5 Things I’ve Learned After 3 Years of Website Design in Trinidad & Tobago

I’ll preface this article with a brief history lesson.  I placed my very first ad in the Trinidad Express classifieds back in January 2011. Back then (as if it was really that long), Forward Multimedia was totally unknown in T&T, nowhere to be found Google for any keyword, and I was looking for my first paying customer. I was even charging a measly $1,500 TT for a website. Maybe I was lucky but the first 3 calls I got all turned into website projects:

• Trius Medical Sales
• Maray’s Kids N Stuff
• Silver Dollar Auto

As I write this I did a quick check of my customer list in Quickbooks (which I use for my accounting), and as of end of December 2013, my client count stood at 75. A fair number of sites are no longer functioning for reasons known only to the owners, including one of the original sites (Silver Dollar Auto). I was still learning WordPress at the time and just getting my feet wet in online marketing.

I’m still learning as one should be, especially as this website thing is very fluid and always evolving. I make it my business to keep abreast of the website landscape in Trinidad & Tobago. I follow global trends for my clients and my own self-preservation.  And being that  my passion for T&T website development is no secret, I have in fact learnt a thing or two by being  immersed in the day to day realities, which I’m going to share with you.

1. Trini business accept that a web presence is no longer optional

You may find that hard to believe but  there was a time they thought it was. For example, I knew the owner of a particular company personally so I was trying to get a project, (this was in 2011), and he said, get this,  “everyone knows about us so we don’t need a website”. Back then I felt I had to convince people that they needed a website, now I don’t waste my time. Anyway he never did get a website even to this day so it looks like he still feels that way. Now I file those statements in ‘famous last words…’

Another client also had his own wake up call after paying his deposit but delayed the site because he took very long to gather his content to submit to me. He woke up when the realization struck that he routinely looked up company websites when he needed information himself— hence the very reason why he should get his.

From the second half of 2013 I saw a significant sweeping shift in perceptions as if the dim flickering light of website design suddenly illuminated into a spotlight.This year, 2014 is the start of the website revolution in Trinidad & Tobago, take my word for it!

2. Trini business don’t believe that their site can bring in significant revenue

All well and good they know websites provide a modern and professional image. They appreciate the importance, but very few Trini business owners believe their site can be a significant business earner. They also ignore the fact that their business can actually suffer without one. Don’t get me wrong, they know it can be SOME HELP but don’t believe it can be MUCH HELP.

As a result of the above, many view it as a necessary expense  and not the investment that it is. As it’s not an investment, which by definition brings returns, then they do what businessmen typically do with expenses: try to keep them down. I’ve learnt that this single, intangible, psychological element of belief, is the root of all other symptoms of failed websites.

3. Trini business owners think that the site will work on its own

They believe it’s a panacea- that the mere presence of a website would translate into new business and are actually surprised when it doesn’t materialize. Few are prepared to do the initial work without looking for the results nor do they give it time to work.

4. Many Trini business owners are intimidated by their lack of knowledge

This goes for quite a number of the older, established business owners. There is a generational gap with this new industry that puts them on the back foot by having to lean and depend on the knowledge of the younger online savvy generation. They literally have to take my word on how online operates.

A lot of the jargon sounds like Greek even though they’re standard to us like, say,  ‘keywords’, ‘SEO’, ‘blog’ and so to the online marketing tools. I’ve observed that many still don’t have a comfortable grip on the whole online thing. I’ve had successful and seasoned businessmen with huge companies admit that they know little about online.

I’ve seen web designers register their clients’ domains in their own account and don’t give them back. I’ve seen web designers make their clients buy services they don’t need. I’ve taken over sites for clients who have absolutely no clue about what’s going on with their websites.

For this reason (reason 4) I believe that reasons 1-3 exist and all 4 reasons are compounded by the last one, reason number 5.

5. There is a shortage of skilled online marketers in Trinidad & Tobago

Online marketing isn’t only Facebook as many believe. Unfortunately, Trini business owners typically hand over responsibility to the most skilled member of staff because there’s often no marketing department. But they are unable to oversee it because how can they do so if they don’t understand it?

Online marketing starts with the website itself, its look and feel, layout, content, positioning, calls to action, frequency of updates, search engine friendliness etc. Then how it’s promoted, social media and other tools like email marketing, Facebook etc. Many offline activities are in play as well, like organizing images from projects for online portfolios, taking good photos in the first place website in mind, capturing emails in-store to add to mailing list.

I’ve learnt that most Trini business owners view online marketing as getting more site traffic, more visits/comments on their Facebook page and more FB likes and not what it really is: CONVERSION INTO SALES.

Conclusion

If I learned only 5 things I haven’t learned a lot have I? These are just the five main things because I’ve learned a lot. Trinis are not easy (but we all know that for a fact right?). What I still can’t wrap my head around is that the business of websites have been around for at least 20 years now and yet still we’re treating it like something new. Go figure!