"We are still trying to invent the future of e-commerce. In fact, because
of our success so far, there is more opportunity now to do that than there was
three years ago. If anything, the motive has just gotten more intense." Jeff
Bezos, founder and CEO, Amazon .com
The above quote is the watchword for e-commerce – assume nothing and question
everything. To do business successfully on the Internet, you must rethink
fundamental business ideas. You also have to continue to learn, and adapt to the
changes the Internet is bringing about in the way business is done – now and in
the future.
One of the first rules of e-commerce is that while there are all kinds of
ways to get potential customers to your site once, if your site is
ordinary, no one will return a second time. Ordinary does not mean that your
site lacks flash, whether literally (the product by Macromedia), or figuratively. Rather,
ordinary means that your site lacks a high value proposition for your customers.
In addition, visitors are also turned off by technical problems like slow
loading pages, broken links, images that cannot be viewed by current browser,
long downloads, spelling mistakes and the other errors. Some or all of these
keep visitors from returning to your site.
Because your Web site is probably up and running, we will first tell you
about a free service that checks for technical glitches and spelling errors. We
will then show you that by preparing for C.O.M.B.A.T your Web site can provide a
high value proposition to your customer – ensuring repeat visits and referrals.
Tune Up Your Web Site – For Free
A very easy, effective and free way to tune up your website is to use NetMechanic
(www.netmechanic.com). NetMechanic provides link testing, HTML validation,
graphics optimization, and server monitoring services including Spell Check,
Load Time Check, Server Check, Link Check, HTML Check, and GIFBot. These
services are free, and will test sites of up to 200 pages. NetMechanic also
offers a subscription service, Server Check Pro, that monitors web servers 7
days a week, 24 hours a day, for ten dollars per month.
NetMechanic solves the following "visitor turn-offs" for free:
Slow loading Web pages will drive visitors away
from your site. The slow loading is caused by image bloat. NetMechanic optimizes
your images by removing unused and lesser used colors from the images. The
transparency and animation of your images will remain intact, while the image
size is reduced by 30% to 50% or more.
Broken links in your Web site are also very
annoying . NetMechanic will find broken links in your Web site and then verify
the status of each link. Testing may take several hours for a large site. Link
checking is something you should do regularly.
How your home page appears when viewed with different
browsers is very important, because you never really know which browser
or version visitors are using. To check this out, you simply provide the URL of
your home page, and NetMechanic scans your site and report on HTML tags and
attributes that are not supported by different versions of the major browsers.
NetMechanic can also tell you how many users are affected by each problem.
Visitors also dislike long and costly downloads .
NetMechanic will check the download time for your Web pages. You will receive a
report on the size of each object in your pages, and on any HTML problems that
can delay page loading.
Finally, spelling errors are unprofessional and
embarrassing. NetMechanic will check your entire Web site for spelling mistakes.
You supply them with the address and they provide you with a complete report.
You can also use an optional custom dictionary to list words you want the spell
checker to ignore.
In short, NetMechanic is a great tool. I used it to check several sites and
it really works.
Get Ready For C.O.M.B.A.T.
Getting rid of the technical glitches in your Web site is only a stop gap
solution. Experts agree that the first step toward getting your Web site on
track is to set clear objectives for a return on your company’s investment (ROI)
online. In doing so, focus your energies on the C.O.M.B.A.T. models for ROI:
Customer Service
Online Sales
Market Research
Branding
Aggregation of content
Targeted Marketing
Customer service should be one of the key advantages of your Web site. At
Amazon.com, customer service is more than a model for ROI – it is the company’s
dogma. The key to the online sales model is not to simply try to adapt your
"regular" business model to your Web site. You must rethink the model and focus
on capitalizing on the unique advantages of the Internet. Market research means
using your Web site to learn as much as you can about your visitors. This
includes both data visitors supply themselves, as well as patterns of behavior.
The Internet is a gold mine for branding opportunities. The key here is to
avoid simply writing about yourselves, or your products/services. Provide added
value instead. This includes games, didactic interaction (how to make sushi),
giveaways (downloads, newsletters, etc.) and anything else you can think of the
get your name and/or product into the visitors’ head – and keep it there even
when they leave.
Aggregation of content is more limited. It includes producing or providing
content like real time quotes, investment guides, search engines etc. The main
purpose is to attract visitors for advertising revenues. For targeted marketing,
nothing beats the Internet. E-mail is very inexpensive and easy to send – but avoid
sending Spam.
Determining which model(s) are best for your company is not easy, and it
requires brainstorming and internal strategy sessions. Next week, enable will
focus more closely on each of the models. In the meantime, tune up your website
– its free and it will keep visitors from leaving. Hopefully, when they come
back, you will be providing them with the value proposition that creates
long-term mutually beneficial relationships.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on June 1, 1999