Product Description

YOUR WEB SITE IS COSTING YOU MONEY. IT'S ALSO FILLED WITH SIMPLE MISTAKES THAT TURN OFF VISITORS BEFORE THEY HAVE A CHANCE TO BECOME CUSTOMERS.

According to marketing guru Seth Godin, a web site visitor is a lot like a monkey looking for one thing: a banana. If that banana isn't easy to see and easy to get, your visitor is gone with a quick click on the "Back" button.

In this supremely practical, cut-to-the-chase book, Godin identifies what it takes to create web sites that satisfy visitors and keep them coming back for more. And he's at his prickly stickler best using real-life examples to illustrate the essential truths and ridiculous fictions about how a web site should work. Packed with his inimitable wisdom and compelling hands-on applications, The Big Red Fez is a must-have tool for anyone working on the web.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21356 in Books
• Published on: 2002-01-15
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

From Publishers Weekly
For those trying to make their Web sites profitable in the lean years, Internet marketing sage Seth Godin, author of Unleashing the Ideavirus, has written a practical guide to making sites more attractive to browsers. The Big Red Fez: How to Make Any Web Site Better offers simple but frequently overlooked design tips (avoid inefficient pull-down menus, don't ask for the same information twice) that will keep impatient users from ditching your site before they buy whatever it is you're selling. Godin's primary mantra is to limit information on each page and offer clear incentives for clicking to the next screen. Each of his concise points is illustrated with an image from an actual Web site, making the book itself a model of simplicity that will be appreciated by busy entrepreneurs and Web designers.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
While the average computer book is as thick as the unabridged telephone directory to China, Godin's new Web marketing manual is so slender you'll actually want to read it. Geared primarily toward those designing, building, or owning retail Web sites, the text encourages us to picture the would-be shopper as a monkey (wearing a red fez) whose attention will wander if he can't instantly find a "banana": a simple objective on each page that leads to a reward. (The author insists the comparison is not demeaning, saying we're all monkeys once in a while.) Though he may be part of the insidious gang that seeks the best way to part us from our hard-earned cash, he is also a de facto consumer advocate; it turns out that what we find most annoying in the online world--Flash sites, crappy search engines, Spam--are the very things that cut into revenue. Imagine! After this brisk and humorous read, even a monkey would agree that this is how business ought to be done. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
Business Week

Seth Godin is the ultimate entrepreneur for the Information Age.

Customer Reviews

Insightful, Witty and Ahead of its Time!
Unfortunately I didn't see this book when it first came out... it may have possibly saved me thousands of dollars in misspent Internet Marketing. Regardless, this book is still very relevant today in so many ways. It must be because as a marketing coach and consultant specializing in Internet Marketing, I still see far too many Web site owners making many of the same mistakes pointed out in this short yet power-packed book today... some 7 years after this book was written! This is a must read for anyone who either currently owns, or is considering owning a Web site to market their business.

Bad, bad Epson!
It took me about 20 minutes to read this very small book. It points out several examples of bad web pages and bad user experiences - repeatedly with Epson, and all pretty much common knowledge. Most of the problems discussed are huge glaring problems, not the subtle ideas that make a good site great. Part of the problem with this book is that it's age is showing. I don't recall seeing a single css based site. They look like primitive HTML. I think that now people have grown beyond most of the problems he discusses. The book wasn't expensive, didn't take much time to read, and I probably did get something out of it, although at the moment I'm not sure what. I forgive this author because of his other work, which I've found, for the most part, to be excellent.

A "Keep-It-Simple-Stupid" Approach to Web Usability
Godin does it again. This time, throwing his big red fez into the realm of web usability. He follows the simple formula of showing us page after page of webpage examples. After a bit of this healthy bombardment, we see clearly that so much can be streamlined. For professionals, he makes us aware of the nuisances we create for our users with our clunky, unfocused pages. A good companion to the book, "Don't Make Me Think". Highly Recommended even at this late date of 2007.