That may seem like a strange headline coming from the current president of what many still consider a “web design shop”.
But we actually buried that company a few years ago and our clients and staff couldn’t be happier. The shift from a web development job shop to strategic marketing agency wasn’t easy but we all know hard work pays off.
A decently designed template on a content management system with a little SEO sprinkled in on the side is no longer a recipe for success. Just “doing” facebook or twitter isn’t either. Today successes come in the form of meticulously crafted, integrated marketing plans developed to reach specific business goals. If your web guys are more interested in what color the background should be than your target audience it’s time to make a change. If they are asking more questions than they have ideas, your business deserves better. If you think a website is a project that needs to be addressed once every 5 years, think again. If you are still working with a web design/SEO company, just know they are dead men walking.
So who do you trust with the future of your company? Is it a sales guy with a team of designers, programmers, and project managers building websites to your specifications? Or is it with a team of forward thinking, marketing, advertising, and public relations professionals calling the plays for an in-house team of creatives and developers hungry to crush your competition?