Are company websites losing value?

Think about it. Do you still check out the website of the company who’s business card you just received, or do you just Google them when the time comes to act on their business? Do you browse the lightbox’ed photo galleries of a company’s website, or do you just view whatever photos are on their Facebook Page? And do you really take the time to copy down the address on their Contact Us page to find their location, or is it a simple search away on your smart phone?

Modern web spoils us.

Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t remember the last time I specifically wanted to visit a company’s website over their social network profiles. Everything I need to know about my plumber is yielded in a Google search — everything from their phone number to their address pin-pointed for me on a map (hell I can even read reviews). I wouldn’t consider it a bad thing, although definitely not a terribly good thing, but does it represent a culture shift? The modern web has done a very good job at syndicating a business’s information and customer following across every corner of the Internet. So in a day and age when everything is all-so accessible through third-parties and information services, could we be losing value in company websites?

I guess it depends how you define a ‘company’ website. True to the title, it represents everything the company is about: the products they sell, the services they provide, and the mission they’ve set out to fulfill (and everything in between). I still browse the J Crew online look book to see their summer arrivals, and I still check out Subway Restaurant’s (terribly) flash-based menu to decide what I want to eat, but I imagine both of those things could be found via a search engine. These are still company websites, however what I’m there looking for is available elsewhere, and probably in an easier-found fashion.

Most of the people I know, as well as myself, don’t browse the web but rather we’re heading to found-websites that boil down to one or more of the following: search engine, social networks, blogs, or a web-based service (online shopping, email). Three out of four of these destination websites provide information about companies, and they’re part of my daily browsing routine, so why would I take time to view that company’s website? Unless I have an extended interest in them, I wont. Not because I’m an asshole who doesn’t want to generate their ad revenue, but because I simply have no need. Everything is already presented to me.

Could this mean something? Probably not. But in the chance that it does, what will happen to company websites? Will the internet be left with a bunch of irregularly updated websites that are taking up domain names? Will every company just resort to a Facebook and Twitter page to market themselves?

Just think about it.