No Marketing

A website without marketing is like a car without an engine - it may look pretty, but it isn't going anywhere!

Web design and marketing are intertwined. A website is a valuable element in a wise marketing strategy, but it, in itself, is valueless without marketing to promote it.

A smart business owner will devote equal investment to marketing and web design. If the web design taps out the budget, then you'll have to invest time instead, and put your efforts into marketing ideas that work. There are plenty of free marketing tactics that DO work, so as long as you don't get suckered by the bad ones, you can promote your website with nothing but intelligent hard work.

The problem is though, that many business owners, especially those with limited budgets, do not spend enough time or money on marketing. You really HAVE to give it one or the other! To get started, until your business builds some momentum, you are going to have to put 25% of your time into promotional strategies, or set a marketing budget of 25% of the amount you expect to make. By promotional work, I mean actually getting directory listings, writing and posting articles for marketing purposes, participating in forums, assessing ad tracking and adjusting ad copy, creating banner ads or text ads, searching for and requesting paid ads on independent sites, and other internet marketing ideas. Building your website doesn't count. Adjusting copy on your pages to tweak it for marketing effectiveness does.

Giving the time and money is no guarantee that you will earn. You have to market effectively, track, assess, and adjust your ads, your campaigns, and your site content in order to optimize the response. But NOT giving it is a sure guarantee that you WON'T succeed.

You can give less than 25%. But you'll get less out of it, and growth will be very slow. It will take many times longer to really be able to see the potential of your business, or to be able to see that it is building momentum.

Smart marketing consists of doing things that put a good message in front of people who want to see it. It does not include marketing to people who are trying to sell things to you, or blasting ads to people who are not listening, nor does it include annoying people with spam or pushy tactics. It takes time, patience, and consideration for your prospects.

Marketing usually builds on a curve. At first your work is primarily promotion, with a little bit of filling orders or doing client work. Then you have more orders or client work, and can do a little less marketing. Eventually, you work mostly on client orders, and a little on marketing just to keep it going.

You have to pour a lot into it before you ever get anything back. But as it builds, you can eventually give less and get more. I have actually tried to quit offering computer services here, and cannot, because people depend on me and don't want me to quit, so I know that once you get your reputation established, things will carry on with just a nudge or two from you now and again.

Marketing is essential to the success of a website. If a web designer promises that you can make X number of dollars by improving your website, and they do not mention marketing in there, then they are just blowing air at you, because it won't do a thing without marketing.

So get the engine into the car, and it will look pretty and move, too!

Written by Laura Wheeler