I could write about a lot of things that benefit any online business, but there seems to be one overarching theme things keep circling back to.
So riddle me this, my friend:
What is the actual reason why your web site exists:
- To look pretty and make you look good?
- To ‘get your name out there’?
- To make it possible for people to ‘contact you’?
- To ‘describe’ your products and services?
This is what comes up when looking at company sites who haven’t really thought about why they’re putting up a web site in the first place.
Pretty silly when you think about it, right?
Instead – the real reason for a web site to exist… could it be… possibly… just perhaps…
- To make more money, for you and your business, at every step?
It’s now 2012, and so many people and so many businesses still dance around this issue it’s stunning.
Even the biggest newspapers in the world have finally come around and admitted they lost a decade and untold billions in revenue by not thinking things through first.
To make money ‘later’ is like choosing to have a child and deciding to ‘choose later’ whether you’ll support the kid. Nuts!
Sound familiar? ‘Just amass market share and the money will come…’
Unfortunately many startups as well as corporate divisions have gone down this path, and many more will before saner minds prevail.
If you’re in charge of your company’s online operations, here’s the thing to remember:
- Web design and web business are two different disciplines. Two entirely different competencies. Make sure you’re getting what you need.
If nobody in your web team has ever made a verifiable dime online in their life, they probably have no business trying to do the same for you. A business exists to make money, and you deserve the benefit of online business models that actually work. After 10+ years, they do exist. Go and find the people in the know. 
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I totally agree with you. It’s funny to see corporations investing 30k in redesigning their website, while their online advertising budget is around 5k a year. And pretty much nobody here in nordic countries talk about sales and especially squeeze pages. The entire lead based business model is something only a few understand. But I think this is great as I see a clear business potential for guys like us
Marko Pyhäjärvi´s last [type] ..Tee vuodesta 2012 lisäarvon antamisen vuosi
Too true, the web budgets in most companies around here are truly lopsided, in the wrong direction. It’s a tiny bit funny, because if you were to explain a similar situation in an offline setting, you’d sound pretty nuts not even trying to close some sales. But, as businesses get squeezed in the marketplace, they’ll get hip to squeeze pages and more..
I get two types of questions, email and search engine. I give priority to email questions, and tend to answer both in the order that I receive them. At the end of the lists of web business design questions, I have included a voting form, with all the questions in alphabetical order. You can vote for questions that you are particularly interested in, and I will raise the priority of them.
This is to see their investment is 30 KB for Web site redesign per year for online advertising budgets of companies funny about 5 k and almost nobody here is talking about selling pressure, especially in northern countries pages. Model based on the pioneering work, apparently quite a few. But you can see this big, such as our kids, ? think it’s clearly potential business
Nice post on web design vs web business! Liked the post! Go on..
Great thoughts! Juho. It is easey to lose sight of the most important and get lost in the details.
Stephen´s last [type] ..Promoting Your Blog ……. No comment
Thanks for such a well written and informative post. Pls have a look at my recent hubpost http://bmukherjii.hubpages.com/hub/DogTrainingVideos
International Business´s last [type] ..What Is SOPA And Why It Is Important?
You nailed it! I’ve learned a lot from your blog here! Keep on going, I hope more people discover your blog because you really know what you’re talking about. Can’t wait to read more from you! I will keep an eye on it.
Breakup To Makeup´s last [type] ..How To Get A Guy Back The Moment He Left You
Hi,
Good tips, but before starting a web design business one must have enough knowledge of web design so that when he gets new project he will do it easily and he should be creative while designing websites.
He should be able to promote his business easily and have lots of contacts which help him to get new business and keep future plan intact with him.Thanks for sharing this great post.
majidahmed´s last [type] ..Crohn\’s and IBS Blog
Is it true we have to change design from three in three years? A friend of mine says so.
Laura – while I’m no expert in web design, there are no set rules. If you don’t have a business reason for changing design, it’s probably a good idea to not change a thing. Especially if things are working well already. Don’t change something that works just to look good…
Actually I have did this “later” thing for many of my web project and it’s not really the worst decision to make. People are tired of ads and they will leave the sites that they first visit and all they are seeing are ads and promotional messages but once they get used to site and you have stable visitor base you can start to sell advertisement space, try to sell product because people love your content and they won’t just run away after first sales message or because now you have ads on your site.
The website is all about visitors and readers and without them they are useless regardless how beautiful they are and how good is your content
Mike´s last [type] ..Vocabulary Level E Answers
Great thoughts Juho btw i am huge fan of web design but web business is also equally important. thanks
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There’s a lot more to being a successful web designer than designing good web sites. The key to running a profitable business is to know that your job is actually to satisfy your client.
This section provides guidelines from our experience of running web teams and our own agency, which we hope will help you be more successful and more fulfilled.