Report on Web Marketing Tools

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Overview of key aspects to use when evaluating a web site

3. Narrative description of web sites
3.1 NCR – Transforming Transaction into Relationships
3.2 Garnier – Beauty Bar
3.3 Google
3.4 Wonka

4. Conclusions drawn from the web site analysis

5. Conclusion

References

Appendix

List of Tables and Illustrations

Table 1: NCR (http://www.ncr.com )

Table 2: Garnier – the Beauty Bar (http://www.garnier.com )

Table 3: Google (http://www.google.com )

Table 4: Wonka (http://www.wonka.com )

Illustration 1: NCR

Illustration 2: Garnier

Illustration 3: Google

Illustration 4: Wonka

1. Introduction

Since the introduction of the World Wide Web in 1995, the Internet has changed the way the world disseminates information. It became a global medium for the distribution and exchange of information among the users. Today it is a fast and cost effective vehicle for worldwide communication business-to-business (B2B), business-to-customer (B2C) or customer-to-customer (C2C).

Every day companies, organizations, networks or individuals try to develop a presence on the web, competing for attention across the look of their site. The quality of the presentation in combination with different techniques and technologies determines the success or failure (meaning: will the user stay or go) of the presented subject.

To evaluate the effectiveness of a web site, several evaluation tools have been made up in the last years. The purpose of this report is to give an overview of key aspects to use when to evaluate a website and how they can be applied. Four chosen websites will be described and evaluated by means of a grading rubric. Furthermore it will be identified and demonstrated on the examples how many different tools and techniques can be used by a marketer to create an efficient image of a company in the public.

2. Overview of key aspects to use when evaluating a web site

Since use of the World Wide Web particularly for commercial or industrial reasons, many different evaluation systems have been made up for websites to help the marketer to identify the different aspects of his website and to improve its quality. Criteria’s to judge are naturally subjective since every standard, which can be set, is dependent on the personality and individual experiences of the assessor. This section describes three identified evaluation methodologies and their application.

Qimei Chen and William Wells (1999, p.27-36) for example, have developed a scale to measure the “Attitude toward a Website” (AST). They identified, in cooperation with experienced web users, a rating form with six specific statements. To give more details on the quality of the website, they invented for a particular set of chosen corporate and institutional websites the three correlating dimensions Entertainment, Informativeness and Organization with underlying descriptive adjectives. Those scales combined “offer some clues on how to improve website design and presentation” (p.36).

The application of their system shows, that a website does not always need an exceptionally high score on every dimension to gain a high AST-score which indicates a high quality website. If the overall goal is for example only the pure information of the customer without entertaining him, a high Informativeness-score will indicate that the company reached the customer with the right message. In conclusion, one can say that “a good website is one that delivers relevant and well-organized information in an engaging manner” (1999, p.36).

Another base to determine the success of a website is the checklist of ten points of Dr. Allan C. Reddy which compares the own website with ones of the competitors. The ten points concern the speed the website loads up, its simplicity, the use of state-of-the-art software technology, the provision of interactive service, the security, the style, the safe environment for purchases, the quantity and quality of provided information regarding the objectives and corporate missions and the overall neatness. When marketers reflect those points in combination with the attention at the competitors, they certainly can succeed in the high competitive area of online presences.

A similar starting-point for web site evaluation offers the later used grading rubric (adapted from Jerry Maroulis's (USQ) Grading Rubric), which lists the three aspects design and development, content and techniques. They all cover different dimensions in each category and are, depending on the project and required deepness, enlargeable.

The design and development aspects concern the overall look of the website. A good website has to be simple with a good use of colour and font-type, an easy understandable menu, good navigational tools and a site map or search facility to simplify the movement from page to page. Further on it has to portray the business of the company in a distinctive light.

The Content applies to the offer of appropriate and qualitative information about the company and / or the product. The website therefore has to serve a clear purpose like information or entertainment. To ensure a building relationship to the customer, the visitor should be enabled to give feedback about the website and not only through e-mail but phone, fax or snail mail.

Regarding Technical Elements are taken into consideration the quick loading web site with fully functional links. The consumer usually has about eight seconds worth of patience while waiting for them to load. If heavy graphics or animations are used, a non-graphic web site should therefore be offered to avoid long downloading times.

As a conclusion, one can say that, as different the criteria’s may even look like at the beginning, they all have in common to create and improve the presence of a company in the World Wide Web.

3. Narrative description of web sites

There are many possible designs for websites that include the use of colour, pictures, sound and motion. I have chosen the following four websites because of their use of different techniques to communicate their message to the potential customer.

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