Are we, the readers of online articles such as this one, so unusually Web savvy that we have become too far removed from the view that Joe public has of the Internet?
I was part of Joe`s public not so long ago, when I searched the local Web for a public relations company. I did not find one. The search engines` results linked me to expired Web sites, useless gimmicks about online marketing and public relations companies that did not operate in my area.
You are probably rolling your eyes and accusing me of not using the correct search engine, or the right logic operators in my query, however the result remains the same. The Web will never be widely used by the public if it offers mediocre information with difficult access techniques.
The Chicken or the Egg?
To me, it`s logical; until the average user is guaranteed that he will find a good PR company through online research, he will not even bother to look.
And if he doesn`t start looking, then the growth prospect of the Internet is doomed. We spend our time lamenting about the Telkom monopoly, the high computer costs and the slow connection times, but we spend very little time offering users a product that is worth "it" despite all the negatives.
As a result, the Web has become a tool for accessing foreign sites. The danger here is that the more time a South African user spends accessing these sites, the higher his standards become for local sites. And the greater his disillusion becomes.
We can no longer afford to ask ourselves the chicken or egg question: do we develop and promote excellent sites now, with the hope that "if we build it, they will come", or do we wait for them to come first? The answer is obvious. Unless resources are spent to make the Internet more user-friendly and useful to those who don`t use it now, we run into the risk that it will soon be too late.
Is there a solution, and if so what is it?
We should start off by re-educating companies about the function of the Web. Move away from all the hype and frenzy and make it clear that the site is not there to act as a "cool thing to show our customers". There should be a clear understanding that the only reason a customer will visit a site is to have questions answered or a service fulfilled. If a company can`t provide that, it shouldn`t put up a site just for site`s sake.
Recently a potential client asked me to create a Web site for a new product he was about to market. "Why do you want a Web site?" I asked. He looked at me in astonishment - even shock and said: "Because everyone I speak to says if I don`t get into it now, tomorrow will be too late." Honest sentiments, but very misguided.
In a situation like that, it is always up to the Webmaster to steer the client in the right direction. But with the plethora of quick-design-tools and the amount of `part-timers` playing with their computers, very few Webmasters are qualified enough to give sound business advice. The result? More useless pages, and more disillusion.
So why should we be the egg waiting to hatch?
On the Internet you never know. What we think could be a duck might turn out to be a swan. Not convinced? Name a foreign e-commerce Web site. Did you think of Amazon.com? See what happens when you are good? And how many good dotcoza Web sites can you think of?
The truth is that the sooner we begin to produce good Web sites the more will be developed. Entry into this market is not cheap, and it will cease to be worthwhile to launch a new Web site unless it is better than the best in its genre.
When did good competition do any harm? Companies who invest the right amount of time into the strategy and design of its Web site, whether it is 10 or 10 000 pages, will not only be of benefit to themselves, but to the general state of the Web in South Africa.
And then what should we do with all those good sites?
We must make them easily accessible to the online community so that we can all reap the benefits.
We have at least two excellent and efficient search engines in South Africa, but they rely on good Web design of the sites they list (in forms of meta tags and manual submissions). These sites should be marketed to the public as the ideal entry point for finding information on the Web, and should encourage all sites to aim for a listing.
Is all of this worth it?
Absolutely. It took me three hours of off-line research to come up with a shortlist of PR agencies, which might serve my needs. This included calling journalists for recommendations, contacting the PR organising body and working on general referrals. Which of the referrals did I end up meeting? Those which had the best Web site of course.
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