Which do you think is more important when it comes choosing a web design and internet marketing company: knowing your industry or knowing your audience?

We have come across dozens of companies that offer the former, stating that they know how to create web sites for a particular industry better than your average web design firm. Hell, for a time, we ran another company like that (rest in peace Contractor Revolution Media).

And before we get into this, let me state that we are in no way degrading the work they do. The majority of the ones that we have seen create outstanding websites, and their clients seem to be happy with their work and efforts.

But here's one thing to think about when choosing a company like that over a local company that does general web design and internet marketing work: You are the expert in your industry in this area, why do you need someone else telling you differently?

Companies that don't have a presence in this area can only assume or guess what the audience is like, and those assumptions and estimates are usually based on similar demographics in areas they have already served. But residents of Lake, Sumter and Marion counties know there aren't too many places like this in the country, with a broad range of ages, races, and incomes in a spread out area. What works in Los Angeles probably won't work in Tavares. What works in Orlando probably won't work in The Villages.

Let xclntDesign sort this out for you. We are rather intelligent people (just wrenched my shoulder patting myself on the back, but I'm ok) but we don't claim to know everything about everything. Sure, there are some subjects that we learn more about because of a personal passion for that subject, but for the most part, we are just like your target customers in that we know just enough about stuff to make a poor decision. And that's where you come in.

Web sites and internet marketing should be collaborative efforts, not one-sided affairs. We take your knowledge of the industry and marry that to our knowledge of the area and its consumers to get you leads which you can then turn into lifelong customers.

We understand that when hiring a web design and internet marketing company, you are looking for someone to do something that you cannot, usually because there aren't enough hours in the day. You don't want to have to hold their hand to get the job done; you just want it done. But if you go with a company that does things a certain way “because it works for everyone else in your industry” then you become just that: like everyone else in your industry.

And we know you aren't.