxes all over the site. Now look at MSN, I am not trying to say that MSN is not a great site, but if you are a novice computer user it is easy to see that you could stare at that site and not be able to figure out what to do or where to go if you are looking for a specific item. I am 48 and I built my first computer at 20 and I feel a little overwhelmed when I go to sites like MSN.
OK, now go to Amazon an check any book in there vast selection. Here is an example -HERE- this book is about Dreamweaver. It is the program made by Adobe that I used to make this website. Notice the picture of the book an notice that you click on the picture and see pages from the book. WHAT, it is a book for god's sake. Why do I need to see a picture of the inside. Well Amazon learned early on that the book that had pictures sold more. People, even I, want to see what I am spending $40.00 on. Yes, even if it is a book and the cover has almost nothing to do with the quality of the instructions inside.
