Substance Over Flash

I see a lot of companies spending a lot of money on the design and infrastructure of their site. They want to have a pretty site so that when people click on it, they have an experience that makes them want to come back. Lately, I've read a few books on how Web 2.0 sites are different than Web 1.0 sites.

But then there's this site that runs contrary to the norm:

www.craigslist.org

Without insulting anyone, this site is about as ugly as they come. It is somewhat user friendly in its categorization, but overall the initial view of the site is somewhat overwhelming.

And yet, by charging for just some of its ads, this site makes millions of dollars in revenue.

It's proof to me of two things:

  1. You can be successful going against the grain.
  2. Flash may be nice (pun intended), but substance wins out.

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