All too often I see businesses with websites that seem like they almost want to send their visitor away.

They register their domain (brand) and acquire hosting, then take shortcuts through third parties to implement video, a blog and even email.

In the case of video, YouTube can be utilized for marketing but using it as your video server for your website video content just adds a level of distraction and even outright links to competitors as YouTube attempts to engage your customer with their content.

It may be convenient to host your blog with a third party like blogger but you are just giving away traffic that would help your domain tremendously with the search engines. You also run the risk that someday the third party service will decide to advertise on YOUR? Blog or simply change a policy and delete your blog.

Ultimately, positive brand recognition is dependant on perception. Don’t use a free email account like Yahoo or Hotmail to conduct business and don’t use a free email service on your website for the contact us page.

@mtheory I am with @fredericgonzalo -all too often businesses, especially small ones, jump into something without thought to “why” and without planning for outcomes. Chances are they heard from someone they know “you have to do X”.

In websites this easily happens largely due to lack of skilled planning, from the very beginning understanding your goals. A  website should be a sound anchor for a digital marketing plan, but too many people waste the opportunity 

@mtheory Definietely use a branded e-mail address to appear more professional then use the tools you (or, in my case, my client) can afford to create and easily maintain a Web presence. Otherwise, you are practically invisible.