The majority of people who contact Wiregrass Advertising, Inc. requesting website design are still in “brochure mode.” During the 1990′s and early 2000′s the majority of websites were simple 1 to 5 page brochures telling about a business. From 2005 to present the internet has changed dramatically. Website viewers no longer want brochure type websites. They want interactive sites that are strategically filled with both information and social interaction. Viewers want to go to websites that they can feel good about telling their friends about. Anything less is wasting their time. The downside of this trend is that dynamic websites take longer to build and, therefore, are more expensive.
In talking to people about websites for the past fifteen years I’ve come to the realization that most business owners do not understand the power of the internet or how to properly use their website as a marketing tool. I had a potential client come to me the other day and ask about pricing for an e-commerce website. He had talked to some friends who had online stores and they had told him that they only received minimal orders from theirs. From those conversations he came to me with this mindset: “I will only get a few orders from my website so I want the cheapest website I can find.” This person has set himself up for failure. With thoughts like this he might as well go home and enjoy life sitting by the fireplace reading a good book. What true entrepenuer goes into business with the expectation of failure?
An e-commerce website can (and have) made many people a lot of money. These business owners have learned how to harness the power of the internet and channel into their coffers. Here are three ideas of how they did it.
1. The successful online business was developed from a well-founded idea, completed with homework and a business plan. Usually the successful website owners consulted with other people including online marketing companies who have had experience and success marketing companies.
2. The successful online store business owner did not build a cheap website. A good entreprenuer is knowledgable in many areas, an expert in a few and has the wisdom to know when to get help from others more experienced than he. Although most of us look at websites everyday few people know the true working and pshychological aspects of how a website turns potential customers into paying customers. That is where an online marketing company with web development experience comes in. And the successful business owner did one more thing. He let the experienced experts of the marketing company design and implement the website without micro-managing the website’s development.
3. The successful entreprenuer also has a short and long term plan for marketing the website. While our typical web development package contains short term marketing, a successful online business requires long term marketing to continually drive people to the website. A website without a marketing plan is like an unlit billboard on a dark road. No one will see it. A long term marketing plan also involves a continuing hands-on working of the website. Good websites are constantly evolving, constantly changing and always have a draw to encourage people to return.
That is just a couple ideas to make your website a success. We are happy to discuss your ideas in more detail. Call us today at 334-393-9099.
