Internet 101

Here we will go over some concepts of successful Internet marketing campaigns. These will include Web site optimization, what to embrace and what to avoid, accessibility concerns, growth plans, audience and traffic, and security and privacy. We will explore push versus pull technologies and the liability of making security and privacy claims. If you're serious about succeeding in business, you must have an Internet presence. Learn how to go about doing it.

Why Have a Website/E-marketing Strategy?

I. Generate new business
  1. Forms
  2. Phone calls
  3. E-mail
II. Disseminate information for existing and potential clients
  1. Services
  2. Point person(s)
  3. News/current events/sales
III. Disseminate information throughout the organization
  1. Projects and status
  2. Cross-functional reports
  3. Team strengthening
IV. E-Commerce
  1. Streamline service provision
  2. Reduce project turnaround time
  3. Information as a value added service
V. Marketing
  1. Peer to peer networking
  2. Search engines
  3. Integrated marketing
VI. E-Mail/Electronic Communications
  1. Company memos and information
  2. Client newsletters and information
  3. Archives
VII. World Wide Web Browsing
  1. Market research
  2. Government forms
  3. Client interactions

Website Optimization and Marketing

I. Hire a professional ISP who is "Customer's Customer-Centric"
  1. Determine the extent of their experience
  2. Examples of results, NOT JUST LOOKS
  3. Don't accept their "Bill of Goods" unknowingly
  4. Don't compete on price
  5. Can apply past experience to learn about your business
II. Site Programming
  1. Avoid Junk and Bells and Whistles - Ask what program(s) the website will be written with
    1. HTML authoring programs to avoid
      1. Dreamweaver
      2. Microsoft FrontPage
      3. Adobe GoLive
      4. Automated website builders from hosting companies
    2. Website programming languages and tools to avoid - "Push" Technologies - Programming that the viewer may not desire and that could be infected, with potentially harmful results
      1. Java, Javascript
      2. Cookies
      3. ActiveX
      4. Active Server Pages
      5. Cold Fusion
      6. Flash
      7. Frames
      8. Pop-Up Windows
      9. Anything requiring a browser "plug-in"
    3. Security and Privacy - Can your website be seen with your webbrowser's security settings on high? - "Pull Technologies"
      1. Website publishers should assume responsibility to your viewers.
      2. Businesses should comprehend the risks prior to "pushing" potentially harmful or malicious content on their viewers.
      3. Attempt to explain any download prior to viewers "pulling" it
    4. Re-tool and clean house if need be
    5. The best coding is done by hand
    6. Construct more than one website, e.g. one for marketing and customer lead generation, one for customer care and service

    Bells and whistles will NEVER help your page's search engine ranking. In fact, it will hurt your site's indexing or ranking in the search engines and will most likely eliminate some percentage of your viewers from properly accessing and utilizing your website. So, just don't do it!

  2. Adhere to W3C (The World Wide Web Consortium) Standards - "Official HTML Coding Rules"
    1. Web Accessibility Initiative - http://www.w3.org/WAI/
      1. Test with images turned off
      2. Use browser controls to vary font-size
        • Verify that the font size changes on the screen accordingly
        • Verify that the page is still usable at larger font sizes.
      3. Test with different monitor resolution to verify that horizontal scrolling is minimized
      4. Without using the mouse, use the keyboard to navigate through the links and form controls on a page (for example, using the "Tab" key), making sure that you can access all links and form controls, and that the links clearly indicate what they lead to.
    2. Viewers with Disabilities - Numbers in the tens of millions
      1. ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) - http://www.ada.gov
        • Priceline.com
        • Ramada.com
        • Eliot Spitzer's office - http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2004/aug/aug19a_04.html
      2. Text browsers
      3. Voice browsers
      4. Assistive technology
      5. Screen reader software
    3. Viewers with handhelds, phones, other mobile devices that have various levels of viewability
    4. Google's Homepage - KISS

  3. Test and Validate the Code
    1. View Your Site in Different Web Browsers
      1. Internet Explorer
      2. Netscape
      3. Mozilla/Firefox
      4. Opera
      5. Text Based Browsers such as Lynx
    2. Website Validators for finding code errors - http://www.anybrowser.com/cgi-bin/lint/weblint.cgi
    3. Make sure the form(s) get processed properly and are easy to read

III. Site Content

  1. Content Development Plan - Must grab viewer's interest
    1. Sales
    2. Service
    3. Marketing
    4. Promotions
    5. Photos/Images
    6. Geographic segments demographic segments, etc..

  2. Create Good Copy
    1. Important to have solid foundation
    2. On-going refinement
    3. Attention to keywords
    4. Learn from your viewers - Give the people what they want

  3. Assess Navigability
    1. Any page can be the first page that a viewer sees
    2. Easy to find one's way around
    3. Easy to find contact information or a contact form
    4. Overall easy to find the info
    5. Not a lot of clicking required

  4. Assess User Friendliness
    1. Good crisp images
    2. Good product/service descriptions
    3. No broken links
    4. Clean lines
    5. Load times
    6. Spell checked

IV. Marketing/Advertising/Accessibility/Audience/Traffic

  1. Search Engines
    1. Most Popular
      • Google
      • MSN
      • Yahoo
      • AOL
    2. Complex Algorithms - Criteria used by the Search Engines to rank pages.
      • Copy
      • Accessibility
      • Keywords
      • Links to your site
    3. Submission Process
    4. Your entire website should be cataloged and available

  2. Integrated Marketing
    1. Part of something bigger
      • Industry leading sites
      • Established networks of websites
      • Connect to the website in other advertising, don't just show the URL

    2. Ad campaigns
      • Statistics and analysis
      • Learn what ads work and what ones don't
      • Internal ad campaigns
      • Be aware of "pay-per-click"

  3. Website Logs
    1. More statistics and analysis
    2. Traffic
    3. Viewer behavior
    4. Entry pages, exit pages, most popular pages, etc
    5. Can be dangerously misleading

  4. Interaction
    1. Customers
    2. Potential cutomers
    3. Past customers
    4. Your ISP
    5. Peers
    6. E-mail marketing
    7. Forms
    8. Competitor's websites

  5. Legal Considerations and Crisis Management Plans
    1. Meeting current FTC guidelines for consumer privacy and accessibility standards
    2. Adhering to applicable federal, state and local laws
    3. Privacy and security policies
    4. Liability, class action lawsuits, insurance, etc.
Please see http://membrane.com/security and
http://membrane.com/business/web.html for more information.

Wally Urbanavage
GWCC
P.O. Box 994, Blue Bell, PA 19422

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