A brief internet history lesson reveals the truth... In the early days of ecommerce, most websites were built for either start-ups or small businesses with small or non-existant budgets. Even if the site was "homemade" (and many were) hosting costs were usually quite expensive. 

Consequently, after the website was launched, very little or no money was left to fund ongoing website marketing or maintenance. The result was a glut of stagnant, "buy now", far-from-credible websites. Savvy visitors sensed that many of these websites were "get rich quick" experiments and warned others. A sweeping panic ensued that reduced the already sluggish ecommerce down to a slow grind. Secure sites became the order of the day (no pun intended) but that alone could not allay the fear people had of using their credit cards online. What online users didn't know was how to tell the difference between the fly-by-night schemes and the honest, professional websites.

A small percentage of websites would take off and do quite well out of sheer luck... Many more, unfortunately, would die on the vine. Without a reason to stay (much less come back), visitors would wander off after a few short seconds taking their business elsewhere -- usually offline to a credible, established storefront. Rather than invest more time and money so as to mold the website into a successful, credible, and predictable venture, many "Netpreneurs" would erroneously conclude that "the Internet doesn't work" and just give up, losing whatever money had been invested initially.


Soon we realized that if we wanted to stay in business, our clients needed to have a greater chance in succeeding. In order to do this they would have to provide fresh content for their visitors, update their websites often, and basically treat their online business like any offline business -- work it every day and take control of it. But how could they do this without learning everything we know? The search was on to find a system to use that was flexible enough to build custom sites as we always had before, but simple enough for our clients to take over the reigns once the website was built. Most of all, it had to be affordable and hosting requirements reasonable.

Big Brand Giants Infiltrate...Look Out! 

Meanwhile the "Big Brand Giants" caught on and embraced this new Internet technology. JC Penny, Sears, Barnes & Noble were all wanting in on the action. Already possessing the necessary credibility, they entered the Internet game armed with massive marketing budgetsl. But the technology fell short of their aspirations... So they paid top dollar to the most skilled programmers/designers and made the first successful attempt in perfecting the ecommerce experience.

Despite their contribution to what would become the defacto standard look and functionality for websites, the invasion of the big brands was not necessarily a welcome epiphany. If you've ever seen how a Home Depot coming into your neighborhood literally wipes out all the small hardware stores in the area, you will know what I mean. Just how could the small online Netpreneurs exist alongside much less compete with these deities of commerce?

But wait... This is the Internet -- a completely different medium with its own rules and potential uses. I put the emphasis on "potential" because that was all we had to hang on to. Sharks could smell "hope" a hundred miles away and hordes of self-proclaimed Internet Marketing gurus sprang up seemingly out of nowhere offering a variety of cures for non-productive websites. And why were websites so non-productive? Simple. No traffic.

A Band-aid is Not a Cure

Did their advice help at all? Yes and no. The most notable result and, by far, the most impinging was that Email Marketing (spam) spirals out of control becoming the number one marketing method of the day. It remains the number one aggravation despite well-intentioned attempts to legislate or regulate it.

Why, after all the pricey advice and billions of emails sent to unsuspecting victims, do websites still suffer from the malady of no traffic?

Believe it or not, you already know the answer... Consider your own reactions to sales pitches. You open your email and delete several seemingly unwanted junk mails before you really know what they are. You turn on your TV set to watch your favorite show and mute all the commercials being heaved at you or go grab a sandwich real quick. While driving down the road you turn up the radio when the music's playing and turn it down when ads come on.

In all the above examples, you have no control over what is being presented to you. This is referred to as "push marketing" meaning that advertising messages are pushed on you.

Now consider what you do when you go online... Is anyone standing in front of you telling you to visit Barnes & Noble to buy their latest release? No. If you do go there it was you alone that decided it was time to buy that book. And I'll bet that it was only after you did a little research about it first -- reviews, price, etc. If you're like most people, you go online to find out about something. You want information.

The Information Super Highway's Tarffic Cop

And who doles out this information?
Search Engines.

What do they look for to include your website in the search results?
Content.

What provides the answers that people are searching for online?
Content.

What makes you more credible as a business in the eyes of your visitors?
Content.

What should you put plenty of on your website if you want search engines to include you and visitors to believe you are for real?
Content.

What gives visitors a reason to return to your site again and again?
Content.

How do you post and manage all this content without spending a fortune?
Content Management Systems.

If you're considering having a website built, remember that content is still king on the web. You may be approached by designers who want to "wow" you with their special effects... You may be told by others that visitors want all the flash and never read your content. This is simply not true and now you know why.

And if you're worried that you don't write well or can't afford to get good content, think again. These CMS websites can be setup to allow other people to post content on your site for you!

Bottom line, you can have the best of both worlds when we build a CMS website for you. It will look great and provide all the content you need to make the search engines and visitors happy. Best of all, you can manage your content yourself and take charge of your online presence. That's what we can do for you.

Contact us if you have any questions.

To view examples of our work, please visit our Portfolio.