FORGE | where ideas take shape

Making a website should be easy. I mean, it’s been over ten years since the widespread adoption of the internet, right? If companies have created tools to allow the non-technical to do things like create blogs, steal music, and find a date with ease, then it must be only a matter of time before anybody can create a website. As businesses are desperate to control costs, it seems that there is an expectation that the maturation of the web as a medium means that it is becoming both simpler and cheaper.

Many years ago, I remember reading that “in just a few years somebody will offer products that will allow anyone to create a professional looking website”. The prophecy was made with a view of tools like Adobe GoLive and Macromedia Dreamweaver on the path towards making the art of professional web design into a commodity. As a user of Dreamweaver since 1999, I can say that it is a much more complex product now than it was then. Many things have been dramatically improved for the professional web developer, but it is certainly not a product that will one day render the developer unnecessary.

The overall confusion faced by the business world when it comes to how to interact with design firms is born out of the oft-forgotten infancy of the industry. As soon as anyone can create a product or service that either solves a market problem or delivers an innovative new specialty, technology changes the game again. One has to only look at the phenomenon that was MySpace to see how quickly things can change. In 2005 it had the highest membership of any social networking site. In a span of only a few short years, that title has been given to Facebook with over 300 million users. This seismic shift is an unsettling reality to most businesses who are faced with trying to understand how their businesses should interact with their customers on the web.

Blame(?) it on Google

It would be easy, and somewhat correct, to point to Google for much of the shift of behavior that is driving much of the uncertainty that businesses face when it comes to how to correctly use the web. In the early days of the web, it was somewhat easy to be found using search engines…simply pay for it. Web developers worked around every loophole that was offered to them by search engines that were seemingly engineered to be manipulated. This led to customer distrust and backlash against the web as a viable medium to do business.

Firstly, Google doesn’t publish it’s search algorithm. While an entire industry (SEO Companies) has been created to try and offer advise and services to get a business found by Google search, the full details of page ranking is unknown. The reason for this is simple, Google wants us to behave. They want us to create content, and let them index it.  Pretty simple.

But not to be considered rude, Google offers us simple advise to create search-engine friendly sites, and one of the first things to be mentioned is simply “provide high-quality content on your pages“. That’s it? While there are many more things that have an effect, this basically sums it up. After all is said and done, Google wants to give their users the best results possible. If it sounds too good to be true, think again. While this may sound simple, it’s makes it virtually impossible to create a website without planning for the current and future content needs. More on this in another post!

Another way that Google has changed the web is by separating paid and organic search results. This separation has introduced trust back into the picture, as this means that the results that you see on the first page are more helpful than ever. Google has established itself as the undeniable leader in this area. Years of finding what I’m looking for has lead to my customer loyalty, and Google is continuing to refine this puristic approach to search.

Again with the content! If it seems like a dead horse is getting beat, you should spend a few hours in our offices. While this seems like a simple thing, believe me, it’s a hard sell. It seems that many business people are just not interested in spending the amount of time and ongoing effort needed to have a successful web strategy. A typical response to a discussion of web content strategy is “let me pay you half for a quick fix, and we’ll address it later”. A web developer can create the most beautiful website in the world, and it will simply not be found by Google if the content strategy is not right.

While I’m a huge fan of technology, I am also continually reminded that while business moves at the speed of light, not every business owner is on that train. At FORGE, we have clients that are in every category of technology sophistication, and that’s something that we’re proud of. We have been involved in some amazing client stories and are continually looking to offer a helping hand to help businesses understand the complex world of the web. At least until it all changes tomorrow.