The heart of e-Commerce success is engaging customers for the long-term -- but that's easier said than done. Web Engagement shows how, addressing all the key issues decision-makers need to understand, from log file analysis to privacy concerns, cookies to third-party tools. Leading web consultant Bill Zoellick begins with a case study that introduces the key problems facing thousands of businesses that are currently not achieving their goals on the Internet. Next, Zoellick demonstrates how to analyze current traffic to identify problems in site's structure, usability, and message -- and how to fix them. Discover which questions to ask, what can (and cannot easily) be measured, and how to use techniques such as cookies and user registration more effectively. Learn to track the success of promotions; identify the most valuable referral sites; and more. Along the way, Zoellick offers hands-on practical solutions for every type and size of site, including pure e-Commerce sites; advertising-driven sites; and bricks-and-mortar firms with supporting Web sites.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Given today's rapid-development tools and the inherently high velocity of a user's experience on the Web, the temptation for many businesses is to rush to project the traditional business model to the Internet to sell and advertise their products. In Web Engagement, author Bill Zoellick introduces a little common sense to the seemingly chaotic process, closely examining the business realities of "engaging" your customers in cyberspace.
This title doesn't talk networking protocols or programming languages; it's a guide for those who establish Web strategies. Although the text speaks to managers, programmers also will find it useful, because it adds a business-level perspective to their techniques and tools. For example, the author examines the basics of Web server log files, not stopping at what information can be captured, but presenting a list of general questions the logs can help answer that will aid the organization in continually evaluating the dynamic interaction with its digital customers.
Such topics as personalization and cookies are presented with equal consideration to both the advantages for the online business and the user experience. Real-world examples--such as National Semiconductor's successful use of personalized workspaces and information management to build a dedicated user community--buttress the main points.
No matter what role you play in the construction, marketing, or support of a commercial Web site, you will sharpen your skills only if you get a more holistic view of the process. This brief book hits the mark, and should be required reading for marketing managers and Web site project leaders alike. --Stephen W. Plain
Topics covered:
- Moving an organization to the Web
- Log-file analysis
- User patterns
- Site-structure analysis
- Marketing and selling online
- Personalization
- Privacy issues
- Profiling
- Recommendation engines
- Staged development
From the Back Cover
"Web Engagement provides an interesting and accurate picture of National
Semiconductor's approach to personalizing its website. National's site is
driven to 'delight the design engineer,' our target customer. Whatever it
takes, we do it! We are successful because we get them to always remember
us as the one site that saves their precious time. Bill's book unlocks some
of our secrets."
--Phil Gibson, VP, Web
Business and Sales Automation, National Semiconductor Corporation
Every e-business professional acknowledges that connecting with customers is
a good idea, but few have figured out how to make it happen. The web has changed
the way companies do business; the difficulty in connecting to customers can
be traced to a collision of new technology and new business models. Managing
a successful web business--one that engages, delights, and serves the customer--requires
mastery of both technology and business.
Web Engagement is the ideal introduction to understanding the key concepts
necessary to engage, and ultimately retain, your web customers. This book explains
proven strategies that allow you to understand what your customers need and
how you can use your website to meet those needs. Detailed case studies and
examples illustrate what other web businesses have tried--successfully and unsuccessfully--and
what they have learned.
The book answers new and important business questions, such as
What is "personalization" and what does it mean for your customers and your
company?
How can you use personalization and customization in a business-to-business
web engagement?
How can you use web server log files and browser cookies to understand what
customers are doing on your website?
How do you divide customers into segments and groups so that you can better
meet their needs and increase sales?
What are your web business objectives? How can you tell whether you are
meeting them?
With this book as your guide, you will learn how to build a web business model,
and an accompanying website, that connects your business more directly to your
customers. You will also learn how to instrument your site so that you can change
it as your market changes. Web Engagement helps you gain a working knowledge
of the core issues, key technologies, and essential business models that will
help you devise a winning e-business strategy for your organization.
020165766XB04062001
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A "must" for anyone new to e-commerce.,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Web Engagement: Connecting to Customers in e-Business (Paperback)
Web Engagement: Connecting To Customers In e-Business is a superb introduction to key concepts essential for successfully conducting business activities on the Internet. Bill Zoellick explains proven strategies for understanding customer needs and developing websites to meet and satisfy those needs. Novice Internet entrepreneurs will learn what Zoellick calls "personalization" and it's importance for buyers and sellers; how to utilize personalization and customization in a business-to-business web engagement; how to use web server log files and browser cookies to track what customers are doing on a particular website; how to divide customers into segments and groups in order to better meet their needs and enhance sales; and to identify, develop, and evaluate business objectives and how successful a commercial website is in meeting commercial goals. Web Engagement is a "must" for anyone new to e-commerce, and has a wealth of practical information for even the more experienced e-business operator.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Distinguishing valuable customers from the click throughs,
By Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)
This review is from: Web Engagement: Connecting to Customers in e-Business (Paperback)
In the past, e-businesses were treated as special cases. Profits were not considered an immediate or even short term requirement in the rush to build a brand and the business structure. Stock prices rose as horrendous losses were accumulated quarter after quarter. As is the case with such unsustainable dreams, once a bit of deflation takes place, it becomes a rout that engulfs even the strong players. However, those with solid business plans and sensible execution can survive and even thrive. Developing and maintaining a business on the web requires several changes in strategy from that of "traditional" business. You must be available ALL the time, you have about eight seconds to make a good first impression and second chances to succeed are rare. Throw in the problems of gathering enormous amounts of data, refining the value from that data, assuring the sources that you will not misuse it in any way and protecting it so that none of it is misappropriated and you have complexities that will cause you to reach for the headache medicine. Before you take that natural step you should do something that will provide more lasting relief, which is to read this book. Written at a non-technical level, all of these problems are examined in the proper context. The solutions are those that are sustainable, sensible long term approaches where the potential problems are identified. One theme that is a consistent and necessary point of emphasis is that you must not assume anything and even if an assumption worked in the past, it must always be reexamined. Businesses on the web generally make the bulk of their sales from a small percentage of their visitors, so the key to success is to characterize that group and look for and attract more of their kind. If this can be carried out, it is possible to increase revenue while reducing advertising effort and expense. This seems to be a point lost on so many e-businesses, where the goal seems to have been the generation of traffic without regard to the quality of that traffic. The best point was that if you have to give away things for free to attract traffic the most likely result is that you will give away a lot of free stuff for minimal gain. This book is filled with sensible, sustainable, non-technical information about how to survive and grow in the increasingly hazardous arena of business on the web. If it had been available and read by more people in the dot com world, the recent value adjustments of several companies would have been considerably tempered.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book builds from a fundamental understanding of the,
This review is from: Web Engagement: Connecting to Customers in e-Business (Paperback)
This book builds from a fundamental understanding of the Information collected from web customers to an explanation of what is possible and clarification of different approaches, and finally to guidance on how to get started. I found myself pleasantly surprised at the breadth of what was covered by the end of the book. This book is not just about what web data is available, but also about web business strategy. The web data is used as a mechanism to explain how a web business should be thought of.
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