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In the Beginning
Corporate Web sites: An evolution in progress
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Business New Haven
9/4/2000
By: Lucy D. Twarkins
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The seemingly overnight arrival of the Internet into the world of business has been compared to familiar historical landmarks - the American railroads, the interstate highway system, the telephone network. Terms such as “revolution” and even “earthshaking” are graphic symbols used to explain the impact that essentially $1 trillion worth of network connections, computer power and limitless databases brimming information have had on the world of business.
When we try to comprehend something as expansive, indescribable, and often controversial as the Internet, none of those really capture its essence as well as this analogy in from the October 4, 1999 BusinessWeek:
In the Cambrian period, 550 million years ago, something snapped. In the space of less than ten million years - a geologic instant - there was an explosion of multi-celled organisms. Strange new life forms appeared, some with teeth and claws: the world's first predators. These species were so varied and numerous that their basic makeup underlies nearly all life today.
Comparing the advent of the Internet to the creation of new life “both wondrous and dangerous” is the only way to accurately describe what's happening in business today. New companies, business models, corporate structures as well as new industries are emerging from this evolutionary technological period known as the Internet Age.
Understandably, chaos, tumult and confusion abound in the boardrooms and business trades, as few can agree on what's coming next. It seems, thanks to the Internet's detonation in the business world really only a half-decade ago, we are beginning to question everything we thought we knew about business.
Top of the Chain
One fact that everyone can agree on is this: The internet is a ready-made marketplace available virtually cost-free to anyone with a phone line and a personal computer. Anywhere in the world, any time, day or night, the Net offers an entry point to all visitors in every market and industry.
This, in a turn of fortune, puts the customer in charge as never before because it makes available a wealth of information on just about any product or service. And if they don't like what they see, another or a dozen others are only a mouse-click away.
The computing power of the Net also allows prices to be negotiated instantly and efficiently, making haggling more cost-effective than ever.
The Internet model - with few hard assets, a direct pipeline to customers, and freedom from the hierarchical management structure of most of corporate America - offers a new level of speed and operational efficiency for those who master it - and potentially dislocations for those who fail to.
Consequently, corporate America has rushed to get onto the Net. This panic to get on the Internet reached warp speed, of course, with the preposterous valuations investors bestowed on their dot.com favorites. But despite the nosedive of net stocks earlier this year, one thing is obvious: There's a revolution - or, rather, an evolution - underway.
Fledgling online companies have transformed the way business is done and snatched market share from much bigger established rivals. Gearing up to serve this newly empowered customer turns the classic business model on its head. Mastering the Internet has moved to the top priority on corporate America's agenda.
Survival of the Fittest
From accordions to the zodiac, every specialized or topical Web site has an automatic, organic relationship with its audience, however large or small. It's a safe bet that any reader who hits the site and stays is interested in the topic.
Those who design and maintain corporate Web sites, on the other hand, do not have the luxury of knowing its readership in advance. At any given moment, the visitor to a corporate site may include prospective clients, employees and investors. Each requires different kinds of information about the company.
The sheer diversity of the audience makes it impossible to predict what a given visitor will want or need to know. Understanding and incorporating that diversity is one of the secrets to creating an effective corporate Web site.
A key element in developing a Web site that will enhance your corporate image and satisfy the expectations of both you and your audience is to have a clear definition of exactly what those expectations are in the first place. According to two online articles on “All Things Web” (www.pantos.org/atw), planning is critical for a successful presence on the Internet.
Before you begin, have a specific, clearly defined set of objectives in mind:
1. Why do you want to have a Web site?
2. What specifically do you expect to gain from it?
3. What specifically are you offering to your audience?
4. Can you afford to make it meet your standards?
When developing your site, design the structure around a collection of small, tightly focused, bite-sized pages, liberally linked to other, directly related bites. Let each document and each section speak to a portion of your potential readership. At all costs, avoid the temptation to create a Web version of your corporate brochure. Make sure to:
• Keep it small;
• Keep it fast;
• Make maneuvering easy;
• Keep it accessible;
• Update your site at least once a month.
In designing your Web site, bear in mind that, whether the reader is investigating a product or looking for work, after spending a few minutes at your site, she or he should have a very good sense of your company. A well-designed corporate site should leave the reader knowing who you are, what you do, how you do it and what makes your company or product special.
Web Site Hits in New Haven County
Site(s): WELI/WKCI/WAVZ Radio (www.weli.com, www.kc101.com, www.wavz.com)
Went live: 1997
Went live with redesign: August 1, 2000
Purpose: Interactive extension of on-air product: news, regional events, radio-personality information; recruitment; sales and marketing tool for advertisers.
Webmaster: Updates all three Web sites on a daily or as-needed basis.
Key measurement: Number of hits daily; number of pages each visitor views.
Explains Jim Simonetti, vice president/general manager: “Our Web site is an option, not an end-all, helping us to keep in-tune with consumer trends.”
Site: Gaylord Hospital (www.gaylord.org)
Went live: March 1999
Purpose: Used primarily as a marketing and public-relations tool.
Webmaster: Will be designated when site becomes interactive.
Key measurement: “Statistics” (number of hits).
Explains Lynn Crispino, Gaylord Hospital librarian: Gaylord sees its Web site evolving from its present “electronic brochure” look to a database-driven system. Currently features chat rooms with physicians on specific topics. Plans to go interactive on a small scale this month.
Site: United Office Furniture (www.unitedofficefurniture.com)
Went live: 1999
Purpose: Used primarily as a sales and marketing tool.
Webmaster: Designed and maintained by outside contractor.
Future plans: Plan to add an order-fulfillment section in the near future.
Other recommended “hits” in New Haven County:
Long Wharf Theatre (www.longwharf.org)
Connecticut Container (www.unicorr.com)
Business New Haven (www.businessnewhaven.com)
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