* Simply having a web site is not enough to reach an online audience.
Everyone who succeeds has a web site. I need a web site or I am losing business. A big web site with hundreds of hits will make me millions. People get rich easy every day from their web sites.
These myths are promoted by companies ready to make a lot of money off of well-intentioned or desperate people they see as potential clients. In reality, many companies will do just as well relying on traditional advertising, word of mouth, and good service. In fact, many companies have spent thousands of dollars and man hours on a web site that has generated little response from their community.
A web site is not necessarily the magic ticket to success in the twenty-first century. Just like any aspect of your business, a site is a potential avenue to reaching your audience that compliments a well-rounded business plan. Without significant groundwork, companies can throw thousands of dollars into a project without returning a dime of their investment.
In another article I write of the various types of web sites and how knowing your intentions for the site affects the strategies used in developing and launching a site. Among these are community-building, promotion and sales, and business information. Success is different for each strategy.
Ingredients of a successful web site
The primary ingredient for a successful web site is the product. A company or organization that cannot define the product it intends to promote on the world wide web has little hope of success People visit a web site for a product: CBS.com has TV shows; MSNBC.com has news; ESPN.com has sports; Amazon.com has books; GoDaddy.com has domain names; SermonSpice.com has sermon illustrations; Hotels.com has hotels; Coupons.com has coupons; TV.com has TV. Defining the product gives the web site primary purpose, everything else is subservient.
Another ingredient is an immediate client base. With a ready audience a web site can generate interest and accomplish its intended goals. The goal can be "increase sales by 5 percent this year", "build an on-line community of 100 participating members", "reduce postage by providing resources through electronic mail and the web". Your client base are active leads who can take immediate advantage of your site, provide reliable feedback, and convince others to use it.
The third ingredient is a promotional avenue. I have addressed how the initial users are one immediate resource. Others depend on the nature and breadth of your site. A recurring note in your current newsletter or other organization publication may be enough for a community site. An integrated advertising campaign with newspaper, radio, TV and magazine placement may be required to launch a promotion / sales or a business information web site.
The ingredients are best used in the hands of a knowledgeable developer with experience working with clients in your position. Shopping around for quotes will yield developers with a good variety of experience and rates. Your novice nephew may be right for your small-scale informational site with a couple hundred bucks to start up while a multi-department firm with a substantial portfolio is best for a large-scale sales site.
Working with your developer and following through with content, updates, support and promotion will help your web site succeed as part of your growing organization and achieve its goals. Even if now is not the time for your web site, you can begin building your organization with purpose and gauge when the right moment arrives.