Build Small Sites for Future Growth
by Randall McCarley
September 8th, 2006
Today is the launch of Darryl McGuire Media’s first web site. It’s pretty simple and strait-forward showcasing Darryl’s experience and listing his services.
But it’s amazing how much can be done with small sites!
For example, the site is optimized for search engines. I’ll be dropping an .htaccess fix for the www vs. non-www versions. :P
It also validates according to the W3C. Darryl has a pretty tight market. If they can’t see his site clearly it won’t do him any good.
And even small sites can be promoted to do well. I’m sure Darryl will be thrilled to show it off to his collegues, friends and family. Especially after he wrote this glowing testimonial:
Rand has been a huge help to me in developing my website. While I’m fairly technically savvy, he was terrific at helping me to understand certain aspects of successful web development that never occurred to me. I’m so pleased with the result. I wouldn’t make another web move without him!
Simply creating a feed of the 3 URLs of the site can get it some more attention. And I even wrote a press release!
I alo have a stats program running and dropped HitTail on it so I can track progress and give solid recomendations for future growth.
Another, even smaller web site I built was for John Christensen of Fabrication Unlimited. It’s only one page! But the site delivers sales. And because I put in tracking software John and I know what we’re doing as we plan the update. I’m really impressed with the success of this micro-site and looking forward to expanding on it!
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September 8th, 2006 at 5:59 pm
Hi Rand,
Small sites, in our experience, do quite well in niche fields. If every page of the site is made to count (really succinct content, well delivered products or service descriptions, etc.)
a small site can be a powerful web presence.
Yet, we do encourage our clients to be always looking to the future for ways in which their
website can grow over time to make more use of the long tail, and to reach new groups of people.
But, I do find that it’s not usually helpful to overwhelm a new client with mammoth plans.
One step at a time, one article at a time, and all the while, allowing the site to age nicely.
Big companies may be used to dealing with big numbers whether this refers to employees, finances
or web content, but small companies are often more comfortable approaching business in smaller
segments.
Great post!
Miriam