Most businesses are catching onto the idea that they need a website to remain competitive in the new economy.  The problem is, most of the websites businesses publish don’t do anything to make them money.

The critical mistake most business owners make when they come to develop their website is to ask a website designer to help them produce their website.

That may seem harsh and maybe even “over-the-top,” but the reality is that most web designers have learnt how to write code and how to use graphics to make a site look pretty, but they don’t understand the basics of marketing.

Most websites have the same structure.  You know.  They have the following pages:

• Home
• About Us
• Products
• Store Locations
• News
• Contact Us

Now this type of site may seem logical and intuitive.  However, what you have with this type of site is basically an online brochure.  There is very little that happens with this type of site, other than supporting your brand and assisting with developing your business image, as long as the website actually looks modern and attractive.  Far too many fall way short of even this basic aim.

Most businesses don’t use their website effectively because they don’t put enough thought into the following question relating to any page on their site: “What do we want the reader to do after they view this page?”

Most static, brochure sites provide information, without asking for any specific action to be taken after reading the information.

If you do nothing else with your website, give some thought to this question and take action on it.  Ask yourself what you want your website visitors to do after visiting each of your pages and you will start to create an interactive site that motivates customers to take the first, or next, step in your marketing process.