During my many hours of online surfing I have begun to notice a few things about websites that I call “clean-looking” and those that I call a “mailbox flyer”.

Clean-Looking Websites:

• Are all about providing you with the information you are looking for. There’s not a lot of glitz and glamour just information, typically in an article format, that makes it easy to see if they have the information you are looking for.

• I find that the way the site is setup is very easy to navigate and gives me the option of clicking on the tabs or looking down a sidebar to see if there is any further information.

• Oh sure, it is very likely that the website wants to sell or promote something, I expect that. But I really enjoy the experience when the promotions are tucked discretely into a sidebar or, again, in one of the tabs that leaves it up to me to click on or not.

• Clean website owners seems to understand one important principle: you have about 5 seconds to convince somebody that they have found what they are looking for and it is here. With that, they have included a video or image at the top of their post or landing page so you can see immediately, and visually, if you are in the right place. Or they have crafted an incredible title that is eye-grabbing and invites you to read more.

Mailbox Flyer Websites:

• As you can probably guess, these are websites that are all about selling and they come at you like an avalanche of images and promotions and discounts and offers.

• There are some flyers that come in our mailboxes that are just way too difficult to read, let alone peruse with any intent of buying. It’s just one ad after another and sometimes even the pictures are so small you need to see if they included a complimentary magnifying glass. And this is how some websites are. They hit you over the head with their advertising in the hopes of selling you something, after all, they are offering so much and surely there is something for everyone to buy.

• These websites seem somewhat “out of focus” (no, they’re not photography sites) because they are not sure what their vision is or what they are truly about…so they think they need to be about everything.

• My eyes often cross when I visit these sites and sometimes I have deliberately tried to spend some time on them. But I’m never sure where they want me to look and sometimes I’m not sure if I’m at the local superstore or where I am. Heck, I’ll just go there because at least they have aisles.

Have you experienced this in your internet surfing and would you buy from a mailbox website or a clean one that offered content and value? Oh, I should note, I’m not a shopaholic anyways.