The future of those in the web industry
December 13, 2009 2:23 pm Google Adwords, SEO, Website Analytics, Website Strategy
The web world evolves very quickly and those of us within the ‘web’ industry itself may benefit from looking inwards at how things are likely to change in the near future.
There was a time when a one-man-band could say to potential clients that they were experts at website design, programming, SEO (including PPC advertising), and more. This is actually an impossibility. They could be ‘ok’ at a mixture of all those and be stronger in some areas but they couldn’t profess to be experts at everything because there’s just so much to stay updated with.
In situations where a web company has a few members of staff and each one has an expertise in a certain area, then such claims of being a ‘one-stop-shop’ for website success could be justified. But the majority of the web industry are one-man-bands or two to three people working together.
Looking at what makes a website successful, there are, in the Custwin view, a few important factors:
1. Analysis (including statistical evidence) of how well a website is performing compared to the levels of traffic going to that website. Recommendations for change would come out of that analysis.
2. Website design and development expertise that converts recommended changes into results on the live website, or initially creates the best possible website in the first place.
3. Strong skills in promoting the website through ‘mainstream’ channels (i.e. SEO, including PPC where appropriate), and in analysing the results from that promotion.
4. Expertise in building on the website strength through blogs, Twitter, and so much more.
When you consider those four factors above, particularly how much expertise is needed for each, then it’s clear that one or two man companies/individuals can’t be at the top of their game in all those skills.
In our view, the future for companies and individuals working within the web industry is simply one of two things:
1. Success through honesty and complementary relationships
2. Failure
Failure will come to those companies or individuals who don’t have the required skills to give a client company success from their website, but at the same time, don’t find a way of gaining access to those skills. The end result will be a company that has a website that generates mediocre results. A company website with mediocre results will lead to that company being more receptive to good quality advice and the incumbent provider of web services will lose that business in time. They will also not gain any positive referrals from their ex-client because they will have been seen to have failed through not getting results.
The successful companies or individuals in the future will be those who are fully honest with their clients. For example, if a company approaches a web developer and says they want a website that’s fantastic, the web developer has two choices:
1. Go ahead and provide a great website.
2. Say that they can provide a great website but focus the attention of the potential client on how that website will be promoted and analysed once it’s been created.
Many web developers won’t risk option 2 because they fear that the potential client will go to somewhere/someone that offers all the expertise under one roof. The savvy web developers though will make it clear to the potential client that they’re really good at what they do, but although they have some knowledge of SEO etc. they would utilise the skills of trusted contacts to ensure the website gets the best possible results.
Turning this round the other way, there are numerous SEO companies or individuals who make great claims about achieving search engine positioning but they don’t focus on whether the website is strong enough to warrant being promoted in the first place. The end result there is that a website may well be highly prominent in the search engines but the numbers of people who actually make contact with the client company are relatively small because people just don’t get on with the website itself. In this situation, the SEO company or individual should have the honesty to say to the potential client that they can definitely help but the client would be better off focusing initially on website strength. At Custwin we’ve had many situations in which we’ve either passed potential clients onto our own web developer contacts or back to their own web developers, noting that we’d be happy to help promote the website but not until it’s been made stronger.
Companies are getting wise to the pitfalls of websites. Most have had their fingers burnt and they increasingly have an expectation that whoever they deal with needs to get them strong results from their investment. For those within the web industry who aren’t prepared to provide a full range of services, even if those services aren’t within their own levels of expertise (and so have to be outsourced to trusted contacts), then there can only be longer term failure ahead.
A day will come when most companies will understand that they have to ask certain questions of those who they choose to get involved in their web presence. They’ll understand that a website is more than just the physical online presence but is about analysis of visitor patterns, promoting the website effectively, and more. They’ll also understand that there needs to be an ongoing process of analysis and refinements and that a website is never complete. The future winners in the web industry will be those who can provide guarantees that the client will benefit substantially from their online presence. Such guarantees can be effective by ensuring that a ‘team’ of experts is used, each focusing on their own type of expertise so that the client gets the desired result. That ‘team’ may be made up of several individuals or companies but ultimately, responsibility would be on the shoulders of the main point of contact that the client company has.
For those in the web industry who don’t encourage potential clients to consider the bigger picture than their individual area of expertise, the future will be bleak. For those in the industry who understand that nothing matters more than an online presence that gets results, and that tie-ups with complementary skills are vitally important, the future will be strong because the clients will gain the required levels of business, are likely to stay loyal, and are also likely to refer onto potential new clients.