Sometimes, it Pays to Be Direct

When a true friend must undertake the unenviable task of bearing grooming tips, they often do so in the form of a leading question, such as "Have you thought about going back to the standard multi-eyebrow configuration?"

It is in the same spirit of friendship that we sometimes have to ask, "Is it time for a new web site?"

Certainly that flash intro page (with music and animation) was the right move for your site 10 years ago. That was cutting-edge stuff, at the time.

"Call us for a Quote" was a reasonable call to action in 2000, but today's visitors expect immediate service. They want to configure, order and track their purchase without leaving the site.

Those banner ads you tried in 2001 to boost traffic - they felt a little overpriced, but did they work? Without accurate statistics of your site's traffic and sales, you were unable to calculate your return on investment, so you stopped trying to boost traffic.

Over the past five years, the tools to create trackable online marketing have fallen into place. Now is the time to redouble your online efforts - tie in your social-internet presence, work in a blog, add a map to your location and measure every bit of usage.