Titanic: 5 Historical mistakes when marketing with a website.

The anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic was this month which calls to mind all the epic mistakes that were made on that maiden voyage. With this year being the 19th year since the internet was released to the world and PizzaHut.com went live it might be interesting to delve into the ongoing mistakes that have stood the test of time online as well. So here you have it, titanic mistakes businesses make with their online marketing.

When the White Star Lines set out to make the Titanic they were pushed by the competition. Other shipbuilders were presenting ever larger, more luxurious ships, in particular Cunard with Mauretania and Lusitania. In their haste to launch a ship better than any ship before and despite all the “state of the art” engineering, mechanical, architectural, and interior designs, White Star made several fatal mistakes from the start.

First, they rushed the maiden voyage and pushed the Titanic to sea only 8 days after the first sea test, almost capsizing two ships on their way out of the harbor. If not for the quick thinking of a tug boat, the ship “City of New York” would have been lost.

There are still many businesses that rush to get their website or redesign done quickly. In the haste, they don’t think through the site navigation, key pages, goals, target market, and user experience. Consequently, they end up spending more after the launch to keep the “ship” on its course with reparations and adjustments to reach the original vision.

Although it didn’t become important until the night Titanic began to sink, failing to have enough lifeboats at the start would prove fatal in the end. This was due to the shipbuilders following the standards of the time, thinking that it would be “good enough” since the Titanic would never sink – right?

Never settle for good enough. Plan for the visitors who will come to the website. Your visitors need your guidance to find what they are looking for and planning in advance will make visits to your website a positive experience. Think of the key pages of the website and what you want visitors to do on those pages. Do those pages answer the important “3 questions”? How will your website become a money maker instead of becoming just another online brochure?

Beyond marketing the website it is very important to include search engines and social media. Remember to put an email marketing program into place as well. These are the essentials to successful websites and successful online businesses.

In the rush to put the Titanic to sea, the shipbuilders failed to christen her. This is considered “bad luck” in the sailing world. Bad luck indeed!

Before putting your website out there be sure to “christen” it by testing the code for W3C compliance, testing the display of the website on different browsers, and maybe even testing the key pages with focus groups for conversions. While it may take an extra day or two to run the tests and then make any necessary changes, it will pay off when all visitors are able to view and use the site on all devices including tablets and smartphones.

The Titanic was considered to be “unsinkable” because of the watertight compartments that would keep her afloat. As we know now, watertight does not mean waterproof. In fact, the builders and the captain were so confident in the ship’s seaworthiness that they became complacent, ignoring the warnings of other ships about the icebergs and pack ice they would encounter.

Being on the internet today is a far cry from 1993 when the internet began to take form. Then there were very few websites and only 1 real search engine. You could build and eventually, they would come to your website. That mentality is still abundant today and it leads to complacency when marketing with a website. The internet is not the “field of dreams” it once was. In fact, the search engines and the growth of social media make it imperative that websites and associated marketing channels are constantly reviewed. Using analytics and webmaster tools to identify roadblocks is an important part of assuring your website performs to your expectations.

The Titanic, for all her glory and after all the anticipation, never made it to her home port, which was Liverpool England.

There are plenty of websites out there today that look amazing, have cool features, and really showcase the capabilities of their designers. Unfortunately, the majority of those websites fail to meet the goal set out by the businesses behind them. Many a CEO or VP of Sales is left scratching their heads wondering why their wonderful creation hasn’t even begun to pay for itself. The bottom line is when you fail to plan for all eventualities. If you want your website to generate leads or make sales you’ve got to put all the right pieces in place and include all the right players.