Google is the #1 search engine on the web today. Why? Put simply, it is the lack of complexity.

Quick! Open a tab, go to Yahoo, and count the number of links on the homepage. Now, repeat with Google and Bing.

In case you skipped this, or just gave up (quitters never win), here are the results:

Google (before fade):  2
Google (after fade):  ~30
Bing: ~64
Yahoo: ~157

See where I’m going? The key to Google’s success is the lack of complexity.  Now I don’t necessarily mean that Google does not provide features to it’s users, but rather that those features are provided in the most unobtrusive way possible.

Imagine you are completely new to the internet. You know how to click on a link and that’s about it. Which search engine is going to provide you with the easiest experience? Furthermore, imagine you are a savy internet user who makes use of RSS, POP (or IMAP), and frequently wants fast, simple searches. Guess which one you are going to use?

Let’s apply this to you. Your website should not be a Rube Goldberg machine filled with mystery links and unrelated content. Instead your website should be what your visitors need, and nothing more.  When you are unsure if you should add a feature (or even a simple link) to your website ask the following series of questions.

• Is this feature mission-critical? (i.e. Can you live without it?)
• Does this feature add to my visitor’s experience without hindering them in any way?
• Can a different, simpler feature be implemented instead?

If you answered “No” to one or both of the first two or “Yes” to the third then I think you already know what I’m going to say. However if your new feature meets all these criterion, go for it! Just be careful. Remember, in a visitor’s eyes a little less may be a lot more.

After a year of building sites with the state of the art content management system WordPress, Escape Plan Design has decided to walk the walk.  A new design has just launched that is built on this system that we recommend to the vast majority of our clients. Besides being, open source, actively maintained, and thoroughly tested, WordPress also allows us to quickly update content (a constant woe of ours), and to maintain a blog about the happening here at EPD world headquarters.

Along with an updated design and built in content management system, escapeplandesign.com is now built with the cutting edge technology of HTML5. This, the successor of (X)HTML, along with the upcoming CSS3, will allow us to continue to build modern websites and web applications for years to come.

Before I forgot, I would like to thank our clients who, over the past year, have graciously used EPD for your design and development needs. We look forward to working with you in 2010!