The Struggle is Real: Why Marketing Your Website Feels Like Herding Cats

So, you’ve built a website. You’ve poured your heart, soul, and probably a questionable amount of teh tarik into designing the perfect digital storefront for your brand. The products are amazing, the layout is sleek, and your checkout process is smoother than a jazz saxophonist on a Sunday night. But there’s just one tiny, insignificant little problem: nobody’s coming.

Welcome to the wild, wacky, and often soul-crushing world of website marketing. If you thought the hardest part was setting up the site, oh, my sweet summer child, you are in for a ride. Marketing a website isn’t just difficult; it’s an unpredictable, emotional rollercoaster that makes you question every life decision that led you here. Let’s dive into the chaos, shall we?

The Myth of "If You Build It, They Will Come" (Spoiler: They Won’t)

Ah, the classic misconception. You thought all you had to do was create a great website, sit back, and watch the traffic roll in like it’s Black Friday at a Best Buy. Nope. Instead, your analytics dashboard looks like a ghost town. You refresh it desperately, hoping for a miracle, but it just stares back at you with a single, lonely visitor—which is you.

Marketing my website is harder than explaining why durian is delicious to a mat salleh.

The reality? The internet is a vast, crowded marketplace where attention spans are shorter than a toddler’s patience. Unless you make an active effort to market your site, it’s going to sit there, unnoticed, like a billboard in the middle of the desert.

SEO: The Necessary Evil That Nobody Understands

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is like the petai of website marketing. You know it’s good for you, but it’s confusing, and quite frankly, you’d rather not deal with it. The rules change constantly, and Google’s algorithm updates feel like your ex—unpredictable and impossible to please.

You’ve tried everything: keyword stuffing (which Google hates), writing blogs that sound intelligent (but nobody reads), and optimizing your site speed (but let’s be honest, that one plugin broke everything). Meanwhile, some random dude with a two-page website called “BestCheapAwesomeStuff.com” is somehow ranking on page one, while your masterpiece is buried under 23 pages of search results.

Social Media: Where Content Goes to Die

You thought, Hey, I’ll just post about my site on social media! That’ll drive traffic, right? So, you fire up Instagram, Twitter (or X? Whatever Elon’s calling it now), Facebook, and maybe even LinkedIn if you’re feeling corporate.

You create a stunning post. You add all the right hashtags. You even throw in an emoji for good measure. You hit publish and wait… and wait… and wait.

Sunyi sepi.

The only person who liked your post is your mak, and even she didn’t click the link. Welcome to the harsh reality of organic social media reach—unless you’re already famous, nobody cares. You’re competing against memes, cat videos, and influencers who somehow get thousands of likes for posting a picture of their morning kopi ais.

The only way to truly make a dent? Paid ads. But let’s talk about that nightmare next.

Paid Ads: The Fastest Way to Burn Money

Okay, so organic reach isn’t working. Time to throw some money at the problem! Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Instagram Promotions—how hard can it be? You set up a campaign, pick some keywords, throw in RM50, and expect the sales to roll in.

Instead, what happens? Nothing.

Or worse, you get a flood of traffic… from bots in countries you didn’t even target. Google gladly eats up your budget, and Facebook tells you your “ad is performing better than 80% of similar ads,” but your bank account is screaming in protest.

Meanwhile, digital marketing gurus on YouTube are telling you, “It’s all about the funnel!” and “You need better retargeting!” At this point, you’re seriously considering selling a buah durian to afford a marketing consultant.

Email Marketing: Because Apparently, We All Love Spam

“Build an email list,” they said. “It’s the best way to convert customers,” they said.

So, you painstakingly set up a newsletter, create an irresistible lead magnet (probably a free e-book nobody will read), and start collecting emails. Excitedly, you send out your first email campaign, expecting a flood of conversions.

Instead, you get unsubscribes. And the few who do stay? They open your emails, click nothing, and ghost you like a bad Tinder date.

Influencer Marketing: Overpriced Shoutouts and Broken Promises

Desperate for traction, you reach out to an influencer with a decent following. You send them a free product or even pay for a post, expecting their loyal followers to flock to your site.

What actually happens? The influencer takes your product, posts a half-hearted story that disappears in 24 hours, and you get exactly zero sales. You later realize they have 90% fake followers and engagement rates lower than your morning motivation.

The Harsh Truth: It Takes Time and Consistency

The cold, hard truth is that website marketing is a long game. There’s no magic bullet, no one-size-fits-all strategy, and definitely no overnight success (unless you go viral, but let’s be real—that’s like winning the lottery).

To succeed, you need:

✔ A clear strategy: Understand your audience, create valuable content, and be consistent.

✔ Patience: Results take time. SEO, social media growth, and brand recognition don’t happen overnight.

✔ Testing & Learning: What works for one site may not work for another. Experiment, analyze, and adapt.

✔ Resilience: You will fail. Multiple times. But you will also learn and improve.

Who Am I?

Marketing my website is harder than explaining why durian is delicious to mat salleh.

I’m Ridzuan Yahya, a seasoned graphic designer with 25 years of experience in branding and design. After spending 17 years in aviation, I pivoted into freelancing post-pandemic, turning my passion into a business. Now, I run www.ridzuanyahya.com, where I design T-shirts and music gear for fellow enthusiasts. Marketing my website has been a journey full of trial and error, and if you’re on the same path, you’re not alone. Jom struggle!!!