There’s an old saying not to run before you can walk and nowhere is this truer than in business. Time and time again, businesses spend vast sums of their budget on advertising, marketing and branding designs only to fail at the final hurdle – their website.

There’s absolutely no value in embarking on any kind of marketing strategy that has the principle aim of getting customers through the door if the door you’re opening them to is an empty building. Poor website design, complex navigation and irrelevant, inaccurate content will repel potential customers and send them running in the direction of a firm that values simplicity and quality – which is likely to be your competitor.

Every business ultimately wants to increase its customer base but the key is to get the basics right in the first instance before singing from the rooftops about what you can offer.

Whenever I ask a business owner why they don’t have a website (or a very good one) I always get the same two responses, either: ‘my products can’t be sold online so is there any point?’ or ‘my business is only small so I don’t really need one’. Both viewpoints completely underestimate the power of the modern consumer, who searches for information online before they ever make a physical purchase or visit to a business to complete the transaction. Customers expect every business to have a website and a good-quality one at that. People base their perceptions of a business on the standards and professionalism of its website and if yours is notably absent or lacking in quality, then without doubt you will lose customers.

Frequently, businesses shell out on expensive advertising campaigns without considering whether their website could benefit from an overhaul first. Any customers arriving at a landing page as a consequence of an advert will be bitterly disappointed to be greeted by anything less than professional. You only get one chance to make a good impression and your reputation depends on getting it right first time.

The same goes for building a database. Firms spend a lot of time acquiring information from their customers to build databases which provide them with targeted marketing opportunities in the future. However, precious information about people’s likes, interests and buying habits are inconsequential if they are not backed up by a wells-structured website that reinforces branding ideas and delivers appropriate, market-specific key messages.

A website would be much better perceived as a constantly evolving artwork than something that is fixed and complete. Consideration needs to be given to the functionality and the presentation of a website every time a firm embarks on a fresh marketing campaign to ensure it supports and reinforces the messages being delivered to the customer. Websites have the power to enhance and damage reputations and the consequences of getting it wrong can last a lifetime.

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