In the 1989 film Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner’s character hears a mysterious voice whisper, “If you build it, he will come.” The line has since been misquoted endlessly as, “Build it and they will come.” In the movie, that worked out. In business, it usually does not.
Josh Moore and Ollie Newport at Duoplus
Many small and medium businesses fall into the same trap with their websites. They think, “If we build a new site, customers will come.” A fresh design feels like progress – and in some cases, it is the right move. But let’s be clear: a new website is not a strategy.
Too often, I meet business owners and marketing managers who expect that a redesigned website will automatically attract traffic. The reality is different. A website without traffic is just a digital brochure gathering dust online.
That is where strategy comes in. A proper digital marketing strategy starts with bigger questions: Who is your target market? What does your customer journey look like? And where does your website fit into that journey? For example, how do people usually discover businesses like yours – is it Google searches, social media, referrals, or something else?
Once you understand that journey, you can decide what role your website plays. Maybe it needs to rank better in Google, which means investing in SEO. Maybe your customers spend time on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn, so paid social ads are a better priority. Or perhaps the right mix is Google Ads, some targeted outreach, and remarketing campaigns.
The point is, your website is just one piece of the puzzle. The other pieces are the channels that actually drive people there.
Here is the common mistake: spending the entire budget on the new build. A website project can swallow resources quickly. The danger is ending up with a beautiful site – but no funds left to promote it. That is like buying a car and realising you cannot afford petrol.
The smarter approach is balance. If your website is outdated, upgrade it – but ringfence budget for the marketing that will bring customers to it. Think of the website as the hub, with marketing channels like Google Ads, SEO, social ads, and direct outreach as the spokes that connect people in.
So next time someone on your team says, “We just need a new website,” remember Field of Dreams. Building it does not guarantee they will come. You need a strategy to make sure they do.
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