Why Web Sites Die

It happens all the time: a new web site is launched, and fizzzzle... it just dies a quick death without ever getting anywhere, OR it shows some results for the first few months, peaks, and then dies within a year or so.

WHAT HAPPENED?

It never got off the ground to begin with. The most common reasons for this are:

• Bad design: Images, color, grammar, unreadable text -- all can be turn-offs
• No promotion
• Poor search rankings
• Not user friendly: Long loading times and difficult navigation are the worst offenders
• Poor function or performance caused by errors in your site
• Poor customer service resulting in bad word of mouth. This includes word spread via newsgroups, discussions, forums, etc. This also includes the bad word of mouth you give to yourself by not answering forum messages on your own web site if you have functions such as this.
• No credibility - a result of any or all of the above

It did great for awhile, then fizzled out. This is usually the result of one thing: COMPLACENCY. Many web site owners assume that once their web site is online, they can relax and forget about it. Or, once the web site finally starts to get rolling, the web site owner assumes it can continue succeeding on its own momentum. WRONG!

Complacency often results in:

• Failure to resubmit on a regular basis to search engines, which eventually drops the web site in rankings or drops them from the indexes altogether.
• Content gets old, stale, outdated, and/or irrelevant.
  • Old news and announcements
  • Expired offers
  • Invalid contact information or outdated email addresses
  • Unanswered questions or comments in forums/message boards
• Decreased or discontinued online and offline marketing. This includes failure to solicit reciprocal links for higher exposure as well as failure to advertise
• Decreasing or discontinued customer service and/or customer support
• Failure to notice or keep track of market trends
• Failure to keep track of the competition

How can you make your web site successful and KEEP it successful? Keep it fresh! Keep reading...

next  >> Hints for Success, Section 4: Marketing Your Web Site