In this world of intelligent media and psychologically informed advertising, we frequently buy things that do not do what we expect them to but despite this, we continue to fall for the same techniques. Sometimes it is with the things we buy or it could be the ideas we buy into. Here are some examples of things which are not what they seem:
It is recommended that men drink no more than 21 units of alcohol per week and that women drink no more than 14 units per week. This limit is quoted constantly by journalists whenever the subject of alcohol is discussed. I am sure that many people assume that this figure was arrived at by detailed scientific study. I certainly used to think this. However, this figure was arrived at by plucking a figure out of mid-air. The remit was to come up with a modest limit that appeared to be correct and use that to influence the public and their drinking habits.
Whilst their motivation was positive, the fact remains that this daily recommended limit is based on a lie. I do not advocate that we all start drinking as much as we like and their is of course much merit in moderating your drink. My point is that manipulating the public based on a lie is a dangerous practice and could have negative results despite the positive intentions.
With all the publicity about skin cancer, we are all encouraged to buy sun creams with high Sun Protection Factors. The higher the factor, the more you are protected from the sun, right? In truth, this is not necessarily the case. Recent scientific studies have shown that quantities of specific ingredients has much more to do with protecting you from the sun's rays than an arbitrary figure such as SPF.
Again, recent scientific studies have shown that these types of product are virtually useless in improving your overall health and when compared to eating healthy fresh food, the difference in health benefits is absolute. You get much more out of eating lots of fruit and vegetables than you do from taking factory-produced supplements.
If you do the research, there are so many commonly held beliefs (mainly propagated by large commercial concerns and/or the government) that are almost entirely and in many cases absolutely entirely false. But despite this, these legends propagate from generation to generation. Perhaps the truth is that we want to believe them, I am not sure. But my belief is that even if the intention is positive, these falsehoods are a modern menace and I would much prefer to make my decisions based on the truth, no matter how hard that is to accept.
This article is really spending a long time telling you something about the ethics of Net Quality Web Design. Whilst we are in business to make profits (and I am sure you are too), we are not prepared to do this based on masking the truth our out and out lying. We will help you design a website tailored to your needs and we will not use commonly held myths and beliefs to earn extra money out of you, even if this means we won't promise you as much as the next web designer.
For instance, we will never guarantee to get you to page one of Google. Neither will we tell you such things such as "we are approved by Google" or that we are in "partnership with Microsoft". Nine times out of ten that you hear such phrases, they are a lie.
What we will do is promise always to give the best possible service and provide you with the website most suitable to your needs and we will be absolutely honest if there are areas where no work is required.