Would a sensible business owner take out a loan before reading the fine print? No.

Would a rational person start a business without researching potential customers? No.

Would a sensible business person create a website without carefully analyzing competition, neglect planning, and forget to address technical requirements for the website? No.

However, everyday I meet clients who made this crucial mistake in the beginning. A 'to-be' client stumbled across an ad FAST CREATIVE WEBSITE IN 5 DAYS FOR $299 These ads are everywhere, just go to the computer section of Craigslist and take a look. But let's be realistic. How can a truly creative web page be created in 5 days? Unfortunately, the client made the call and soon they were on their way to making a web page. The ad wasn't a total lie. They delivered what they promised. A cheap website, fast. Countless people, over and over, bite on these ads. And what do they get? Templated, cheap, non beneficial, fast, websites.

So what is the real problem with these websites? If it isn't obvious to you; lack of thinking, planning and strategy. Just because you make a website does not mean it will be successful or effective. Back to my client, they got what they thought they wanted, a cheap website, but really what they got was a loss of money. When I completed the consulting process on their web page, I found that of the small visitors they did get, 98% were from direct link, and 90% were there for less than 30 seconds. If your goal is to have your website help your business, those are frightening numbers. Face it, websites take planning, strategy and thinking. A fast website may get you up and running quickly, but websites are so much more than a quick chore every business needs to do. Just read more of the blog and it should be easy to see; websites are an art and a truly powerful marketing piece for your business that simply cannot be 'half-assed'. It just plain and simply cannot be done if you truly want results. Results are the goal of all websites, especially in today's technical business world.

Labels: website planning, website results, website strategy

The limits to what the web can do is endless. Much of the focus of the web on how it can serve other people. Whether it is to inform them about the weather or connect them with family and friends to name a few. Even you reading this article demonstrates the internets ability to connect you with valuable information. Although these are great uses for the internet, the web does something for businesses that is commonly overlooked. I call it the Website Reflection Principle.

The concept of the Website Reflection principle is simple, to say the least. However, this simple concept can be powerful tool for you when maintaining or designing a website. Website Reflection states that your website is a direct reflection of your business and your reputation. People judge you and your organization just by the website. Your website, whether you want it to or not, creates a picture of your organization. In a world with so much information people are forced to make quick assumptions to help them make decisions. So in order to make a decision, like whether they will do business with your or not, they judge your organization by your website. I am sure you do the same thing. For example, if you are looking for a construction company to build a new porch on the rear of your house you do a simple web search. You visit several different websites. Although you have not met with each company on a personal basis, I am sure you already have a concept of what the company is like simply based on their website. You have already determined which company offers the most quality of work, which company is the most popular in the area, which place has the most experience, which company has been around the longest. This is the Website Reflection Principle in action. People assume that your website is a reflection of your organization so they use it as a basis for decision making.

Knowing this principle, the real question becomes, what is my Website Reflection? This is a good question for any webmaster to ask themselves. If you don't like what you see there is good news. The reflection can be easily changed. The list of things you can do to change this is endless; the focus of this article isn't how you can change the reflection. However, I do get into changing the reflection in other posts. The purpose of this article is on informing you of this concept of Website Reflection. Now that you know what it is, take a second to take a hard look into the mirror. If it isn't what you want just know that it can be changed. Sometimes finding others to help is necessary. Nobody has done it alone in changing their reflection. I recommend finding a quality web consulting company to help you see your website's full potential. Don't let another day go by. The sooner you change it, the sooner you will see dramatic results.

Labels: company image, website development, website reflection