Every day on the internet sees a new style, a new format and various new designs making waves in the webmaster world. However, there is a growing feeling that the fancy banners, flashing menus and expensive designs are having less and less of an effect on the consumer. We expect flashing banners, we expect fancy menus, so what would really catch our attention?

Many are now looking at “Retro Web Design” which is basically a step back to day one on the internet, when all we had we words, hyperlinks and a few lines to differentiate certain areas of a website. No flashing banners, no multi menus, just good old fashioned “what you see is what you get”. Will it work? Would it catch you attention?

Research has shown that you only have few seconds to catch the attention of someone visiting your site - after that they have gone. What if you saw a screen with only words, lines and a few headlines - would that grab your attention for those vital few seconds? Would it surprise you and catch your curiosity?

There is every chance that you would stop in your tracks if you saw a basic site today, but would you actually stay or buy from such a site? After catching your initial attention it is then down to the content of the site to keep you interested and prompt you to buy. There are thousands of content writers out there who could put together some great packages for you, something that is detailed and professional. So would it work?

At this moment in time it seems that all webmasters are sheep, looking after their web design and often taking their eye off what the site is actually all about. Massive amounts of investment often go into the design of a site, when in some cases it may be better spent on content and products.

While it would take a brave company to revert to Retro Web Design, it may just prove something of a ground breaking move, but until someone tries it, how will we know!