Content Management Matters ™

If you think your company failed to recognize the merit of its website until recently, you're not alone. The British Broadcasting Company is taking another look at its online efforts and investing new monies after reports showed that its website has earned nearly four percent of its total revenues in just 18 months.

Initially, they had aimed at securing 10 percent of revenues from their online property, over time, but now according to BBC Worldwide Chief Executive John Smith, "we have [probably] under-egged the extent to which we will see more of our revenues coming from the Internet."

Now there's proof that tearing down walls and unlatching gates has its merits -- in case you had your doubts.

Nielsen recently released the latest ratings for online traffic for newspapers. The numbers indicate that "more people visited NYTimes.com than any other newspaper Web site in October." With more than 17.5 million unique monthly visitors, up from 14.6 million in September, The New York Times can attribute much of this success to their initiative to end paid subscription to TimesSelect, their exclusive "walled garden" which allowed subscribers access to "premium" columns and the paper's entire news archives.

According to estimates from the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) advertising spend on newspaper websites jumped by 21.1%, to US$ 773 million in Q3 2007 vs. Q3 2006.

The increase reflects the fourteenth consecutive quarter of double digit growth for online newspaper advertising, a metric NAA has been tracking since 2004. Web advertising now accounts for 7.1% of total newspaper ad revenues, as compared to 5.4 % a year ago.

But the picture ain't all rosy.

For any business -- online or not -- the odds are stacked against success. In fact, sources indicate as many as nine out of 10 businesses fail within five years.

Google, in its quest to entrench itself into the enterprise space, has announced its Custom Search Business Edition (GCSBE): a simple and inexpensive way for small businesses to add a customizable, Google-powered search box to their websites.

In a few simple steps, businesses are able to sign up online for the hosted service, and minutes later, customers and visitors are able to search their site with the supreme power of Google.