These days everyone is talking about the economy and how it will affect their industry and business. After the recent stock market, there is no surprise. Yesterday did turn out to be a great day for the market, even though it is still way behind what it was just a few months ago. I'm no expert on the stock market, but those that bought the Friday that it was at its lowest or early following Monday will probably make out pretty well. If you didn't buy, you might have just missed one of the best times in history.
"The index rose 936 points to close at 9,387.61. In percentage terms, that's an 11.08% increase over Friday's close. The S&P 500 rose 11.58%, or 104.13 points, to close at 1,003.35. The tech-heavy NASDAQ rose 11.81%, or 194.74 points, to close at 1,844.25."*
Anyway, I'm straying from my point...
It seems that the IT spending has recently been put on hold while things shake out. Recently SAP surprised the industry with an announcement that third-quarter revenue from their software would grow 4% to 5%, and overall revenue 13%to 14%. This falls far short of expectations, and was described as a "very sudden and unexpected drop" by CEO Henning Kagermann. In July Kagermann stated that he expected 25% to 27% growth. Oracle is also expecting a 3% to 5% lower growth rate. A further indicator of a slowdown in the tech industry, chipmaker Micron Technology announced that it will cut up to 15% of its workforce.
This sounds like a lot of doom and gloom, but not all of the big IT firms are slowing or expecting loses. IBM said that its third-quarter income is up 20% with 5% more revenue and they are staying with their current yearly forecast.
It's also quite possible that the IT sector won't take the brunt of the slowdown as companies look to technology to keep them running and cut costs.
Here's a hint for where some companies can continue to win business.
What's the one thing that every CEO or business owner wants to know about when it comes to spending money? What's the ROI?
Using Organic SEO (search engine optimization) and well targeted PPC ads (Pay Per Click advertising), Search Firms can help their clients create more efficient ways to market their products and find niches that are difficult to find other ways. Plus, this can be done at a lower cost than more traditional avenues of advertising. Do you know how much you are paying for your yellow pages listing?
The real seller though is website analytics. Using website analytics and conversion tracking tools you can show precisely how well a website is performing. Thus, showing exactly what is working and better target where improvements should be made. You can see how your visitors are getting to your site, what they are doing when they get there and even the city where they live! It gets even better though. Using analytics with PPC campaigns can tell you where you get the best ROI on the money you are spending to post ads online. You can also track conversions (i.e. submit a contact form, download a document, etc... ), and then you can also put a $ amount on each conversion. These are only a few of the possible examples. Website analytics is such a powerful tool, that by using it correctly you can finally answer the age old question, "What is the ROI on building and maintaining a website?"
So, even though the web design industry will most likely see a slowdown as companies will be looking for ways to improve the tools in which they have already invested their money, and will be less likely to spring for a new website or complete redesign. Web design companies and search marketing firms, start thinking about how you can give website owners insight they need to successfully use their site.
Think Web Analytics!
* Quote from:
Tech Companies Get Double-Digit Bounce From Wall Street Rally: InformationWeek
Bryan Coe is a bilingual entrepreneur (English, German). Throughout his career has gathered international experience with such companies as 1&1 Internet Inc., Black Box Network Services and Google. In 2005 Bryan founded Blackbird e-Solutions (http://blackbirdesolutions.com), a consulting, web services and outsourcing company, specializing in Localization and Translation, Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Web Analytics. Bryan works with companies to localize their products, help them get exposure online as well as track their online efforts. Helping them realize their ROI.
He is the organizer of Netzwerk Central, PA and assistant organizer of Netzwerk Philadelphia; both are German groups for German expats and language enthusiasts. He is also a member of the International Business Committee at the Lancaster, PA Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
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