Web Presence Auburn NY

Source: CUSTOM HOME Magazine
Publication date: July 1, 2007

By Leslie Ensor

David Meerman Scott, the author of the best-selling book The New Rules of Marketing, made a compelling case for the importance of a Web site as a marketing tool when he spoke at CUSTOM HOME's Directions 07 conference in June. His message: When it comes to the Internet, “you are what you publish.”

The editors of CUSTOM HOME do a lot of the preliminary legwork for stories on our computers searching builder and architect Web sites. I can safely say that collectively we've checked out many hundreds of sites over the years. And, as you might expect, we've formed some opinions about what makes a good impression. So, in the interest of helping you polish your Web presence, I offer what we like and don't like about your sites.

The best Web sites express the personality of the company both verbally and, more important, visually. We're no different than your customers—we rely on what we see more than what we read or hear. A clean, well-designed Web site that is easy to navigate tells visitors more about the quality, design, and functionality of your homes than any claim you could ever make. A Web site is not an ad, it's a package of information, and the way the site looks is important information.

Obviously, we're looking for good projects that are well photographed because that's what we need for stories in the magazine. But the quality of your projects won't come through to us.

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