Photo courtesy of seier+seier.

In order to build a great web site, two ideas must be examined:

  1. “If you build it, they will come”
  2.  “Throw enough money at a site and it will be successful”

“If you build it, they will come” is false.  Building a great web site alone does not guarantee you will see traffic by any means.  Many small business web sites are a complete waste of money because of this simple error.  Proper marketing channels must be used no matter the web site.

Conversely, spending large amounts of money on advertising will not guarantee your web site does anything with that traffic (i.e., turn that traffic into buyers of your products and services).  Your web site needs to promote your product or service as truly unique or special in order to see truly effective campaigns.  This is why web sites that offer “crap” content do not see success.  Additionally, sticking to me-too or copy cat marketing that mimics exactly what a competitor is doing is a sure a path to failure.

With that said, here is a simple formula to build the perfect web site.

Engaging Website + Proper Marketing Channels = Successful Web Presence

In the next post, the first part of the equation, an engaging web site, will be explored in greater detail.  Here’s a sneak peak of the different topics to be covered.

  • Simple, Clear, and Unified Navigation
  • Limited Navigation Choices
  • Action Points
  • Great Aesthetics
  • Sales Copy that Hits Specific Psychological Points
  • Security
  • Permission Marketing Systems
  • Web Site Tracking
  • Social Media Integration
  • Responsive Design for Mobile & Other Interfaces