Ec2009 ch14 creating and launching

Chapter 14 Creating and Launching a Successful Online Business

Learning Objectives Understand the fundamental requirements for initiating an online business. Describe the funding options available to startup businesses. Evaluate the options for hosting Web sites.

Learning Objectives (cont.) Understand the processes and business decisions associated with managing Web site development. Understand the importance of providing content that meets the needs and expectations of the intended audience.

Learning Objectives (cont.) Evaluate Web sites on design criteria such as appearance, navigation, consistency, and performance. Know the techniques of search engine optimization to obtain high placement in search engines.

Learning Objectives (cont.) Understand the benefits of customer relationship management through customer self-service, listening to customers, and increasing trust.

OBO Sets Its Goals for Success The Problem OBO sells protective gear for field hockey goalkeepers OBO’s unique three-dimensional thermo-bonding manufacturing process produces equipment that is shaped to reflect the way the body moves

OBO Sets Its Goals for Success (cont.) By manufacturing a quality product and listening to the customer, OBO has become the market leader OBO is based in a small provincial town in New Zealand that is a very long way from its principal markets

OBO Sets Its Goals for Success (cont.) OBO sells a niche product that is best sold thorough agents or stores to ensure a proper fit How does OBO use its Web site to market an experiential product to a global market from New Zealand?

OBO Sets Its Goals for Success (cont.) The Solution The goals of the obo.co.nz Web site are: community building product sales research and development

OBO Sets Its Goals for Success (cont.) Community building happens through: online discussion forums sponsored players an image gallery The principal marketing and sales goal of the Web site is to: convince the visitor of the value of the product direct the customer to a store or agent to make the purchase

OBO Sets Its Goals for Success (cont.) The Web site is a support mechanism for the brand and the sale of equipment through the agents Research and development goal is met through: online surveys solicitation of players’ opinions of the products focus groups

OBO Sets Its Goals for Success (cont.) The Results The OBO Web site is most successful at community building The site also builds community by promoting a goalie-friendly approach to OBO’s customers Online product sales are modest because the Web site supports, not competes, with OBO’s agent network

OBO Sets Its Goals for Success (cont.) Online sales are expected to grow because OBO has introduced a new line of clothes designed to be sold exclusively through the Web site The focus groups deliver high-value feedback at almost no cost The discussion forums contribute to both community building and feedback about OBO’s product

OBO Sets Its Goals for Success (cont.) What we can learn… A small company with a great product is using its Web site to reach its target markets in distant countries OBO is using the site to support business goals, as well as to meet the needs and expectations of its target audience

OBO Sets Its Goals for Success (cont.) The Web site is simple and well designed, includes: “attractors” that encourage customer interaction and keep customers coming back content that promotes cross selling effectively promotes sustainable customer relationships

Doing Business Online: Getting Started Business formation process: Identify a consumer or business need in the marketplace Investigate the opportunity Determine the business owner’s ability to meet the need

Doing Business Online: Getting Started (cont.) Requirements that reflect the online nature of a business: Need to understand Internet culture Customers are active in how they absorb and use information, and the Internet is a personal, helping, and sharing place for most users Consider the nature of appropriate products and services

Doing Business Online: Getting Started (cont.) E-business planning Business plan: A written document that identifies a company’s goals and outlines how the company intends to achieve the goals

Doing Business Online: Getting Started (cont.) Biggest difference in e-business planning is for the ontrepreneur to recognize that the Internet is unlike any other sales channel; companies can: interact with consumers with both reach and richness introduce new and innovative business models distribute information at the speed of light at almost zero cost

Doing Business Online: Getting Started (cont.) An existing brick-and-mortar business looking to move online also needs a: Business case: A document that is used to justify the investment of internal, organizational resources in a specific application or project

Doing Business Online: Getting Started (cont.) Business case template includes: Goals Cost savings New revenue Extra benefits Cost of the solution Net benefits Recommendation

Doing Business Online: Getting Started (cont.) Funding the online business Venture capital (VC): Money invested in a business by an individual or a group of individuals (venture capitalists) in exchange for equity in the business

Doing Business Online: Getting Started (cont.) Angel investor: A wealthy individual who contributes personal funds and expertise at the earliest stage of business development

Doing Business Online: Getting Started (cont.) Incubator: A company, university, or not-for-profit organization that supports businesses in their initial stages of development

Doing Business Online: Building the Web Site Classifications of Web sites Informational Web site: A Web site that does little more than provide information about the business and its products and services Interactive Web site: A Web site that provides opportunities for the customers and the business to communicate and share information

Doing Business Online: Building the Web Site (cont.) Attractors: Web site features that attract and interact with visitors in the target stakeholder group Transactional Web site: A Web site that sells products and services

Doing Business Online: Building the Web Site (cont.) Building the Web site Select a Web host Register a domain name Create and manage content Design the Web site Construct the Web site and test Market and promote the Web site

Web hosting service A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to provide their own website accessible via the World Wide Web . Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own for use by their clients as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center . Web hosts can also provide data center space and connectivity to the Internet for servers they do not own to be located in their data center, called colocation .

Web Site Hosting Web hosting options: Storebuilder service: A hosting service that provides disk space and services to help small and micro businesses build a Web site quickly and cheaply ISP hosting service: A hosting service that provides an independent, standalone Web site for small- and medium-sized businesses

Web Site Hosting (cont.) Web hosting service: A dedicated Web site hosting company that offers a wide range of hosting services and functionality to businesses of all sizes Mirror site: An exact duplicate of the original Web site, but it is physically located on a Web server on another continent

Web Site Hosting (cont.) Co-location: A Web server owned and maintained by the business is placed in a Web hosting service that manages the server’s connection to the Internet Self-hosting: When a business acquires the hardware, software, staff, and dedicated telecommunications services necessary to set up and manage its own Web site

Web Site Hosting (cont.) Contracting the Web host The search for an ISP host: contacting local ISPs for information asking others in the business community for recommendations consulting with local telecommunications and computer user groups

Web Site Hosting (cont.) When a short list of potential ISPs has been compiled, a RFQ can be used to ensure that complete and consistent bids for provision of service are submitted

Web Site Hosting (cont.) Consider: service quality measures guaranteed uptime number of clients current traffic rates software support security site traffic analysis technical support services costs

Web Site Hosting (cont.) Registering a domain name Domain name: A name-based address that identifies an Internet-connected server Domain name registrar: A business that assists prospective Web site owners with finding and registering a domain name of their choice

Web Site Hosting (cont.) Selecting a good domain name: Make it memorable Make it easy to spell Avoid numbers and special characters Keep it short and sensible

Web Site Hosting (cont.) Be flexible Think about the future Give products their own name Investigate the competition Avoid trademarked names

Content Creation and Management Content: The text, images, sound, and video that make up a Web page Commodity content: Information that is widely available and generally free to access on the Web

Content Creation and Management (cont.) Premium content: Content not available elsewhere on the Web Cross selling: Offering similar or related products and services to increase sales Up selling: Offering an upgraded version of the product in order to boost sales and profit

Content Creation and Management (cont.) Up-selling activities usually include offering products with a different design, color, fabric, or size Promotion secondary content that can increase sales or improve customer service Comment further explanation about the product can be offered after introducing the product

Content Creation and Management (cont.) Creating content collecting all the content that is currently available value of additional content is assessed for inclusion in the Web site consider how each bit of content will serve the site’s goals and whether customers will want it or expect it created by customers through reviews etc.

Content Creation and Management (cont.) Buying content Content can be purchased or licensed Content that is acquired from outside sources should be supplemental content, not primary content If primary content is purchased and no value is added, visitors will go to the originating site and not return

Content Creation and Management (cont.) Personalizing content Personalized content: Web content that is prepared to match the needs and expectations of the individual visitor Delivering content by e-newsletter E-newsletter: A collection of short, informative articles sent at regular intervals by e-mail to individuals who have an interest in the newsletter’s topic

Content Creation and Management (cont.) Writing effective content Write scannable text Break long sections into smaller ones with clearly noted headings Grab the reader’s attention at the beginning of every page and section Write in a tone and with language that reflects the purpose of the material

Content Creation and Management (cont.) Consistency in site content can be achieved using a style guide Make the material available in a .pdf file when necessary Create compelling links that encourage a reader to click External links can offer good content for visitors Avoid material that is not highly valued by customers

Content Creation and Management (cont.) Content management Content management: The process of adding, revising, and removing content from a Web site to keep content fresh, accurate, compelling, and credible

Content Creation and Management (cont.) Content testing— frequent checks of material for: Accuracy Clarity Typos poor punctuation misspelled words inconsistencies

Content Creation and Management (cont.) Content removal Expired pages should be deleted or moved to an off-line location that can serve as an archive Content management software Allows nontechnical staff to create, edit, and delete content on the company’s Web site

Content Creation and Management (cont.) Purchasing a content management software Do a thorough needs analysis Document requirements and discuss with at least two companies that have purchased a CMS Start small with CMS that has a trial version or low entry cost Assess the system after 30 days Repeat the assessment process regularly

Web Site Design The goal of any Web site is to deliver quality content to its intended audience and to do so with an elegant design

Web Site Design Web design is a process of conceptualization, planning, modeling, and execution of electronic media content delivery via Internet in the form of technologies (such as markup languages ) suitable for interpretation and display by a web browser or other web-based graphical user interfaces (GUIs).

Web Site Design The intent of web design is to create a web site (a collection of electronic files residing on one or more web servers ) that presents content (including interactive features or interfaces) to the end user in the form of web pages once requested. Such elements as text, forms , and bit-mapped images ( GIFs , JPEGs , PNGs ) can be placed on the page using HTML , XHTML , or XML tags. Displaying more complex media ( vector graphics , animations, videos, sounds) requires plug-ins such as Flash , QuickTime , Java run-time environment , etc. Plug-ins are also embedded into web pages by using HTML or XHTML tags.

Web Site Design Improvements in the various browsers' compliance with W3C standards prompted a widespread acceptance of XHTML and XML in conjunction with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to position and manipulate web page elements. The latest standards and proposals aim at leading to the various browsers' ability to deliver a wide variety of media and accessibility options to the client possibly without employing plug-ins.

Web Site Design Typically web pages are classified as static or dynamic . Static pages don’t change content and layout with every request unless a human ( web master or programmer ) manually updates the page. Dynamic pages adapt their content and/or appearance depending on the end-user ’s input or interaction or changes in the computing environment (user, time, database modifications, etc.) Content can be changed on the client side (end-user's computer) by using client-side scripting languages ( JavaScript , JScript , Actionscript , media players and PDF reader plug-ins, etc.) to alter DOM elements ( DHTML ). Dynamic content is often compiled on the server utilizing server-side scripting languages ( PHP , ASP , Perl , Coldfusion , JSP , Python , etc.). Both approaches are usually used in complex applications.

Web Site Design With growing specialization within communication design and information technology fields, there is a strong tendency to draw a clear line between web design specifically for web pages and web development for the overall logistics of all web-based services.

Web Site Design (cont.) Information architecture Information architecture: How the site and its Web pages are organized, labeled, and navigated to support browsing and searching throughout the Web site

Web Site Design (cont.) Web site design criteria: Navigation Consistency Performance Appearance Quality assurance Interactivity Security Scalability

Web Site Design (cont.) Site structure is: hierarchical circular linear Getting the homepage right is critical All pages within the site should link back to the homepage

Web Site Design (cont.) Deep linking: Entry into a Web site via the site’s interior pages, not the homepage, typically through search engines or external links

Web Site Design (cont.) Organizing and labeling the site support browsing and searching: Obey the three-click rule Place the most important content at the top of the page Keep pages short

Web Site Design (cont.) Keep page layouts simple Follow commonsense publishing rules Make the primary content easy to find Show the products in many ways

Web Site Design (cont.) Site navigation Site navigation: Aids that help visitors find the information they need quickly and easily The simplest navigation aid is a navigation bar at the top and bottom of each page Frame: An HTML element that divides the browser window into two or more separate windows

Web Site Design (cont.) Other suggestions for designing successful Web site navigation: Use small lists and menus Do not rely entirely on graphical images for navigation Make the homepage easy to find Integrate navigation into content Avoid frames Follow accessibility guidelines

Web Site Design (cont.) Consistency Look and feel: The elements that visually distinguish a site from any other, including layout, typeface, colors, graphics, and navigation aids

Web Site Design (cont.) Elements of page content also should be consistent: company logo contact information short, descriptive title Design a Web site for all of these browsers, but to use designated World Wide Web Consortium standards

Web Site Design (cont.) Performance Speed ranks at or near the top of every list of essential design considerations The most widely recognized cause of long download times is a large graphic or a large number of small graphics on a single page

Web Site Design (cont.) 12-second rule: Every page on the Web site should appear within 12 seconds 4-second rule: something should appear in the visitor’s browser in 4 seconds or less

Web Site Design (cont.) Colors and graphics rules: Match the expectations of the target audience Use standard colors Follow color standards Use complementary colors Specify the background color

Web Site Design (cont.) Use bandwidth-intensive features selectively Design for visually or hearing-impaired visitors Use the ALT tag Avoid distracting features

Web Site Design (cont.) Quality assurance make sure the Web site design is properly tested before it is launched ensure that it continues to perform up to expectations after launch Quality

Web Site Design (cont.) design the site for easy maintenance responsible owners frequently test all features of the site personally quality Web sites are tested regularly Web site performance is also an ongoing concern

Web Site Design (cont.) Accessible Web design To be accessible, web pages and sites must conform to certain accessibility principles. These can be grouped into the following main areas: use semantic markup that provides a meaningful structure to the document (i.e. web page) Semantic markup also refers to semantically organizing the web page structure and publishing web services description accordingly so that they can be recognized by other web services on different web pages. Standards for semantic web are set by IEEE Main article: Web accessibility

Web Site Design (cont.) Accessible Web design use a valid markup language that conforms to a published DTD or Schema provide text equivalents for any non-text components (e.g. images, multimedia) use hyperlinks that make sense when read out of context. (e.g. avoid "Click Here.") Main article: Web accessibility

Web Site Design (cont.) Accessible Web design don't use frames use CSS rather than HTML Tables for layout. author the page so that when the source code is read line-by-line by user agents (such as a screen readers ) it remains intelligible. (Using tables for design will often result in information that is not.) Main article: Web accessibility

Web Site Design (cont.) Accessible Web design However, W3C permits an exception where tables for layout either make sense when linearized or an alternate version (perhaps linearized) is made available. Website accessibility is also changing as it is impacted by Content Management Systems that allow changes to be made to webpages without the need of obtaining programming language knowledge. Main article: Web accessibility

Web Site Construction Who builds the Web site? Internal staff, an outside contractor, or a combination of these two Internal Web site development: The process of building and/or maintaining the Web site with company staff

Web Site Construction (cont.) Companies build their own site because: Use of existing in-house expertise Desire to build in-house expertise Protection of proprietary technologies Tighter control and responsiveness

Web Site Construction (cont.) External Web site development: When the business hires another firm to build and/or maintain the Web site Speed to market Not a core competency Access to special expertise

Web Site Construction (cont.) Partnering Web site development: When a mixture of internal and external development is used to build and/or maintain a Web site The principal downside to partnering is the additional overhead of contract and relationship management

Web Site Construction (cont.) Web site construction: The initial content creation, design, programming, and installation phases of a Web site’s development Web site maintenance: The on-going process of keeping the Web site open for business, managing content, fixing problems, and making incremental additions to the site

Web Site Construction (cont.) Managing Web site construction: Start with a plan Set goals early and stick to them Use a fixed-price contract Justify graphics and features

Web Site Construction (cont.) Accepting credit cards Card-not-present (CNP) transaction: When there is no signature and no verification of the credit card signature by the merchant

Web Site Construction (cont.) To accept credit cards online a company must: Open a merchant account Purchase credit card processing software Integrate the credit card processing software into the transaction system

Web Site Promotion Internal Web site promotion Include content that establishes the site as a useful site for customers to remember so that they return and make a purchase Signature file: A simple text message an e-mail program automatically adds to outgoing messages

Web Site Promotion (cont.) Search engine optimization (SEO): The application of strategies intended to position a Web site at the top of Web search engines The key to SEO is understanding the algorithms the search engines use to determine the ranking of the results returned to the searcher

Web Site Promotion (cont.) Strategies for keyword creation and placement: Create keywords the target audience is most likely to use Use specific phrases, not general keywords Optimize the title

Web Site Promotion (cont.) Use meta tags Meta tag: An HTML element that describes the contents of a Web page Use keywords early and often in page content Include keywords in ALT tags Avoid spider-hostile features Do not spam search engines

Web Site Promotion (cont.) Strategies for maximizing link popularity: Create content that promotes linking Seek reciprocal links Determine what sites already link to the target site

Web Site Promotion (cont.) Visit competitors Seek highly placed links Seek links from well-known sites Do not use free-for-all (FFA) or link farms

Customer Relationship Management Customer relationship management (CRM): A customer service approach that focuses on building long-term and sustainable customer relationships that add value for the customer and the company

Customer Relationship Management (cont.) Using content to create customer relationships Provide membership Personalize the user experience Support users Communicate via the community Reward visitors Market effectively Set up smart affiliate relationships

Customer Relationship Management (cont.) Customer self-service with FAQ pages: FAQ page: A Web site page that lists questions that are frequently asked by customers and the answers to those questions FAQ

Customer Relationship Management (cont.) Characteristics of an effective FAQ page: The FAQ page is easy to find The FAQ page loads fast The questions are easy to find

Customer Relationship Management (cont.) The answers are written from a customer’s perspective The answers do not repeat information offered elsewhere Offer an opportunity to ask a question not on the FAQ The FAQ page is never done

Customer Relationship Management (cont.) Listening to customers Mine e-mail for information Survey customers quickly and frequently Create an e-mail list E-mail discussion list: A group of people who share a common interest and who communicate with each other via e-mail messages managed by e-mail list software

Customer Relationship Management (cont.) Create a discussion forum Electronic discussion forum: A portion of the Web site where visitors can post questions, comments, and answers Create a chat group Chat group: A portion of the Web site where visitors can communicate synchronously

Customer Relationship Management (cont.) Increasing trust Trust: A psychological state-of-mind when two or more parties are willing to pursue further interactions to achieve a planned goal

Customer Relationship Management (cont.) Ways to increase trust: Tell the customer about the company Include testimonials from loyal, satisfied customers Provide numerous opportunities for feedback Answer customer e-mail promptly Provide information to the customer about an order

Managerial Issues What does it take to create a successful online business? Is creating a Web site a technical task or a management task? How do we attract visitors to the Web site? How do we turn visitors into buyers?

Summary Fundamental requirements for initiating an online business. Funding options for a start-up online business. Web site hosting options for an online business. Web site construction options for an online business.

Summary (cont.) Provide content that attracts and keeps Web site visitors. Design a visitor-friendly site. High placement in search engines is key. Customer relationship management can contribute to success.

Ec2009 ch14 creating and launching

More Related Content

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked (20)

Similar to Ec2009 ch14 creating and launching (20)

More from Nuth Otanasap (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

Ec2009 ch14 creating and launching