The Rossie/Davis Advertising web site was launched in 1999, and stayed live for more than 5 years. Designed by Sarah Davis with help from Barrett Rossie, the site was well received and held a comprehensive portfolio section.

All in all, a nice 2nd-generation web site.

But there were problems with the site that helped Rossie/Davis learn some lessons for future work, for the agency and for its clients.

Lesson #1: Design the site to be flexible.
Content management systems are now much easier to deliver, and they provide far greater utility. A static site will work once. A dynamic site will work limitlessly.

Lesson #2: Optimize the site for search engines.
Today’s best practices for search engine optimization (SEO) make sites far more valuable for marketing. The Rossie/Davis site was not optimized. For instance, heavy use of art for titles prevented search engines from finding key words.

Lesson #3: Embrace the Internet.
The Internet is a unique communications medium that will continue to develop for the foreseeable future. Companies that fail to embrace the Internet and its capabilities risk a competitive disadvantage. Marketing methods that seem exotic and risky to older users will be expected or even required by an ever-growing segment of the market. The Rossie/Davis site generally failed to take advantage of web’s interactivity.

Lesson #4: Don’t ignore branding on the Web.
It's great when a prospect finds you through your web site. But it's a double-edge sword: Your competition is just a click away. You can’t afford vague messages and trite imagery — yet this is exactly what too many sites offer. If you fail to communicate your brand on your web site, you are most likely failing to communicate it everywhere else.

The Rossie/Davis site did a nice job of branding. But as the web matures, your web presence requires even greater differentiation through branding.

Lesson #5: Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. The Internet forces companies to move ever faster. Web projects can paralyze companies into inaction. In most businesses, it is far better to do your best work in the time given, than to do no work for fear of imperfection. Unlike print, the web is dynamic. Web teams can improve the site continually — but first, there must be a site to improve.