The Homepage Gauge
After spending some time browsing through corporate home pages today to see how different companies handle different target audiences and corporate goals and balance it all in a perfect state of zen on their home pages, I'm amazed at the complete lack of focus on the part of some of the major "players" in business today.
Unfortunately, most fail miserably at this. As a result, I've come to realize that with a little understanding, you can get a good glance into the a company's strategy and sometimes it's soul just by looking at their home page.
After thinking about it, I've categorized home pages into the following two categories. This could probably be done in another way, but these two categories very clearly polarize the two ends of the spectrum.
Aligned and focused.
These are companies who understand the web, their goals, and most importantly, their target audience. The company, or web team, understands what a home page is, and uses it like a focused laser beam to take care of business.
Disjointed and unfocused
These are companies where, regardless of the size, the home page has turned into a melting pot. This can be the result of too many cooks in the kitchen thinking a certain part of the company is the most important, or just a matter of not having clearly defined vision or goals.
Many would argue that it is difficult for large companies with large offerings to have a simple and focused home page. This argument is complete rubbish. I present to you Google. They have grown by leaps and bounds, and instead of growing into a portal like Yahoo or MSN, they know what their goal is, and they focus on it with reckless abandon. Then you hop on over to the "competition" and see Yahoo. Is it a search engine? News portal? Weather center? I don't even know anymore.
I don't know who to attribute this quote to, but it sums up my beliefs very well. "If you chase two rabbits, you won't catch either."
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The example of google seems a bit disingenuous... they only have one product: search. their other products -- AdSense, APIs, etc. are for a very limited audience and exceptionally small percentage of their user base. Compare that to a large technology company which has many different products plays in different markets (IBM, for example?) and, while i get your point generally, feel you're being a bit harsh.
anonymous,
Google has more than 1 product. They break out their products into two categories, Services and Tools. Sure, some of the services may be based on "search", but they have a lot more to offer than what's on the homepage. Here's a glimpse. Oh, and by the way - Google is a large technology company.
Garrett, I'm with you on this. I think the problem is bureaucracy. I think many sites start off right, but then they start thinking of things they want to add. Then they just slap some things out there or fit them wherever they can without consideration for usability or design sense.
I'd be interested in seeing some of the sites you came across as examples.
Chuck, it may be that I need to show examples to get my point across. However, I was initially concerned that everybody would focus on the company and not the home page.
I think I'll do a follow up soon.
"These are companies where, regardless of the size, the home page has turned into a melting pot. This can be the result of too many cooks in the kitchen thinking a certain part of the company is the most important, or just a matter of not having clearly defined vision or goals."
My point exactly. Sometimes I have just the same feeling. However, somehow these pages manage to be accessible for all useres - whatever information they are searching for...