Ten Unavoidable Reasons to Start a New Web Project

Project meetings are actually just hanging out at the coffee shop.

Unlike the rest of your weekly meetings having to do with unreasonable deadlines and seemingly unnecessary deliverables, the most effective web project meetings usually involve kicking back with good coffee and pondering the incredible potential of it all. Let it be noted that these “meetings” can happen as often as you like, and on whatever days of the week you need to get the heck outta the office. Did I mention my office just happens to be above a pub and across the street from the best coffee in town?

Spearheading a web project looks awesome on a resumé.

If you’re in marketing, or any other field for that matter, spearheading the development of a new web application adds some serious punch to your resumé. Not only does it provide tangible evidence of your talent, it also shows that you’re a great project manager with an eye for developing efficiencies. It's not always easy to enhance your resumé once you're ingrained in a position, but with a little initiative a simple web project can do exactly that.

It’s a one-time fixed cost that produces indefinitely.

It’s like the Terminator of the marketing world.

Print collateral runs out and campaign contracts expire, but a website keeps right on buzzing – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s like the Terminator of the marketing world. But truly, what other marketing investment can you make, at a one-time fixed cost, that has the potential to reach all your potential customers forever on into the future? It’s ROI on a mission.

Websites provide trackable and transparent results.

With search engine marketing, website analytics, and call tracking, you’ll not only be able to drive customers to your website, but you’ll also know what they did when they arrived and whether or not it generated any money – right down to the penny. While I very much appreciate the benefits of traditional marketing, I’ll put the web’s trackability and transparency up against that of print advertising, radio ads, or television commercials, any day of the week. There’s simply no comparison.

Automation saves time and makes money.

Whether it’s a simple online form to gather e-mail addresses for your company's monthly newsletter or a full-fledged web application to power your organization, the web can be harnessed to automate your business in an endless number of ways. Make your own life easier, the quality of your work better, and generate more revenue for your company all in one fell swoop. Cha-ching!

Missing the mark is temporary and low-cost.

Without a doubt, the vast majority of internet sites do practically nothing for their owners. Bad copywriting, improperly targeted markets, and poor sales processes leave a lot of potential business dangling in the wind. Fortunately, unlike other advertising media which require equally large investments to "try again," a website can usually be revised at a fraction of its original cost. So as unfamiliar or intimidating as a new website project may seem, it’s actually one of the more forgiving marketing ventures you can make.

Online marketing success is easy with diligence.

I run a number of paid search engine marketing campaigns for my clients through Google AdWords. These are the Sponsored Links along the top and down the right side of the Google results page. Believe me when I tell you that when I begin a campaign my results are practically always terrible. Yes, always. Yet over the course of several months, I try new approach after new approach until I discover something that actually works. And slowly but surely my results get better.

Ignore the fact that you don’t have all the answers and start discovering them – one at a time.

When it comes to the web there’s rarely a turnkey solution, but steady improvement is easy to come by. To succeed, you just need to ignore the fact that you don't have all the answers and start discovering them – one at a time.

Website projects pay for themselves.

Even the most basic of websites is an incredibly valuable tool for an organization. A registered URL provides a professional and permanent hub for email. Satisfied clients have a sales brochure to show their friends. Complementary businesses and publications have something to point their own sites to. And one simple informational page is all Google and Yahoo need to start sending relevant searchers your way.

The web drives customers. Customers drive your business. It’s not a question of if a new site will pay for itself, it’s a question of how fast.

Everybody involved gets smarter.

Being an extension of your existing business, and the arena in which it intersects with mine, a new web project often leads to some pretty intense conversation. I’ll most certainly get to rambling on about Google and some unexpectedly effective marketing technique while you talk dreamily about the exciting advancements in your industry. Two hours will pass and we’ll both hope we never see each other again.

That, or we’ll be so convinced of our inevitable world domination that we’ll be busting out the high-fives. It’s certainly been known to happen around here.

Astuteo does all the work.

Like I said, all it takes is a few cups of coffee and some serious conversation, and I handle the rest – award-winning graphic design, best practices web development, search engine optimization, and paid search marketing. The complete package from start to finish.

It ain’t a bad deal. Especially when it comes to business. And lucky for you, it’s what this company does best.