I was talking the other day to a colleague about website building. He told me that in the mid-90s, a government agency allotted a budget of $400,000 for websites, not knowing what it would cost.
A few years later, a company decided that they needed to establish an online presence. They found a web designer, who told them that for a mere $40,000, their site could be built.
However, by 2003 there were an increasing number of businesses starting to build an online presence and the number of web design companies had exploded, with a large number of specialised web design firms being seen, along with the clearing houses for this sort of work such as elance and Guru.com.
What these companies were paying for was expertise; they didn't understand the technology. In a way it's like when cars were a new technology and those who could afford to have one would often keep a mechanic on retainer as well to deal with this new and (then) arcane technology.
A growing trend toward the democratisation of web technologies has been seen over the last several years; this has been squeezing midlevel web design companies. Every year, it becomes an easier task to build and manage one's own website.
The top 20% of highly technically skilled web designers are beginning to make a transition towards marketing and analytical skill rather than emphasising solely technical expertise.
Emerging technologies that are democratising the web
Web Design:
There are now a large number of easy to use tools which allow anyone to put together a pretty god looking website in as little as an hour. Simple content management systems are also available now, so users can give their sites a lot of functionality without ever having to touch a line of code. These programs don?t tend to provide much in the way of advanced features, but they are easy to use and perfectly good for many websites.
Web Analytics:
Web analytics tools have become much more accessible in recent years. 5 years ago you needed a propellerhead to generate meaningful, useable statistics from your website (i.e. beyond page views and hits). Now there are a number of free or very cheap tools available to provide you with most of the analytics you'll ever need.
Website Conversion Optimisation:
Multivariate analysis of landing page content is another area that has come a long way. Testing different landing page versions is one of the core techniques of website conversion optimisation. Traditionally it has involved setting up software to serve and track different content.
As a provider of this type of consulting service myself, my impression is that many companies feel they are paying more for the technical component of the service as much as the marketing component (i.e. results).
There are now free or inexpensive services which offer exactly this sort of testing and analysis. While they also don't provide much in the way of advanced functionality, they are perfect for the needs of most users.
Any individual or business who provides conversion optimisation services must now make sure that they provide enough added value through their marketing savvy to stay viable as the technical aspects become easier for users to understand and deal with on their own.
At the lower end especially, technical smarts are getting squeezed out and commoditized in favour of the marketing and analytical skills required to make sense of data and turn it into improved outcomes (i.e. Return On Investment).
While there will always be a place for those who are highly skilled in web technologies, I expect to see a growing number of simpler technical duties being offshored.
In the next several years, where there will be the most growth is in marketing skills to assist companies in increasing their return on investment. Optimising web marketing methods can bring far more value to a business than can investing in new technology.
A few years later, a company decided that they needed to establish an online presence. They found a web designer, who told them that for a mere $40,000, their site could be built.
However, by 2003 there were an increasing number of businesses starting to build an online presence and the number of web design companies had exploded, with a large number of specialised web design firms being seen, along with the clearing houses for this sort of work such as elance and Guru.com.
What these companies were paying for was expertise; they didn't understand the technology. In a way it's like when cars were a new technology and those who could afford to have one would often keep a mechanic on retainer as well to deal with this new and (then) arcane technology.
A growing trend toward the democratisation of web technologies has been seen over the last several years; this has been squeezing midlevel web design companies. Every year, it becomes an easier task to build and manage one's own website.
The top 20% of highly technically skilled web designers are beginning to make a transition towards marketing and analytical skill rather than emphasising solely technical expertise.
Emerging technologies that are democratising the web
Web Design:
There are now a large number of easy to use tools which allow anyone to put together a pretty god looking website in as little as an hour. Simple content management systems are also available now, so users can give their sites a lot of functionality without ever having to touch a line of code. These programs don?t tend to provide much in the way of advanced features, but they are easy to use and perfectly good for many websites.
Web Analytics:
Web analytics tools have become much more accessible in recent years. 5 years ago you needed a propellerhead to generate meaningful, useable statistics from your website (i.e. beyond page views and hits). Now there are a number of free or very cheap tools available to provide you with most of the analytics you'll ever need.
Website Conversion Optimisation:
Multivariate analysis of landing page content is another area that has come a long way. Testing different landing page versions is one of the core techniques of website conversion optimisation. Traditionally it has involved setting up software to serve and track different content.
As a provider of this type of consulting service myself, my impression is that many companies feel they are paying more for the technical component of the service as much as the marketing component (i.e. results).
There are now free or inexpensive services which offer exactly this sort of testing and analysis. While they also don't provide much in the way of advanced functionality, they are perfect for the needs of most users.
Any individual or business who provides conversion optimisation services must now make sure that they provide enough added value through their marketing savvy to stay viable as the technical aspects become easier for users to understand and deal with on their own.
At the lower end especially, technical smarts are getting squeezed out and commoditized in favour of the marketing and analytical skills required to make sense of data and turn it into improved outcomes (i.e. Return On Investment).
While there will always be a place for those who are highly skilled in web technologies, I expect to see a growing number of simpler technical duties being offshored.
In the next several years, where there will be the most growth is in marketing skills to assist companies in increasing their return on investment. Optimising web marketing methods can bring far more value to a business than can investing in new technology.
About the Author:
Author: David B. Ascot reports sales lead generation methods that work so your company can expand through online lead generation.
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