Comments on: 10 harsh truths about corporate websites

By: funkyg

funkyg — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:19:45 +0000

I have to take issue with point #1. Marketing 'used to be' a monologue. That has changed. Modern marketing is about the dialogue with customers. We know that you cannot write a monologue in the modern world and get away with it. I do agree though that CMS is a not just not a silver bullet, it is actually a bad thing. However not in the way you might imagine. If your site is looking to attract attention from Google and make the most of your visits by providing the information in the most appropriate manner for human browsers, you should not use a CMS. This type of work requires specialised knowledge that the standard CMS user doesn't even think about. I'm not talking about just the difference between good and bad copy here, but specific writing for the web. You need a web copy specialist, and hence a specialised team.

By: Mike Mella

Mike Mella — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:12:58 +0000

A week ago, I quit my job as Web Manager of a major Canadian charity, mostly to pursue my own Web design business full-time, but also because I got fed up with the obstacles that you’ve so perfectly presented here. One thing I might disagree with though:
Tools like Twitter are indeed intended for person-to-person contact, but I think the fact is that many people are using those tools to stay updated about things. You could argue that email is intended for the same purpose, and that if you want to learn when a new blog entry is posted, you should be using RSS. But offering email subscriptions as an alternative to RSS is one thing that made Feedburner successful. Power-users understand RSS, but everyone understands email.
I think a lot of Twitter users use Twitter as a means of staying up to date on things, so I see no problem with an organization creating a Twitter account for posting upcoming events, for example. Sure it misses the point of what it was originally intended for, but it provides non-technical users with a means of connecting with that organization in a way that they didn’t before.
I remember when people used their MSN Messenger handles the way we now use Twitter. Someone’s handle might be, “Jim – Trying to finish this project before Lost starts.” MSN Messenger is not for that purpose either, but people used it that way.
I would further argue that when people only used Twitter for it’s original purpose – to tell people “What you’re doing right now” – it was mind-numbingly boring.
So you can create new technologies with whatever purpose you want, but ultimately, the community will decide how they’ll get used.

By: Vanessa Pagan

Vanessa Pagan — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:29:12 +0000

Since I spend a lot of time with CMSs for businesses, I agree that there is no silver bullet with any CMS. Content management success is re-enforced through internal processes and training on how best to use the system chosen. This is critical to success in implementing a CMS. Well done on a relevant top ten list that highlights the underbelly of corp websites.

By: miamiwebdesign

miamiwebdesign — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:14:34 +0000

In our experience, the IT department doesn't get SEO at all. And they can really hinder any effort to rank the website to the search engines.

By: Paul Boag

Paul Boag — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:49:22 +0000

I have now written a followup post to this you might be interested in. 10 ways to battle site bureaucracy' - http://boagworld.com/business_strategy/10_ways_to_battle_site_bureauc/

By: Andrew Wilson

Andrew Wilson — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:10:17 +0000

Every single point rings true for me at almost every large organisation I have worked for! :-(

By: Lisa Price

Lisa Price — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:32:59 +0000

Great article – really resonates with me as I’ve inherited a site that exhibits many of these problems.
For me, getting on the road to recovery involves achieving consensus on overall company strategy and tactics – then you can build a website with a clear sense of purpose and its own set of objectives.
I’d be interested to know if you’ve seen any good guidelines/articles/blogs about providing guidance for colleagues on blogging/tweeting from a corporate point of view.
Corporate tweeting is for many an unnatural fit with Twitter’s roots as a personal, disruptive, informatl and transparent medium. But with the critical mass it is acquiring, the speed to audience and all the other benefits Twitter has, it’s already on the marketing agenda for so many companies, celebs etc.
Personally I think the best corporate uses of Twitter are as a micro-news alternative to RSS feed (aggregating content ‘output’) and also for customer service. Or if you’re small and niche enough, you can get away with making it a more personal thing.
But then there’s the issue of individuals (employees) who tweet – often about work-related issues. Marketing shouldn’t be the ‘brand police’ in these cases, but some loose guidelines could be useful?
PS. Highly recommend the Website Owner’s Manual!

By: Frank Carr

Frank Carr — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 06:09:05 +0000

Your #1 and #6 ‘truths’ really hit home with me.
At the company I work at we have 6 different web sites and the turf wars are considerable. This came about as the result of 2 mergers. We aren’t even on the same platforms with 2 sites running ASP.NET, 1 running under Classic ASP, 2 running under LAMP and 1 that’s HTML and Flash. It’s been a mess and promises to continue to be one.
On #6, a committee is in charge of coordinating bringing the sites together. Good luck with that!

By: David Hobbs

David Hobbs — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 22:18:51 +0000

Thanks Paul, this really is an excellent article you put together. I just wrote up some ideas on how to pull off some of the things you mention above, especially number 10 (how to put a large site on a diet). See http://bit.ly/webdiet

By: Jason Grant

Jason Grant — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 23:54:04 +0000

Agree with all these points, especially point number 10.
Proper solution for any web site lies in a carefully picked ‘cocktail’ of features which are relevant and regularly kept updated.
There is no longer any point in ‘shouting’ at people. The only page which should be set in stone is probably ‘About us’ page. :-)