Reasons Why Small Business Websites Fail

Posted By Michael D'Elicio / 10th April 2009

I’ve been dealing with small businesses and their websites for years now, and a common theme keeps popping up – their web presence ranges from poor to mediocre, and they are always wondering why.  What they often fail to realize is that they put little to no effort into their internet marketing.

I think the reason for this is a fundamental lack of understanding of what websites can do for a small business.  It is without a doubt the best asset a mom-and-pop or a start-up has, and yet they treat sites like a Yellow Page ad or an online brochure.

The best way of reconceptualizing your site is to think of it like your virtual storefront.  I know of businesses which hire landscapers, interior designers, and branding agencies to beautify their bricks-and-mortar site, but will flinch at the idea of paying more than $500 on their business’s webpage.

In light of this, I came across a great list for why websites fail on Web Dev News.  Any small businessperson looking to grow their business online should take this list to heart.  A quick sample:

Whats the problem with this picture: You build a state of the art sports arena, its beautiful, has many sought out commodities and  was built in Antarctica. You may ask, “What’s the point of a sports arena if you aren’t going to have anyone use it?” A silly scenario, but a common pitfall for many websites out on the Internet, because they have a professionally made website with no budget for marketing. When budgeting out your website, make sure to appropriate sufficient funds to attract an audience to it. Use the following flexible rule of thumb for a website budget: a quarter of your budget for design and branding, a quarter for development, a quarter for public relations and SEO, and a quarter for advertising.

Indeed.

Big Ideas, Small Steps

Posted By Michael D'Elicio / 28th January 2009

I once went to a Wassily Kandinsky exhibit in Manhattan.  It tracked his progress from his early painting years (he had only begun serious art after the age of 30) to his great works later in life.

His first efforts were Impressionistic, and impressive in their own right as a member of the movement.  But as he progressed, his paintings became more and more abstract.  They dealt more with colors and shapes, and less with depictions of reality.  There reached, I felt, a crisis in the exhibit, where he was almost splashing colors onto the canvas with no rhyme or reason.  It felt sloppy and frustrated, and I doubt whether I would have cared for them other than in such a retrospective.

After the most scattered piece, and chronologically a year or two later,  came a classic Kandinsky (much like the photo to the side of this entry).   The amazing thing for me was that I could see the frustrated piece inside of it – only starker, harder lines, cleaner cuts, and a more focused idea of what he was trying to say.

Kandinsky dealt in cosmic ideas – physics, time, reality.  But it took him over 45 years of work to master his original concepts.  I tell this story as a word of comfort for anyone struggling with trying to create their own brand or their own voice.  Relax…sometimes it takes a while.  Just keep working.