Cleveland Web Design Market…is more change coming?
January 13th, 2009
I’ve been in the web design business for a long time now, and I’ve seen a lot of companies come and go. Heck, I’ve been part of a couple of them, but it seems that 08 was an indicator of some serious changes we may see in the near future. Just look at a few major things that happened in the Cleveland web design market in 08. Rosetta bought one of Cleveland’s biggest web design firms, Brulant, and Bridgeline Software scooped up 10th Floor. All of the above are very good companies. This type of consolidation though, is reducing the number of serious players in the market.
Harsh Realities of the Web Design Industry:
It’s no surprise that some shops just can’t make it. A few went out of business in 08, and some are unfortunately struggling now. That’s just a reality of being in an industry with low barriers to entry, it’s easy to get in, but it’s also easy to be pushed out.
Impact of the economy:
Add to the traditional acquisitions and shifts that the web industry has, like most industries in their infancy do, the current state of the economy. Economic down turns usually end up meaning good things for most web design companies, just because of the ROI for the client. However, coming into a serious recession after so much consolidation has been happening could prove to be challenging.
Web developers need to keep marketing, together:
Most web design and marketing shops, us included, have been blogging and communicating to our clients the cost effectiveness of search engine optimization. Web design shops should be beating a similar drum. The more the market continues to hear that the web is the most cost effective means of growing their business the better, no matter what the source is.
Keeping the web design industry in greater Cleveland is good for all of us, no matter who is winning each individual contract.
