The Web Is So Over - Are You Ready?-SAY Media

For those of you who have procrastinated about getting your Website together, I have some good news: You don't really need one anymore. Welcome to the post-Web era.

This doesn't mean that the Web is really dead. Far from it, as you might expect from someone who writes for ReadWriteWeb. But the stand-alone Website, in all of its pixilated glory, is becoming obsolete. Yes, you do need something for potential customers to bring up in their browsers when they type in companynamedotcom. But you also don't need to put a lot of effort into its creation. Here's why.

The days of building community are happening outside of your own dot com. It used to be that you created brand awareness and a destination for your customers by having your own site. Now, there are plenty of others who will do it for you, and often they will do so without you having to pay them. Remember the phrase OPM? It used to mean other people's money.

Today it means Other People's Marketing.

Let me give you some examples. My wife is an interior designer. Some of her business is coming from the communities that she participates in with HGTV.com and Houzz.com, two places that people go to get ideas for their own decorating. By writing comments on these forums, she is sharing her knowledge with the people most likely to hire her. It doesn't cost her anything to participate, other than her time, and she is reaching a ready-made audience of thousands of women who are hungry for this kind of information.

Yes, she has her own business website. She needs it to give her business a sense of legitimacy and purpose. But that site gets dozens of visitors a week, rather than the hundreds or thousands that the other sites do. She is using OPM.

All of us at ReadWriteWeb participate on Twitter too. We post and repost links to our stories and that of our colleagues, and many people follow us as a result. But wouldn't it be better if someone else posts a link to our stories on their Twitter account? Doesn't that link carry more weight than just our own flogging of our content? Yes.

The same is true of Pinterest. Why should I try to post photographs of my work (if I am a visual artist) when I can do the same on a site where millions of people are clicking and recommending what they see to others? I can spend the time to create some HTML that showcases my art. But if I am trying to reach a wider audience? OPM has already built a pretty nice way to distribute this information.

No, Websites aren't going away.

But we should place less effort into making them the sprawling digital places of 1999. A friend of mine, Bruce Fryer calls this the "Cheap Bastard Startup" method of IT. Make it good enough, and count on OPM to push you further along.

OPM does have drawbacks: Like Blanche DuBois, you do have to rely on the kindness of strangers. Particularly when it comes to online discussions, there are trolls and others who don't hesitate to take you apart verbally. You have to develop a thicker skin. And you have to constantly feed your discussions and other sites with content, with recommendations, and spend time to make sure that you are part of the ongoing conversations online. It certainly is easier to just put up a piece of content on your own website, press publish, and walk away. But it is more satisfying once you get your OPM network working for you.

Welcome to the post-Web era. And if you are looking for some window treatments, I can point you in the right direction.

David Stromis a writer atReadWriteWeb, a SAY Media property.

SAY Media is a digital publishing company that creates amazing media brands. Through its technology platform and media services, SAY enables its portfolio of independent content creators to build passionate communities around key consumer interest areas such as Style, Living, Food and Tech. For more information visit www.saymedia.com.

Read all SAY Media's MediaBizBloggers commentaries at SAY Daily.

Check us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggers.com
Follow our Twitter updates @MediaBizBlogger

The opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggers.com management or associated bloggers. MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries.