When I started building websites, the internet was a new frontier for many local businesses. I remember countless meetings where a client would come to me, often with a printed flyer or a competitor's URL, and say, "I need a website." It seemed straightforward enough: design a few pages, add some text and images, and put it online. But I quickly learned that what they said they needed, and what their business actually needed, were often two very different things.
In those early days, especially in places like Felixstowe and across Suffolk, a website was often seen as a digital brochure. The brief was usually about aesthetics and information — "make it look good," "tell people what we do," "include our contact details." I’d focus on the pixel-perfect layouts, the elegant navigation, and making sure all the technical boxes were ticked. I was proud of the websites I delivered, and my clients were usually happy with the shiny new online presence. Yet, sometimes, I'd hear back that it hadn't quite "worked" in the way they'd hoped.
The "Build It and They Will Come" Myth
This was the era of the "build it and they will come" mentality. Many small business owners genuinely believed that simply having a website would magically attract customers. They’d invested in a professional design, put it live, and then waited. When the phone didn't ring off the hook, or their shop wasn't suddenly flooded with new faces, they'd be confused. And so was I, initially.
It was a crucial lesson for me: the website itself was never really the finished product. It was a component, an important one, but still just a component within a much larger business ecosystem. This realisation began to shift my focus from simply building websites to understanding the entire online business journey. It forced me to ask deeper questions:
- What problem does this business solve for its customers?
- How do customers currently find this business?
- What action do we want visitors to take on the website?
- How will we get people to visit the website in the first place?
The last question, in particular, led me down the path of search engine optimisation (SEO) and, later, paid advertising. It wasn’t enough to just exist online; businesses needed to be discoverable. I spent years helping clients improve their search rankings, understanding the nuances of local SEO, and ensuring their websites were visible to people actively looking for their services. This was the real work of making a website "work."
From Brochureware to Ecommerce Engines
The shift became even more pronounced with the rise of ecommerce. Building an online shop wasn't just about listing products; it was about creating a seamless buying experience, managing inventory, processing payments, and handling customer service. An ecommerce website wasn't a static entity; it was a dynamic sales engine that required constant attention and optimisation.
I remember one project for a local gift shop that wanted to sell online. The initial brief was simple: "put our products on the internet." But as we dug deeper, we realised the challenge wasn't just photography and product descriptions. It was about how to manage stock across physical and online stores, how to handle shipping costs, and crucially, how to drive traffic to specific product pages that would convert. This taught me a tremendous amount about product discovery and the entire sales funnel.
These experiences with local businesses, from simple brochure sites to complex ecommerce platforms, were invaluable. They taught me that the technical excellence of a website, while important, often pales in comparison to the strategic thinking behind it. A beautifully designed site with no visitors or a confusing buying process is ultimately a failure. A simpler site that perfectly addresses a business's core needs and is supported by a clear marketing strategy will always win.
What I Carry Forward Today
Looking back, those years spent building for clients were a masterclass in understanding real-world business problems. It wasn’t just about coding or design; it was about empathy, strategy, and problem-solving. It's why I eventually stopped building websites for clients and started building for myself, focusing on creating systems and products that address these deeper business needs.
Today, when I'm building tools like Loyalty or automating parts of my own online businesses, I'm always thinking back to those early client conversations. I'm not just building a piece of software; I'm trying to solve a fundamental business irritation, just like the best businesses often do. The lessons from those small businesses in Suffolk still resonate: the website is never the end goal; it's a means to an end, a part of a larger, evolving strategy to connect with customers and grow.
My obsession with automation and building efficient systems, which I’ve explored in articles like Why I’ve Always Been Obsessed With Automation, directly stems from these early experiences. I saw how much manual effort went into making a website truly work for a business, and I wanted to find ways to make that process more effective and less burdensome. The goal was always to empower businesses, not just to give them a website.
