Why Most Web Sites Fail

There is one thing that virtually any Web site that is not performing to exepectations can point to as the reason for its failure: lack of planning. Web sites must be carefully planned to be successful. Web sites won't support the business goals of the company by simply being attractive. Instead, Web sites need to have an articulated purpose and—through this—the goals of the site can be quantified and adjusted as needed.

What exactly should you plan for? Well, as Donald Rumsfield famously said in a Department of Defense meeting, "As we know, there are known knowns.There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say,we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don't know we don't know."

Just like the Department of Defense, you need to plan for all the above. You need to plan for the known knowns and the known unknowns. You need to at least accept that there are also unknown unknowns, and have a plan to incorporate that information when it does make itself known.

For example, did you know that there are studies that indicate that people clicking from a search result to a landing page make a decision to stay or click deeper into that site in about two seconds? If they found your site from a search engine, it was because they were looking for something specific. They weren’t searching on some random, vague term. They were looking for specific information. But you don't know which person, and which search term. This is an known unknown.

But with the proper planning, you can start isolating the range of keywords people use to find your site, and reduce that range from the whole universe of search terms to a handful that produce results for your business. Now you've turned this into a known known! By planning for the full range of known and unknown information, your site will begin to get in line with your expectations and you'll be able to see tangible results.

Creating a plan for your Web site isn't as difficult as it might seem. It requires a little patience and a willingness to learn, but it's not hard. In fact, we can jump start your learning curve with our eBook, Why Most Web Sites Fail. This eBook will instruct you on the four keys to improve your Internet marketing results and will outline four specific steps that you can take today to improve your business Web site so you can get more leads, increase sales, and use your Web site to support your business goals.

Is your Web site supporting your business goals? Learn the 4 keys to creating a successful Web site. Get your eBook today >>

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