Junk just collects dust
Web designers are in the business of selling web designs. That is the first principle of business to get a web design firm, as it is for many other kinds of companies. There is nothing new here except the entire purpose of a web site is to produce business for the owner, and a site just gathering dust doesn't do that.

Nobody claims that a web design needs to generate direct revenue for any company but it must connect with the company owner's market and participate that market. If the website does not connect with the marketplace it is just junk collecting dust. It may be a beautiful piece of work but it's still collecting dust.

Part of this problem is our duty because small business owners. We didn't go to a web designer and state,"I need a web site designed for my web market."

Instead, most small business owners say,"I need a web site designed for my business."

Our market does not care about us
The difference is about the focus our words make and also the intent that provides to a job. When the focus is really on our business it is not on our market. Thus, we end up with something we are thrilled with although our market isn't impressed and does not care.

What our economy cares about is the problem, not the looks of our internet site. They aren't likely to discuss our website with others because it looks cool, but they'll share if our enterprise website helps them and educates them about our business and how to make the best option for their needs.

Are we being educated on our marketing choices?
The chances are that our web designer does not really wish to go there. Rather they jump right into giving us a good look at their portfolio and indicating how they could customize and come up with something totally original for us.

And our fault is that we opt for this - not knowing any better.

But it's not really our fault. We proceed to experts to find the best information and all too often we are speaking to a professional which has a conflict of interest. This is the point where the web designer is advising us about the very best product they market. We might never find clear information about what all our options are.

For instance:
If the discussions never rolls on the low cost, or no cost, of"Pull Marketing" then we are not getting all of the available choices.

If the discussions never come around to talking about the differences among a market and a digital market then we are not seeing our actual needs.

If the conversations never get around to learning the way to establish a marketing profile to our internet market (not just guessing about our virtual market) then we are not getting to utilize the very best of what a website can offer our business.

And you will find more if's that the web design industry doesn't speak about. Web designers do not talk about our marketplace other than to ask us to explain them. It is so much simpler for them to look something for us. So many small business owners end up with a more gorgeous site that is headed for the scrap pile from one.

To design for our web market a design firm would have to know how to discover things about our digital marketplace that even we don't know. They would need to know about virtual markets and why they are distinct. Web designers need to understand our marketplace's shopping habits, what our marketplace worth the most and that values we have in common with our marketplace. But web designers, trendy or not, do not give us some of this.

The solution is in market segmentation
This is only another word for psycho-graphics. Segmentation divides a whole geographical or national marketplace into 7 segments where each includes a psychological profile that clarifies the segments shopping customs, values, likes & dislikes as well as general beliefs. These are better instruments to utilize on the web.

Reverse Laboratory
We could also stand back from our own company and request that business several questions to find things about the market it serves.

Doesn't our business provide alternatives for a marketplace?
Doesn't our experience include the pain and distress our market feels?
Can we mention our economy's biggest problem?
Once we've put words into the solutions we provide and for all who we supply them for then we're well on our way toward understanding our internet site should be made for.

We don't have to accept trendy web layouts which don't have any appeal to our marketplace. These just sit and gather dust. We need a website that engages our marketplace and this implies engaging our market.

Read that last line again. It is similar to saying,"If nothing changes... then nothing changes."

If our website doesn't engage our market it's only junk

No matter how beautiful and pleasing it is to our eyes.

And it's our job to make sure that our web designer will consider our market and what is perfect for our economy but we shouldn't expect this to happen. The reason for this is that there's not any one that understands more about our company than we do, however, we must stop listening to those professionals that are only thinking about us.

A professional web designer might not deserve all the blame for junk website, except that they are the self proclaimed experts and they hope that we'll hear them. Consequently, the primary rule of employing a web professional is not to let them designing our web site.

There is, of course, a fantastic deal more to learn about our digital market and how they think, what their shopping habits are, what their values are and what they believe in. There is not room in one article to pay for the web as a virtual marketplace or market segmentation to develop a market's profile. You'll see this information in other posts.