A few years ago, when I first got into blogging, I kinda thought traditional websites might have seen their last days. Why would you need a website when you could have a blog?
Blogs are cheaper, easier to use and update, provide better opportunities to connect with others, and more search engine-friendly. I almost ditched my website this year in favor of my blog(s) entirely, but decided against it at the last minute.
But now with the social marketing boom, there’s an even better arguement to be made that you don’t need a traditional website anymore. If everyone is already on Facebook anyway, why not let Facebook do the work of finding camp families for you?
(If you’re doing a good job with your Facebook fan page, the people you hope to reach will find you on Facebook by default. So the tempation to focus your resources and attention on Facebook, rather than trying to get your site to the top of the search engines, might pay off better for you.)
Given all this, I’m still not convinced giving up your website is a good idea. For one thing, your website is one of your camp’s primary business assets. When used right, it’s also a fantastic marketing tool. Not only that, but as Chris Crum of Webpronewz points out, having your own website gives you more credibility and control compared to merely relying on third party sites to get your marketing message out.
So there’s a case to be made both ways. For now, I’d keep your own site and use it like you have been, in conjunction with other social marketing tools like Facebook. But however you personally feel about this, I suggest reading Chris Crum’s article, “Is it Becoming Less Critical For Businesses to Have Websites?”. It’s a really good, thought-provoking article. Let me know what you think.
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