Five Strategic Web Development Blunders — And How to Overcome Them
Effective Web Marketing for the Building Materials and Construction Industry
In the construction and building materials industry, where the marketplace remains uncertain at best, many companies have neglected their most cost-effective marketing resource: the Web. Yet neglecting a Web site and Web marketing has serious consequences: it stifles the potential for growth, undermines a brand, frustrates prospective customers and makes acquiring new business more expensive than it needs to be.
In the end, a poorly planned Web strategy results in lost opportunity. By the same token, companies in our industry that devote appropriate focus and resources to their Web presence gain critical advantages over their slower moving competitors: cost-effective marketing and prospecting, better customer service, and a stronger brand, among many others.
The Baublitz Advertising interactive marketing team, B•Interactive, has created successful, profitable sites for numerous manufacturers, distributors and others in the building materials industry. Over the past year, as the Web has continued to evolve, the B•Interactive team has identified five critical mistakes that many companies in our industry make – missteps that squander opportunity and give competitors a chance to gain market share.
1. Lack of Strategic Planning
The problem
Today, every company recognizes it needs a robust Web presence. But often, companies leap to content and design before building a strategic platform for their site – a blueprint that clearly defines what value the site will bring to the visitor, and how. In addition, this plan should determine precisely how the site will help a company achieve a wide range of goals: increased sales, more efficient operations, stronger branding, enhanced public relations and others.
The consequences
Without a clear strategic framework, many companies wind up with a visually appealing site that fails to help a company’s bottom line. And without detailed, clearly defined objectives for an interactive marketing program, a company will never have the means to measure site performance and determine its success – or lack thereof.
The solution
Effective site deployment must go well beyond design. The best sites begin with critical strategic questions: What do we want visitors to our site to do? What are the steps prospects make during the buying process, and how can our site aid them? How can the site influence their attitudes – and their behavior?
The ideal Web development program is based on the answers to these questions, and on a strategic foundation that supports every aspect of a site. Baublitz uses a proprietary process, the Internet Marketing Plan, or I-MAP™, that results in a targeted blueprint for all of a company’s Web-based efforts: recommendations for content development, site optimization, search engine improvement, and more. But, whatever process a company selects, it must result in a plan that addresses the key questions listed above and work toward achieving a company’s overarching marketing goals.
1. Failure to focus on the user experience
The problem
A common approach to site development begins with the questions “What do we want to say about our company” and “What do we want to show”? Answering these questions is a necessary exercise, but when they become the primary focus of an interactive marketing approach, a company’s website can suffer. In fact, companies often neglect what should be a far more important driver of development: the audience.
The consequences
By failing to focus on a site’s actual users and what they want, a company risks serious problems: shorter visits, fewer return visits, negative reaction about a brand, lack of connection with customers, and other detrimental results. A site that fails to serve the needs of users will fail to achieve its potential for creating a positive impact on a company’s image – and its sales.
The solution
During the development process, a company must maintain a detailed focus on the experience of the visitor. First, identify which visitors you are trying to attract, why they might seek out your site, and what they might hope to learn or achieve once they arrive. Next, develop content, imagery, copy and a “look and feel” that will appeal to their needs and answer their questions. Create a navigation structure – this is critical – that enables them to easily find information and engage in desired behaviors. Finally, remove obstacles – forms that act as barriers to content, excessive splash pages, unnecessary logins, and so on – that may be annoying and (even worse) prevent return visits.
2. Neglecting to optimize for maximum effectiveness
The problem
Today, about 75% of all clicks result from natural, or organic, searches. Still, companies either fail to create any sort of program for search engine optimization (SEO), or they approach SEO as a “once-and-done” strategy rather than an ongoing requirement of success. That means far fewer prospects find your site, greatly diminishing a site’s ability to achieve key goals.
The consequences
Even the best site is useless if target audiences cannot find it. A weak or nonexistent SEO program means that fewer prospects reach your site and fewer sales result. On the other side of the ledger, a poorly optimized site can be considered more expensive to develop because its cost-per-visitor is much higher than that of a properly optimized site. Finally, without ongoing SEO analysis, companies forfeit a valuable metric for improving site performance over time.
The solution
Because the Web changes so rapidly, SEO must be a focus both during a site’s development and on an ongoing basis as the site – and the Internet – evolves. The best site development involves a rich SEO strategy that includes several elements:
- Content: Ensuring that content contributes to search-engine ranking on the broadest possible basis
- SEO fundamentals: Careful crafting of keywords and keyphrases, targeted page titles and meta-descriptions, alt/title tags and more
- Link-juice flow: Identifying which pages of a site are strongest for search engine performance and determining how to maximize that value
- Navigation: Examination and modification of site navigation and deep-page hyperlinking to generate SEO benefits
Any company that neglects these and other key elements of SEO (online press releases, regularly refreshed content, ongoing SEO review) risks the very real possibility of significantly curtailed site visits, an unnecessarily lowered online profile, and a weak prospecting effort. In addition, the savvier companies will spend time monitoring its SEO results, analyzing the effectiveness of its approach and continually modifying and updating its SEO program.
Bonus strategy worth considering: SEM. Today, 98% of B2B buyers use Google. Search engine marketing (SEM) offers a valuable way to reach those customers. A paid links program, like Google adwords, can provide a critical tool to supplement organic optimization efforts.
3. Lack of integration and analysis
The problem
There are many facets to a successful marketing program. These vary from company to company, but in our industry they often include the web, print advertising, direct mail, public relations, promotions, email marketing and others. Often, a company will focus so intently on the execution of each individual strategy that it fails to step back and create a cohesive, integrated approach that leverages the strengths of each. Worse, it may neglect to review the results of a program to guide future efforts.
The consequences
By neglecting to coordinate online and offline marketing tactics, companies miss potentially significant opportunities. They fail to give prospects a chance to learn more about a specific product, request information, make a purchase, or become a target for future communications. The net effect of a disjointed approach: a company fails to wring the full potential out of its marketing budget. And, by failing to analyze results – particularly detailed Web-based metrics – they run the risk of spending their budget on tactics that have a less-than-stellar track record.
The solution
During annual planning, focus on integrating the various elements of your marketing program – that is, ensuring each Web-based element supports and magnifies more traditional offline efforts, whenever appropriate. For example, a sales promotion may involve a special direct-mail piece or display, but it should also be integrated to include email marketing, a Web section for support or information, an online news release, and other efforts that maximize the potential of the baseline tactic. (At Baublitz, we seek integration as part of the I-MAP™ process, enabling clients to leverage synergies among various tactics.)
Finally: measure, analyze and evolve. Use the robust online metrics available to identify strengths and areas for improvement, and adapt your marketing accordingly.
4. Managing Growth
The problem We’ve all seen sites that may have once been clean, user-friendly and effective. But over time, elements are added, navigation becomes cluttered and content becomes less focused. For these companies, the site has morphed into something that’s out of their control. We’ve also seen sites that haven’t changed in – literally – years. Neither represents an effective approach.
The consequences A site that begins as a cohesive communications tool can quickly become sloppy, disjointed or difficult to navigate – characteristics that disorient users and undermine goals for a company’s site and its overall marketing effort. Conversely, a site that remains static sends a different kind of negative message, about a site and a brand: “Don’t bother visiting again; we never change.”
The solution A powerful site is not a “set it and forget it” initiative; a company should never become satisfied that it is “done” developing its site. Naturally, change can and should occur on every Web site. But that evolution should be incorporated into the plan for the site’s initial development. A few keys to controlled evolution:
- Establishing areas of the site (“News”, “What’s New,” “Updates”) that lend themselves to frequent modification
- Incorporating reasonably priced updating solutions that enable in-house staff – not a Web firm – to make basic revisions and additions to the site
- Creating a schedule for adding to the site, and sticking to it
- When adding a new section or undertaking more significant change, review the goals of the original strategic plan and consider how the new material will affect the user’s experience
- Removing outdated or stale material
Again, Baublitz uses its I-MAP™ program to provide a foundation for the evolution of a site to capture new opportunities. Whatever planning process you use, be sure to include a strategy that offers guidelines for growing the site in a way that maintains a focus on key goals.
A Competitive Advantage
While there are other common missteps to developing a Web presence and an interactive marketing program, the above tend to plague companies in the building materials and construction industry. By understanding these big mistakes – and taking action to overcome them – any company can gain a significant advantage, both on the Web and in our industry’s marketplace.