As we all know, good web design is the cornerstone of any Internet based money-making venture. We drill watchwords like “user friendly,” “intuitive,” and “clean” into our heads to ensure that our sites both look good AND are easy for our visitors to use. But as our businesses grow and change, so must our site designs. Even the greatest design will get old and outdated after a while (look at what was great in 2001 and compare it to what we consider great design here in 2011), which necessitates change. And change is good…right?

Well, not always. Just ask Gawker Media. Earlier this week, Gawker founder Nick Denton rolled out a complete redesign for all of the sites under the Gawker Media umbrella, but unfortunately, the only people that seem happy about it are Denton and his employees.

Oops.

Denton posted a lengthy explanation for the reasoning behind the changes at Gawker, ostensibly to get everyone on board with the new look by trumpeting all of its various and sundry wonders. And what wonders indeed! When you read the letter, it sounds great – faster loading times, easier navigation, featured stories more prominently displayed so they don’t get lost in the shuffle…basically, an all-around improved reading experience for Gawker Media fans. Denton also discussed why this redesign is good for Gawker itself, most notably because they feel it will make them more money. Basically, what’s good for Gawker fans is also good for Gawker’s bottom line, so everyone should be winning here.

But no one is, not least of all Gawker itself. Why? Because the new design is bad design, and the backlash from readers it caused has been both swift and immediate. I’m not one of those people that goes catatonic every time Facebook rolls out a small change, so you can trust me when I say this – this particular change is not good. It’s not faster, it doesn’t load quicker, it’s not easier to navigate, and many of the most loved features of the sites’ previous incarnations are gone. It assaults the reader with huge ads, and it’s clunky.

The disconnect between what Denton said they were doing and what they actually did is enormous. Suffice to say, when you need to write hundreds and hundreds of words – and then supplement those words with a video – just to explain how to use a news website, you’ve done something very, very wrong. And everyone’s complaining.

As of now, there have been no announcements that things will go back to the way they were, and Denton himself has even accepted a bet that the new design WILL be a success – despite the fact that it looks like numbers are already down, and you can find hundreds of comments on the various Gawker sites from disgruntled readers informing everyone that they won’t be coming back as long as the design stays the way it is.

Gawker is currently responding to those complaints by telling people to just use the “blog view” button on the site to convert it to something that more closely resembles the old look. Perhaps they should’ve just stuck with that one instead?

Anyway. So why should you, the affiliate marketer, care about this? Easy: it shows you that not all change is good, and that we harp on those watchwords of good web design for a reason. It also shows us the importance of actually listening to our audiences. Basically, Gawker is showing us what NOT to do. After all, what’s the point of trying to attract readers if you’re just going to shoot yourself in the foot and chase them off like that? Complaints about changes are inevitable, because you can’t please everyone, but when nearly all of your readers are upset, you’ve got a problem on your hands, and if you want to keep them, you need to fix it right away – not tell them to just hit a button that renders your new design unnecessary anyway.

I’m curious to see how this will all play out. There are other factors that make the site bad design – hash bang, anyone? – but in the end, it all comes down to the readers. If your visitors aren’t happy, you’re ruining your chance to make money, and that’s not good for anyone. So next time you want to make a change to your website, make sure it’s actually a good change. Think about it carefully, plan it carefully, and maybe even try just rolling out a new feature here and there slowly over time so you don’t overwhelm anyone. But above all, make sure the damn thing actually works, okay? Make a step forward, not a step backward.