Last week Ethan Jackson and I attended the Online Marketing Summit Lunch and Learn in Charlotte, NC. It was a nice way to keep a finger on the pulse of the online marketing arena. I was struck by the simple metaphor Aaron Kahlow made of a website to a house. At Mad Monkey we often use the concept of “blueprints” to describe the website redesign process to clients, but in Kahlow’s concept the website is the foundation; the three pillars are search engine optimization (SEO), web analytics and email marketing; and the roof is social media. What a great way of describing a complete online marketing package.
A thought I’ve been having recently, however, is that the future of websites — especially for small companies, community organizations and those who are self-employed — is the website as a shell for various social media applications and widgets. For larger organizations and corporations that need more advanced functionality (event registration, e-commerce, e-business or B2B applications, etc.), the corporate website is still important and isn’t going away. These larger firms can and will likely turn to the social media shell site as a microsite. But for smaller firms for which budget is a challenge, the various social media applications now popular are a great way to get started online. In this case, the foundation is the roof is the foundation. So it’s more like one of those houses that gets built into the earth or in the side of a mountain.