Think eBiz; thoughts on eBusiness

Landing Page Simplicity equals Online Success

Recently reading Jonathan Mendez' blog discussion (Optimize and Prophesize) on "simplicity in landing pages" resonated very well with the Think-eBiz view on web site effectiveness. Web site owners are catching on, that their site is not their online ego, but a place for business - real sales & leads - conversions!

And with a simple approach to landing page design, the ability to perform real and valuable testing is magnified. Often it is subtle changes to a web site that cause the greatest impact on increased conversions. A complex image and text heavy site that displays all '20' of your leading products will often rank high on the one-and-out scale (the % of people who come to your home page and leave).

So scale your site back, provide short powerfully written content that tells the visitor who you are, what you do and why they should be here...  draw your visitor in and gain their permission to learn more. And always give them an easy way to contact you, to provide their name as a lead or get to the specific product they were actually seeking.

Optimization can help - allowing you the analytics of what caused conversion, learn more and defection behavior. And with a simple design, it will be easy to make the subtle yet powerful adaptations that lead to a better overall visitor experience - delivery more and better sales!

PS: A great book on web site usability is Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (2nd Edition)

Recently reading Jonathan Mendez' blog discussion (Optimize and Prophesize) on "simplicity in landing pages" resonated very well with the Think-eBiz view on web site effectiveness. Web site owners are catching on, that their site is not their online ego, but a place for business - real sales & leads - conversions!

And with a simple approach to landing page design, the ability to perform real and valuable testing is magnified. Often it is subtle changes to a web site that cause the greatest impact on increased conversions. A complex image and text heavy site that displays all '20' of your leading products will often rank high on the one-and-out scale (the % of people who come to your home page and leave).

So scale your site back, provide short powerfully written content that tells the visitor who you are, what you do and why they should be here...  draw your visitor in and gain their permission to learn more. And always give them an easy way to contact you, to provide their name as a lead or get to the specific product they were actually seeking.

Optimization can help - allowing you the analytics of what caused conversion, learn more and defection behavior. And with a simple design, it will be easy to make the subtle yet powerful adaptations that lead to a better overall visitor experience - delivery more and better sales!

PS: A great book on web site usability is Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (2nd Edition)

Max Headroom, meet Fred

Max Headroom, meet Fred, of 1800Dentist.com and Zooba from the Book of the Month Club. These are the new faces of the Internet.

Max	Zooba	Fred

Oddcast, a company founded in 1999 creates "conversational character products" that add a new and vibrant dimension to your eMarketing site. By  introducing a human element, you're enticing the visitor to stay around longer on your website. A new site stickiness strategy.

Unlike gimmicks of the past (spinning globes and flashing text), these "avatars" or graphic characters provide information in a near-human way. Move the mouse, the Avatar looks in that direction.  They move their mouth (better than Ashlee Simpson) in a realistic manner. And the Avatar could in fact be you by using a photo image transformed to an Avatar. You can be an on-line star, just like Max!

Avatars can also be used for e-Learning, online assistance and other site communications, where the human touch means business. Learn more at Oddcast.com

It takes an eCommunity

Build a website and they will come. Well, not exactly. Building a website does not make for a successful online venture. Successful web site owners and affiliates know that it takes a community. An eCommunity.

The challenge is to establish site credibility and foster a loyalty among your target users, to provide incentives for your target visitors to click over to your site often. The ultimate scenario is turning your visitor into an evangelist for your site (by telling others and establishing links on their websites). Naturally, your site must be informative and/or provide a product or service that your target visitor wants or needs. Assuming this, how do you build your community?

First and foremost, keep your content fresh, offer new "related" products and offer specials. Provide the incentive for your visitor to come back to your website to see what's new. If your website focuses on home repair, provide timely tips for "winterizing" your home or a review on snow blowers, and links to related products they can buy online.

Second, create an opt-in ezine (emailed newsletter) that draws your community back to the website. Don't offer hype - respect your communities email box. Instead, alert your "members" of new offers and the latest information on your chosen subject. Make your visitors feel like valued members of your community.

And get your members involved. Offer to display the best advice or tips submitted by members. You might even provide a reward for doing so ($25 for the best tip this month).

ebay StoreFronts, a new face on eCommerce

Is eBay hot or what? Sure, you have sold some old stuff hanging around in the attic or bought some cool looking trinket. But did you ever consider eBay as an eBusiness channel? If not - you should.

More mainstream corporations are selling their products online, often using the eBay Storefront. The storefront is as it sounds - a special area branded for your business, a destination for selling your wares online.

With fixed pricing (not auction), you can control your inventory sales - and even use the channel to push clearance or out-of-date stock in a cost effective manner.

And vendors such as Macromedia (makers of the Dreamweaver software) are helping to enhance your store's look and appeal.

Who is using eBay Store front? Here are a few highly visible examples:

HP MarketPlace
SonyStyle  (ok, this is the storefront I am currently managing with Sony)
Sears Liquidation Center

And literally hundreds of independents, each carving out their retail space online. Click here to learn more about eBay Stores.

eBusiness Models - What type defines your company?

An article on strategis.ic.gc.ca, a Canadian Business and Consumer IT Site, caught my attention with regards to how a company defines itself in the eBusiness space.

Before embarking on an eBusiness strategy, a company needs to clearly define its objectives for creating an online presence. What does the company hope to achieve with respect to its current product & service offerings, customers and partners?

This article does not lead to any one conclusion; instead it showcases how any of their four defined models are viable. Just pick the right one for your company and pursue it with a passion.

The following is an excerpt from the executive summary:

... This document highlights six examples of businesses spread among the different categories and operating in various industry sectors, in order to demonstrate that there is no better or worse category, and that there simply are different ways, all equally valid, of going into e-business.

No matter what category fits your business, a well designed and adequately deployed e-business model can offer potential that is extremely interesting in terms of creating value for both your company and its business partners."

Read the Preface and access the full article here.

eBusiness Strategy, critical elements of success

I found a great site that provides some of the main "gotchas" and important considerations when building your corporate web presence. In upcoming Blog entries, I'll expand upon some of these key elements and provide additional information and thoughts.

One success criterion for me; If I cannot quickly (and I mean fast) determine what you company does when viewing your website, I am gone. Your site could hold the secrets to accessing Ft. Knox, but if I cannot figure you out the moment your page appears, my interest is lost.

And if your page doesn't load fast (and I mean quick), then I am most likely moving on to your competitors website. Limit the graphics you use, don't employ Flash for Flash's sake. Keep it simple; keep it direct. Your site might not win a design contest, but that’s ok as your stockholder might reward you for increasing online revenues.

Click here for more information on eBusiness design considerations.

eBusiness Strategy, it's more than programming

You're company makes widgets traditionally sold through brick 'n mortar retailers. Your customers are asking how they can buy more widgets and the widget accessories online. You need an eCommerce website. Or you already have one and your customers tell you how frustrating it is to do business online on your current site.

When considering your eBusiness strategy, your focus should be less on the programming language, database and platform and more about online marketing. Programming is important, but that is the framing of your eCommerce house, not the colorful and inviting facade.

Beyond the actually code, there are many design and implementation elements to be planned for and considered. The navigation of the site, the colors used, the content and layout and the general look of your web asset are all critical elements. Keep in mind how search engines spider sites, so that you get the best SEO (search engine optimization) experience. The bottom line, you want your prospect and clients to easily find you, navigate through your site and become buyers. Web site visitors are ADD, this is not news. Build your site so that the visitor knows how to locate what they seek within seconds, intuitively. Then get them in - get them to the buy page and back out fast.

We have all been to sites where the actual purchase takes 4-8 screens. Using tracking software, we have tracked client site experiences and have seen that on each page, visitors defect. Condensing this buying funnel to 2-3 pages has an immediate and positive affect on conversions.

For a major payroll company, I built an eCommerce portal for small businesses to quickly determine the best products & services for their business and presented them with the costs. I designed the site to allow the "busy" small business owner to do this analysis fast - and get the Click to Buy quickly. Why? The small business owner may be searching for a payroll solution before the next customer walks in the door or the phone rings. If you cannot provide them with a solution fast, they are gone.

And once all the design elements are in place, then the programming choices are important for application speed and reliability. In fact, the design could in fact provide you with the guidance as to the type of platform and database your application requires.

Patricia Seybold on eBusiness Organizational Success

Patricia Seybold, an internet industry Guru, has written a 72 page paper entitled: "Organize for Success - Strategies for Dealing with E-Business Organizational Issues". It's expensive at $495, however reading through the summaries - it is clear her guidance is still critical for a successful eBusiness implementation. I said "still" because she published this paper in March 2000.

To gain some perspective, consider the evolution of the web and eBusiness. During the early years, flashy cool sites that showed off the programmers HTML wizardry was the rage. The modelers of that time didn't speak of "conversions" but more so about "eye-balls". How many visitors will come to my site? Visitors were king!

Today, thankfully - it's not about "eye-balls", it's about qualified buyers that convert. It's about a web-asset not a web-site, one that clearly demonstrates and delivers on the ROI promise. Conversions (sales and leads) are the new King.

One chapter from Ms. Seybolds paper stands out:
Are You Ready to Tackle a Customers.com Initiative
By Patricia B. Seybold,
"This Customers.com Readiness Checklist for Executives lists 10 factors you'll want to take into account when preparing to design an e-business strategy to make it ease for customers to do business with your firm. "

Click here to read more from Patricia Seybold