Business: Citizen Websites Debuts

Story by Hal Goodtree.

Cary, NC – Two growing trends in the information space have come together to propel the launch of Citizen Websites here in Cary.

Dis-mediation

The first major trend is called dis-mediation.

Dismediation is taking apart large web properties to launch smaller, more focused sites. It’s been a trend since at least 2007, but has been accelerating in the past year as media and publishing companies look to unlock hidden value.

I suggested dismediation to the News & Observer in 2009 as a member of the newspaper’s Community Panel. I suggested they break out Wolfpack Sports into its own free-standing website. This strategy could be applied in dozens of cases within any major newspaper and would undoubtedly unlock better search results, a bigger audience and more advertising dollars. Dismediation is a pillar of hyperlocalism.

Citizen Websites (CW) is an off-shoot of CaryCitizen (taking our own medicine, so to speak). As our readership has expanded, we’ve experienced growing demand for our website development services. It makes sense to launch that as a separate business unit.

CW recently finished work for the Raleigh Civic Symphony, the Cary Downtown Children’s Museum, Tri Properties and The Better Sleep Store.

Content is King – The Second Major Trend

The other big industry trend benefitting the launch of Citizen Websites is the movement of marketing dollars toward content marketing.

Businesses large and small are recognizing that original stories, pictures and video can attract, retain and motivate audiences more effectively that paid search, banner ads, TV, print and radio. A recent article in Entrepreneur reports that 82% of B2B advertisers now employ content marketing.

HiveFire’s researchers found that an impressive 82 percent of B2B marketers now employ content marketing as a strategy in their marketing programs. Coming in at a distant second place is search engine marketing at 70 percent, followed by events at 68 percent, public relations at 64 percent and print/TV/radio advertising at 32 percent. – Entrepreneur, October 20, 2011

Open Source, Open for Business

Since 2007, we’ve been building open source websites. CW continues the tradition, speeding website development and lowering costs.

Lowering costs is always a trend.

If your business, organization or non-profit needs a new website, visit Citizen Websites.