The Website Journey
Websites have come a long way. In a time, not so long ago, when the Internet had just arrived in India, people were abuzz with the idea of having their – mostly black and white or nearly calculator like – computer connect to (a contemporary dial-up modem, through a phone line that usually took ages to work) the world of possibilities.
At this point, and you’d agree with me, there was this one family in the neighbourhood that had a computer, with this so called Internet (and most of us huddled up around the computer, like kids, while it made all those beeping sounds, and waited for ‘something extraordinary’ to happen) because clearly, we had no idea what the it (the Internet) was all about.
Who could ever fathom the possibility of leased lines, broadband or a Facebook and Twitter in the near future – which, now, holds a substantial part of our life. For that matter, some top institutions of the world are comprehending the idea of making online social networking an imperative part of the curriculum, while some have already gone ahead with it.
During that period – back in the day of dial-up – companies or brands (and most media agencies) were not fully aware of this new found technology and what it could do for their business. Most people, if they thought about the Internet at all when thinking about their brand, figured they’d need a website, and that was about it. And back then, the website was everything – it was almost a sure shot way of differentiation (and of course you had the first-mover advantage).
Nowadays, a company’s website can play so many different roles (mainly due to the availability of resources, such as: the penetration of broadband Internet, the overall advancement in technology- computers, softwares and awareness) that can range from: a) an online shopping cart; b) a full grown interactive entertainment model; c) a house for like minded people to get together; d) an informative platform, similar to a company brochure – all made with the objective of engaging their prospective consumer.
It is due to this phenomenon that an industry of web marketing was born and banner ads and viral marketing, short form videos, games and the like. And, today, because the way we share information has changed, every site has a send-to-a-friend tab (which is how most companies are building viral campaigns, through you). We no longer have to wait for the information to come to us, rather, with the Internet (loaded with websites of large corporates to individuals) which can be easily accessed at any given time.
And lastly, but most importantly, our perception of a legit vs a dubious company or individual is on the basis of their website – making this the most appropriate time for you to develop and grow your business online.
(Originally printed in Sector News, distributed on Kalka-Delhi Shatabdi)