Why do so many websites fail?

The Problem

It's a problem experienced by many small businesses: they invest in a website expecting it to generate new revenue, but nothing happens. As a result, they conclude that the Internet doesn't work for them.

But for the most part such a conclusion is a mistake. When implemented properly, Internet advertising is effective, even for very small enterprises and sole traders.

A crucial distinction

The reason many websites fail is because of a common misperception:

a website and online advertising are the same thing

No, they most certainly are not! A website in itself is not a marketing solution, rather one part of a solution. A website on its own - no matter how attractive - will not deliver business results.

Design-led projects

Frequently, the problem stems from another false assumption: the perceived wisdom that graphic designers should develop and manage a website project. The rationale is that a visually appealing design equals success. For a business website, however, there are more important issues and they often conflict with a designer's artistic aspirations.

We are not dismissing the value of appearance but suggesting that it should be balanced against other business needs. And we submit that a graphic designer is not the best person to make that judgement.

The Solution

Goal-driven projects

The nature of these objectives will vary but are often one or more of the following:

• Generate sales leads
• Sell products online
• Reduce costs through self-help customer service

Every aspect of the project is focused on the required goals and they become the only acceptable measure of success.

Action Plan

Implementing a goal-driven project requires a structured and planned approach. Corporate organisations develop marketing plans based on deep research and analysis. For most small local businesses, however, an extensive process is unaffordable and probably inappropriate.

Where the goal is to generate sales leads or sell products, Diadem recommends a simple action plan based around 3 logical stages:

A. Drive traffic to your website

The purpose is to prompt visits from your target market (i.e. the people you want as customers - often defined by location, age, income, etc). Think about why and when these people would need your products or services. Will they search for them, or do you need to stimulate their interest? What 'messages' are likely to get their attention?

It is helpful to look at what your competitors are doing but don't assume that it's working (a substantial amount of advertising budget is spent without any attempt to measure its effectiveness).

The answers will guide your choice of advertising tools (search marketing, display ads, e-mail, etc) that will bring customers to your website.

B. Convert visitors

Prompting traffic to your site is pointless if a high proportion of visitors depart within seconds (it's called bouncing and is a common problem).

Remember, the only acceptable outcome is to achieve your business goals. So, you want visitors to take actions that have value: making contact by 'phone or e-mail, coming into your office/shop, placing an order.

Achieving visitor conversion is the most difficult part of online advertising but there are best-practice guidelines:

• Relevance. When visitors respond to a specific advertisement they expect the web page to pick up and develop the theme of the ad. Use different landing pages tailoured to each message or offer (our case study about an online jewellery store includes an example).
• Assurance. Your website visitors will have questions and concerns. Find out what these are and make the answers part of your site content.
• Empathy. Focus on your customers. Information about your business should be communicated in the context of meeting your customers' needs and aspirations.
• Concise. People generally don't read web pages, they scan them. Keep your writing style lean and use visual communication methods where possible.
• Ask. Include a strong and prominent call-to-action on every page: "Call today for free advice", "Call now to claim your 10% discount".
• Flow. Try to create a logical flow where your visitors move easily from step to step, and where taking the 'desired action' is the natural and compelling conclusion to the visit.

C. Review and improve

Successful Internet advertising requires ongoing management, so the 3rd stage is about establishing a routine of measurement, review and adjustment. As a minimum, the following questions need to be answered:

1. How much revenue does the advertising produce?
2. Is the cost-to-revenue ratio acceptable (i.e. the return on investment)?

The second question requires you to have a target figure - the amount of revenue you need in return for every £1 spent on advertising.

Even if the ratio is acceptable, can it be improved?

One of the characteristics of online advertising is the ability to test and experiment at very low risk. For example, a range of different adverts can be displayed concurrently to different customers. The performance statistics are usually available within a few hours, so it easy to identify which combinations of message, format, location, etc. are producing the best results. Similar testing can be applied to the website pages.

Management of the process is time-consuming and can be tedious, but the gems are found in the detail. Sometimes the smallest change in words or layout can produce a disproportionate improvement in performance.

Case Study

To see Diadem's 3-stage plan applied in practice, read our case study about a County Down heating engineer.