Marketers tend think of branding as 'sensitive', 'softer' concept. Perhaps that is why the websites they make are easy on the eye with some pretty pictures.

I have had several conversations with friends and associates in the past who told me that their site can not and will not be an income-generating site - because the kind of products or service they sell is unique and/or expensive. Just for a second, imagine what will be the 1.3 billion searches in Google are for? Not for your product or service? Is it that unique? Nowadays, people look for everything online before making a decision. Any business can make their site an income- generating site.

We go to the Web, because it empowers us. We have the control. We don't have to listen to the ads or sales people and we can choose what we want to read!

Remember, those flash intros. They are like the ads for TV. Most visitors would have clicked on the "skip" button. Most of the websites have now gone away from Flash introductions!

When a visitor comes to our website, they are looking for a deal or for information. There is no need for subtlety or vagueness. There is not much time and we need to communicate quickly. We must tell them that this is what we are about and this is the deal they can get.

Here is an ugly website that is hugely successful. We can quickly get what they are about and what deals we have. We are an attention-deficit generation. We don't have time or patience to wait around to get the message. So, it is imperative we communicate the messages very clearly and accurately to the right target market.

If marketing is about understanding what the user wants and giving to them then shouldn't that be our goal and understand the users' wants and give what they want? For instance, if you are already using your website to generate income (I am not referring to only the sites with a shopping cart but if you are using the website to generate sales leads or for investor relations or for PR), then find a way to observe your visitors. Then help the visitors to use the site well.

What should you do now?

Here are a few things you can do:

Explore what the goal of your website is. Make sure you are convinced of the goal. Typically, the websites have these goals

• Generate leads or acquire customers
• Sell more to existing customers
• Create branding / awareness
• Reach the journalists
• Investor relations
• Help existing customers' problems (through support)
• Sell goods and services
• Put yourself in your visitor's shoes and explore how your website is being used by the visitors. Write down what improvements you need to make, discuss with your team and implement.
• Test the changes. Measure the results.