The value of company websites

Shel Holtz tosses up the subject "The Value of company websites" for discussion. Are they less valuable in a peer-to-peer, Web 2.0, search engine dependent environment? I don't think so.

The corporate site may now be one voice among many, but it remains an important voice. I think this is particularly true if you step back and look at the cause and effect relationship between corporate press releases, news articles, and consumer generated media. Most of the online dialog is a reaction to the announcement. The challenge for corporations is to find out how to take part in the dialog they generate.

I think that the “where” of dialog is also less important than the dialog itself. For many organizations a good place to start a dialog is where it is already happening -– joining the conversation on active sites is a valid way to start, particularly for organizations not ready to ramp up the headcount required for full-time blogging and discussion boards. I’m not saying that hours spent in direct dialog won’t generate cost savings elsewhere in an organization, I think they will and I’ve seen it happen. But that is a big leap of faith for many organizations.