If You Build It, Will They Come?

I remember the Kevin Costner movie, Field of Dreams. The memorable line from that movie was “Build it and they will come”. That’s great for the movies, but in real life - it’s not quite as easy. Any business requires marketing. If you decide to start a business, you get your office space, or building location, stock your shelves or get your materials in order and you’re ready to start work. So what do you do - sit around, twiddling your thumbs waiting for folks to beat down your door? No, you market the business. Have business cards printed, run ads in the paper and the yellow pages, join the local Chamber of Commerce, perhaps even have radio or TV ads. You market your business, or ideally pay a professional to market your business for you.

The same is true for an online web site. You can build it, but they won’t come unless you tell them where it is! As a web designer, my job is to build the web site - just like a home builder/contractor builds a house; I build the online “home” for your business. You wouldn’t expect the contractor who built your house to call all the utility companies for you, call all your family and friends and tell them your new address. You have to let everyone know where to find your new location. The same is true for your web site. The web designer builds the web site - you market the web site; or pay someone to market the web site for you, as in an ad agency or marketing specialist.

Is Marketing the Same as Search Engine Optimization?

No. They are similar, in that both can drive traffic to your site, but they do so from different perspectives.

Marketing involves online and offline advertising of your business and web site via traditional advertising methods and also online banner advertising. It’s good old fashioned “getting the word out” so folks know you exist. Getting your business name out there for public recognition.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) involves specific strategies to help your site place higher in the search engines. This involves many aspects and if not done using ethical practices, your site could get banned by the search engines. So choosing a good SEO specialist is just as important as choosing a good marketing director and web designer.

Building a business is rarely done by a single person: it involves a team effort from professionals who specialize in specific areas needed to help a business grow to its full potential. You know your particular business or industry better than someone not in your line of work.

This same principle applies to web design, marketing and SEO specialists. Hire competent professionals to handle these aspects of your business for you; so you can get to doing what you do best: running your business.

Here’s a related article by a Janice Kalyniuk of Perth Web Hosting:  http://janicekalyniuk.com/why-cant-i-find-my-site.html

July 30, 2006 | Filed Under For Clients Only 

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