In order of priorities, it could be argued, which one comes first, business needs or visitors? What is clear though is that technology comes last. Every business obviously has its objectives, but without visitors there is no business. Therefore a careful analysis has to take place, where the website is looked at, not in isolation, but as part of the whole customer buying /selling / support cycle, to see where the best fit is, what new functions the website could perform or replace, and also accept that depending on the business, the web might not always be the one all solution. Only then can a comprehensive strategy with its accompanying roadmap be formulated. Many times in organizations the web strategy almost has a life of its own only loosely connected to the business. Goes without saying that this is a waste of resources and doesn’t maximize any business benefits. Once the core of the strategy has been formulated attention can be turn towards to “widget world”, and even then it’s not about widgets, it’s about how to maximize the user /visitor experience. The website has a function to play in the cycle and the questions is  how can this be achieved, in the most cost effective way, with the highest visitor satisfaction, and at the same time assuring that there’s some type of additional benefit to the business, such as converting the visitor to a lead, increase likelihood of visiting again etc. On the web it’s all about the smallest details and the voice of the customer can never be underestimated. Therefore a comprehensive usability analysis needs to be performed prior to implementation. One amazing thing is, that the web being a reasonably new marketing tool, and the best way to introduce all your new products, the expectation from the customer base goes much deeper than this. Many customers expect web support for legacy products that were introduced even years before the web, and will rate their satisfaction of a company based this. The website therefore becomes primarily a sustaining marketing tool, which many web marketers don’t like, but it all makes sense for an established business taking care of their existing customer base first, before trying to acquire new customers.

It’s all basic marketing. Understand the needs of your customers. Analyze how you best can serve these needs, while still making money. If it is the web, that’s ok, if not, that’s also ok. If it turns out that the web is the tool, and you can delight your customers with cool widgets – it’s a bonus.