Websites aren't dying. Most are born dead.

Happy Friday

Last week a reader made a comment that stuck in my head all week.

She said her website is mostly irrelevant.

It was just an aside. A small comment in a longer conversation about social media and book marketing. She’s doing super well and I’m really happy for her.

But that comment stuck in my head. All week.

Because you know what?

Most websites are irrelevant. And they shouldn’t be.

It’s been my pet peeve for 20 years.

It reminded me of a client I worked with a few years ago. They’d built a website but it was a dud. Didn’t get traffic, didn’t retain traffic and didn’t convert. So they went to Facebook. Built a giant following and sold their product right on FB, too.

For a couple of years, it was all sunshine and roses. First he quit his job. Then she did. Their business was paying enough that they made the dream came true. Working from home on a business they loved.

One day they woke up and their Facebook page was gone. Just poof — gone. They were losing their minds. That’s when they contacted me.

So we rebuilt their site and their Facebook. But this time, Facebook was just one place driving traffic to their site. Everything they’d done before, they did again. But this time FB wasn’t their whole business. It was one channel. Business grew like crazy.

Mostly that doesn’t happen. Most websites bounce half their traffic, convert under 2% and do abysmally bad at drawing in readers or customers.

I read a post on Medium where some doofus was shouting that websites are dying. No one needs them anymore, he said. I wanted to tell him websites aren’t dying, most of them were just born dead.

Here’s how websites mostly work.

You build a website. Then it just sits there doing nothing. If it was an employee, you’d fire it. Because it’s not really doing anything for you. And when you work your butt off to drive traffic, they look and leave. Half your visitors bounce. Maybe 2% convert.

It’s irrelevant. You have to go bust it on social to get any results. Which means people who don’t want to bust their buns on social (or don’t have time to) just struggle.

But here’s the problem with killing it on social. Algorithms.

They change. For a while you’re riding high on Medium or Facebook or Instagram or wherever and then the algorithm changes. And poof, you’re hurting. If it was just one channel fueling your site, it’s okay. But if not? You’re scrambling.

Know why so many websites are duds?

Because website design has become about technology.

There are Square Space designers, Wordpress designers, Wix designers, Shopify designers, etc. They know a platform.

I kind of get how we got to this place. Because when you log into a new Wordpress install, it’s intimidating. And before website builders, writing raw html wasn’t for everyone. They’d look at the code and say get me out of here.

Also, the opposite. Some platforms make it so easy, anyone can build a website. Building one that works is a different story.

Steve Jobs once said design isn’t just how it looks, it’s how it works.

I never even liked Steve Jobs, but he’s right.

It is about how it works, and how most websites work is terribly. They’re showcases when they should be part of an overall marketing strategy. But very few people know how to build that strategy. Not the designer and not the site owner.

At the top of the list, internet marketers. Selling a how to make money scheme in a world where half of us are struggling isn’t rocket science. Most internet marketers would choke and die if they had to sell bags of coffee or a fiction novel.

For years, every time a new client came to me I told them we needed to develop a strategy first, before we build the site. I came to design from marketing, so that was just a no brainer to me. Every time I didn’t do it that way, I wished I had.

Eventually I moved from design back into marketing and here’s why.

Very few people see the value of a website.

They don’t want to talk about marketing or underlying strategy. They think they can do seo later. They just want it to look like the picture in their head. Sometimes they’d send urls. Can you make it like this one?

So when a client I’d taken from no sales to seven figures asked if they could hire me to do their marketing. I said sure. Now they do multiple seven figures. Today they have a whole different idea of what a website is worth than most people.

Worth is a funny concept, isn’t it?

It’s based on what we think we’re going to get.

But I miss working with dreamers.

There’s a real buzz to teaching, you know? That magical minute when someone gets it and everything changes. I miss that.

Right now, I’m working on a workbook to teach the strategy I use when building a website. The first workbook is specific to writers, because it’s not the same for every industry. How you sell depends largely on what you sell.

Plus, I have a soft spot in my heart for writers. It will be out in September. I’ll be looking for reviewers soon. :)

As you know, I’m also working on a prebuilt website. But the book has to be first. Without it, people would just use the site to build more duds and I don’t want that.

I’m also considering offering consulting to walk people through the strategy.

So here’s my question for you…

If you have a website, how’s it working?

If it’s doing great, I’d love to talk to you. Maybe showcase what you’re doing. And if your website isn’t doing much and you’re interested in the workbook, let me know that, too. Just leave a comment either way so I can reach out. Thanks!

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Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this, click the heart to let me know. Hearts are how you tell me what to write more about. :)

xo,
Linda