July 25, 2010

Chapter 7 - Delivering the online customer experience

Learning Objectives

What are the stages involved in the development of a new website or re-launch of an existing website?

When developing a website, whether new or redesigning, there are a few stages that a business must plan on going through. The first stage is the pre-development tasks, which include the some of the initial technical planning of the website. This might include, where the website will be hosted, what the domain name will be, and what the basic objectives of the website will be.

The second stage includes the analysis and design of the website.  Tasks included in the analysis and design stage might include developing the business rules, business objectives, identifying the audience, and prototyping the website. This is an important part of the development process, because it lays the framework for the outcome of the website's success.

The third stage includes content development and testing. The business must decide what messages are going to be contained in the website. They would also producing any graphics, database integration, and any usability and performance testing. At this stage the website must be tested on all popular web browsers to make sure the website is consistent across them all.

The forth stage of development includes launching the website. This includes making the website live to the public.

The fifth stage of developing a website is to promote the website. This includes optimizing the website for search engines or putting a small public relations article in the local newspaper. The business, at this stage, wants to get the word out to the public that they have a website and they want people to come to the website.

The sixth and final stage is the ongoing promotion of the website. The business would use the ongoing promotions to create discounted promotions, search all the major search engines to make sure the website is optimized on the search engines, use pay-per-click marketing, etc. This is an important part of the process to make sure the online business is growing and maturing.



What are the design elements involved in creating effective website content?

Content is an important part of any website, because it is the driving force behind the stickiness of the website (whether a user stays or leaves the website). There are a few design elements that must be kept in mind when developing the content of the website. The first design element consists of the overall website design and structure. Keeping a consistent look and feel throughout the website allows the users to easily understand how to navigate through the website. The second design element is the page design of the website. This is important, because it allows each page of the website to be consistent with the next. The last design element includes the content design of the website. This includes what the website says, what graphics are being used, and how the text looks on each of the pages throughout the website.

What factors are involved in creating an effective online user experience?

Businesses can benefit from creating a great online user experience for their customers. Some factors that are involved in creating some of these great online user experiences include the usability of the website, web accessibility of the website, and localization of the website.

Usability is the a websites ease of use. This is an important aspect of a website, because all users want to be able to navigate through a website without getting lost, without getting confused what to do, or just not being able to find what they need. If the usability is difficult, then people may find alternatives to a businesses website and instead go other places, either on the web or to a brick-and-mortar shop.

Web accessibility is the use of the website regardless of any types of disabilities. Many businesses do not take the extra effort to create websites allowing people with disabilities, such as visually impaired or hearing impaired to easily use the website. By creating a website for the disabled, business can improve their relationship with this market segment.

Localization is the use of customization to segment the customers the business serves. This might include creating language specific content for different countries, or adapting the website to meet each of the market segments that are being serviced.


Question for marketers

Which activities are involved in building a new site or updating in an existing site?

There are several activities that need to take place in order for the development of a new or existing website to be successful. Initially the business will want to develop a strategy for the website project. This includes figuring out the technical specifications, figuring out if the company will be hosting the website or if someone else will be hosing, and registering the domain name that will be used for the website itself. Businesses will also want to analyze and design the website with research of their customers being the top priority. The business can identify the business objectives, the business rules, identify the key audience, and create prototypes of the website. Other activities the business will want to take on is the creation of the content, graphics, design any database integration, and test the performance. These are an important part of the website development project, which should be done  in order to get the best results from the website. Once these tasks are complete, the business will want to deploy the website to the public. Spending time optimizing the website on the search engines and other promotional websites, which will bring attention to the website. There is relentless analysis and promotional tasks that must be completed in order to maintain the website and create value for the customers.


What are the key factors of online service quality and site design that will encourage repeat visitors?

There are five main factors that are important when dealing with the service quality of an online business. The physical appearance of the website is very important when customer relations. If the website is disorganized, isn't informative, or seems to be slow in nature, the customer might not think the business is very trust worthy. The physical appearance on the website is similar to the physical appearance of the brick-and-mortar store, in that a customer will go in and if they don't find what they want, then they will most likely not come back to the store.

The reliability of the business is important to customers. If the business is reliable, fast, and accurately responding to the customer, then the customer will likely return to do business. An example of this would be when a customer drives into a fast food restaurant, orders, and then comes away without some of their order. In this case the customer might not come back, because the fast food restaurant is not giving the customer the accuracy they want. A business must meet the customers need by displaying accuracy or the customer might not be doing business with them for long.

Responsiveness is another important online service quality a business should keep in mind. The business must respond to the customer's needs in a fast and personalized way. This shows the customer that the business is wanting to help each of the customers and do it in a very prompt fashion.

The business must show the customer assurance or trust in the products or services they are offering. The customer, in most cases, must trust that the company they are doing business with will keep the information they give a secret. People will not do business with companies that don't show they have taken the extra steps to show they know what they are doing.

Empathy towards the customer, by providing personalized care and attention, is the last online service quality a business should engage in. Showing that they care, the business can engage the customer with compassion and respect, which will be returned by the return of the customer for other purchases.


Which techniques can I use to determine visitors' requirements?

Businesses can use several techniques to determine the requirements for visitors to their websites. This includes identifying different audiences that will be using the website. Ranking the audiences or persona's by their importance to the business, so that the business knows the most important customer's that make purchases of their products or services. A business will then list three most important information needs of the audience, which might include uses of the products or services provided by the business. Lastly, the business will need to ask each representative of the audiences what information needs identified would be most useful to them.


Which forms of buyer behavior do customers exhibit online?

There are several forms of buyer behavior that customers will exhibit online. The customers what quality customer support, so they know their needs will be satisfied if something goes wrong. They also want the option of on-time delivery. The customer want compelling product presentations, so they can find the things they are looking for quickly and without hassle. The convenience of getting reasonably affordable shipping and handling deals is an important behavior of an online customer. Lastly, it must be clear the online business has a privacy policy that will satisfy their needs.

What are the accepted standards of site design needed for an effective site?

There are three main areas that a business needs to concentrate on when designing an effective website. 

The first element of an effective website includes the website design and structure. This includes many of the aesthetics of the website, in which the customers mostly engage. This includes the colors, images, typography, and layout of the website.  These things combine to create the personality of the website. This also includes the navigation, website organization, and content design of the pages. These are very important, because they reflect the main message of the business that the company wants to send to the customers. If these are not clear and easy to use, the customers will have a very hard time using the website.

The second element of an effective website includes the page design. This includes the layout of the each page on the website and the design of each element on the page. There must be a consistent layout in order for the users to be able to understand how to use a website quickly. If there is inconsistency across the website, then users will most likely not come back to the website. 

The third element of an effective website includes the content design. This consists of the actual message being conveyed to the user. If the message is unclear or confusing, then the users might not understand and go else where.


No comments:

Post a Comment