Can Web2.0 deliver business results?

In the early 1990’s, a site’s performance was measured by the number of seconds the site might take to load. Back when my hair was big, we were more proud of the nifty techno-gadgetry that we could squeeze through a 14.4 modem than we were of actual business results. Business results were more of a pleasant by-product in those days.

By the mid nineties, some of my clients would talk a little about “hit-counting” but most of them did not expect any real business results from their Website. In fact, having a Website at all was the result itself. Their competitors had something online and eventually, getting their own “.com” became an indication of professionalism and trustworthiness. As the importance of online vanity grew, I spent the majority of my time creating visual designs and flash intros for my clients. As a designer, I would sometimes win projects based purely on the number of design awards I had accumulated.

The world changed and for the past few years, the primary measurement of success for a corporate website became more than the look of their presence. In fact, having a beautifully designed site was baseline. My clients wanted users. More than that, they wanted qualified users, more leads and more sales. They actually wanted measurable business results.

Delivering results meant focusing on traffic acquisition through initiatives like: email campaigns and search engine optimization. It meant measuring user activity on landing pages, offering downloads of white papers and tracking conversions. It meant that as their Web designer, I was in a partnership with my clients and together we’re focused on achieving important business objectives.

Getting more leads and conversions is great, but then the world changed again. In order to succeed online, my clients have to form a new partnership… with their users. Instead of constant self-promotion about the company’s products and services, we’re asking users for their opinion, and encouraging an open discussion.

Sometimes we catch ourselves counting posts to see if it’s working. That’s why the question remains, will Web2.0 deliver business results? Social media intiatives are a long term commitment but we have found that when we engage our users in an honest conversation about their concerns and their needs, trust is the ultimate result.

Where there is trust, the possibilities for bottom-line business results are tremendous.