WebWoman you are from Olympia? Welcome to the WebProWorld Community.
I live in the Steamboat Island Area of Olympia...
The number 1 most common mistake I see people make is they start marketing their sites before the site is ready.
I admit that in the planning stages some marketing can be helpful in determining how people interact with the site. When I first created the iBuilt.net site, I used PPC marketing, the
http://www.clicktracks.com software, and the
http://www.liveperson.com service to to monitor customer interactions on the site. Using these, I continually tweaked the site and tested the response.
It is very important that a site reflects the image of a company. If the site's appearance is poor, so will be the response. Also, the content needs to be targeted to their demographic and has to be presented in an intuitive manner.
As I say on our resources page (
http://www.ibuilt.net/links.htm ):
A well thought-out web site incorporates more than just graphic design, networking technologies and programming. It requires a solid integration of your unique business and marketing strategy. It must have an intuitive interface and execute your objectives efficiently. It should target your customer demographic and promote your products effectively. Without proper planning, your site can turn away potential customers and send out the wrong impression of your company. It can tarnish all the goodwill that you have built.