So you’ve got a website. And it’s probably pretty and tells visitors all about how great your company is. But is it cutting it? Probably not. You see, what you’ve got is an old fashioned brochure style website. The kind that does nothing really other than to provide some information (all about you) to visitors who are then probably going to click elsewhere.

Sorry to burst your bubble. But stick with me and you’ll learn why your website won’t cut it and what you can do about it.

Wait, What's A Brochure Website?

A brochure website is a type of website that was popular and very common in the early 2000s. They're basic in that the idea behind them is to simply talk about a company, who they are, what they do, and how to get in touch with them. Brochure sites tend to be very light on features (most notably lacking any sort of engagement or goal to generate anything more than traffic. And they often have an unhealthy emphasis on the look and feel to "measure" its success.

Back then, those websites were fine. They did what they were supposed to do and everyone was happy. As time has gone on and the Internet has grown to become a whole new marketing tool, brochure websites just don't cut it anymore. The websites that help generate business are websites that have far more than a pretty design.

So what – exactly – are the issues with a brochure website that keep it from being truly successful?

1. With brochure website, you can't measure, well, much of anything

Other than measuring traffic, because brochure websites are missing key measurement elements, it's nearly impossible to know what kind of return (if any) you'll get on your website. In other words, if you spend $5,000 on a brochure site, how do you measure if you've made your money back? The short answer is that you don't.

The reason is because brochure websites are missing key essentials:

calls to action / lead generation mechanisms,
data and reporting.

Without these items, there's virtually no way to know if your site is giving you a return.

2. Brochure sites just won't rank in Google all that well

Yes, a brochure website can rank decently in Google. But not for a broad set of keywords, including long-tail keywords that can reap benefits down the road.

In fact, Google's own Webmaster Guidelines state that creating valuable content on a regular basis is important. That's hard to do on a five-page brochure site that never changes.

Websites that generate new content – such as a blog – do better. That means more traffic, more leads, and more customers.

3. Brochure Sites Are More "Me" than "You"

Here's something a lot of business owners don't understand: your website is not for you – it's for your customers and potential customers. That is, they're meant to engage, educate, be effective, and encourage action. Your website really should only be around 20% promotional and 80% helpful to your target audience.

Brochure websites fail in this aspect – badly. They tend to be filled up with sales and promotional information, or their pages almost all focus on how great the company is. Anyone can talk themselves up. It's much more difficult – and fare more effective – to talk to your audience.

Key Takeaways

So now that you know why brochure websites don't really cut it, here are the key takeaways:

Your site needs key essentials to measure its ROI – to see whether that money you spent will lead to money through your door.
Your site needs to have new content on a regular basis to rank well in Google for a variety of keywords.
Your site's copy should be about the customer and not about you.