Do you still need a website? All the reasons why you do
It’s a fact: an increasingly large portion of traffic no longer passes through websites. Social media occupies prominent positions in SERPs, content is multiplying elsewhere, and even Google—with the introduction of AI Overview—seems to suggest that answers can be found earlier and elsewhere. It’s natural that many are beginning to wonder whether it’s still worth having a website, or whether that model is simply outdated. The question is legitimate, and the answer must be based on data, not nostalgia or fear. Today, websites are not dead: they have changed. They have lost their monopoly on attention, but they have taken on a different role, perhaps more strategic than in the past. A website is no longer just a “showcase,” a digital accessory, but the central hub that holds everything else together, the only space where a brand can express itself without filters, without depending on the algorithmic logic of others, without ceding control of its reputation.
Are websites dead? What’s behind the crisis
Right now, there is increasing talk of the end of websites. This belief is spreading, especially among those working in the field: organic traffic is declining, social content is gaining visibility in SERPs, and Google’s new AI Overview returns answers that drastically reduce the number of clicks. In many cases, it is an instinctive—and understandable—reaction to profound change: SEO no longer seems to work, AI is starting to answer questions for us, and younger generations are no longer searching on Google. Those who work in digital see it, experience it, and wonder whether it still makes sense to invest in a website.
The point is that this question stems from a narrow and outdated view of websites. You can’t judge the effectiveness of a tool by measuring it with old parameters. Meanwhile, the data tells a very different story from the “social media lament.” Before declaring the death of websites, perhaps we should ask ourselves what we expect a website to do and how willing we are to rethink its role, structure, and function. The real question is not “are websites dying?”, but “which websites continue to work—and why?” As Ivano Di Biasi explained at SEOZoom Day 2025, Google has finally completed its journey: it no longer just reads pages, but measures identity, authority, and distributed signals more accurately. Websites have not disappeared: they have lost the privilege of being visible just because they exist. It has become one of the main building blocks for verifying whether a project makes sense, whether it communicates something, and whether it is supported by a consistent presence.
This “crisis” is therefore only real for those who used the website as a container for generic texts, optimized for keywords and left there to produce passive results. But for those who work on structure, relationships with other channels, and building trust, the website remains a powerful tool. And the data is beginning to show a clear separation between projects that are holding up and those that are disappearing.
It is not the “website” as an entity that is in crisis: it is the use we have made of it that no longer stands up to the current reality. We don’t need comfort zones or provocations: we need to understand what “having a website” really means today.
What is a website (today)?
The old model of the static website has ceased to function because user behavior has changed, access points have multiplied, and the relationship between content and platform has become more complex.
Today, a website is a hub of recognition: a digital place where a project takes shape, where an identity is verified, where all the signals produced elsewhere are collected and organized in a coherent way. It is no longer the exclusive center of online presence, but the point where coherence is built and meaning is given to all other activities.
The centrality of social media is real, and the data confirms it: in Italy, over 43 million people—73% of the population—are active on social networks every month. WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram are the most popular platforms, while TikTok is the one that takes up the most time (over 32 hours per month per user). This is where people look for news, entertainment, and relationships. But the website remains the only space where a brand can express its identity outside the logic of feeds and temporary visibility—and in an absolute way. It is the place where users go when they need to verify, explore, and decide. Where everything that has been said elsewhere finds a stable, orderly, and measurable form.
For this reason, today a website works if it is not designed to be the starting point, but the point of consolidation. It serves to capitalize on the attention generated elsewhere, to make interactions traceable, to reinforce what has already been sown in social media, SERPs, and newsletters. A website no longer competes with other channels: it complements them.
An effective website today is part of a distributed identity
The digital landscape is fragmented: users move between social media, apps, AI results, and vertical platforms, and the website is the space where all these interactions can be traced back to a clear identity, a coherent message, and a verifiable structure.
It is no longer necessary to “explain who we are” to those who come across us by chance: it serves to reinforce the trust of those who have already encountered us elsewhere. It serves to make the depth of the project visible, to show connections between products, content, testimonials, and values. Above all, it serves to confirm the legitimacy of everything that circulates on the rest of the web.
Ivano said it again: Google no longer rewards sites that simply publish optimized content, but those that are part of a coherent and recognizable public profile. The current positioning logic no longer separates the site from the rest: it interprets it as part of a whole and evaluates it for its ability to express—and sustain—an identity that is cited, searched for, and mentioned elsewhere.
Those who invest only in their website today are out of the game. But those who do not have a well-built website cannot sustain any digital reputation over time.
Real data shows a growing gap between strong and weak websites
According to SEOZoom’s analysis, content from social media appears in about 40% of the Italian SERPs analyzed, although it rarely occupies the top three positions. Keywords with commercial, informational, or branded intent continue to clearly reward websites with a vertical structure, in-depth content, and consistent external signals. Social media has not replaced websites: it complements them in specific areas. It works well for inspirational, fast-paced, narrative content. But when users want to delve deeper or make a decision, the final stop is (almost always) a web page. This is especially true for purchases, despite the debut of integrated sales features on social media platforms such as TikTok Shop.
At the same time, the average CTR for the top organic position fell from 43% to 37.4% between 2022 and 2024. But the decline is not uniform: generalist or less recognizable websites have lost visibility, while those with a strong identity and an authoritative profile continue to perform above average.
A decisive factor concerns the distribution of Zoom Authority: out of over 163 million sites monitored, more than 99% have a ZA of less than 20. Only a few hundred exceed 60.
This means that the crisis facing websites is not about the tool itself, but rather the weak, fragmented, and impersonal use that has been made of it in the past. Websites are only disappearing if there is nothing to justify them: no solid content, no strong signals, no clear vision of their role.
The numbers you need to really understand
Websites no longer work. They are dead. Like SEO with Google’s moves, worse than SEO. There is some truth in these statements, as we have seen, but they are probably based on an inaccurate view that does not take numbers into account — or only reads those that confirm the narrative. In reality, the most up-to-date indicators paint a very different picture: less generic traffic, yes, but more genuinely interested users; less visibility “by inertia,” but more results for those working on vertical content and strong signals.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, has hinted that Google is rethinking the search experience with the aim of providing increasingly immediate answers, even without necessarily going through a click — and in fact, the presence of AI Overview is already having a significant impact on informational keywords.
This confirms what SparkToro has been reporting for years: the percentage of searches that do not generate any clicks is steadily increasing. In his most recent report (2023), Fishkin estimated that over 57% of searches in the US do not result in the user clicking on any results. And this trend is likely to be spreading to Europe as well.
But be careful: not all of this traffic is “lost.” It is redistributed traffic. On navigational and branded queries, site visibility remains very high. On commercial queries, clicks are concentrated on a few solid projects. And on informational queries, Google responds with AI, but draws on content published on well-structured sites.
This selection has an important effect: those who arrive on the site today are often more qualified users, closer to a decision, and more ready to act. They have already found content on social media, read reviews, and watched videos. When they land on a page, they are no longer browsing, but comparing, choosing, and concluding. In fact, in several sectors, the average conversion rate of organic visits has grown, even with less traffic.
Furthermore, projects that grow in SERPs are almost always those where the volume of branded searches also grows. Not because “Google likes them,” but because people search for them, want to find them, and identify them as a source. And today, this value is built through a combination of a website, consistent content, social media presence, and a distributed communication strategy.
The website as a lever for authority
So, in concrete terms, what is a website for? Let’s start with A for authority, and not by chance: it is one of the four pillars of Google’s EEAT and has become a decisive variable for achieving stable visibility, as we demonstrated last year with our study on visibility on Google.
Search engine algorithms no longer just evaluate individual pages or count links or visits: they build a network of signals around each brand and assign value based on the consistency, frequency, and quality of what is communicated. In this process, the website plays a crucial role, because it is the place where everything happens.
This is where the most solid data, verifiable information, and the narrative structure of a project are concentrated; this is where external signals find consistency, where information is confirmed, and where digital identity becomes traceable. If everything that happens elsewhere—from social media to backlinks—is not reflected on the website, it is perceived as weak, constructed, and unstable. A well-designed, up-to-date, and connected website is now the benchmark for online credibility.
The website is the hub that connects entities, signals, and content
Google builds the knowledge graph — the system that connects people, brands, places, and concepts — from reliable sources. Among these, the official website is often the most solid foundation. If a project has a well-structured, up-to-date website complete with marked data (schema.org, structured data, key pages), it is more likely to be recognized as an autonomous and coherent entity.
The map of entities is built using sources considered reliable, and the official website helps Google find confirmation of names, activities, locations, social links, citations, and relationships.
Ivano put it clearly: today, it is no longer enough to just be there; you need to exist as a complete digital entity. The website is the only space where that identity can be represented in a proprietary, verifiable, and updatable way. The same applies to social signals: citations, mentions, and engagement can reinforce the perception of authority, but only if they can be traced back to a central and verifiable identity. In both cases, the website acts as a “basis for legitimacy”: it is there that Google verifies whether what is said elsewhere is reflected in a coherent structure.
Another important factor is that the website allows you to accumulate signals over time: published articles, linked pages, quoted content, hosted reviews, contacts obtained. All these activities together create a solid, recognizable, stable profile. And this profile—even if supported by social media, digital PR, and mentions—takes shape, structure, and depth on the website. That’s where everything is anchored, the place where the algorithm expects to find consistency—and where the user looks for confirmation.
Furthermore, from a practical point of view, when a website is recognized as authoritative, every new piece of content published starts from a position of advantage. Not only does it rank better, but it also tends to “pull up” nearby content, whether semantic or architectural. This is why well-constructed editorial projects manage to gain visibility even on secondary or marginal keywords, simply thanks to the strength of the domain.
This cumulative effect is one of the most selective mechanisms introduced by Google in recent years. It is also one of the most difficult to recover from: if a site lacks authority, it can write excellent content and still not gain visibility.
Why websites are still (more) indispensable in 2025
The argument that “you no longer need a website” ignores a fundamental aspect: all digital activities, in order to be effective, need a fixed point. A stable, accessible, updatable place that collects, represents, and enhances everything that happens elsewhere. Today, a website is not an alternative to social media or presence on other channels: it is what allows them to work better.
It is no longer the center of the digital world, but it is increasingly the point that holds everything else together. According to the Digital 2025 report by We Are Social, 73% of Italians are active on social media and spend an average of almost two hours a day on these platforms. But the traffic coming from these channels—if it does not have a consistent destination—tends to disperse. The website does not compete with social media: it complements it. This is also because those who communicate only through third-party platforms are always exposed to external changes, loss of coverage, and arbitrary deletions.
As Ivano Di Biasi explained, today’s website is the landing point for distributed communication. It is less about generating attention and more about capitalizing on it. This increases its value, even if the overall traffic is lower than it used to be.
Ownership, control, and independence
The website is the only fully owned digital asset. Here we can define rules, language, structure, and content without depending on conditions imposed by others. There are no format limits or algorithmic constraints. No policy change can compromise the publication, visibility (absolute), or accessibility of the content. In an age where platform policies change every quarter, having a controlled space is a necessary condition for stable communication.
This level of control is crucial for all activities that aim to build trust, manage an identity, and create content that remains accessible over time. On social media, you publish for today. On a website, you build for tomorrow.
Yet, even today, more than 99% of online sites have a Zoom Authority of less than 20. This means that the vast majority of sites are not structured to compete. But for those who invest in quality, structure, and continuity, a website remains a stable lever for growth, not subject to external volatility.
Proprietary data and direct relationships: the value that no other channel can offer
A well-designed website is not just about being found: it’s about really knowing your audience. It is the only channel where you can collect first-party data with user consent: pages visited, time spent, interests, contact details left, newsletter subscriptions. In an era where third-party cookies are disappearing, this data is strategic.
It allows you to build segments, optimize content, and personalize offers—without relying on external platforms.
In a recent interview, John Shehata, SEO expert for publishing and founder of the NewzDash platform, states with conviction that the website is the only space that allows you to build a proprietary asset based on first-party data, direct relationships, and monetization opportunities. Social media and Discover can drive traffic, but they do not build stable economic value; they can amplify the message, but they do not store data, track complete behavior, or enable autonomous strategies.
In contrast, with a proprietary base, you can collect data, activate newsletters, and monetize with affiliations or restricted content without being at the mercy of other platforms’ algorithms. The only solid strategy is to diversify channels, data, and revenue, starting from an infrastructure that remains in the hands of the publisher.
In fact, even the latest edition of Salesforce’s State of Marketing report indicates that 72% of marketers say their engagement strategies are data-driven, with a growing focus on first-party data. In this context, the website is the main space for many brands to collect this information in a direct and controlled manner.
In addition, with a proprietary mailing list, you can communicate directly with your audience, without algorithms or paid organic reach. Each new subscriber is a disintermediated point of contact that can be tracked and activated over time.
Depth, structure, and content archiving
Added to this is another value: the site can host support pages, restricted areas, interactive content, and assistance tools. Everything that builds relationships, trust, and return.
On the contrary, social media favors speed and the ephemeral, and every platform—despite algorithmic differences—prioritizes speed, synthesis, and temporariness. None offer an effective system for organizing content, linking it together, and archiving it in a navigable way: knowledge and positioning require content that remains accessible, navigable, hierarchical, and structured, allowing interested parties to build a complete information path designed to be explored, deepened, and rediscovered.
Conversion and traceability
And there is yet another key point: the website is still the place where the most important actions take place, such as contact requests, purchases, bookings, and downloads. Even when the first touchpoint occurs on social media or with video content, the final conversion almost always takes place on a web page.
This is also confirmed by recent international benchmarks: organic traffic has an average conversion rate of 16%, much higher than that of paid channels (2.5%) and social media (0.71%).
This gap is not only due to the quantity of traffic, but above all to its quality. As we have said, those who arrive on a website do so with a specific intention: they are looking for a product, they want to compare offers, they have already made up their mind to buy. On the contrary, those who come across promotional content on social media often do so by chance, while scrolling through their feed without a defined goal.
Even in the case of live events, engagement is immediate, but rarely translates into quick, concrete actions. The purchase journey is longer and the propensity to convert remains lower.
The website, on the other hand, remains the preferred channel for turning interest into decisions, attracting a more qualified audience that is closer to completing the action. Furthermore, it is only on the website that you can set up advanced tracking tools, monitor user behavior, optimize pages according to real objectives, and therefore accurately measure what really works.
When the website no longer works
Everything is perfect. So why are we discussing the usefulness of websites, or rather, their obsolescence? Despite all the tools available, many websites continue to fail to deliver results and, in many sectors, are not useful or fast enough to meet the needs of their audience. Let’s face it: there are websites that have been online for years and do not drive traffic, generate conversions, or improve the reputation of the project.
This has given rise to the widespread idea that “websites are no longer useful.” But the reality is different: a website does not work when it does not have the conditions to work. Results don’t come when the website isn’t designed to achieve them, when it isn’t technically up to date, when it doesn’t communicate anything recognizable, when it isn’t optimized—or when it is left in a corner, like a decorative element, while attention and resources are shifted elsewhere.
We’ve said it before: out of over 163 million websites monitored by SEOZoom, more than 70% have a Zoom Authority of zero, meaning that they receive no significant organic traffic, are not mentioned, and do not actively participate in the online information ecosystem. As Ivano Di Biasi pointed out, “it’s not the website that’s dead, but the illusion that just opening one is enough to gain visibility.”
The problems of technical and content obsolescence
To confirm this statement, we must consider that, today more than ever, technical quality and content relevance are essential conditions for remaining visible.
According to the Web Almanac 2024, only 43% of mobile sites and 54% of desktop sites meet the requirements of Core Web Vitals, the key indicators of user experience defined by Google. The introduction of the new Interaction to Next Paint (INP) parameter, which measures the overall responsiveness of a page, has made the assessment even more rigorous than in the past, highlighting the difficulties many sites have in ensuring fluidity and speed of interaction.
Added to this technical scenario is a structural content problem: many sites remain stuck with generic, outdated text that is unable to respond to advanced search intentions.
The combination of poor technical performance and weak content compromises visibility and credibility, exposing sites to a gradual loss of ranking, especially in an increasingly competitive digital environment focused on the real quality of the experience offered. This is also because users perceive it immediately: if a site loads poorly, is difficult to navigate, or offers generic and redundant text, the visit ends in a matter of seconds.
Lack of integration with other channels
Google rewards consistent social signals: if a brand is present online but its website is invisible, the search engine considers it weak. If, on the other hand, the website reinforces what the user has already seen elsewhere, then it comes into play.
A well-integrated project distributes traffic but always consolidates it on the site. Disconnecting the proprietary domain from the overall communication strategy makes it an empty container: if it does not receive traffic from social media, newsletters, external channels, if it is not mentioned, shared, referenced in videos or posts, it does not exist for anyone.
Visibility today is a multichannel network effect: there needs to be consistency between what happens inside and outside the site, which must receive traffic from different sources and redistribute it in coherent ways.
The strategy and overall vision must also extend to the production of data that can be read, interpreted, and used to improve. Many websites don’t work because no one ever really decided what they were supposed to do. There is no publication schedule, no content hierarchy, no KPIs.
According to the Content Marketing Institute, only 29% of technology marketers consider their content marketing strategy to be highly effective, despite 96% saying they have one documented. The lack of clear objectives, the absence of a solid connection with the customer journey, and insufficient data and audience research are among the main causes of dissatisfaction. Without goals and tools to measure effectiveness, the website remains a fixed cost that produces no return.
Ivano sums it up: “If you don’t measure, you can’t improve. And if you don’t improve, you disappear.”
The threat of AI Overview: a new attack on organic traffic
But the main fear for website owners today is artificial intelligence, and especially AI Overview (and the future AI Mode), which seem to be rapidly pushing Google to “skip” websites and provide answers directly on its page, permanently eliminating space for traditional content.
And this is partly true: for many informational queries, users get a concise answer without clicking on any results.
According to SparkToro, over 57% of Google searches no longer generate clicks, and this figure is growing. John Shehata explained that AI Overview has already led to a traffic loss of between 25 and 32% for many websites, with a more pronounced impact in “summarizable” sectors such as health, business, and general information.
However, it is a mistake to think that AI generates content out of thin air: it always draws from sources, and those sources are still largely well-structured websites. Shehata also highlighted that the real change is metric: visibility is replacing traffic as the main KPI. In this scenario, the website remains central to building authority, maintaining control, and measuring the effectiveness of content. “We need to start tracking visibility in AI contexts—impressions, citations, references—even without clicks.” According to Shehata, those who think only in terms of traffic risk missing the real value that AI attributes to content. The goal is no longer to “get clicked,” but to be recognized as a trusted and reusable source.
As Ivano Di Biasi explained, the point is not to compete with artificial intelligence, but to feed it with useful, clear, and verifiable content.
According to initial field studies, the pages selected by Google to feed AI Overview share some common characteristics: vertical and specialized content, clear structure with the use of headings and lists, frequent updates, and origin from authoritative and recognized sites in their field. Authority and thematic consistency remain key factors: the content that integrates best into AI responses is not necessarily the content that receives the most clicks, but the content that offers structured and verifiable information. There is no need to “write for AI,” but rather to write content that also stands up under the scrutiny of a summarizing algorithm.
We need to rethink the website as a source, not a destination. It is true that some of the traffic that previously landed directly on pages now stops within the SERP, reading the AI summary. But this does not mean that the website has lost value. On the contrary: the content must exist and be published by a recognizable source in order to be included in the response. Today, the website also acts as an information base: it feeds automatic responses, influences the framing of subsequent queries, and remains accessible to those who want to learn more. It is a different role from the traditional one, but no less strategic. In a context of reduced clicks, the website remains the place where trust is built—and measured.
What a useful website should be like today
In short, websites are still necessary. However, it is not enough to simply state this, because we need to go further: they are still useful, or become useful, only if they are guided by a strategy—editorial, SEO, communication, conversion—in a context where visibility is more selective, sources are more numerous, and users’ attention is fragmented.
The problem is that there is no longer a universal website model, and it is necessary to think about designing an infrastructure capable of responding to concrete objectives—being found, explaining, converting, reassuring, building loyalty—and producing profitable results: informing, positioning, converting, reassuring, retaining, and enhancing value.
The difference between a website that produces value and one that remains invisible does not lie in the graphics or the platform used. It lies in the initial choices: clear objectives, relevant content, logical structure, and connection with the rest of the digital activities.
Strategy from the design stage
Usefulness today is a consequence of design. The first question to ask is not “what should the website be like?”, but “what is it for?”.
A website designed to acquire contacts will have a different structure from one designed to sell. A website designed to rank on Google will have different editorial priorities from one used as a portfolio. Informing, generating contacts, selling products, showcasing case studies, collecting registrations: each function requires a different structure, a different navigation logic, and different content priorities.
The problem with many websites is that they were created without a specific goal: generic homepages, disconnected sections, texts written “because they have to be there.” But Google today reads intent. And if the website does not reflect a real intention, it ignores it. Design matters, but only after you have clarified what the website is supposed to do.
Let’s move on to content: a useful website is alive, where pages communicate with readable, competently written, up-to-date text that is organized in a way that is understandable and structured so that it can be found and navigated. They must respond to real needs and speak to the right audience in the right tone. This does not mean publishing continuously, but knowing when it makes sense to update, where to go into more depth, and how to build content that can rank today and remain relevant over time.
Connection with social media, sources, and external presence
We said it before: the website no longer lives on its own; it is one of the manifestations of the brand and is effective if it can dialogue with the rest of the digital presence. It must receive traffic from social media, support advertising campaigns, be shareable, up-to-date, consistent with what the user has seen elsewhere, and return value through content that can be shared, explored, and linked.
Those who land on the website after seeing social media content are looking for confirmation. If they find inconsistencies, if the website is slow, misaligned, or too formal, they will leave. But if the website continues the conversation started elsewhere, conversion is much more likely.
A website that collects everything produced elsewhere (quotes, reviews, case studies, videos, downloads) becomes a center of gravity for information. This is what Ivano calls “functional centrality”: the site is not the first point of contact, but it is the point where attention is transformed into value.
Who really needs a website today
We must also admit another thing: it makes no sense to defend the website as a universal tool. Not all businesses need a website, and not all of them need a complex project.
But it makes a lot of sense to clarify for whom it is still strategic, and why.
It is essential for any project that wants to be found, recognized, and remembered. It is still needed—in a different way—for all those projects that want to build something that lasts: a recognizable identity, qualified traffic, a direct relationship with the user, a foundation of trust to sell, communicate, or position themselves.
- Emerging brands and projects under construction
For those starting from scratch, the website is the first stable infrastructure. A place to position yourself, tell your story, show consistency, and gather proprietary signals.
It serves to be found, to present yourself in an orderly manner, to build authority over time. Even if the initial traffic comes from social media or advertising, the website is the place where everything consolidates, where content does not disappear after 24 hours.
It’s not a question of immediate visibility, but of foundations. A project without a website risks being only “present” in feeds, but invisible to search engines and not very credible for those looking for confirmation. Even a simple website, if updated and consistent, is more useful than a thousand unconnected social media profiles. As Ivano Di Biasi said, “the website is where Google goes to check if what you say elsewhere is true.” And for a new project, this check is everything.
- Companies, professionals, and local businesses
Anyone with a business—physical or digital—needs a website to inform, convert, and reassure. Even when Google shows listings, maps, or info boxes, the official website is often the first link clicked. That’s where users look for confirmation: opening hours, services, contact details, price lists, details, in-depth reviews. For a local business, having an up-to-date, easy-to-navigate website that is well connected to Google Business Profile means gaining qualified visibility and capturing high-intent searches. It is also a sign that the business is solid, well-run and attentive.
According to Google, 76% of people who conduct a local search on their smartphone visit a business within 24 hours, and having a well-designed website increases the likelihood of being chosen. Your website is an extension of your professionalism: it communicates attention, order, presence, and makes the difference between clicking “Call” and scrolling past.
- E-commerce, info-business, creators
Those who sell digital products or services, promote courses, offer consulting, or produce content have a technical and strategic need for a website, including for operational, tax, and strategic reasons. It is where you collect contacts, sell goods, host funnels, and install tracking tools. It is also where you build a professional reputation, independent of feed logic.
A creator who works only on social media risks losing everything due to a policy, a block, or a change in the algorithm; an e-commerce business without a website does not build value over time. A well-built website, on the other hand, allows you to gather your audience, give access to premium content, manage payments and leads, build an email list, and maintain control over your activities and data.
And for editorial websites? Unstable visibility, an essential role
Let’s address the elephant in the room. The visibility crisis facing editorial websites is real, but it needs to be viewed with clarity. Organic traffic from Google has changed profoundly, especially for general news content.
Discover—until recently reserved for mobile and now perhaps ready to land on desktop—represents a significant share of “unpredictable” and unstable traffic: it alternates between significant peaks and moments of “emptiness” because it varies based on individual user behavior, cannot be controlled or planned, and can disappear without warning. Relying solely on this source means building on fragile foundations.
The authority of a website still counts, but it no longer automatically guarantees traffic—AI-based features have a direct impact on the industry, because many of Google’s summary responses are derived from editorial content, reducing the need to click on the source sites.
The tension between publishers and platforms is now evident: the News/Media Alliance, which represents some of the leading US publishing groups, has called the expansion of AI Mode an act of “theft.” According to Danielle Coffey, CEO of the association, “links were the last redeeming quality of search: they guaranteed traffic and revenue for publishers. Now Google is simply taking content by force and using it without any return, which is the very definition of theft.” The controversy grew after it emerged that Google had decided not to offer publishers the option to selectively opt out of AI Mode without having to completely forego their presence in traditional search results. This is a clear sign of how fragile the balance between visibility, content ownership, and economic value has become.
For this reason, it is essential to rethink strategies: we need to build thematic verticality, solid relationships, and a presence distributed across multiple channels.
According to John Shehata, AI Overview has caused traffic losses of up to 25–32% for publishers, with the strongest impact in sectors such as health and business, where automatic summaries are more widespread. In general news, penetration is more limited for now, but growing — and ignoring the problem would be a dangerous underestimation.
Shehata also warns that Discover, while representing a significant share of traffic for many publishers, remains a volatile channel: documented cases show large sites losing all their traffic from Discover in just 24 hours, without any technical or editorial changes.
Monetizing content today requires a proprietary base
The risk is clear: relying on an unpredictable channel is like building on unstable foundations.
Today, those who work with content—publishers, vertical bloggers, information creators—cannot afford to rely exclusively on social networks or algorithmic distribution. Platforms offer visibility, but rarely translate into direct monetization.
A viral post on TikTok, for example, can generate notoriety and increase reach, but it does not create a stable connection with the audience, does not collect first-party data, and is unlikely to build lasting economic value.
The concept of the website as a fundamental and unique hub for fully controlling the user experience and setting up scalable and sustainable monetization strategies is back. Through the website, you can activate models such as affiliations, sponsorships, and paid subscriptions, but also build a proprietary mailing list — still one of the most effective tools for building audience loyalty and improving conversion rates compared to communications aimed at cold or unprofiled audiences.
In addition, the website is the foundation on which to build long-term SEO strategies: search-optimized content continues to generate stable organic traffic without relying on the changing algorithms of social media.
Anyone who produces editorial value needs a proprietary base not only to gather and consolidate their audience, but above all to reduce their dependence on volatile and unpredictable traffic flows.
The website as a space for continuity between discovery and in-depth analysis
Ultimately, then, the problem is not the disappearance of the website, but its expulsion from the dynamics of ‘snack’ content: short, quick, distributed across platforms.
Today, content needs to be two-sided: capable of standing out in the feed (title, snippet, visual element) but also of offering in-depth analysis within a complete page.
Google Discover, AI Overview, and social media are channels of discovery. The website remains the place where meaning, trust, and reputation are built. Content creators need to be present on both sides.
In the current context, it is no longer enough to “cover” the news. “Commodity content—breaking news picked up by everyone—will be the first to be absorbed by LLMs,” explains Shehata.
What will make the difference is content with real added value: analysis, context, explanations, summaries. Those who want to remain visible (and useful) will have to write to be indispensable, not just to be found.
FAQ: doubts (and answers) about the usefulness of websites today
Before closing, it is time to address some of the most persistent doubts about the fate of websites—and why websites remain the center of digital strategy, the cornerstone on which to build lasting strategies in a context dominated by closed platforms, unpredictable algorithms, and increasingly fragmented visibility.
We have explained it: it is not just a technical issue or a question of “presence,” but a question of control, ownership, and direct relationship with one’s audience.
The data clearly shows that those who control their own digital space—curating content, experience, and relationships—are more solid than those who rely exclusively on external channels. A well-designed website does not guarantee automatic success, but it provides the foundation on which value can still be built.
Having a website today means having a “permanent center of gravity” in an environment that changes every day.
- Are websites obsolete?
No, websites are not obsolete. The ways in which they are used and user expectations have changed. The website is no longer a simple container of static information: it is a center of digital identity, a space for relationships, a proprietary asset on which to build long-term strategies, in “opposition” to algorithms and closed platforms.
- Does it still make sense to have a website?
Yes, but only if it is designed with a clear goal in mind. A website that answers real user questions, organizes content in an accessible way, and offers a smooth experience is never superfluous. A website is the place to collect first-party data, build a direct relationship with your audience, and activate monetization models that are difficult to replicate on social media or through other channels. It is still necessary, but it must be done well.
- Is SEO still necessary for a website?
Yes, but not just technical SEO. You need SEO that takes into account content, structure, search intent, and external presence. Visibility is built on multiple levels.
- Is a showcase website still useful?
Only if it is up to date, accessible, and part of a broader strategy. An “empty” or static showcase website is useless today. But a simple website can work if it is well designed.
- What should you do with a website that doesn’t generate traffic?
A website with no traffic is not necessarily useless, but it is a sign that should not be ignored. The lack of visits can depend on many factors: outdated or irrelevant content, poor SEO optimization, lack of a distribution strategy. Traffic does not come by chance: today more than ever, conscious design is needed, which considers not only publication, but also promotion, updating, and continuous measurement of results.
- Are websites outdated compared to social media?
No. Social media covers other needs: discovery, entertainment, relationships. Websites are used to organize, explore, and convert. They are complementary tools, not alternatives.
- Is it better to invest in social media or in a website?
It depends on your goals. Social media brings immediate visibility, while websites build value over time. The point is not to choose, but to make them work together in a coherent way.
- Young people don’t use Google or websites, so what should you do?
It’s true that search habits are changing, especially among younger generations, who are increasingly oriented toward social media and quick content platforms. But even those who start on TikTok or Instagram often explore elsewhere before making a purchase or trusting a brand. Websites remain the landing point for those who want to learn more, understand better, or take concrete action. It’s not about choosing between websites and social media, but about integrating channels, always offering a stable and accessible point of reference.
- Does Google penalize small websites?
Google favors strong brands, but it doesn’t penalize small ones a priori. Websites with original content, consistent signals, and a clear niche still have room to grow.
- If AI answers on its own, does it make sense to write articles?
Yes, if the articles are well written. AI needs sources to respond, and the best content still comes from credible websites with structure and authority.
- How will the effectiveness of a website be measured in 2025?
With real KPIs: qualified organic traffic, branded searches, average time spent on pages, conversions, requests received. It’s not enough to just be there: you need to understand what generates value.
