June's issue of August Insights asked, "Do web sites still matter?" and promised to take a look at how businesses can leverage the new wave of digital infrastructure and content management, and tap into the connectedness of social networks. So let's get to it.
Digital Infrastructure, from Old School to New
Once upon a time, building an online presence required an investment in infrastructure commensurate with the scale of that presence. That investment included dedicated or shared web servers connected to pipes leased from telcos. Content management systems – either modular or custom – facilitated control over web site content. Importing content or functionality from third parties often required programming services. Bottom line, building a company's digital presence required time, money, and specialized skills.
Fast forward to the present, and the landscape has changed. A lot.
It's still possible, and in some cases desirable, to own your digital presence's infrastructure. But businesses without a practical need for this kind of control have other options. And one of the most ubiquitous, as well as most flexible and effective, options is WordPress, which is known for hosting the work of more than 200,000 bloggers.
In reality, WordPress is a highly scalable, easily implemented publishing platform. It's a "freemium" service, meaning users can launch a simple blog or web site without paying start up or maintenance fees; as users' needs grow, they can pay for premium services, on an a la carte basis. So, a small business can pay a few dollars per year to attach their own domain name to their blog/site, a few dollars to customize the look and feel of that site, and a few more dollars to add storage as the site grows. The more a site has to do, the more it costs; fewer requirements reduces costs.
WordPress has the advantage of an active developer community that offers a wide range of add-ons. Design "themes" (that change the look and feel of the site) can be purchased at low cost. Plug-ins that extend sites' functionality are likewise available. Users have access to numerous free widgets that integrate third-party content and features into WordPress sites. And much of the work of building a site can be done without the help of programmers.
WordPress makes online publishing simple, but innovation is driving that simplicity to a whole new level. Which brings us to so-called middle blogging platforms like Posterous and Tumblr.
A Poster Child for Posterous
An admission: I love Posterous. And my first experiment with it explains why:
- Time to set up Posterous account and blog: 3 minutes
- Time to import data from existing blog site: 5 minutes
- Time to attach custom domain name: 3 minutes
- Time to set up Google Analytics: 2 minutes
- Cost to do all of the above: $0
Posterous is fast, but that's only part of the charm. Users add content to Posterous sites through a web-based interface, or better yet, via emails sent to Posterous. Email subject lines becomes headlines; simple syntax allows users to define text formatting and content tags. Want to create a photo gallery? Send photos as email attachments, and Posterous resizes them, places each in the appropriate orientation, and creates thumbnail galleries.
Want to simultaneously publish content to other web sites? Posterous can do this automatically; alternately, users can define where to publish content by changing the posting email address. For example, content emailed to posterous+twitter@posterous.com will appear on the user's Posterous site and Twitter account.
Of course, there are compromises users have to accept. The look and feel of Posterous sites, while appealing, can't be customized. And, the implementation of third-party functionality is more limited than with some platforms.
Still, Posterous represents the next phase in online publishing. It removes obstacles to putting content online. As quickly as you identify the need, you can satisfy it.
Digital Connectedness
The new wave of publishing platforms are inherently social. Connectedness is part of the bargain. Want site visitors to see your Twitter feed? Widgets integrate that feed, without cost or delay. Need to share video across multiple sites? You can download functionality for free that you once had to buy. Want your audiences to be able to subscribe to content you provide? It's almost certain that this feature is built in.
Fast, Cheap and Out of Control? Maybe.
So the new wave of digital publishing platforms is simpler and less expensive. But what about control over ownership of one's digital presence? Are there risks?Absolutely. Software as a service is only as good as providers' ability to stay in business. So, if you provide business critical functionality or content through a web site, you will naturally demand the most reliable platform you can afford. This doesn't rule out using software as a service, but it demands due diligence on your part. On the other hand, if the content and features you provide have a limited life span, and can easily be ported to other platforms, there may be an advantage to using a low-cost, simplified publishing platform.
What seems certain, however, is that digital publishing will continue to move towards a model that emphasizes speed, ease of implementation, and infrastructure scalability (along with scalable costs) over older models that focus on ownership of infrastructure and customization.
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