Download Launching Your E

Launching Your E-Business
Chapter 10
Beta Testing Your Web Site
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Software companies allow users to test their
software programs before selling them to the public,
in order to find problems in the software.
Testing its Web site with a beta launch is a good
idea for an E-Business.
By allowing visitors to test its Web site before
marketing it to the public, an E-Business can get
feedback and make changes.
Marketing an E-Business
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The early approach to marketing E-Businesses was,
“If we build it, they will come.”
Today, this approach is not effective.
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“A web site is like a brick-and-mortar store built on a deadend street with few people driving by”
Most conventional marketing approaches are useful
to the E-Business.
Some techniques and methods are unique to the EBusiness environment.
Search Engines and Directories
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The reality of Web marketing:
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Despite all marketing expenses, most viewers
locate relevant Web sites through the use of
search engines and directory services.
81% of those surveyed found sites this way
Spiders – software programs that
automatically update a search engine’s
indexes of Web pages by examining existing
pages across the Web
Search Engines and Directories
(cont’d)
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Examples of search engines and directories:
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AltaVista
Northern Light
HotBot
GoTo.Com
Google
Yahoo
Meta search engines – search other search engines
then combine the results (MetaCrawler and Dogpile)
Search Engines
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Use a variety of methods to gather and index
information.
This process may take time due to the
volume of materials to be examined.
Some services accept submissions
(SubmitIt!)
Some may require a fee to review and index
quickly. (p. 348-9)
Indexing Methods
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Different search engine sites use differing
indexing techniques.
This is why two different engines produce
vastly different results at times.
Adding “Meta Tags” that accurately describe
the content is important.
These tags are used by some indexing
systems to help build their indexes.
Meta Tags
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<META NAME = “description”
CONTENT=“description goes here”>
<META NAME = “keywords”
CONTENT=“Keywords go here, separated
by a comma”>
Techniques to Improve Index “Hits”
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Write clear but descriptive Web page text that a
search engine can index.
Avoid using frames, or have an alternate no-frames
site to help search engine spiders locate all Web
pages at a Web site.
Use static HTML pages for products that can be
indexed by search engines, instead of active pages
that are generated by the server from data in a
product database.
Techniques to Improve Index
“Hits” (cont’d)
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Use fewer or smaller images to keep page load
times down.
Provide links to complementary pages.
Arrange for inbound links from other Web sites which
are used by some search tools to determine a Web
page’s ranking or relevance.
Periodically review search engine results
Examine competitors site, including meta tags
Public Relations
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A public relations effort is one of the more
cost-effective marketing tools.
Part of the art of a public relations effort is
writing effective press releases and sending
those releases to the appropriate
destinations at just the right time.
There are many businesses that specialize in
providing public relations services.
Customer Communications
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Direct communications with potential customers is
important.
Key thoughts: interactive, immediate, optional (opt-in
vs. opt-out)
Usenet newsgroups and forms represent a
significant way to disseminate news and respond to
customer concerns.
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Portray as an industry leader
Not for advertising, just informational
Affiliate Programs
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Affiliate Web sites are an important source of
customer referrals.
In an affiliate program, the E-Business pays
a referral fee (usually a flat amount) or
commission (a percentage of the sale) on all
sales sent to the E-Business from another
Web site.
Other Cost-Effective
Promotion Methods
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Link exchanges
Web rings
Awards
Word of mouth – goodwill marketing
Web Ring
E-Business Advertising
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Conventional advertising techniques may be
necessary.
Including a Web address and an email address in
conventional advertising materials is important.
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URLs are everywhere (UPS)
This will “drive” potential customers to the Web site
and promote brand awareness.
Web based advertising can be purchased from a
number of popular portal sites.
E-Business Advertising
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Banner Ads – priced according to number of
impressions (viewings)
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Click-through rate - % of viewers who click
on a banner ad to view the advertised web
site
A Portal With Ads
Benchmarking a Web Site
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A benchmark is a performance-based
objective for a business’s Web site.
The process:
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Determine the goals (increase sales, reduce
costs)
Set the benchmarks
Measure the results
Draw reasonable conclusions
The Benchmarks
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A brick & click E-Business has historical
records to utilize
A new E-Business lacks historical or
traditional data
Look at sales, expenses, ratios, etc
May be difficult to attribute to a single source
or input factor
Measuring Web Site ROI
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Traditional financial measures available
include ROI.
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Look at customer satisfaction and intangible
benefits.
Online Measurement Tools
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Web metrics – measuring web site performance
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Web servers record all of the events that they
process to files called log files.
A careful examination of these log files can reveal
much about a Web site’s effectiveness.
Analysis software is available to examine logs.
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Logging and Tracking
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Some of the information gained will be:
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Number of visitors
Number of page views
Views per visitor (how deep visitors are going)
IP addresses of visitor – approx locations
Referring URL’s
Browser type
Conversion rate (dividing # of orders by # of visitors)
Errors
Return visitors
Example – page 365
Server Log
Web Metrics
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Third-party analysis tools
Click trail – the path a viewer takes thru a Web site
Sticky web sites – Web sites whose content keeps
visitors coming back again and again without relying
on advertising to bring them back
Web site traffic audit providers – third party that
validates web site traffic info (amount, type, etc.)
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Media Metrix, Nielsen/NetRatings