A colleague recently told me about his experiences putting together websites. Way back in 1996, a government department had no idea how much it should cost so they set aside a budget of $400,000(!!).
Then, in 2000, a medium-sized company thought it was about time they got on the web. They located a designer who offered to put together the site for $40,000(!).
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.
Companies were paying for people who understood this new technology. It's much like the early days of automotive technology, when anyone who could afford a car would also have their own mechanic to take care of the then impenetrable technologies behind their car.
We have been seeing an increasing trend towards a democratisation of web technology over the last few years, however - and midrange web design firms are being forced into a lower price range (or out of business altogether). It is becoming simpler to design and manage websites with every passing year.
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
Site Design:
There are now a lot of choices for software which anyone can use to build a relatively good looking website in an hour or less. There are also a lot of user-friendly content management systems which let users design a website without ever seeing any code. While these programs usually don't have a lot of advanced features, they work fine for any simpler sort of website.
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.
Optimising the Site:
The analysis of landing page content has also come a long way. The core of conversion optimisation is testing different versions of landing pages; something which used to require specialised tracking software to do.
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.
Anyone who offers conversion optimisation is going to need to be sure that the added value of their marketing techniques is sufficient to attract clients as the technical aspects become demystified.
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).
Now, there is always going to be work for people with specialised technical skills; but an increasing number of the simpler technical duties will be outsourced to the developing world.
The real growth in demand will be for people who can show companies how to profit from the web. Many companies can often tap into greater leverage opportunities by understanding and optimising their online marketing rather than investing in 'capital works' projects.
Then, in 2000, a medium-sized company thought it was about time they got on the web. They located a designer who offered to put together the site for $40,000(!).
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.
Companies were paying for people who understood this new technology. It's much like the early days of automotive technology, when anyone who could afford a car would also have their own mechanic to take care of the then impenetrable technologies behind their car.
We have been seeing an increasing trend towards a democratisation of web technology over the last few years, however - and midrange web design firms are being forced into a lower price range (or out of business altogether). It is becoming simpler to design and manage websites with every passing year.
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
Site Design:
There are now a lot of choices for software which anyone can use to build a relatively good looking website in an hour or less. There are also a lot of user-friendly content management systems which let users design a website without ever seeing any code. While these programs usually don't have a lot of advanced features, they work fine for any simpler sort of website.
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.
Optimising the Site:
The analysis of landing page content has also come a long way. The core of conversion optimisation is testing different versions of landing pages; something which used to require specialised tracking software to do.
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.
Anyone who offers conversion optimisation is going to need to be sure that the added value of their marketing techniques is sufficient to attract clients as the technical aspects become demystified.
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).
Now, there is always going to be work for people with specialised technical skills; but an increasing number of the simpler technical duties will be outsourced to the developing world.
The real growth in demand will be for people who can show companies how to profit from the web. Many companies can often tap into greater leverage opportunities by understanding and optimising their online marketing rather than investing in 'capital works' projects.
About the Author:
Author: David B. Ascot reports sales lead generation methods that get results so your company can expand through online lead generation.
