IT hub India, makes little use of the Web

PUNE: In a survey conducted by ValueNotes to gauge website effectiveness strategies employed by Indian companies, most Indian companies were found to lack a focused strategy for online presence.

Around 72 percent of senior management interviewed in various companies said that their objective was mere 'web presence'. The average age of the corporate Websites in India was found to be around 3.5 years and less than half the respondents from the corporate sector said that their website was meant to attract prospective clients.

According to the companies surveyed, only half of them have separate sets of messages intended for different target audiences, mostly the communication is the same for all. Over 75 percent of the companies surveyed had no idea as to how visible their corporate website was or how many visitors they got, and no concentrated efforts were being made toward this end.

The survey reveals that, even brick and mortar companies around the world have begun to realize the importance of the Internet and have commenced initiatives to leverage on the potential of a web presence and e-commerce. But, Indian companies by and large remain myopic and ignorant about the need to incorporate Internet into the company's marketing and business strategy.

The current landscape of business, especially in the US and Europe is a startling example of the absolute necessity of a significant web presence. Websites have now become windows to the company and therefore, can communicate a lot about the company. Among other things, the point not being driven home is that the fundamental power of the Internet as a low-cost and highly effective tool for disseminating information is being undervalued.

According to statistics quoted in a report published by Peter Wolcott & Seymour Gordon, in Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 11, 2003), over 90 percent of Indian corporate used the Internet for e-mail. Between 30 percent -70 percent used it for downloading information, FTP and Website monitoring and less than 20 percent used the Internet for e-commerce.

Against this backdrop, this Pune-based research firm set out to find out the scenario with regard to Indian corporate and their websites. Industry experts say that determining the purpose and the intended results are some of the most important tasks for Website managers. When asked about the main purpose/objective of their website, about 72 percent said that it was to build web presence, while about 78 percent said that the Website was meant to promote their products. Only 39 percent of the respondents said that it was meant to attract prospective clients and even, employees. The Website was mainly for image enhancement for their company than anything else.

Interestingly, when asked whether these basic objectives had been met, about 83 percent of the corporate respondents said that they had been to some extent. Quoting a few of them, "We wanted to make available all information about our company to clients and also wanted to replicate the global site".

Out of the companies surveyed by ValueNotes, over 90 percent said that the intended target audience for their Website was customers. Less than 50 percent said that the Website was also targeted at investors, while only 28 percent said that they expected to attract the media with their Website.

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