Do you think the ease of building a website is hurting or helping?

[AnonaMoss]

Do you think the ease of creating a website is hurting or helping online businesses? Sure, it's great for the online business owner, but a lot of businesses are popping up now. More online businesses means more competition. Thoughts?

[Parker]

No, I don't think it's hurting online business. I think the Internet makes business a level playing field. Anyone can compete with a large corporation with a lot of financial resources. I have a lot of competition, but that lets me know that there is a market for what I provide. It also makes me focus on how my business is different and I how I stand out from the crowd.

[novasparker]

I personally think that the easy website design programs out there are helping smaller businesses get some online exposure without making them break the bank to get their sites up and running. I don't think its hurting online business at all...as a matter of fact, I think it's helping business, both online and retail. You don;t have to be a website building expert or pay a ton of money to have your business represented in cyberspace, and this creates more competition, which is healthy for all businesses and good for consumers.

[tulosai]

I agree with what has been said. I think this just helps smaller businesses to get their foot in the door, and I personally don't see anything wrong with that. Larger businesses often have quite the advantage anyway, so I think it's nice that the playing field is being leveled to some small degree.

[tosaytheleast]

I think that there are no problems with the increasing number online businesses nowadays. Competition is part pf business. If you don;t want competition, you should not do business. Yes there are so many online businesses but you have to work to make your own business unique and it is not easy. I think that neutralizes how easy we can make a website.

[Victor Leigh]

The way I see it, the more the merrier. As for competition, it's the survival of the fittest. So, I have no problem with more and more people building websites. The good ones I can learn from. The bad ones give me a good laugh.

[MyDigitalpoint]

I believe this is simple a natural thing that has to come up sooner or later.

More online businesses mean that more land-based business owners are aware of the importance to bring their business online to make easier get people finding them.

On the other hand, with the increasing popularity of the Internet, more and more people can connect from almost anywhere, and therefore making of this a revenue source for the people that is unable to start an offline business or that simply can't find a job.

Now put this scenario one century back and ask again, what do you think local business owners thought of other businesses popping up advertising on the radio? and what about small retailers when chain stores began to advertise on TV?

Business competition has been there for long time no matter what is the mean to offer goods and services, the challenge is survive and succeed.

[scottart]

No, I don't think it's hurting online business. I think the Internet makes business a level playing field. Anyone can compete with a large corporation with a lot of financial resources. I have a lot of competition, but that lets me know that there is a market for what I provide. It also makes me focus on how my business is different and I how I stand out from the crowd.

I disagree with the highlighted part of your statement. Many of the large organisations have a full team of internet marketers working for them continuously on their own websites ensuring they rank for the toughest of terms which you the little guy will not have a chance of ranking for against a full team of in house marketers.

Having said that the internet is that wide that there is room for everyone at the moment and more and more keywords can be targeted to gain the traffic you need to make a profit and have a presence and build a brand. Yes it was easier to quickly grow an online business with low entry costs 5-10 years ago but we all kinda knew that competition would increase and the search engine algos would get more sophisticated so its how you adapt with the changes but my advice would be the sooner you get in then the better chance you have to make more of an impact (if you only have a small budget).

[endirio]

It's definitely helping. Business is progressing and internet business has been growing exponentially in the past 5 years. I remember the internet era of bad websites, geocities was the standard and everyone had a page there, be it for a business or a fanpage. No wonder people didn't trust those websites. Nowadays, almost anyone can create a websites/blog with minimum training, and honestly, I'm happy for everyone who made the choice to pursue his/her own project and I'm glad that it's easier now then ever to make a website. Like Victor Leigh said above, the more the merrier. More businesses more customers.

[Parker]

I disagree with the highlighted part of your statement. Many of the large organisations have a full team of internet marketers working for them continuously on their own websites ensuring they rank for the toughest of terms which you the little guy will not have a chance of ranking for against a full team of in house marketers.

We have difference of opinion. No problem. I believe that creativity trumps money. Money is good, but creativity is better. If the large corporation is dominating Google search, use other methods to get traffic to your site.