But [hmmm, my posting replies always seem to have a but ...?] - and I don’t mean this as being disparaging towards the speakers, isn’t there an element of ‘well … duh’ about many of their comments?

So web designers “… need to start asking questions like what were top selling products?” Not exact the marketing equivalent of rocket science is it?

The sad fact [in my marketing-lecturer's opinion] is that it is obvious to those schooled in marketing [read Mike's bio] but too many web developers do not have marketing qualifications/experience/either/both.

My background is in retail and a lot of this stuff is standard practice in that industry - an analogy would be that shops are designed to sell products, not impress customers with their decor - and they are run to make a profit, not win design awards.

Summing up : it may be obvious to some, but it needs to be said loud and often for those who are not aware of the concept :

Web sites must satisfy customers. Satisfied visitors = objectives being met, which equals ROI.