If You Build It, They Won’t Come

Change Order has an article about the changing face of the internet called “If you build it they won’t come.” It’s worth linking to, because it solidifies something we’ve been preaching for a while now. The days of sticking a website up, and expecting automatic traffic are long past. You absolutely, imperatively, unequivocally have to promote a site to build an audience. That being said, – it’s not all bad news; there are more efficient, and cheap ways of promoting your site than ever before. At the heart of the article is a relevant thought about the content of a site, and it’s importance to your readers.

“When when you start the planning phase of your next project, sneak a little area into your wireframe that talks about the following: how you want people to get to each page, and why they’ll want to go there. It’s something I almost never see discussed until a site is in build, when you’ve got “the luxury of time” — but I think that’s a weak strategy. Think it out in advance. Let it iterate with the system you’re creating. Get holistic on why every feature connects back to your community, and if it doesn’t, kill it.”