***  Haus der Kulturen der Welt: Forum1 Archive  ***
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   [Date]: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 13:16:54 +0200
   [From]: "Ami Isseroff" <ami_iss@netvision.net.il>
     [To]: <forum1@herz.kbx.de>
[Subject]: The Shrinking Web and What to Do About it


Dear all,
I have just found this group - I am sorry to see the project is scheduled to
come to an end.
Gerhardt Haupt has raised the problem of "The Shrinking Web" - that is,
the focusing of the Web on large commercial sites and away from web
sites features culture, charitable and idealistic causes and politics.
There is no doubt that this trend will increase because

* Large enterprises have the money and resources to make interactive
   web sites that take advantage of the latest technology - and to keep
   them updated. Small organizations cannot compete.

* Search Engines are closing themselves to new entries. Some of them
   stopped indexing already due to overload. Others, like Google, rely
   on the number of links to a site. The meaning of that is - the "rich"
   with get "richer."

* As the "pioneering days" pass and the Web becomes an appliance -
   it will attract a different type of user, who is interested mostly in the
   stuff of Mass Media, and a different type of offering - broadcast
   companies essentially, with huge resources and bandwidth.

But we can fight back. The place of small "alternative" Web sites with
intellectual themes will become proportionately less but our audience
can grow. The "secret" lies in doing quite mundane things. If you have
a Web site on a commercial server, you may receive daily letters with
tips about how to increase hit-rate. Some of them are silly, others
common  sense, but almost none are followed by small non-commercial
Web sites. For example:
- Making sure that index words and meta-descriptors and headlines are
OK in your web site (this is important for search-engine crawlers)...
- Submitting your site to search engines (eg. Yahoo) that require submission
- Reminding people who keep lists of relevant links that you exist.
- responding promptly to mail sent to your site.
- having a counter and using it to check if anyone is looking at your site.

I propose also, that we can keep this little forum alive, perhaps in
another format if there is a technical problem, to create a link exchange
and a place to exchange technical tips.
Best Regards,
Ami Isseroff D.Sc
MidEastWeb http://www.mideastweb.org