“Build It and They Will Come”: Only in Hollywood
In the movie, “Field of Dreams,” the statement is made that if a baseball field was built, people would come. That fictional movie’s axiom does not hold true for websites. As a website development company, we have fierce competition. Steady, ongoing, consistent work is needed to capture important niches. As the owner of a website, you realize that this is true of your own niche. People know that the internet is not going away so they are vying for the top spots in the search engine results. Anyone who wants to retain their market share for their products/services will quickly see the need for a website. However, many people unfortunately have the false impression that “if they build it, they will come.”
Myth 1: If I build a website, I will get visitors.
We have been building websites since 1997. It used to be that all you needed to do was put content on a site and you could easily rank it if you did some minor things. The competition was not there and the search engines were not as intuitive as they are today. Google, the “Mother of all Search Engines” serves up the best results because it is interested in giving the best sites prominence. You can no longer simply just build a site and move on. You need to make your site the best, authoritative source of information for your niche. That requires an intentional pursuit.
Myth 2: If I build a nice looking website, I will get visitors.
As a graphic designer, I wish this was true. While good design is important, poorly developed sites frequently populate the best results in Google. When you search for sites, they all look the same: they have a title, 250 character description and URL. People are visiting your site, not because they see its design, but its description. A nice looking website DOES help people stick around and glean information from your site. So, focus on both, clean and informative.
Myth 3: I am not able to get decent rankings, therefore I will not get visitors.
Let’s consider an opposing idea. Many people think it is too difficult and too late to have an effective website. Every week I sit down with current and new clients to discuss various niches. I am amazed at the fertile, pristine, untouched ground available. The internet is big enough for all of us and there are plenty of gold mine niches.
Summary: If you have a website, it takes a consistent, dedicated effort to promote a site. Simply building a site and letting it go “stale” is a waste of time, effort and money. Don’t let the fictional axiom “build it and they will come” set the wrong expectations. Rather, commit yourself to the axiom, “Build it AND PROMOTE it, THEN they will come!”
