Jonathan Livingston Seagull Meets Web Usability

Posted by Laura Bergells

August 30, 2007

“If you love someone, set them free. If they come back they’re yours; if they don’t they never were.”

-Richard Bach, author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

I actually quoted this passionately to two clients this month. It’s a favorite new-age Richard Bach quote (also used last century in a Sting ditty) — but it also applies to web design.

Face it: people will leave your site. It’s inevitable. What are they supposed to do: never leave? Never visit another site? See your content and think, “I’ve reached the end of the internet. This is it. The ultimate. There’s no point ever visiting another website. There’s no point in doing anything else. This is truth and beauty, and I cannot turn away from it, ever!”

Here’s what made me rabidly passionate about Jonathan L. Seagull this month:

Two clients wanted to program their blog links to open up new instances of browsers.Now code-wise, this is easy stuff. Add target="_blank" after your usual link code, and you’re done. Couldn’t be simpler.

But you shouldn’t do it. You shouldn’t even be thinking about doing it. And here are three good reasons why:

It demonstrates fear. Opening up new instances of browsers screams, “I am scared that my content is poor. If people leave, they might never come back. I must trick them into never leaving me, ever!” That’s a fearful position to make. Who wants to hang with cringing cowards? Not Jonathan Livingston Seagull!
Pop-Up Blockers. My aggressive pop-up blocker alerts me to target="_blank" links, warning me that another browser window is about to open. Most of the time, I just abandon the site altogether — never to return. I don’t want another browser window to pop open. And I don’t want to hang out with the fearful (see item #1).
Bad usability. Opening new browser windows is one of the top ten worst web design mistakes of all time. It disables the “back” button — which is how people are accustomed to surfing the web. When I cannot go back, I experience angst before annoyance at realizing I was tricked. So does just about everybody else.

A better idea: make your content so wonderful that people will choose to return. Promise to update it regularly, and fill it with niched content that will keep your niche audience eagerly coming back for more. Make your blog easy to bookmark or subscribe to for updates. People who love your content will inevitably leave you — but they’ll also come back.

Link out fearlessly. Point out generously and graciously to ideas better than yours. Appreciate and acknowledge creativity, beauty, and terrific ideas where you find them. People will love you for it: and will consider you a community guide to greater knowledge.

And what do you think: how can you successfully apply the concepts of Jonathan Livingston Seagull to your web design and marketing plan?Remember the law of attraction: like attracts like. If you are fearful of people leaving you, never to return: what kind of online customer relationships are you attracting?