The problem of web management
As more businesses go online and those that are online increase their efforts the problem of web management becomes evermore relevant.
The internet is steeped in myth and misinformation. This is partly because anyone can get involved and set themselves up as an “expert” and partly because of the fast moving, everchanging and highly complicated nature of the technologies involved.
The business of doing business on line is loaded with unfamiliar and potentially very expensive terms like SEO, web 2.0, ASP, JSP, PHP, Ruby, AJAX, CPM, CPC, PPC, XXS, SQL injection, Organic, usability accessibility, Linux, IIS, Blackhat, Whitehat etc etc. More familiar terms like affiliates, ROI, overheads, advertising, branding, hacking, security etc are also mentioned but how do they apply to the online environment?
What is going on? Who is doing what? What technologies are involved? Are we as competitive as we should be? What are the latest developments? How do we measure things? What can we measure? How do we know who to hire? What constitutes relevent experience?
These questions go on and on and in most companies no one is able to answer all of them. Even if there is a substantial online effort the people involved are often contained in disperate groups with poor communication and collaboration systems in place.
As the internet matures and we move further from the wild west internet of a few years ago we find that there are best practices and effective methodologies emerging. Yes the internet moves at an alarming rate so you need to kept up to date by people who know where to look. Yes there are a bewildering number of technologies available but there will be a best fit for your efforts once all your needs are taken into account. Yes there are angencies that will provide a very poor service for a great deal of money but likewise there are true professionals who provide excellent ROI.
As the web grows and becomes a more professional environment the role of the web manager is one that becomes ever more necessary.