Contents Overview 1 Planning an E-Commerce Web Site 2 Sequence of Use of bCentral Services 4 Site Creation Phase 5 Site Promotion Tips 9 Module 10: Summing It All Up Information in this document is subject to change without notice. The names of companies, products, people, characters, and/or data mentioned herein are fictitious and are in no way intended to represent any real individual, company, product, or event, unless otherwise noted. Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation. If, however, your only means of access is electronic, permission to print one copy is hereby granted. Microsoft may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document. Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Microsoft, the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property.  2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, BackOffice, bCentral, FrontPage, Hotmail, LinkExchange, MS-DOS, MSN, PowerPoint, Windows, Windows Media Player, and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S.A. and/or other countries. The names of companies, products, people, characters, and/or data mentioned herein are fictitious and are in no way intended to represent any real individual, company, product, or event, unless otherwise noted. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Development Lead: P.M. Murali (NIIT) Instructional Designers: Sangeeta Nair (NIIT), Vijayalakshmi Narayanaswamy, (NIIT) Technical Contributors: Scott Swigart (3 Leaf Solutions, LLC); Gary Gumbiner (Great Barrier Technologies) Program Manager: Steve Merrill Graphic Artist: Scott Serna Editing Manager: Lynette Skinner Editor: Dennis Rea Copy Editor: Ed Casper (S&T Consulting) Publications Manager: Miracle Davis Test Manager: Eric Myers CD Build Specialist: Jenny Boe; Eric Wagoner Production Coordinator: Marlene Lambert (Online Training Solutions, Inc.); Susie Bayers (Online Training Solutions, Inc.) Manufacturing Manager: Bo Galford Manufacturing Support: Laura King General Manager: Robert Stewart Module 10: Summing It All Up iii Instructor Notes This module provides students with a summary of the information they learned in the earlier modules, focusing on tips and do’s and don’ts for the various phases of Web site creation. The module reviews the entire course, from considerations for the preliminary phase of Web site creation, to reiterating the steps involved in building an e-commerce Web site by using the Microsoft ® bCentral ™ services, to site promotion tips. After completing this module, students will be able to: ! Identify the various activities that should be considered before starting work on an e-commerce Web site. ! Describe the sequence to follow when using the various bCentral services to create an e-commerce Web site. ! Identify the steps involved in creating an e-commerce Web site. ! Describe the procedure for designing an effective navigation system for an e-commerce Web site. ! Identify the steps involved in promoting a Web site by using the site promotion services in bCentral. Materials and Preparation Required Materials To teach this module, you need the following materials: ! Microsoft PowerPoint ® file 1933A_10.ppt ! Module 10, “Summing It All Up” Preparation Tasks To prepare for this module, you should: ! Read all of the materials for this module. ! Become familiar with the www.bCentral.com Web site. Presentation: 30 Minutes Lab: 00 Minutes iv Module 10: Summing It All Up Module Strategy Use the following strategies to present this module: ! Planning an E-Commerce Web Site Explain the basic ground rules that are essential for planning an e-commerce Web site. ! Sequence of Use of bCentral Services Review the recommended sequence of steps to follow when using bCentral services to create and promote an e-commerce Web site. ! Site Creation Phase Briefly describe the different kinds of Web pages that should be included in an e-commerce Web site. Stress the importance of designing a proper navigation system by using the points in the relevant subtopic. ! Site Promotion Tips Explain the utility of each bCentral promotional service mentioned in the module by using the provided list of tips and do’s and don’ts. Briefly discuss alternative methods of promoting an e-commerce Web site. Module 10: Summing It All Up 1 Overview ! Planning an E-Commerce Web Site ! Sequence of Use of bCentral Services ! Site Creation Phase ! Site Promotion Tips Building an e-commerce Web site might seem like a simple task, but it is more easily said than done. In fact, most Internet experts will tell you that building an online business from the ground up is as tough as creating a brick-and-mortar business. Although there is no standardized formula for success in e-commerce, you can follow certain tips to ensure a better experience for your site visitor. After completing this module, you will be able to: ! Identify the various activities you should consider before starting work on an e-commerce Web site. ! Describe the sequence you should follow when using the various Microsoft ® bCentral ™ services to create an e-commerce Web site. ! Identify the steps involved in creating an e-commerce Web site. ! Describe the procedure for designing an effective navigation system for an e-commerce Web site. ! Identify the steps involved in promoting a Web site by using the site promotion services in bCentral. Topic Objective To provide an overview of the module topics and objectives. Lead-in In this module, you will be given various tips that you can implement in the site creation process. 2 Module 10: Summing It All Up Planning an E-Commerce Web Site ! Establishing the ground rules # Clarify the need for starting an online business # Identify the products/services that have online sales potential # Identify the target audience # Draw up a comprehensive business plan You have now completed the modules in this course and learned about doing business online by using the various services offered by Microsoft bCentral. You know how to use these services to create your e-commerce Web site and add various features and functionalities to your site, but it is a good idea to review what you have learned in the form of a checklist. Before starting an online business, you should ask yourself the following questions: ! Do you really need to start an online business? Is the idea financially viable? ! If you already have a brick-and-mortar business, will the returns be sufficient to cover the cost of setting up and maintaining an online business? ! Have you identified the products and/or services that have good online sales potential? ! Have you identified a target audience for your products and/or services? ! Have you determined the demographics and buying/spending habits of your target audience? After you have resolved the above questions, you need to do the following: ! Draw up a comprehensive business plan for your online business that covers both long-term strategies and day-to-day operations, such as: • Finances • Employees required to maintain the site • Physical resources and facilities, such as computers, merchant accounts with credit card companies for online order processing, and delivery systems Topic Objective To describe the steps involved in the planning an e-commerce Web site. Lead-in Before you actually create your e-commerce Web site, you should reinforce your understanding of online businesses and the bCentral services. Module 10: Summing It All Up 3 ! Spend a reasonable amount of time on researching and planning your Web site requirements. Do not hurry through this part of the process—take meticulous care in researching all of the factors involved. In the long run, you will realize that it pays to invest time in your planning phase. Microsoft bCentral makes the process of setting up an online business easier for you by handling the technical aspects of site creation and promotion, leaving the designing and business aspects to you. 4 Module 10: Summing It All Up Sequence of Use of bCentral Services Site Manager Create a home page Site Manager Add pages & shopping cart FrontPage 2000 Customize your site Banner Network Submit your banner SubmitIt! Submit your site to search engines and directories PositionAgent Check Web site ranking on search engines ListBot Contact customers through mailing lists After you draw up a comprehensive business plan and research various aspects of starting an online business, you are ready to create, promote, and manage your e-commerce Web site by using the services offered by Microsoft bCentral. However, there is a logical sequence that should be followed when using these services. The following is a list of suggestions for using the various bCentral services: 1. Use the Site Manager service to create the starting point of your Web site: the home page. 2. Use the Site Manager service to add additional pages to your Web site. These may include product description pages, a company information page, an FAQ page, and a Help page. 3. Use the Order Manager service to add e-commerce functionality to your Web site. The Order Manager integrates all of your product pages with the shopping cart functionality, and also helps to calculate taxes and shipping charges for each order that is placed online. 4. Use Microsoft FrontPage ® 2000 to customize the appearance of your Web site and increase its functionality. 5. Optimize your Web site for submission to search engines by creating the appropriate <META> tags, and then use the SubmitIt! service to submit your site to search engines and directories. 6. Use the BannerNetwork service to submit banners to the Microsoft Link Exchange ™ network. This service displays banners from your Web site on sites across the Web. 7. Use the ListBot service to target your site visitors and customers with e-mail messages. 8. Use the ClickTrade Advertiser service to initiate or join an affiliate program in order to drive traffic to your e-commerce Web site. 9. Use the PositionAgent service to check the ranking of your Web site on different search engines on the Web. Topic Objective To describe the steps involved in using the various bCentral services for site creation and promotion. Lead-in Before using the different bCentral services, you should determine the resources required for each service. Module 10: Summing It All Up 5 $ $$ $ Site Creation Phase ! Site Creation Checklist ! Navigation Checklist Before creating your e-commerce Web site, ensure that: ! The site is properly targeted at the intended audience. ! The site contains information that is relevant to the intended audience. ! The site content is error-free—no outdated or dead URLs, no inaccurate data, no grammatical or spelling errors. ! The site content is easy to read and understand. ! The site is easy to navigate and its pages load quickly. ! The design and appearance of the site are visually pleasing. Although the preceding points should be considered when creating any Web site, they are especially relevant to the creation of an e-commerce Web site. The success of an e-commerce Web site depends mainly on two things: ! The quality of the content that is offered to site visitors ! The ease with which site visitors can navigate through the site to find what they want Topic Objective To describe the important phases in the process of creating a user-friendly Web site. Lead-in When creating an e- commerce Web site, you must pay careful attention to the way the site is designed in terms of structure and navigability. 6 Module 10: Summing It All Up Site Creation Checklist ! Home page ! Product pages ! Company information page ! FAQ and Help pages ! Legal, shipping, and miscellaneous information pages ! E-commerce functionality # Shopping cart # Tax and shipping calculation # Online payment facility / alternate payment methods An e-commerce Web site should do more than simply offer products or services to site visitors. To be successful, a site must give its customers what they want and keep them coming back to the site repeatedly. In order to build customer loyalty, you must make your site as user-friendly as possible, and ensure that both the site and its products maintain a high level of quality. When creating your e-commerce Web site, keep in mind the following points: ! You should prominently display your company name and logo on the site home page, because this page will typically be the entry point for a site visitor. ! You may want to add a column to your home page with links to testimonials from satisfied customers. This will enhance the credibility of your Web site to new site visitors. ! You should include a company information page that displays a brief history of your business, the products and services it offers, and short descriptions of key company personnel. If your company has a formal mission, goal, or value statement, include this information on the page as well. ! You should include product description pages that display product details such as size, quantity, and price, plus a small thumbnail photograph of the product. ! You may want to add a special page that contains company-related news and promotional schemes. ! You should include a Help page that gives site visitors technical support in case they encounter difficulties. You should also provide an e-mail address, a postal address, and a toll-free telephone number for this purpose. ! You should include a page that contains a list of the questions that are most commonly asked by visitors to your site, with answers. This FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page will significantly reduce the number of calls for help you receive from your site visitors. Topic Objective To list some of the pages that may be created as part of an e-commerce Web site. Lead-in When you create an e- commerce Web site, try to make the site as complete as possible in order to make the experience more satisfying for the site visitor. [...]... weeks to check and list a submitted site, while Excite and Lycos take two to four weeks and InfoSeek takes only one to two weeks When planning promotion activities for your Web site, take into account the time the various search engines take to list your site 10 Module 10: Summing It All Up Banner Network Banner Network can give your Web site the all- important exposure it needs However, there are a... consideration when planning your site-promotion activities Module 10: Summing It All Up 11 Conclusion The best way to ensure the success of your e-commerce Web site is to constantly modify and update its content You should aim to maintain a high level of quality in terms of the content your target audience wants, based on the buying and spending habits and demographics of your site visitors and the feedback... site visitors access Module 10: Summing It All Up 9 Site Promotion Tips Topic Objective To list various helpful methods of Web site promotion and management ! Tips for using: # Banner Network # ListBot # ClickTrade Advertiser # Each service in bCentral helps to make Web site creation and promotion easier for you Let’s discuss a few tips that will help to make the process even easier for you SubmitIt!... include a facility on your site for calculating the value of the entire order, including applicable taxes and shipping charges This feature gives site visitors a clear idea of the total amount that they will be charged The site should support at least the major credit cards in order to accommodate the largest number of customers ! In case a site visitor is not comfortable with paying by credit card, you... leads provided by partner sites PositionAgent Be sure to consider the following before you use the PositionAgent service: ! PositionAgent takes 48 hours on average to check different search engines for your Web site If your Web site is ranked lower than you expected, you can use the SubmitIt! service to check and modify the tags and submit the site again You should take all of these time delays... SubmitIt! # Lead-in PositionAgent After you create your e-commerce Web site, you need to promote it on the Web You can promote your Web site by using the different services offered by bCentral, such as Banner Network, SubmitIt!, ListBot, ClickTrade Advertiser, and PositionAgent The following are a few tips that will help you to use each of these services SubmitIt! Before you use the SubmitIt! service, keep... This should be an automated email response system 8 Module 10: Summing It All Up Navigation Checklist Topic Objective To describe the important points involved in designing the site navigation ! Include links to all important pages of the site on every page ! Provide Back and Forward buttons on every page for user-friendly navigation ! Ensure that all links are working properly ! Do not locate relevant... integral aspect of the site’s basic functionality Consider the following tips when designing navigation for your Web site: ! Always include links to the important pages of your Web site on every page of the site ! Always provide Back and Forward buttons at the top of every page, so that site visitors can return to the previously visited page if the current page was accidentally clicked and loaded !... designing the site navigation, you should ensure that site visitors can find whatever they are looking for as easily and quickly as possible Many e-commerce Web sites offer the latest products and have attractive user interfaces However, some of these sites are difficult to navigate for site visitors Although the importance of navigation is often overlooked during the site creation phase, it remains an... This might disqualify your site from submission and might even result in legal liability for you ! Use the Meta Tag Generator in SubmitIt! to generate tags, keyword tags, and descriptive tags if you are not sure how to construct and tags properly ! Different search engines take varying amounts of time to index and rank submitted Web sites For example, Yahoo! takes . Web site. Module 10: Summing It All Up 1 Overview ! Planning an E-Commerce Web Site ! Sequence of Use of bCentral Services ! Site Creation Phase ! Site. Web site, try to make the site as complete as possible in order to make the experience more satisfying for the site visitor. Module 10: Summing It All Up