Living web experiences.

A website should be a living, breathing entity that evolves and changes over time. The essence of the Internet is dynamism. We have hypertext, these special little links that can take you anywhere on the information superhighway.

I recently joked with a friend about how their website felt like it had been cast in cement and thrown into the ocean. A singular effort, with many individuals wringing their hands. Lifeless. Ceremonial.

Creating something that feels alive and continually evolving has a much stronger appeal. Thought Merchants creates something more dynamic, personal, and intimate. This approach sets us apart from other companies. How do we achieve this? By making it easier to publish content.

We have a sync mechanism, Whalesync, that allows us to manage most of our content in Notion. When we update Notion, it syncs and publishes immediately to our Webflow marketing site. We even have Slack channels hooked up, so pasting content into a particular channel automatically updates the website. This ease of use encourages a more vibrant and living web presence.

Optimizing for ease of publishing enriches the content and removes the gatekeeper mentality. Instead of having only one person in charge of publishing, everyone in the organization participates. People make mistakes, but we can correct those just as quickly.

My friend Ryan Finley, from Neomind Labs, has a test to measure the success of a codebase: How quickly can you get a new person to contribute from zero? The ease of getting someone up to speed, making changes, and pushing them to GitHub is crucial. The same principle applies to publishing content on the web.

A dynamic, living website encourages continuous improvement and reflects the ever-evolving nature of our work. Embrace this dynamism and watch your web presence flourish.

Steve Berry
Principal, Thought Merchants