So I did a little research on online marketing. Most of what can be found references SEO, pay-per-click, banner advertising, affiliate marketing, online reputation management (SEO meets PR). SEO I’d keep and SEO meets PR I’d think about keeping, but the rest will not produce life for your website.

Online marketing refers to an addition to your marketing efforts, but design strategy is fulfilling specific purposes through design decisions that are synced with your organizational goals and website functions. When you think about redesigning your site, getting into social media or doing anything on the web you need to be thinking PURPOSE. What is the purpose of my site? What does it need to do (what’s its function)? What goals does it need to achieve? Who does it need to reach? What impression should it make? Are you following me yet? When your done with the purposes, the design can follow. If all she can do is look good, she won’t get you very far! Strategy first, design integration to follow. Maybe I should be calling it strategic design!

So after all that, here’s my 2 cents. Understand that media really can move you to the next level of brand recognition and corporate identity. Instead of putting your website underneath your marketing umbrella, get a new umbrella and name it "website". Allow your marketing efforts to flow out of the your web efforts. Set up goals and track the results. And then, go one step further. Don’t just think of your website as stagnant. Your published version doesn’t mean final version. Make changes, grow, improve. Give your website purpose and be active in making it serve that purpose.

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