I’m sure this post will strike a chord with many of you as we all cope with increasing amounts of data and new technology in the 21st century. However we need to make sure we remember that the most successful businesses are still based on simple plans and models. And that applies to websites just as much as any other parts of a business.

There is an absolutely crucial aspect your site needs to have if it is to succeed – as soon as someone reaches www.yourhomepage.com or any landing page, it must answer the question “What’s in it for me?”.The customer needs to know the benefits of spending any more time on your site – consumers are innately selfish!

In fact with all marketing communications you must make sure you are always tuned into your customer’s favourite radio station, WIIFM – What’s In It For Me. And most music related sites don’t do that. And even if they started out with a customer based focus, a succession of redesigns, tweaking and web 2.0 styling often means that sites become more product or – even worse – technology focused over time.

There are some simple changes that can refocus the site to be more consumer oriented e.g. rather than say ‘Announcing the new YourSite.com” it should say something like “Easy and Lightning Fast Access to Your Music on Our New Site”.

For example if you have a site on music and social media, rather than have a headline saying “Our Product Highlights”, make it more customer focused rather than all about you – call it “get a music with your new social music tools” or something similar.

I’m sure you get the idea.

It is so simple yet often easily forgotten and it is always worth remembering. We must answer the crucial question “What’s In It For Me?” at all points of customer contact.

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