A curator is the person in charge at an art gallery or a museum for maintaining the content at that particular institution. You might call him a content specialist because really, that’s what he does. He’s responsible for managing the type of content that goes on display. He’s constantly editing the content and selecting only what’s most important for public display.
What This Means for Your Real Estate Blog:
As the chief content creator and content manager of your website, it’s your responsibility to act as the curator. Constantly editing what goes on display to the web surfing public to showcase your best work. This makes all the difference in conversions (from earning new rss subscribers, newsletter subscribers, or leads in general). That being said, let’s look at a couple of examples…
Example 1:
Upon first glance, what’s wrong with this website? (Note: This site has since undergone a redesign).
[nggallery id=3]
There’s too much going on both in the main content column and the sidebars. To a new site visitor, the content is overbearing and overwhelming. Definitely not the first impression that you want to cast upon a first time visitor. A curator at an art gallery focuses on editing content and showcasing the galleries best work. As the content manager of your own website, you should undergo the same editing process and showcase your best work to the web surfing public.
Example 2:
Can you tell a difference looking at this second site?
[nggallery id=4]
Site: http://www.2sheridans.com
By contrast there’s a noticeable difference in the amount of content that’s displayed both in the main content column and on the sidebars on this blogsite. The left sidebar contains only the most necessary content (Call to Action Items, subscription options, and categories). The right sidebar contains contact info and social networking icons. The main content column showcases most recent blog articles. That’s it. No mess and no clutter.
Conclusion:
Less is more. Especially in the case of your site design. Don’t constantly obsess over adding this widget or that widget just because it looks cool. Focus instead on editing your content and trimming things down until you’re left with only the really important stuff (like your “Search for Homes” tab and your subscription options and/or contact form). Once you’ve undergone the editing process, do it again.
In the end, if you feel like you’ve left something out, you can always add it back later. For now, focus on your Call To Actions and showcasing what’s important.
What’s your take?
[Flickr Photo by: Marshall Astor – Food Pornographer]
Hi Ricardo
“Less is more” is a great moto for any website.
Unfortunately it takes time for most of us to realise that.
A lot of us start off with five colours and ten fonts… but we slowly learn
The worst sites are the ones with flashing graphics in the sidebar!
Even if the site has great content it is just too distracting.
Thanks for the reminder.
BTW a nice man came over and left a couple of brilliant comments on my site – thank you nice man.
I think it's the never ending pursuit of perfection that keeps each of us obsessed with out websites (I know I'm that way).
Agreed that some sites are cluttered with content. I think services like CrazyEgg.com give you some good insights as to the click-thru behavior of your site visitors. Things like that are constructive and helpful.
Thanks for the visit Keith! Definitely dig your site and will be there again.