It’s almost cliché to say that the internet evolves quickly these days, but it does, leaving once popular options like a brochure website in the past. This term refers to a site that is built around aesthetics, and not functionality or optimization. When the internet was young, it was a popular and effective option for individual creatives and businesses that wanted to establish a strong brand identity. With the rise of content marketing, search engine optimization, and social media marketing, businesses that rely on this option are setting themselves up for failure.
What exactly is a brochure web site, and why is it an inferior option?
Before various forms of online marketing started ordering online spaces by relevance, businesses and professionals looked to every advantage to get people to remember them. One of the more popular options was to create an online space that was sleek, colorful, intricate, and totally focused on aesthetic design. Many referred to these sites as brochures because they were aimed at selling the business using flash and imagery, and because they were static in nature. For photographers, designers, painters, and other creative professionals, it was a popular choice to show off their works.
However, their static nature, incompatibility with modern data reporting, and poor search engine ranking now makes them more of a liability than an asset. This is particularly true for businesses that must track their online performance and plan to use their online platform for attracting sales. In other words, almost all businesses these days would be better served in other ways. These are just a few of the issues associated with a brochure web site:
- Google frowns on them – Every year, Google makes changes to its search algorithms, and the focus for several years running has been fresh, relevant content. Businesses that use their online presence to deliver relevant, interesting content to consumers, and do so regularly, will always be favored over sites that are static in nature. And because so many companies are investing heavily in content marketing, a business that lags behind could be pushed out of the rankings altogether.
- They are exceptionally difficult to track – Businesses must be able to review how their online platform is performing, offering data such as sales captures and site penetration. These tools are not designed for a brochure web site, which means that their owners generally have no idea how strong their online presence is. Operating blind is not a good idea online.
- They are also exceptionally difficult to scale – These sites are built with aesthetics as their first priority, not modularity. If the owner wants to add additional pages or even just extra images, parts of it will have to be reworked to accommodate the new content. Modern platform options provide for additions in the future, making for easier content additions and lower operating costs.
It’s tough getting attention for a business online, so company owners should maximize their marketing and design options in the pursuit of additional traffic. In most cases, a brochure web site can no longer generate the organic traffic that companies need, and there are far better methods out there