EPR Creations LLC

Is the web dead?

I’ve been hearing strange tidbits of information as of late in how people are accessing content from the Internet.  One was that people are now spending more time using social media than they are using email.  Another was that the web was dead, but that the Internet was still alive.  And it’s not just Prince that made this comment.  Chris Anderson, the famous creator of the “Long Tail” and “Freemium” ideas wrote an article where he exclaimed that the web was dead.

When I hear comments like this, I generally distrust them at first.  The web dead?  Come on.  But as I began to look at my own online behavior, some of these thoughts began to make sense and I began pondering these trends a bit more.

Why is social media more popular than email?  How many spam messages a day do you receive in your personal email account?  How many do you receive in Facebook?  Facebook is a controlled environment.  Everyone in the world has access to your email account.  Only people you specify have access to send you a message on Facebook.

And what about the web being dead?  Chris Anderson is referring to the World Wide Web (www).  His view is that the use of the Internet is as popular as ever, but the use of the Web is losing traction.

Again, I thought Mr. Anderson was in error until I considered how I access a lot of my content now.  I have an iPhone.  In the morning, I read the headlines from the Wall St. Journal, the NY Times, and NPR on my iPhone.  Only, I don’t go to the Safari browser on my iPhone, I go to the apps (applications) that these companies have available for free for the iPhone.

After that, I may check what my friends are doing on Facebook and Twitter.  Later on, when I take a run, I use a GPS-based app that tracks my run, how fast (or slow) and how far I’ve gone.  Again, an app.  Up until this point, I have not accessed the World Wide Web.  I could go on through the rest of my day, but you see the point.  As Chris Anderson wrote, it’s “less about the searching, more about the getting.”

So, what does this mean for your company?  Will people stop looking at your website?  No, of course not.  But, the role your website plays might be shifting.

The way I view it is that your website should be the place where all public information related to your company resides.  If people really want to know all about your company, then there should be a place for them to view that information on your website.

But you should also have an app related to your company, or some sort of a mobile presence.  I see this as your interactive piece.  This is how you communicate with your clients.  This is where you have your most important information that people regularly seek (as simple as the address, phone number, open times, etc.).  The app should provide ways for clients to get your information easily, not a place where they have to search long and hard.

So, in this shifting landscape, are you preparing for this change?  Have you begun thinking about an App to release on the iPhone and other major smartphones?  Have you begun brainstroming what sort of content, games, podcasts, etc. you could have on your app?  Have you figured out a way to make money from these apps?

Social Media Traffic

These numbers were just released showing the percentage of overall traffic per social media site:

• Facebook – 41%
• MySpace – 24%
• Gmail – 15%
• Twitter – 8%

My guess is that Facebook, Gmail, & Twitter’s share is rising while MySpace’s share is falling.

Another interesting trend is that Facebook is used as an email client.  I was talking to my wife about Facebook the other day and she does most of her emailing with friends through Facebook.  Think about it, you choose who can send you messages, so you automatically cut down on a lot of unwanted emails and wasted time by using Facebook as an email client.

Keep this in mind as you consider marketing initiatives for your company.  The trend may be moving away from email and towards email clients where the user can control who can & can’t email you.  They must trust you.

Facebook vs. Google

Research company Hitwise just reported that Facebook passed Google as the most visited website in the USA last week.  Facebook had 7.07% of all visits to the web and Google had 7.03%.  The bigger side to this story is that Facebook’s traffic is growing at rapid rates while Google’s traffic has more or less plateaued.

This has enormous implications for online marketing.  What this says is that people trust Friend Results more than Google Search Results.  This may be obvious to marketers everywhere, but have online marketing companies changed tactics for their clients?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) seeks to place a website high in Google rankings.  This is still valuable.  Extremely valuable.  You’ve heard the joke, ‘what do you call someone who is #1 in google for a particular keyword?’ – A millionaire.

But SEO is step 1.  If there are 30 movies at the movie theater, which one do you see?  You see the one your buddy John recommended.  Same is happening with websites.  Google may point you to the best 30 websites for purchasing a used guitar, but your buddy John, who purchased a guitar last month and had a great experience, will help you weed through the noise.

This is the power of a Facebook network.  I see my friends make posts all the time that ask for recommendations for certain products or services. And many people respond with good or bad experiences from specific companies.

Other ways we are seeing recommendations take place are in sites like Angie’s List.  Angie’s List allows people to rate contractors.  You need a plumber, you search here and see what your neighbors have ranked plumbers in the area.  Now, you are not trying to do a Google search to find a random plumber, but you are basing your decision on reputation.