7ONE8_logo2

EXPERT DIY TIPS Do you really need a website anymore?

As more and more sites jump on the social network band wagon, is the band wagon about to tip over? A study by Webtrends revealed that majority of Fortune 100 websites (68%) have been experiencing negative traffic growth over the past 12 months with a 24% average decrease in unique visitors. But look at the increase in social media traffic, according to stats, Facebook received 598 million unique visitors in August 2010 which is almost a 54% increase than the same month last year. Twitter received a growth of 76% from August 2009, up to 96 million unique visitors.

But what does this mean?

The Wall St Journal recently profiled “Accidental Entrepreneur” Ms. Richin, who runs her business from her home in New York and last year generated roughly $60,000 in revenue using only Twitter, Linkedin, DooID (for business card) and a blog. Another start-up, Slipped Stitch Studios has no website, even though it’s an e-commerce company selling knitting and crochet supplies through Etsy.com, an online marketplace for handmade and vintage goods with more than eight million members. For those starting a business with next to no funds, utilizing third-party sites such as a blog-hosting services, social-media outlets, business directory or marketplace is a good match.

But how about corporate companies? They also are joining the social network anti-website party. Candy maker Skittles, recently replaced its entire homepage with its Twitter Stream and links to “Upload the Rainbow” (Youtube page), “Find the Rainbow” (Tumblr page) or “Watch the Rainbow” (Facebook page). Talk about getting to the point, with over 19,491,640 Facebook Fans, as the tagline says, you can really Taste the (social) Rainbow.

So is dumping your website and only focusing on your social networks a good move? Only time will tell. With Facebook redesigning its business page layouts and Google+ right around the corner a new forecast from BIA/Kelsey Group reports social media advertising will skyrocket over the next four years to reach more than $8 billion (US) in 2015….lets see if websites will be around then?

Share