A recent study by the Web Marketing Association, which gathered 300 industry experts to comb over 2,400 Web sites to judge their level of development, found that it isn't keeping pace with what consumers expect of them.
These "experts" looked at things like design, copywriting and ease of use as part of the seven categories they examined. The results revealed that there was a decline of 3 percent between the years of 2005 to 2006 in the Web development index, whatever that is.
What was especially pointed out was that innovation received the lowest overall rating of the seven categories that were judged.
Bill Rice, president of the group, said "Judges' expectations and consumer expectations are outclimbing what Web development has been doing, innovation is so hard to not only get but to keep. As soon as you have an innovation, everyone copies you and you're run of the mill again."
One other interesting comment that was made was that the airline industry was seen as the leader in Web development by these people. The problem with that is that recent studies have shown that it was actually one of the more troublesome areas when actual consumers were asked. The airline industry web sites were considered a dissatisfactory experience.
So why is there a disconnect here? These people are selling something. Even the idea that innovation was considered lowest on the list tells me something. Look at how it is presented. It's not only hard to get, but also hard to keep. In other words, you need someone to baby it all the time.
In truth, real innovation will be something that lasts for a long time. If you think that technology will be the innovative differentiator, you don't understand what makes a long-term successful online company.
The only thing I'll say about studies you hear about, is be careful on what is behind them. Studies, statistics, polls, and surveys can be skewed to say whatever it is someone wants them to say. Don't bet your business and resources on the results unless it confirms a lot of what you are experiencing and corraborates with other studies and data as well.
I'm seeing a lot more studies being used as marketing tools lately, we need to understand that some of them are created for the purpose of selling people services. It's important to be aware of that as we take in data from various sources.
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