One of the more interesting web trends is the shift away from traditional websites. 

The dramatic growth in social media use - especially Facebook - is resulting in more small businesses choosing to use social media sites as their primary, and in some cases only, web presence.

This is not just a small business trend.  Many large corporations - especially consumer oriented companies - are shifting their web presence focus to social media. 

The idea is simple.  Fish where the fish are instead of trying to drive the fish to your pond. 

Many businesses also believe it is easier and more effective to create communities and interact with their customers on Facebook and Twitter than on their on website. 

Social media sites are also inexpensive to create and use.  Many small business owners are already familiar and comfortable with Facebook and LinkedIn.  Using social media for their business is a logical extension.   

The growing availability of business applications available via social media is another driver.  Facebook in particular has a wide range of business applications available to corporate users.  These applications tend to both easy to use and inexpensive. 

This is a controversial topic and many think it is a huge mistake not to have a traditional website.  Because of this, we thought we would provide links to both sides of this issue:

Entrepreneur's Does Your Business Still Need a Website? covers the reasons behind not having a traditional website.

Outspoken Media's 11 Reasons Your SMB Still Needs a Website provides reasons (11 of them) why you still need a traditional website.   

We think having a traditional website still makes sense for most online small businesses.  But we've also seen a lot of successful small businesses who only have a social media presence. 

This, of course, is not an either/or decision.  For most businesses it makes sense to have both a traditional website and a social media presence.  In the end, the right path depends on the needs of the individual business.