According to the model of Porter’s five forces it is worthwhile entering web design industry. Most of the forces are weak and even the strong ones are not impossible hurdles. In figure 3 you see an overview of Porter’s five forces in the web design industry and the changes that occur if the complexity of the web site increases.
Figure 3: Porter’s five forces in relation to the web design industry
Source: Self created (data by Appendix 1 and Porter, 1985, p.6)
There is a great competition between the web designers, but there is also a growth which is enough to enter the industry. But within the last five years the rivalry situation has been stronger and the market growth lower. With technological advancements the entry barriers and the knowledge have grown. For a professional web site today you need more than informatics knowledge, but also a good marketing knowledge and the ability to negotiate with your customers. With the right strategy it is still possible to make a lot of money online.
Appendix 1
Between the 15 and the 30 of November 114 web design agencies with more than 5 employees were asked about their industry. The questionnaire was sent by email or the social networking portal Xing. 68 of them sent the questionnaire back.
See the results of the Webdesign and SEO Questionnaire!
Appendix 2
Between the 1 and the 3 of December 2009 three business requests were announced in order to get offers for a web site. All of the requesters were people without internet experience. In brackets there is the opening and closing time of the announcement. The requirements of the web page as well as the results are listed below:
1. Private web site (1 December 8am – 5pm MEZ)- wedding page
– including .de-Domain
– picture gallery (100 pictures)
– contract for 1 year
– without graphical support
– 5 categories with 15 subpages
– including guestbook, contact form and email address
Results:
– 32 offers
– price between 149 € – 280 €
– time needed for programming the web page: 4 days – 14 days
2. Company’s presentation web site (2 December 8am – 5pm MEZ)
– including .com-Domain
– all cost inclusive for 2 years
– picture gallery (100 pictures)
– graphical support (logo design, photo improvement)
– up to 10 categories with 100 subpages
– search engine optimization support
– including guestbook, contact form and email address
– own blog
Results:
– 26 offers
– price between 149 € – 720 €
– often a monthly charge between 5 € – 49 €
– time needed for programming the web page: 10 days – 1 month
3. Professional online shop (3 December 8am – 5pm MEZ)
– about 1,800 products (3 pictures each) in different categories
– graphical support (logo design, photo improvement)
– search engine optimization made completely by the agency
– log in area for regular customers
– maintaining the corporate design
– content management system with self support
– easy payment with PayPal or credit card
– including guestbook, contact form and email address
– own blog
Results:
– 11 offers- price between 800 € – 5,000 €
– always a monthly charge between 50 € – 150 €
– time needed for programming the web page: 1 month – 3 months
– often further information required for giving a more concrete offer
Reference List
Amazon S.A.R.L. (2009) WebEasy7 Professional: Amazon.de: Software [online] Available from: http://www.amazon.de/avanquest-Deutschland-GmbH-WebEasy-Professional/dp/3940143456/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1260089923&sr=1-6
[Accessed 16 December 2009].
Denic (2009) Statistiken – www.denic.de [online] Available from: http://www.denic.de/de/hintergrund/statistiken.html [Accessed 16 December 2009].
Digital Media Trends (2009) DigitalMediaTrends: Wie groß ist Googles Marktanteil am Werbemarkt [online] Available from: http://www.digital-media-trends.de/2009/07/wie-gro%C3%9F-ist-googles-marktanteil-am-werbemarkt.html [Accessed 16 December 2009].
Facebook Inc. (2009) Facebook: Startseite [online] Available from: http://www.facebook.com/ [Accessed 16 December 2009].
Fischer, M. (2009) Website Boosting 2.0: Suchmaschinen-Optimierung, Usability, Online-Marketing. 2 Edition. Heidelberg: MITP.
Kollmann, T. (2007) E-Business: Grundlagen elektronischer Geschäftsprozesse in der Net Economy. Edition. Wiesbaden: Gabler.
Lipsay, R. and Crystal, K. (2007) Economics 11 Edition. Oxford: Oxford university press.
Lynch, R. (2009) Strategic Management, 5 Edition. Harlow: Pearson Education.
McKay, J., Marshall, P. (2004) Strategic management of E-Business. Milton: National Library of Australia.
Porter, M. E. (1980) Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. 1 Edition. New York: The Free Press.
Porter, M. E. (1985) Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. 1 Edition. New York: The Free Press.
Schäfer-Mehdi, S. (2006) Das professionelle 1×1 Event-Marketing. Edition. Berlin: Cornelson.
Schnettler, W., Wendt, G. (2003) Marketing und Marktforschung, Berlin Cornelson
Statista (2009) E-Commerce-Umsatz: Prgnose 2008 – 2011 [online] Available from: http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/70732/umfrage/prognose%3a-e-commerce-umsatz-2008-bis-2011/ [Accessed 16 December 2009].
Tagesschau (2009) EU-Staaten wollen mit Staatshilfen Opel-Werke retten [online] Available from: http://www.tagesschau.de/wirtschaft/opel1132.html [Accessed 16 December 2009].
Team23 GbR (2009) Webanalyse – Aktuelle Browser Marktanteile [online] Available from: http://www.webmasterpro.de/portal/webanalyse-aktuell.html [Accessed 16 December 2009].
Tedeschi, B. (2009) Late to Web retailing? There’s still money there – New York Times [online] Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/27/technology/27ecom.html [Accessed 16 December 2009].
Verisign (2009) The domain name industry brief: volume6 – issue3 – september2009 [online] Available from: http://www.verisign.com/domain-name-services/domain-information-center/domain-name-resources/domain-name-report-sept09.pdf [Accessed 16 December 2009].
W3C (2009) W3C Mission [online] Available from: http://www.w3.org/Consortium/mission [Accessed 16 December 2009].
