Website Analyst Newsletter
Meeting Your Needs With Excellence
Issue 9
August 2000
Editor: Lucian Millis, editor@website-analyst.co.il
Publisher: Website Analyst http://www.website-analyst.co.il/
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IN THIS ISSUE
1. Editor's Note
2. The Global Concept of Web Development by Case Stevens
3. Website Email - Viral Marketing
4. Links of Interest
5. Pick Of The Month (DynamicDrive.com)
6. List Management
7. Contact Information
1. Editor's Note
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2. The Global Concept of Web Development by Case Stevens
Web development is quite complex, because there are so
many disciplines involved. It takes some skills to build a
web site that delivers exactly what you want, with a good
layout and with community building and you need to know
technical aspects as well as research and marketing,
promotion, writing, etc.
Web development also means hard work. It's an ever-ongoing
effort as you will see below and if you don't have
enough (human) resources for it it's going to be hard. It's
not the money that count so much (the site will be a
reflection of your budget, but lots of small budgets already
have been very successful) as well as time, energy,
persistence and a great will.
Let's try to break it down to the basic elements.
Why?
A very popular reason to create a web presence is ... to
have a web presence. "Competitors have it, so should we"
is often heard. A defensive strategy. That is definitely the
wrong way.
Companies or small businesses should have a better reason to
be on the Internet. You should plan that carefully.
Most of the time it starts with an idea, a product or a
service. And unless you want a personal home page, you
better find out first if there's a market for that idea,
product or service. Internet presence comes down to three
things:
marketing, promotion and (fresh) valuable content.
Step 1: Idea
So, if you have an idea, product or service suited for the
Internet, first find out if there's a market that wants to
pay for it.
Just use the Search Engines and Directories to find similar
ideas or similar markets.
If you do not have an idea, product or service yet try to
find a (common) need or dissatisfaction in a certain group
of people that want to spend money to solve their problems
(niche, target market).
Lurk in Discussion Groups and Forums. Post some questions
about what is needed most. Develop a solution to fill a
need, relieve a pain or satisfy a desire.
Step 2: USP
Develop a USP, a Unique Selling Proposition. It should be a
unique aspect of your business, something that separates you
from your competitors.
And locate where your customers are, what they do, what they
read, what interests them, in short: how you can reach them
and where. Define your keywords and keyphrases.
This may seem trivial, but if they can't find you, there's
no business! This is crucial for the concept. Target your
audience!
Step 3: Build It!
Sounds easy. It is when you exactly know how to do that.
And even than it's quite complex. Develop a site that sells
with deadly precision, build content, write sales letters,
the technical stuff (CGI, Java, etc.), prepare
Autoresponders, make articles, get references and so on.
Try to automate as much as possible. It gives you more
time for the actions in the next steps. And make sure that
you can stay in touch with prospects. Your newsletter can do
that. Have the content ready.
Step 4: Get traffic!
Here's the promotion part of the process.
Search Engines and Directories are great to get targeted
traffic. Despite of all remarks regarding constant changes
of algorithms it's still worth while.
Press releases, articles, forums and if you want to banners
and advertising are all in place here. Select your resources
with care by using the information from Step 2.
Step 5: Test, test, test!
Check the results. Does the system work the way you planned?
Can you improve it?
You will not know unless you test it. Try different sales
letters, prices, guarantees, other layouts or navigation
(only change one thing at the time) and check the results
again.
If nothing works, go back to Step 1 and start all over
again.
If it works, go back to Step 2 and refine the whole system.
After that go back to Step 1 and develop the next product,
because now you are well situated for back end products.
About the Author
Article by Case Stevens, moderator of
http://www.anownsite.com/
where Beginners make a Free Test Ride and Advanced find
Successful Web Solutions. Subscribe to their FREE newsletter. mailto:anownsite-subscribe@topica.com
3. Website Email - Viral Marketing
Provide your visitors with free email accounts and they'll
return every day to log in and check their accounts.
- Easy setup
- No hardware or software required
- Each out-going message will promote your website and attract
new visitors.
- Banner Ad Control
- Online Control Center lets you add, customize, and change
the service quickly, anytime, from anywhere.
A great way to promote your website!
Everytime someone uses the service, they see your brief
advertising message at the end of the email. F-r-e-e!
The usability of on-line banking: how not to do it
"A fundamental tenet of user interface design is that the
interface should be structured around the customer's key tasks.
As we describe elsewhere, 60% of a system's usability comes
from task focus, 25% from consistency and just 15% from
presentation of information."
http://www.system-concepts.com/articles/barclaysonline.html
TIP: Crisp organization coupled with clear navigation
generally produces sites that keep visitors longer !
Fast Is No Longer Fast Enough
"Building a super-fast Web site isn't cheap or easy--but
it's the goal of just about every business on the Internet,
because a slow download can lose a customer just as easily
as a rude salesperson can."
http://www.informationweek.com/789/web.htm
Learning to Use Color on Your Web Site
"While the choice of color is one of the most subjective
decisions in the world of design, it's still important to
understand the theory behind why you should choose one set
of colors over another."
http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/6858.html
CGI for the Total Non-Programmer
An interactive site for helping non-programmers learn
advanced web development skills.
http://www.webteacher.com/perltour/
Text2Html: Freeware Text to HTML converter
180 K - Win95, Win98, WinNT.
This application is ideal for webmasters who must quickly
convert many text files into HTML format. (Via Freeware Home)
http://www.cyber-matrix.com/txt2htm.htm
TIP: If you want more sales from your website do not annoy
your visitors with pointless animated graphics or other large
unnecessary images. Your visitors are interested in your
products and services. Make it easy and fast for them to find
what they want.
5. Pick Of The Month
Dynamic Drive
Founded in January, 1999, Dynamic Drive contains ONLY DHTML
(Dynamic HTML) scripts that utilize the new DHTML technology.
All script on Dynamic Drive are either written for IE 4, NS 4,
or will work in both.
Popup window generator, Drop down menu generator, Static Menu
Script, Cross Browser marquee, and more. Take a look!
http://www.dynamicdrive.com/
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