There was a great post from Search Engine Land last week called “It’s A Fatal Mistake To Copy Successful Web Sites“…
Someone asked, “Why don’t we all just copy Amazon.com?” I replied, “Never, ever copy what Amazon does.” The audience responded with surprise, thinking I was not a fan of Amazon.
Not true. The reason you don’t want to copy a successful site like Amazon is that their website requirements are not likely to be the same as your site requirements. Their users may have different characteristics than your site visitors. Their customers’ needs may be completely different. You don’t have the user, traffic analysis and usability testing data they’ve collected over the years that they use as a base for their user interface, information architecture and content delivery.
Now this goes in the exact opposite direction when we said “You Should Copy Amazon.com E-Commerce Design“.
However – I think we are both right. In the context Kim speaks about in her argument why you should not copy is the varying degree of requirements. Obviously Amazon has a unique audience that demands specific requirements that Amazon has thoughtfully researched and implemented over the last ten years. We don’t recommend that you try (why would you?) to copy Amazon’s information architecture or to layout your site in the same exact fashion.
But when it comes down to function, usability, and conversion – why not copy them? They’ve been doing research for the last 10 years on e-commerce usability and conversion optimization. Most small businesses running e-commerce don’t have an analytics research staff – let alone the data to even begin. So why not copy the color of their buttons, or their “Add To Cart” text, or even their shopping cart layout.
One of the taglines we have at 48Web is – “We’ve done the research so you don’t have to“…
In the case of Amazon – they’ve done the research so why not copy them?
Let us know what you think in the comments or jump into the forums!
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I have been thinking about finger prints a lot recently. Currently there are 6,755,987,239 alive in the world today and many more millions before us. Strangely enough our finger prints are unique. In that small area of our hand is an identifier like no one else. Kind of cool right? However this is done I wish websites could be the same.
I believe there are patterns that will appear across types of websites and some "best practices" but that is it(And best practices expire). Overall it is your site/business and you should be making decisions about every design piece and understanding the reasons for or against it. If you end up looking like amazon at least you know why. But for some odd reason you may find that there is something that works better your users or community. Embrace that and be bold enough to be different.
You can be different and bold while adhering to well researched web standards… that's kind of my point.
We still recommend testing on your individual site. Perhaps a Red checkout button works better for you than an Orange button that Amazon uses. You should strive to be unique while always testing. We talked about this in breaking up with your website – http://webstrategyworkshop.com/break-up-with-your…
Try things but don't be afraid to change when it's not working. And when in doubt – try something that someone has been successful with.
I wouldn't call it copying. After all your not suggesting that people try to get visitors to think that their site is Amazon.
I do however believe there is a distinct advantage to taking cues from their site. With the amount of traffic their site gets, chances are that a percentage of people visiting your site have been to Amazon. Having a similar layout and color scheme could give visitors to your site a perception of familiarity and perhaps a measure of comfort using your site. It's true that they have done tons of research into what works and taking some cues from that could be to your advantage. On the other hand If you go too far in making your site resemble theirs, they have deep pockets and plenty of lawyers. I would say take inspiration from their design but don't "copy".
Of course that is just my opinion.
Exactly – I'm not saying to copy Amazon.com…. I'm saying if your red checkout button isn't converting – try copying Amazon's orange.
If people often leave your shopping cart early – try making it work more like Amazon's. They have the data to show and implement best practices where you may not. Why not try their method.
Regardless you should Always Be Testing to figure out what works for you. Just get a head start by checking out how others do it.
"They have the data to show and implement best practices where you may not." Alas! – the golden rule that many miss when developing, or re-designing a web site. Get your data, analyze it, review it, find out the pain points and then, only then look for a solution. If you "copy" something only because you think it will work or it will look good on your site, or because your competitor is doing it – then 8 out of 10 chances you're setting yourself for disappointment.
YES!
You have to make Data driven decisions when it comes to your web strategy. Copying is a good way to start but you should always be testing. Make sure it works for you and when it doesn't don't be afraid to change (break up with your website).
Data Driven Decisions -> http://managingtheedge.com/episodes/data-driven-s…
On another note function, usability, and conversion is information architecture to me. Understand and research the form but create something that feels like you and especially make informed decisions about every graphic down to the pixel. That is part of branding for me and the combined results should be unique to you.
In some ways these are related to IA however I do agree with your point. You should design your website to meet your goals first and foremost – and that is unique to your business and your website.
However adopting standards presented by Amazon and others are a great start. And your point above is right on – we live in an era where standards change overnight. It's important to stay agile
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I say copy, copy, copy a successful site within a given niche.
If someone like Seth Godin or Bill Gates, who are successful and considered to be people to emulate, told us to jump off a bridge, would we?
Just because Amazon does something doesn't mean it's the right choice for our sites. If they put a call to action prompt in the upper right near navigation, is that the best place for all web sites to do the same? It could be. It might not. Would you know to test it? What is known to happen is that some people copy, line by line, color by color, code by code, the exact UI of a successful site, figuring it will work for them too.
I pointed out the business requirements for why this is not such a good idea.
However! Back in the 90's, when we were learning to build web sites, the practice was to copy good sites so we would learn. I still believe in this. Nothing wrong with getting ideas and trying it on. But to believe a copy will serve all your needs is not the answer.
My other point was about being unique. This is what can set your site above the competition. Amazon is confusing as heck to scan and use. I use it because I like their prices and offers. So in their case, the user experience is connected to customer experience and previous customer satisfaction, not their page layout. You can't copy that, line by line.
Finally, I bring up requirements gathering a lot because in my work I see a tremendous failure rate, even with big corporate sites. Not understanding and documenting business, functional, accessibility, usability, seo and social media requirements adds to poor IA, poor search results, poor usage, etc.
Very inspiring conversation here! Thank you. I love reading all the perspectives and opinions
Thank you very much for stopping by!
I think there's been some consensus in this discussion that copying/emulating best practices is an okay tactic to get started – however if you are not testing and optimizing for your specific site and your specific audience within your specific niche than you are likely missing out.
I guess the first task at hand is to define what is meant by copying a website. As an user experience design and communication professional, I am all for emulating best practices and learning from those who do things well. Amazon has developed a model that works for them and although the model may be emulated by others, trying to be the next Amazon by copying them only puts you in second place. Each business has different and unique needs, goals, objectives and culture and these need to be captured and communicated on your website – this is the only way you will be able to differentiate yourself anything. This is why I do not recommend using off-the shelf templates, but this is a topic for further discussion.
Roger – Yes it is subjective… However I'm not saying you should start an e-commerce site and blatantly copy Amazon… There is no point to that.. What I am saying is that if you have a shopping cart already and data shows that it's not working great – you should try to emulate Amazon's checkout experience because it obviously works as they've been tweaking it for years.
I understand your point. That said, everything that Amazon has tweaked and perfected is based on their own user experience model covering from the moment you enter their site all the way to the thank you email you receive after you complete a transaction. You cannot look at their checkout without looking at how you get your customers to this point. Thus the solution is not only emulating Amazon's checkout experience but understanding where and why your customers are not following your sales funnel.
Roger – Would love to have you guest post your thoughts on the subject!
Also – great points on differentiation – Rob touched on those too as aspects of brand building. I think it's possible to be unique while copying best practices established by others.
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