REGISTER NOW: Uncomfortable Conversations: The Skills Crisis
REGISTER: 8THIRTYFOUR Skills Survival School Founding Cohort

4 Ugly Truths Your Website Can’t Hide

Written by

Share This Post:

Digital Director Kayden Grinwis buries his face in his hands while working at the 834 office in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Here at 8THIRTYFOUR, we LOVE what we do. We truly enjoy our work, and we enjoy the people we work with. We don’t work with assholes, and we don’t take on projects or clients we don’t believe in.
Unfortunately, that’s not true for everyone.
We’ve had plenty of meetings with companies that want to invest in their digital presence through a new website and a robust social campaign. However, when we’ve dug into the strategic conversations, it’s become very evident that they were far from ready to build a new website.
And that’s because no matter how big your pockets are, there are certain things that your website just won’t fix.
Here are 4 of them.

1. You Don’t Know Your Audience

If you don’t have a strong understanding of your target audience and their motivators, it will be embarrassingly clear on your website when none of your content resonates with them. You’ll choose the wrong imagery, and your content won’t engage. They’ll bounce off your site before you get a chance to say anything.

2. You’re Not Adding Value

If you’re not solving a problem or otherwise adding value for your audiences, they won’t waste their time on your site – or with your company. They’ll move on to someone else who will.

3. Your Product or Service Sucks

Don’t try to put lipstick on a pig. If your product or service sucks, don’t invest the money into a website to make it look better – it won’t work.

4. You Don’t Have a Clear Vision

If your team is not on the same page in terms of your company vision, your website and social media visitors will be able to tell immediately. Your messaging and content will be all over the place, and it will sound like a bunch of generic gibberish – avoid the buzzwords. Visitors will move on to someone with a clear voice.
If you don’t have a solid grasp on these 4 pieces, let’s talk about a strategy. Connect with one of our strategy gurus today to learn more about what that process looks like. Let’s turn your marketing into something genuine and effective!
 

Responses

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Recent Posts

Something on Your Mind?

The way you show up at work shapes how people remember you.

Last month, alyshiahull joined bodespeaks on Happy Hour Hustle to talk about what workplace authenticity really means. Alyshia is a New York-based freelance journalist who writes for Business Insider, Fast Company, USA Today, Inc., and Entrepreneur. If you are ready to bring your authentic self to work, episode #134 is for you. 

Listen to Happy Hour Hustle on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Youtube. Link in bio.
The power of the Women's Entrepreneurial Fellowship, in a graduate's own words:

"Growth is never accidental, it comes from being willing to learn, adapt, and embrace change. After nine months of dedication, reflection, and business development, I proudly graduated from the Women's Entrepreneurial Fellowship (WEF) during the Small Business Association of Michigan Annual Meeting.

Throughout the program, I challenged myself to evaluate every aspect of my business, celebrating what was working while identifying opportunities for growth and improvement. The journey was made even more meaningful through the support of an incredible cohort of women entrepreneurs, the guidance of mentor Gina Jacquart Thorsen, and the leadership of bodespeaks and her team.

A sincere thank you to smallbusinessassocofmichigan for investing in second-stage women business owners and creating opportunities that empower entrepreneurs to build stronger, more sustainable businesses."

— Mary A. Barton, President and CEO of Equitable Accounting Solutions and proud WEF graduate.

Applications for the next cohort are now open. Link in comments.
"Out of failure comes growth – you have to see it as an opportunity." 

bodespeaks joined cuzzinjustin on the strictlyfromnowhere Podcast for an honest conversation about entrepreneurship, embracing your superpowers, and building a personal brand that's actually yours, the wins, the setbacks, and everything in between. And naturally, dropped an f-bomb or two along the way. You don't want to miss it.

Full episode in the comments 👇
AI doesn't treat every source equally; it trusts what's credible, cited, and current, like news coverage.

Showing up in the right places isn't just good PR. It's how the robots (and the humans) get you right.

Read the full blog at the link in bio.
"If you don't get up and grind every day, the needle isn't gonna move."

We sat down with brandonmccraney, founder and Master Blender behind olderaleighdistillery in Zebulon, North Carolina. Brandon spent fifteen years just thinking about whiskey before he finally opened his doors, and even then it took four more years, a dozen rejections, construction delays, and a global pandemic to get there. Two years later, Olde Raleigh had already won Best Micro Distillery in the US.

Check out the latest episode of Happy Hour Hustle, where Brandon shares what it actually took to grow a business through COVID, the military discipline that kept him going when everything else said quit, and how working with people turned out to be the hardest part of the job.

Listen to Happy Hour Hustle on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and watch the whole episode on Youtube. Link in bio.