Businesses considering a new website should read this--the basics will help you choose the right partner and deliver content to grow your business.

1. A WEBSITE PRIMER
FOR NON-GEEKS
Ralph Sherman/madison2main.com
© madison2main, 2013, all rights reserved

2. Marketing Context
 Your website is your brand
 Most good websites are content/information-
driven
 Websites, like your brand, need to reflect both
short-term needs and long-term values
 Buyers today are looking for transparency--
expect brands to embrace the web’s value to
them
 All websites perform better when coordinated
with other marketing and operations strategy

3. Requirements
 Every successful website must have:
 Answers: Who/What/For Whom/Why
 Intuitive navigation
 Structural (designed) SEO (Search Engine
Optimization)
 Basic Analytics tools (aka Google Analytics)
 A plan for adding, replacing, editing content

4. Also Nice To Have…
 Relevant links from other sites
 Content sharing options (Blogs, Facebook,
Twitter, Pinterest)
 Promotional content
 Data capture and lead management system
(CRM)
 Valuable, proprietary content

5. Start Here
 Think of your website as an offer—buyers
choose offers when:
 They are aware
 They are quickly engaged
 You build trust
 You make it easy
 You make them smarter

6. Discovery Before Design
 Before your select a template, Content
Management System (CMS) or
agency/consultant:
 Discuss needs with your stakeholders
(employees, customers, investors)
 Do a brand inventory—what is your current
messaging, what needs improvement
 What if—understand what more leads might
mean to growth and operations--quantify
 Know what decisions require consensus vs
approvals

7. You Get What You Pay For
 Websites may be “free” or cost hundreds of
thousands of dollars—the more leads you
need, the more likely you will need
experienced, professional marketing help and
tools
 Service-based brands, especially local and
“search-driven” products can use a well-designed
website to assure “1st Page” rankings and
eliminate some competition
 If you don’t have someone “billable” on your staff
with content development skills and
communications training, you need to outsource it
and budget it as overhead or sales expenses

8. And SEO Is Still Critical
 On-site: how the content is written, titled and
annotated to index properly with organic
(keyword) search
 Off-site: growing in importance for indexing
high with search engines—sharing content,
links from other sites
“SEO is about being authentic, credible and
relevant to your brand and offering”.

9. Beware the Web “Dandy”
 If it sounds too good to be true, it is
 Web design is more than writing code, or filling
templates
 Proper web design and content will improve your
rankings, increase traffic and build lead
opportunities—it is still up to you to leverage that
 Social Media is not a “thing”—it is another tactic
that can build trust and awareness over time
 Don’t create a Blog if you hate to write—and don’t
outsource it to someone who does not know your
brand

10. And Remember…
 Every website is one thing if nothing else—a
trusted source of useful information.
Ralph Sherman
Principal Consultant
Madison2Main
Ralph.m2m@att.net
http://www.linkedin.com/in/ralphsherman/