Commerce Business News
Northwest Georgia and Southeast Tennessee
January 2001

"Why Web Sites Fail!"
By Marsha Boyer

Does this sound familiar, "We have a web site. We knew it would be a waste of time and money, but we tried it anyway because everyone said we should have one. Well we were right, it didn't work!"

Whether your internet presence is meant to function as a stand-alone, online business or as a marketing tool for an established retail business, the same rules for success or failure apply to both.

There are probably hundreds of reasons why web sites fail, but let's get right to the point and look at the top 5 reasons web site fail:

Reason #5: Don't know the target market!
Who is the target market; young, old, women, men, high, middle or low incomes, are they gardeners, home decorators, animal lovers, techno-wizards or technologically handicapped?

If a site is targeting sports enthusiasts, stick to sports and recreational items. Don't throw the proverbial kitchen sink into the online catalog. If you want to sell unrelated items, then have two web sites. Internet shoppers want to spend money, but they will only do it at sites that are focused on a particular subject.

Reason #4: Treat it like a hobby or toy!
If a web owner doesn't treat the online business seriously, then why should others? Working a web site should not be determined by the TV schedule.

Telltale signs of "hobby" web sites are, "free" offers for unrelated items or services, no phone numbers listed and the #1 biggie is not personally responding to email requests in a timely manner.

Reason #3: Poor web site design.
A web site should first offer easy access to educational material on related subjects. That's called "content". If it doesn't offer lots of content, don't expect people to stick around and explore.

The ideal site should be content intensive, not graphics intensive. Like any good salesperson, a web site should first educate the perspective client, and then sell the product.

Reason #2: Selling common items.
If 500,000 sites are selling millions of widgets just like yours, chances are you won't make much money. Now, if your widgets have a special quality that can only be found at 100 sites around the world, then you will see a profit. The key is to specialize.

Reason #1: No visitor traffic!
There is a preconceived notion that when a web site goes live, millions of people will just happen to find it on their own. If you opened a new business downtown, would you expect people to just find it somehow? No! You would advertise! It's simple... No traffic... No business. Failure to advertise an online business spells dome from the beginning.

Next issue, "If you tell them, they will come!"

Brought to you by Tri-State AD-vantage
"Committed to Making Web Sites Work!"
701-523-4221

---