Do it yourself
Unless you live on another planet, it’s hard to miss the new ad from the world’s largest website wholesaler. Let’s be clear, from now on, building a website is as easy as a “click”. A suitable layout? Choose from hundreds of available templates. A photo? A tie-wearing executive shaking hands with his counterpart in a suit will do. A marketing message? Who cares, any insipid blah blah will do. And the ad says so, we’ll be on Google and customers will be able to view our site on their smartphone. Great.
This sham always makes me smile: its studied naivety is disconcerting given how far the offering falls short of the promise. Because, after all, everyone who has worked seriously on SME growth issues knows it: in 95% of cases, the tool represents 5% of the problem. Success or failure on the web is above all linked to putting a web strategy in place that is aligned with the company’s offering and its customers’ expectations.
Focus on the tool or talk business?
There are therefore 2 ways for a company to approach the web:
The wrong one:
- I want to create a website
- I find a tool
- I add content
- I wait (a long, long time…)
And the right one:
- I want to grow my business through the web
- I put a web strategy in place that matches my ambitions
- I identify the means that will allow me to achieve my goals (Website, Facebook, Twitter, ScoopIt, Blog, Adwords, Yelp, iPhone App… By the way, I know a winemaker who makes 90% of his revenue through Facebook, and who doesn’t have a website.)
- I choose the right tools
- I measure and constantly adjust
One of these approaches can be done in just a few clicks, the other is the only one that makes it possible to successfully increase your revenue thanks to the web. It’s up to you to choose.
