If you were driving around looking for a place to eat lunch, would you stop somewhere that looked old, dirty, and run-down? Or how about a place that didn’t have any signage, somewhere that you weren’t quite sure was even a restaurant? I can almost guarantee that you wouldn’t bother with either situation. There is something comforting about patronizing a business with curb appeal, nice decor, a clear and concise message about what they sell, etc. Well guess what? The same rules apply to your website.

Many businesses have terrible websites and many have brilliant websites. The trouble is, most of these businesses, whether their sites are good or bad, are not using them properly. Websites have no value, that's why companies can give them away for free. Websites are a medium. A pixelated representation of your business with a very concise purpose... to connect users with other people, knowledge, or information and these users need to be able to do something on your website.

You want your website to connect you to other people so they can do things better, cheaper, and faster. Being able to create a website and being able to extract value from the internet are two completely different skill-sets. A stunning, free website is not what you are after. You want something else, more customers. More transactions. More fans. A website is a medium, not a solution. It’s really important to remember this when you’re strategizing your online business goals.

A checklist of things to keep in mind about your website:

• Figure out what you want your website to “do” for your business?
• Who is your audience? Who would you like your audience to be?
• What specifically do you want users to do on your website? Some examples: connect, watch, listen, contact, register, engage, opt-in, donate, buy, renew, or anything of value.
• This website is a virtual storefront that will represent your business, it’s image, it’s professionalism, personality, etc.
• How will you drive people to your website and how will you keep them there once they’ve arrived?
• What are the possibilities? Can you imagine all the things that might happen for your business after you invest in your online presence?
• Are you ready to react to the shift in your business once you’re making an impact online?

There are a lot of different options when it comes to implementing digital strategy into your business model. Too many to list here. There are a ton of very informative videos on YouTube all about digital strategy and digital business transformation. We all use the internet now, there is no getting away from that fact. It is high time we all embrace the digital evolution of business operations. If you have any questions or comments, please hit me up in the comments section below.