[Hidden-tech] Articles on website longevity?

Rob Laporte rob at 2disc.com
Mon Jan 11 17:09:32 EST 2016


Hi All,

Val’s surmising is correct: An old website won’t disappear from search engines merely because it is old. My firm has what I imagine may be the last case in the world of a client website we built and SEO’d in 1999, and it has changed virtually not at all since then (amazing, but clean design survives) and it still ranks OK in the search engines. Yes, other sites in this competitive plastics industry have gained perforce of continuing investments in search marketing, but that old site is still relevant so still ranks in search engines. (Note to self: call these folks to suggest a once every 15 year investment (-;). 

Usually, ongoing investments by competition make a small, inactive site decline further and further to the point where it essentially does not exist in search engines. There are Freakonomics in this: a small percentage of competitors investing can decrease SEO Performance hugely. I explain more in an a article printed in 2012: "The top ten (or page one) positions in search engines remain just that, so if in a given year 1% of 1000 businesses decide to invest sufficiently, that adds ten to the top ten, which is a 100% increase in competition. Someone has to go down to make room for the new investors."  (http://www.2disc.com/about-us/press-and-media/visibility-magazine/the-hard-freakonomics-of-search-marketing-for-small-business/ <http://www.2disc.com/about-us/press-and-media/visibility-magazine/the-hard-freakonomics-of-search-marketing-for-small-business/>). That math is simplified but essentially true. 

Regarding FaceBook, one social media maven echoed Val and Shel: “You’re building a house on rented land.” I read an article by a marketing manager who invested tons over years in Facebook, getting many thousand followers, then discovered a very small percent actually get his posts. He felt he owned those followers, like he owns his email list, but FaceBook owns them. Not to say FaceBook isn’t right-on for some purposes. 

Best Regards,

Rob Laporte
Founder & Managing Partner
DISC, Inc. - "Making Web Sites Make Money"
413-584-6500
Rob at 2disc.com <mailto:Rob at 2disc.com>
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> On Jan 11, 2016, at 3:43 PM, Val Nelson <val at valnelson.com <mailto:val at valnelson.com>> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I know I'm late to this conversation but I just saw it and it fascinates me.
> 
> What would replace the website, even two decades from now as Shel suggests? Why would they go away? Smaller devices yes, but fade away? I agree with Shel that social media can't replace a website.
> 
> And I find it hard to believe that search engines would ever be less relevant. I agree that social is a critical factor but not a replacement. People will always be curious about things about which they don't know who to ask. If they seem to disappear, it will only be because search engines are happening in the background somehow.
> 
> I too would be curious to see an article to back up these ideas. I like thinking about the future.
> 
> Thanks
> Val
> 
> 
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> On Thu, Dec 24, 2015 at 12:47 AM, Shel Horowitz <shel at principledprofit.com <mailto:shel at principledprofit.com>> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Websites will be relevant for at least a couple of decades--but they'll be more and more geared for smaller devices (Apple Watch, anyone?). Search engines, maybe not. I think more and more web traffic will be generated by social media, personal recommendations, newsletters with inks, etc.
> 
> I also think anyone who thinks a Facebook page is an adequate substitute for a website on your own domain that you control is making a terrible mistake.
> 
> 
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> On Wed, Dec 23, 2015 at 8:55 AM, Gabe Gmail <gabe at tattoonow.com <mailto:gabe at tattoonow.com>> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hey folks!
> 
> I'm wondering if anyone has any links to articles about how long websites will be relevant...
> 
> Have fun and take it easy,
> Gabe
> 
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