Categories: Articles

Single-Serving Websites Make A Tweet Look Rich In Content

One simple page with one simple feature. Is this the future of websites?

Do you remember the first time you saw Twitter? You probably laughed and thought to yourself, "this is moronic. Who cares what your cat ate for breakfast or that someone’s doorbell doesn’t work?" Granted, there are plenty of people who still feel this way about Twitter. In the August 2009 issue of Wired Magazine, there is a small news item titled, How Do I Make A Single-Serving Website? It turns out that Single-serving websites are becoming a very hot trend in the Twitter-world of, "keep it short, relevant and punchy."

Simply put, single-serving websites are stand-alone web pages that accomplish one task” and one task only, and (according to Wired) they are, "popping up all over the Net."

Some examples include:

a site that lets you know if Lost is a rerun this week.
a site that is a guide for spelling the word, "definitely" correctly.
a site that lets you know if we’re currently in daylight savings time (U.S. only).

And, as you can guess, there are many more.

Quirky, strange, geeky and just plain weird? You betcha, but this is always how a new way to communicate looks to those not on the bleeding edge.

Remember how you felt the first time you saw email, instant messenger, a BlackBerry, etc… all of these tools, channels and platforms seemed bizarre and outlandish as you questioned the merit and validity of them (at the time). Just imagine the many self-serving websites you can create to better explain what it is you do and why you do it. Better yet, imagine the countless ways you can empower and pass basic and simple knowledge on to your community.

You may be shaking your head and laughing at the idea (and value) of single-serving websites, but you’ll never know the value until you try it yourself.

Wired Magazine is looking for more single-serving websites and is encouraging the creators of them to post them here: Wired Single-Serving Website Generator.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.