Websites are usually made to serve some purpose. Some websites are made to educate, facilitate communication, and even sell products. If you want to do something, there’s a high chance that a website online can help you somehow. But did you know that “useless websites” also exist? Useless websites are pages purposely made for one goal only: waste people’s time. You’ve probably seen one or more of these websites on the Internet. Who hasn’t tried playing the infamous Coolie Clicker yet? Maybe you’ve seen the adorable “Cat Bounce” in action. Although these pages don’t seem to be useful to anyone, we can still get a few lessons from their existence.

7 Lessons From Useless Websites On The Internet

Link Building Is Valuable

Have you ever wondered how these useless websites are found and started becoming famous? How can these unique and unusual pages on the internet gather thousands of traffic? The answer is pretty simple: backlinks. According to Ahrefs, the average backlink that a useless website has is about 12,651 links. Whether it’s due to its absurdity or plain fun, useless websites are often featured on different websites. These features create backlinks for websites with minimal effort. In addition to free backlinks, most useless websites are unique and can pique a lot of attention. Even without a backlink, word of mouth can help in getting more traffic. But why would you want more traffic for a useless website? The answer is exposure. Developers or owners of these useless websites can use them to promote and market their websites. This chance can give possible business offers in the future.

Single Focus Is A Good Thing

One of the most surprising truths about useless websites is their focus on one thing. Whether it’s clicking on a single cookie or watching bouncing cats, the visitor will intuitively know what to do. And this single focus can teach a lot about site engagement and boosting the time spent on the site. Knowing what element should be focused on is an important skill, especially for a digital marketer. After all, one single idea with perfect implementation is better than juggling different ideas and searching for implementation that might work. This situation can lead to decision fatigue, which can give a confusing impression to the website user.

Using “Weirdness” To Stand Out

“Weirdness” is not often a welcoming trait for society. If you’re being weird, there’s a big chance that no one will talk to you in real life. Apparently, this is not the case on the internet. You can use weirdness and creativity to catch the attention of people online. You need to be innovative and creative to stand out from the crowd. There’s a lot of businesses or blogs that aim to get people’s attention. And on the internet, weirdness can sometimes be that one thing that helps you pique users’ interest. Use creativity and get rewarded by getting more website visitors.

Simple Things Can Be Difficult Too

The simplicity of most useless sites can be pretty astounding. Most useless websites usually focus on one deceptively simple goal. For example, in the case of cookie clicker, there is no other option a user can do but to click the cookie. But people who visit the site know what to do immediately. Useless websites can teach a thing or two about the lesson of simplicity. Making a website simpler to use for end-users is a more difficult task. You need to think out of the box and find ways to offer your content, products, or services in a simpler form. Sometimes, adding more stuff is not the improvement needed to make a website usable. You might need to declutter your UX to improve your customer’s user experience.

User Experience Is Important

If there’s one thing that useless websites share in common, that would be their ease of usage. Almost all useless websites are easy to use. A good user experience is necessary if you want to rank higher on results. Additionally, an interface that is easier to follow helps in preventing the user from getting distracted and closing the tab.

It’s Not All About The Word Count

Almost all useless websites don’t have big chunks of text written in their body. Bored Button, one of the most popular useless websites on Earth, only has a total of 82 words. Longer texts are usually used for backlink purposes. But since backlinks for useless websites are established mostly via featured articles, long-form content isn’t necessary for useless websites.

Useless Websites Aren’t Useless

And lastly, useless websites do have a purpose, and that’s showcasing creativity. Creators or owners of these websites are able to pull internet users toward their websites. That is amazing, given the fact that most of these websites offer nothing functional.