Steve Strauss did an interview with the CEO of WEB.com, David Brown on USA Today. The article did not mention domains specifically but more of a focus on small business. This is now the focus of the some of the bigger companies out there in the space. Since Blake Irving has taken over at Go Daddy his focus has been squarely on small business. No more ads with provocative clothing or language, but rather a focus on how Go Daddy can be a one stop shop for small businesses online and for those looking to get online.
Web.com is also vying for that same space and is looking to go head to head with Go Daddy.
From the article:
Strauss: I am always surprised when I see statistics, such as the fact that half of all small businesses still don’t have a website. To me, that is business malpractice. Why do you think that is?
Brown: Small business people are not technologists. They would rather spend their time working on their business than dealing with information technology (IT), and so that is how we work to help them. We aim to be the tech department for small businesses. At Web.com we have experts, and the expertise, in building small business websites. That’s not the strength of most entrepreneurs. We try and make it as easy and affordable as possible, and then we help those small businesses get people to visit their sites.
Strauss: What is it that the small businesses you work with are looking for? Ease, value, or what?
Brown: We have over 3 million small business customers now, and we help them with all sorts of issues – everything from getting domain names to creating sophisticated websites to search engine optimization (SEO) to social media . . . one thing we know for sure is that small business people want value, and so we work hard to lower the cost of getting online.
Strauss: Where do you see things headed online for small business?
Brown: Back in the day, it was all about just getting online and having a good website. Then, not long ago, social media became the next big thing. Most recently it was video, and now, of course, it is mobile. The explosive growth in the use of smartphones and tablets is a new area that small businesses need to know about, and so that is a new area of offerings for us.
Read the full article here