Web Sites Are Not Important

Recently I heard a self proclaimed social media expert talk to a group of business people about the LinkedIn, Twitter, My Space, blogs, etc. According to this expert, “web site are just online brochures and not really all that important”. Of course, this expert was blowing his own horn and attempting to convince his listeners that his service was far more important that web sites.

I strongly disagree with this position about web sites but agree that social media can be helpful to business.

Just to make sure I am not missing the boat to the latest technology, I talked with a friend who manages a very large national digital media budget for one of the world’s biggest advertisers and I asked her about this comment. Here’s what she had to say.

“Wow, that's an exceptionally broad statement. One with which I completely disagree.

“A website can be anything from a brochure to a final sale. I find value in all of it. Even if it's designed as a simple brochure, it's a brochure at the exact right time. I find HUGE value in that. Any time someone wants to see images, locate your business, find your hours, or see nutritional info on your product - they can.

“On the more advanced end, today alone I've booked online a zoo membership and hands-on penguin experience for an anniversary gift, a haircut and color appointment, and a Father's Day gift. All of those are transactions those companies didn't have to resource people for at a call center nor did they have to miss the folks who choose to make those purchases during "non-business" hours.

In the middle, our clients’ websites are extremely in-depth with info b/c we know that 80%+ of our consumers do research on our sites before buy. If you're interested in a (brand name) you could easily spend an hour on the web sites. Again, the amount of info we can convey there saves our client millions of dollars on having to communicate with an actual human being either in-person or on the phone. Another example is recipe hubs for national food marketers which are proven to build brand loyalty and directly link to sales/CRM.”

It is hard for me to imagine any business today without a web site. Potential customers must be able to find your business on the Internet and you can not depend on third party web sites to have current and correct information about your business.