Part of What Your Website Should Say, the guide this sits under.
In Mike Hill’s keynote “Why Jurassic Park has stood the test of time, but Jurassic Park felt flat?” He asks how two, almost identical movies, can have two completely different impacts on us.
These movies have the same cinematography, the same subject, the same material — every surface attribute has been lifted from Jurassic Park. But when he’s finished watching Jurassic World, he’s left with a sense of emptiness.
This same can be said in the world of websites. That while you can purchase a great template, or hire a company to build a site that looks like your competitor, if it’s missing the fundamental elements needed, it’s going to feel more like Jurassic World than Jurassic Park.
This is because most web pages are lacking a sales narrative.
Common questions
What does Jurassic Park have to do with websites
Two films with nearly identical premises landed completely differently, because one had a narrative and the other had spectacle. Most web pages are the second one.
What is missing from most web pages
A sales narrative. The page lists what the company offers without ever establishing the problem, the stakes, or why this company is the answer.
How do I add narrative to a website
Start with the reader's problem rather than your services. Establish what is at stake if it goes unsolved, then position what you do as the resolution.