The last unconquered sector of the web • Hacker News Board

Re: The last unconquered sector of the web

#11

Post by abhijitr » Thu, Dec 30, 2010, 6:59 PM UTC

aresant wrote: post #3

"They need a good solid website that has been created with SEO principles in mind and they need to be able to easily update it." What small businesses really care about is cost effective customer acquisition. A new website without a marketing engine attached is a tougher sell and is a crowded marketplace - you'll wind up selling against Intuit, Yahoo and other giants that have a virtually unlimited inbound flow of le…

"What small businesses really care about is cost effective customer acquisition."

The other high order bit for small businesses is repeat customers. Loyalty programs on mobile could be the killer app that gets small businesses online.

Re: The last unconquered sector of the web

#12

Post by ziadbc » Thu, Dec 30, 2010, 7:01 PM UTC

Local business is a huge opportunity on the internet.

However, it far from the last 'unconquered' sector of the web. There will never be an end to vast opportunities on the internet, because new solutions create new opportunities that never existed before, ad infinitum.

For example, and idea like grubwith.us would have seemed bizarre before Groupon, but now it seems like a straightforward evolution (and something lots of people would like to do).

We still are working with very basic forms of artificial intelligence, but as it gets better, the whole internet will be reborn.

Carry on inventing everyone!

Re: The last unconquered sector of the web

#13

Post by Lucadg » Thu, Dec 30, 2010, 7:06 PM UTC

We are doing something very similar for apartments websites. My assumptions where exactly the same but after two months it turned out the the easy sales were those made with the advanced business owners, not the ones who never really wanted to be on the Internet. The tech savy ones saw immediately the wisdom of a dedicated website builder compared to the great but too general wordpress or joomla. The others were still asking for a guaranteed first place in Google with no keywords specified :)

So, as the system grows we will more and more target the ones who know what we are talking about. It will be interesting to know how it goes and I'll be happy to share our experiences!

Luca

Www.adormo.com

Re: The last unconquered sector of the web

#14

Post by lloydarmbrust » Thu, Dec 30, 2010, 7:11 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #9

But small businesses are still behind. Way behind. See http://buddingtonsphoto.com/ as an example. What a great way to acquire new customers. Post the worst websites you can find on Hacker News, bombarding them with hits and laughter, and embarrassing them into upgrading. (I'd call them and ask why they haven't engaged Seeing Interactive, but I just don't have the heart.)

Trust me, we have way more examples than this.

The truth is that we do not sell directly to SMBs. We work through local newspapers and they sell using their brand. If you called any of our SMB customers, they probably have never heard the name "Seeing Interactive"--which is how we can get away with using such a terrible name. :)

Re: The last unconquered sector of the web

#15

Post by iandanforth » Thu, Dec 30, 2010, 7:15 PM UTC

Seeing Interactive has a branding problem:

"We want newspapers to make money; we want newspapers to own local."

If I own a small business that doesn't speak to me at all, and once I realize that 'local' means me, then it's even a little offensive.

I suggest that while the blog post is essentially correct, it should be on a separately branded site, lets call it 'bootsontheground.com' (a terrible name), with a more appropriate 'Manifesto.'

Re: The last unconquered sector of the web

#16

Post by jaxn » Thu, Dec 30, 2010, 7:17 PM UTC

abhijitr wrote: post #11

aresant wrote: post #3

"They need a good solid website that has been created with SEO principles in mind and they need to be able to easily update it." What small businesses really care about is cost effective customer acquisition. A new website without a marketing engine attached is a tougher sell and is a crowded marketplace - you'll wind up selling against Intuit, Yahoo and other giants that have a virtually unlimited inbound flow of le…

"What small businesses really care about is cost effective customer acquisition." The other high order bit for small businesses is repeat customers. Loyalty programs on mobile could be the killer app that gets small businesses online.

Why mobile?

I own two retail franchises. What I want from a loyalty program is for it to be passive based on the credit card and deeply integrated with my point of sale.

I care less about having a website than appearing favorably and accessible in search results. Mobile seems like more hassle than it is worth.

Now, in addition to owning two retail stores, I am a professional developer, including iPhone and android apps. My current project is BI for franchises.

Re: The last unconquered sector of the web

#17

Post by drusenko » Thu, Dec 30, 2010, 7:17 PM UTC

Lucadg wrote: post #13

We are doing something very similar for apartments websites. My assumptions where exactly the same but after two months it turned out the the easy sales were those made with the advanced business owners, not the ones who never really wanted to be on the Internet. The tech savy ones saw immediately the wisdom of a dedicated website builder compared to the great but too general wordpress or joomla. The others were stil…

A quick piece of feedback: On your home page, you should put a sign-up button where your login is now. As is, it's incredibly difficult to figure out where to sign-up.

Put your log-in text or form in the upper-right hand corner: it's where people expect it.

Re: The last unconquered sector of the web

#18

Post by jetaries » Thu, Dec 30, 2010, 7:20 PM UTC

I agree would agree with this based on our experiences dealing with local real estate businesses. However, local small businesses are sector specific, a pizza shop has different needs than a hair salon than a real estate agency, etc.

In order to break into this, I think it needs a combined effort of different sector specific providers + companies like yours and weebly.

Re: The last unconquered sector of the web

#19

Post by lloydarmbrust » Thu, Dec 30, 2010, 7:24 PM UTC

iandanforth wrote: post #15

Seeing Interactive has a branding problem: "We want newspapers to make money; we want newspapers to own local." If I own a small business that doesn't speak to me at all, and once I realize that 'local' means me, then it's even a little offensive. I suggest that while the blog post is essentially correct, it should be on a separately branded site, lets call it 'bootsontheground.com' (a terrible name), with a more app…

I couldn't agree more.

Re: The last unconquered sector of the web

#20

Post by Abid » Thu, Dec 30, 2010, 7:35 PM UTC

If people are finding out about these places using Yelp, Google, Groupon et al. is there really a need for a SEO friendly website? Many of these businesses don't care about a web presence because its effect would be negligible.

I suppose you could justify the cost of building out a website for the local dry cleaner, but seriously, does that help it gain any new business? I doubt it.