Whats In It For SME? Michelle Johnston Ebusiness Consultant Firebird Services Ltd
Status Quo.. Websites look great Few sales are generated Little cost is saved Visitors often dont stay at the site Visitors dont often return Sites cannot be found in search engines Too little traffic to the site
Next steps.. Make a plan Step by step (pay step by step too!) Keep control Consult professionals More haste, less speed
Sample Plan Start with a marketing presence site Add product catalog bit by bit Add order form Add Paypal credit card acceptance Full-blown Ecommerce site Integrate Eshop with back-end –Stock control –EDI orders/invoices
So What Now? Full online shop? Shopping Cart? Database of customer info? Credit card payments? Web EDI integrated with internal accounts? Need customers to return often
Getting Started Domain Name Registration (from £20 for 2 years) Hosting (can be free!) Merchant Id Write web site –Server side functionality? –Customer/product database? –Payments? –Security?
Shop Software Shop software –Storefront management software –Amazon Z-shops –Ebay Half.com –Yahoo! Shops –Microsoft Commerce Server Short video about shop software
Portal Software Portal software –Yahoo! Portalbuilder –Plumtree Portal Software –Iplanet –Totally custom MyYahoo.com demo
Payment Options –Paypal –Ebay Payments –Yahoo! Payments –Bank-supported payment code –Custom code
Traffic Generation Search Engines –Pay or delay? –Pay per click? –Keywords/meta tags –The tricks Multiple domain names Redirect pages
Traffic Generation (Cont) Keywords/meta tags –Optimising keywords domain name meta tags content filenames 2 word phrases
Traffic Generation Press Releases Reciprocal links Free adverts! Discussion groups/bulletin boards Clubs/groups/newsletters Word of mouth Gimmicks/gadgets –Games –E-Cards –Quizzes/tools
Traffic Generation (cont) Real world advertising –Business cards –Leaflets –Everywhere you put your phone number! Content / Portal –News/information –CRM (Customer Relationship Mgt) –Personalisation
Traffic Generation (Cont) Ebooks –Negligible cost of sale –Impulse buyers love em! –Copyright protection/access control –Immediate fulfillment No transport/postage costs No printing costs –Lots of free advertising!
No Nos Dont use –Popunders (Bighits etc.) –Spam –Large images (slow down site, put visitors off) –Complex navigation (as above) –Frames (search engine visibility)
Need Help? Firebird Services Ltd Ebusiness experts Yahoo!, Sainsburys and Bovis LendLease are clients Michelle Johnston is an Ebusiness expert at Informit.com
Other Information stheweb.ppt (intro to the web) stheweb.ppt (customising your web presence for the market) (advanced internet concepts)