The Director Sector

The other day I got in a conversation with @travisbedard, @devilvet and @halcyontony, as well as a few others, regarding what should be the goal in an arts organization website.  There are a few things that I, as a professional web designer, think an arts organization should focus on.  As a disclaimer, these are generalities and you need to do whatever works for your theatre.

Let us begin:

First, ask yourself this.  If Joe Schmoe is sitting at home on his computer, why would he go to www.yourtheatre.com, just out of the blue?  Whether he knows you or not, why would he suddenly stop checking out the news sites or playing games and visit your arts organization website?

I’ve asked about a dozen people this question since yesterday afternoon, and this is the answer I got from every one of them:

“To find out show times, dates, and places.”

That’s right.  The primary reason anyone is going to go to your site, is to find out exactly what it is you’re up to, where it is, and what time.  The immediate question after that is “Where can I get tickets?”

There you go. That’s what should be front and center on your arts organization website at all times.  If I have to click to find it? You fail.  If I have to scroll to find it? You fail.  If I don’t immediately see that information, I’m going to be slightly annoyed, and it just very well may be enough to make me decide to go somewhere else.

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One of the other things we talked about were blogs, photo galleries, and other “extras”.  These should be secondary and tertiary, depending on your audience.  Your audience will ALWAYS want to know WHEN and WHERE the show is, but they may or may not care about the HOWs or the WHYs.

That’s why these things should be secondary.  They shouldn’t be in-your-face on the front page.  The exception to this is a press photo to spice up the “Current Show” Section.

Let’s focus on blogs for a second.  When I read a blog, I want to read one that I know is written by an individual.  I want to read Bob Fisher’s blog, not “The Mammals” blog.  Why? Because Bob Fisher is alive, The Mammals is not.

In my experience, “organization” blogs tend to be nothing but press releases.  Sometimes they’re disguised as commentary, but what they all boil down to is “COME SEE MY SHOW!”

Read blogs by Don Hall, Adam Dodds, Dennis Frymire, Isaac Butler.  They’re chock full of personality, of opinions, of new ideas.  They’re very rarely, if ever, “COME SEE MY SHOW”.  They’re “This is what I think about (INSERT TOPIC HERE).”  Sometimes that topic has to do with their show, sometimes it has to do with theatre in general, and sometimes it has to do with other things like Battlestar Galactica, movies, music.  That’s infinitely more fascinating to me than a press release.

Someone mentioned yesterday that they enjoy press releases.  Yes, yes, yes.  Press releases are good.  But what’s the first word in the term?  “Press”.  That’s right.  When I want to read a press release, I go somewhere that deals primarily with press releases — newspapers, news aggregators (like broadwayworld.com, etc).  I don’t go to an arts organization for that, unless I have a personal stake in there.

You can certainly have a press release section, but it shouldn’t be front and center.

Tony asked me yesterday if there was room for both [organizational and individual blogs].  On the internet, there is room for everything.  The trick is to not overwhelm new visitors and to not distract from the primary focus (remember what those are? showtimes, dates, tickets!) with other “stuff”.

The same thing goes for photos.  I don’t really care to look at photos from theatres — and that’s coming from a guy who carries a digital SLR camera around with him 24/7 — unless I’m personally involved with the show, I know people involved in the show, or I want more information about the show.

In other words, photos are EXTRAS.  They’re not why I visit a website.  They’re what I want to see AFTER I’ve accomplished my initial objective.

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The third thing to do is think of your website as a family tree.  The front page is the head of the family tree.  How many kids does the head of the family have?  Maybe three, four, five?  Not much more than that.  Then each descendant has their own set of kids.

Think of your website that way.  You say you have photos, a blog, an “about us” and press releases?  You might set up your structure this way:

MAIN PAGE (show times, dates, tickets)
- Photos
- Press Releases
- Our Blog
- About Us
- Contact Us

That’s it.  That’s all your front page needs to contain.  The showtimes, dates, tickets, maybe one press photo, and then links to the major categories.

Let’s say I’ve accomplished my main objective.  Now I want to look at photos.  I click on the Photo link in your menu.  Do you show me every single photo at once?  Of course not.  I may not give a flying rats ass about your rehearsal photos for Orestes, but I do find the idea of a graphic novel of Devils Don’t Forget to be an interesting idea.

Show albums or sub-sets.

PHOTOS (description, blurb, list of shows)
- Orestes
- King Lear
- Devil’s Don’t Forget Graphic Novel
- DADA Soiree Press Photos

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You may have a lot of content, but you don’t have to let the users get to it from the front page.  That’s information overload.  Only show what’s relevant.  Stagger your content, funnel users through certain paths.  You want to get to the DEVILS DON’T FORGET production photos (as opposed to rehearsal photos) ? Then click on Photos -> Production Photos -> DEVILS DON’T FORGET.

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The key that you need to walk away from with this post is that you need to prioritize your content.  Front and center on the home page should be SHOW TIMES, TICKET PRICES, and WHERE TO FIND TICKETS.  Always, front page.  Don’t make me click to find it, don’t make me scroll to find it. Put it right where I can see it, above the fold.

Everything else that is secondary should be linked from the menu.  Top navigation or side navigation? Doesn’t matter.  Pick one (one!) And go with it.  Tertiary information should fall under the secondary pages.

If you want me to check out your arts organization’s website and offer some feedback, I’ll be glad to do so.  Just leave a comment and I’ll give you some advice.

Finally, here are a few sites that I think meet the above criteria and do it very well.  They’re not perfect sites — there’s no such thing — but they do accomplish the above goals very well.  The current shows are clearly visible, links to purchase tickets are right there.  Simple, direct.. They all have tons of content, but it’s not overcrowding the front page — the secondary and tertiary content have been relegated to different pages.

New Leaf Theatre

The Right Brain Project

The House Theatre

The Goodman Theatre