Form or substance? Which is the key to building a successful website?

I heard a prominent speaker at a recent conference declare that "content is king." The websites that will attract users and keep them coming back for more, he stressed -- and thus generate advertising revenue -- are those that offer solid, focused content. Web pages that rely on flashy graphics or other gimmicks in lieu of content will eventually fall by the wayside. And when the novelty wears off, he said, the Internet as a whole will continue to lag far behind TV, magazines, and newspapers as a mainstream news and entertainment medium.

In other words, it is substance rather than form that draws a mass audience. While that sounds reasonable in theory, let's consider a real-world example from other media. If the average person goes for content over presentation, how would the speaker explain the popularity of TV news broadcasts and the continuing decline of the daily newspaper?

Timeliness is certainly a factor, but one that would work in the Web's favor rather than otherwise. (OK, most WWW sites today do a poor job of posting timely, accurate, or even interesting information. But criticizing the potential of the Internet and predicting its prospects based on its structure and shortcomings today is like being an observer in the 1920s who bases his predictions of the future of the automobile industry on the Model T and rutted dirt roads.)

Nor is it depth of coverage, accuracy, focus, or ease of access that attracts most viewers to TV news. Newspapers and magazines can match or surpass TV when it comes to these factors -- and you don't need an expensive television set to read them. No, the main lure of TV is its "flashy graphics." Without that, then TV is on par with radio -- and we all know how popular radio is, in comparison.

Given the choice between a website with basic data but slick Java or Shockwave graphics and video images and sound, and one with in-depth information in static text-only form, no doubt serious researchers and intellectuals will choose the latter. But I suspect the former will consistently get 10 (if not 100) times the number of daily hits.

Most of us, when we seek information out of curiosity rather than specific need, want to be entertained as well as informed. And as we use the Internet for more things, like online shopping or e-mail, we'll naturally turn to it for news and entertainment as well. And when we can access the Web via the TV screen -- well, move over Dan Rather. It's time to check the top stories on MSNBC.

WM. Auckerman