Sites gain credibility over time. It takes longer than that to compete with other sites, in my experience. In my view, it’s always a mistake to reply on a search engine for traffic. Now’s the time to be getting into proper marketing.
A search engine is a commercial website, owned by a giant company whose aim is to make profit. They have absolutely no interest in your business success. They can change their mind about how they rank sites at the drop of a hat, drop your site from the list on a whim, etc. etc. Relying on them is like relying on the wind blowing in a certain direction. If you get good value from a search engine, it is basically just good luck. It’s not viable to base business success on luck, which is why there’s no replacement for proper marketing (whatever form that takes—from getting out and meeting people, to making connections etc.).
Relying on a search engine alone is like a barnacle relying on a whale for survival. When the whale beaches, you need an escape plan.
It’s just reality, unfortunately. Putting a site online is really nothing compared with getting it known—the realm of marketing. Simply uploading the site is like setting up shop in the Nevada desert (trying to think of a meaningful analogy for you!) The real work comes in then getting it known—by telling people about it, writing about it, get active on social media, giving good service etc. Of course, there may be some search engine traffic, or you may get lucky in other ways, like meeting Oprah etc, but it’s still luck, which one can’t build a business plan on.
As a web designer myself, I’ve faced the same dilemma, but when I do sites these days I first lay out all these realities to the client to make sure they understand that getting this up is pointless if that’s all they are going to do. And I don’t pretend to be good at the marketing stuff! But now your client needs to get busy with marketing, and while the web site is an important part of that, it’s not much use without the rest.
So in the modern world, why should a business have a website?
Before you answer, let me describe my client…
He is a small business, does auto repair, relies entirely on physical customers.
In a case like that, what should be our expectations for what a website can do?
I had hoped that a really professional looking website, with good content, and decent SEO would really help his business in that it make people see him more as an established and professional business, and it was my hope to help him double or triple his yearly income over time.
Am I wrong about all of this?
Yesterday I did stress to him that he should hire me to do more like try to get him in the newspaper, on radio, maybe TV. And that we should reach out to organizations, individuals, and so on. Basically a 360 degree assault on the area to make sure everyone knows what he does and why he is the best.
The owner didn’t think it was a good idea.
I had hoped that doing that along with the website that over time it would help.
But now I feel disillusioned and think maybe I should have stuck to coding…
… And I’m sure you’re right. It’s just that it’s not enough to hope people will find the site. People who hear about the service and check out the site will be impressed, and it will be good for business. It’s an asset as long as it get used properly. Getting a site built and then doing nothing with it is like buying a new company car and then leaving it parked in the garage. You need to get it out, drive it around, and put it to work for the business for it to realize its value.
