Web Design Have You Forgotten The Call To Action?
In writing there is a term called passive voice. In literature this is where the narrator TELLS the reader what is going on instead of allowing dialogue and event descriptions to SHOW the story to the reader and allow their imagination to fill in the gaps. In the first case the reader is not very involved in the action of the story, but in the second scenario they are not only invited into the full body of the story, but they feel as if they are part of the action.
In web design you have to find a balance between simply showing your site visitor what you have to offer and being pushy in an effort to make a sale. On approach is heavy handed and the other is a bit timid in approach.
When you TELL, but dont SHOW you wind up with a very sterile site that infuses no one with passion to make a purchase. Visitors simply leave with a lot of facts and figures they arent sure what to do with.
When you SHOW, but dont TELL you can get a visitor excited about the product without ever bringing them back to a call to action.
Lets see if this makes sense. Lets say you have a website dedicated to cosmetics....