Are Websites Dead?
The question comes up a lot these days: with AI, social media, and apps running the show, do businesses really need a website anymore? Matt “Wolly” Wollersheim, Director of Channel Partnerships at Smack Happy Design, has been in the web game since the late ‘90s and his answer is a resounding yes. Are websites dead? NO!
In a recent episode of Scaling Up: Strategies for Rapid Business Growth, Matt dives into why websites are far from dead and more critical than ever for sustainable business growth.
Watch the full interview here.
Your Website Is the House. Social Media Is Just the Rental.
Matt puts it simply: social media is like renting an apartment. Algorithms are your cranky landlord, your neighbors change overnight, and one day you might wake up to find you have been evicted.
Your website is your house. You own it. You control the blueprint, the paint color, the vibe. Sure, there is maintenance with hosting, updates, and security, but it is worth it because you are building equity in your brand instead of shouting into someone else’s feed.
First Impressions Still Matter
People are still Googling you, and will form an opinion about your website in approximately 10 seconds or less. If your site looks like it was last updated when flip phones were cool, or worse, if you do not have one at all, you are losing credibility before the conversation even starts.
As Matt says: “Why would someone invest in your product or service if you haven’t invested in yourself?”
Especially with higher-ticket products and services, your website is the tiebreaker. It is the difference between “hmm, maybe” and “here’s my credit card.”
SEO Isn’t Dead Either (Sorry, AI)
AI may be reshaping search, but Google is not going anywhere. Keywords, rankings, and ads still drive the right traffic to your site. Without a website, you are invisible. With one, you are in the game.
If you are a local business, optimizing your Google Business Profile with reviews, Q&A, and service areas is just as critical as keyword strategy. Bonus tip from Matt: you can even ask yourself questions on your profile and answer them to boost engagement. Google’s own guidance emphasizes complete, accurate profiles and active management for better local visibility.
And here is the kicker:
ChatGPT adoption does not reduce Google usage.
SEMrush recently analyzed 260 billion rows of clickstream data between January 2024 and June 2025 to see how people used Google Search after adopting ChatGPT.
The study tested two theories:
- Substitution Hypothesis: People use ChatGPT instead of Google, reducing search activity.
- Expansion Hypothesis: People adopt ChatGPT but keep using Google, expanding overall search behavior.
The results were clear. ChatGPT adoption did not reduce Google usage. In fact, there was a slight increase in average Google Search sessions after users tried ChatGPT. This confirms the expansion hypothesis: people are not replacing Google with AI, they are simply searching in more places.
3 Key Insights from 2024–2025
- Google continues to dominate market share globally at around 89–90 percent, underscoring that search remains a primary discovery channel.
- Zero-click behavior is real. In 2024, about 58.5 percent of U.S. Google searches and 59.7 percent in the EU ended without a click, which raises the bar for appearing in SERP features and AI answers.
- BrightEdge’s tracking of AI Overviews shows impressions are up while click-throughs have declined nearly 30 percent since launch, so visibility now means showing up in AI summaries in addition to standard rankings.
What this means for you:
Google still delivers decision-ready visitors with strong intent, and that has not changed with generative AI. Your playbook should include both traditional SEO and AI-era visibility:
- Keep investing in rankings for high-intent topics and maintain a fast, trustworthy site
- Structure content so AI can cite it (clear FAQ sections, concise answers, strong entities, schema markup)
- Make Google Business Profile housekeeping a habit (complete info, service areas, steady review responses)
- Track zero-click impact and watch for AI Overview appearances in your category using trusted SEO tools and reports
In other words, keywords and rankings are still critical. Without a website, you are invisible at the very moment people are ready to act. With one, you are in the game.
More Than a Brochure
Websites used to be static brochures. Now they are fully loaded tools: booking engines, lead magnets, e-commerce shops, chatbots. Done right, your site is a digital concierge that helps, guides, and converts before a prospect even picks up the phone.
When someone says “websites are dead” Matt smiles and shakes his head. Because the truth is, websites are not just alive. They are thriving, evolving, and more essential than ever.
Want a site that actually works as hard as you do? Contact us or connect with Matt on LinkedIn.