We have discussed a lot of information about websites lately. That’s on purpose. Websites, in general, have a long way to go to better and more effectively tell the story of a business and enable its growth.

Last week we focused on the quality and volume of content and why they are so important.

Today I’d like to introduce to you some cool technology solutions that showcase your business incredibly well and differentiate your business. In other words, if your website has any of these technologies you have one cool website… and you’re probably seen as a leader in your industry as a result.

Cool Website Technology

1. Dynamic Backgrounds – This sounds like it was plucked from the bottom of the buzzword bin, but it’s actually cool. Have you seen a website with a video as the background hero image on the homepage? They are great ways to tell a story and show a brand story. Here’s an example of how a financial services company used this technique to articulate its brand: http://cochrell.com.
2. Long Scroll – That phrase sounds like it’s straight out of Harry Potter! Instead, it’s the term used to describe scrolling all of the way down a page, and the story of the page unveiling itself the further down you scroll. A great example of that is found on the Portage County Development Board’s Why Portage County page: http://www.portagedevbd.org/why-portage-county.
3. Card Layout – It’s what you guessed… different pieces of content are contained within a card (some people call it a “tile layout” instead of a card layout). It’s an easy way to skim headlines and get a lot of information visually and quickly online. Check out pop culture news site for a good use of it (they have used this style several different ways over the past 15 months): The Verge.
4. Hamburger Menu – Really I should call this one “Big Images” but that isn’t quite as memorable. If you have visited any properly developed site on your mobile phone you have seen those three horizontal lines stacked on each other. When you tap the lines, out shoots the menu for the website. It’s clever and it’s clean and it helps the website visitor more easily focus on the large image in the hero area (hence the Big Image reference). For an example check out California’s tourism website: http://www.visitcalifornia.com.
5. Left Justified Menu – As you can see, the way we deliver access to information here is important, and the main menu is a huge part of it. It’s exciting that we, as an industry, are starting to rethink this a little bit. My favorite modern website right now is https://www.qualcomm.com. I know I feel this way, because I’m jealous and wish my company were the first ones to do it! The menu is on the left with icons that accompany the text menu options. Search and user friendly! Plus, submenus fly out when the icons are clicked on. This leaves a massive storytelling area as the main component of the site.

If you’ve been around any website conversations, you’ve probably heard the phrase “responsive design” … which just means that the same website design works well for the desktop version of a site and the mobile version of the site. The idea of responsive isn’t new anymore… in fact it’s more standard than not. If your website company can’t stop talking about this newfangled “responsive” thing it may be time to find another partner.

If you are overwhelmed by all of this info, don’t worry. You don’t have to be naturally curious about this stuff. In fact, I recommend not going down the rabbit hole of research too far on this topic. It’s easy to get lost and confused. Hopefully the information included here is enough for you to feel dangerous when educating yourself on getting your website done or redone.

The most important lesson here is to refuse to settle for a boring old website! Believe me, it’s easy for any website company to just make another cookie cutter site for you. It’s less expensive for them to produce (and for you to buy… maybe).

But consider the “cost of cheap.” Your business isn’t like any other business. Make sure your website isn’t either.