Smarter, Faster, Cheaper: Non-Boring, Fluff-Free Strategies for Marketing and Promoting Your Business

Chapter 10. Creating a Sharable and Spreadable Website

If you think about it, your website is your house. You can have the best marketing and promotion in the world, but if your house is a mess, nobody will want to come over or come back.

The corporate-speak, one-way website is dead (or at least near death and digging its own grave). It has always been boring, but now it is really on its way to the marketing museum of old ideas.

Your website is your first big impression. It is your home that you invite others to visit. Actually, some get invitations, and some just show up at your door, unannounced. But both kinds of guests are great.

Have you ever met someone who is sharply dressed? He talks eloquently. He probably has some great stories to tell. He is modern, hip, and fun. And then he invites you over and to your absolute shock, his house is stuck in 1972. There is gold shag carpeting. There are Brady Bunch posters. It is like taking a trip back in time. Does your impression of him change? Would you trust him? Would you want to find out more?

What about the online equivalent?

Your online house is a reflection of you—your personality, style, and ability. It needs to be welcoming, interesting, and comfortable—a great place to hang out. It needs to compel visitors to want to stop by again and again.

Let's say you are meandering through Facebook or Twitter, reading the comments on someone's blog, or just Googlin' around. You notice something interesting that someone else has said or posted, ...