Lean Marketing for the Web: Deploy Fast and Iterate

Posted on December 13, 2016 Mary Merritt

Don't get paralyzed by perfection.

Have you ever heard the term: "paralyzed by perfection?" Well, if you haven't heard it, you may have experienced it from time-to-time. In this installment of our small business-targeted articles, we talk about why the web truly rocks, and why you shouldn't be too worried about making your business' website absolutely PERFECT (if there is such a thing).

Why the web ROCKS.

It's true. We love the web. We love it with all of our hearts. It's not like a print job where you send something to press and it's DONE forever. If you want something changed on that print piece, you have to make changes to the source file and then send to the printer again. What happens if you just want to change one word? Or maybe there are a couple of small changes that didn't make it through the quality assurance checks? Well, with the web, it's normally as easy as logging into a CMS (content management system) and fixing small changes right there... and these changes can be deployed immediately. Just one reason the web totally rocks our world.

When you are working on your first ever website (or a redesign for that matter), remember what you just read. In all circumstances, your website should never truly be completed. As web professionals, it is our job to build you a website that can weather the changes that your small business will surely encounter. Anyone with a start-up understands that the learning curve is more of a perpendicular line straight up from the bottom axis, which represents time. So much to learn, and so little time!

As you get more and more feedback from your clients, you will start to realize how your business model has to bend and skew to fit your customer’s needs. Therefore, the content of your website will be ever-changing. Get it out there, track everything, make meaningful measurements, get insights from customers and web professionals, create a list of action items, and back to iterate. It's the only way your website will ever get to the point of driving leads and revenue for your business. You can’t get started with this process until you deploy some business engines out into the world.

Why using professionals like us is rad.

Hey, it doesn't have to be us. We would LOVE it if you gave us a call, but we're more interested in seeing YOUR business succeed. We just hope that you decide to vet a "web intelligence" company who is honest, and who knows how to read data and gather insights from the data. That whole "track and measure" thing doesn't really work unless you get someone who knows what they are doing. You would be surprised how interesting, educational and fun it can be to run through a process like that, too.

Remember: Deploy fast and iterate!

Fast and deliberate website deployment paired with amazing metrics leads to quick and fruitful iterations; you'll promptly gain a better understanding of your web audience, and iterating as data insights are uncovered helps to fine tune your efforts and bring in targeted leads and sales.You are working in a vacuum until you release your presence to the community and start getting a great feedback loop going. So you do have to take that first step in order to get on with the learning!

Good luck all you crazy business owners!