Jillgaspard’s Weblog

When it comes to getting your webpage out to Internet users, the more money you pay, the better. What is a better way to get people to see you webpage, than by having it appear at the top of the list on a search engine result page. In order to be at the top of the list, advertisers will buy positioning on specific keywords or phrases, enabling them to guarantee visibility of their site, and increase the chances of users clicking on their site. There are three major different pricing models that an advertiser can choose between when deciding how to advertise the site, and these are: impressions, pay per click, and pay per action. Impressions are generally used for banner ads on websites; pay per click is very common, and the pricing is based on how many consumers actually click on the link; pay per action is a new model.

The most common model is the pay per click. However, there is a major problem with this model, as 10%-15% of the clicks are fraudulent. Fraudulent clicksare often performed by human beings, or automated programs. These click frauds are done with the purpose of increasing the costs of competitors, or to increase the profit from the adclick companies.  Recently, search firms have created devices that detect and prevent click fraud, but this still has not stopped all of the fraud. This issue has to led to many lawsuits between the advertising company and the website advertisers, as they are paying for more than what they are receiving.

In my opinion, there is nothing more annoying than looking something up on the Internet and having to search through pages and pages of websites in order to find something relevant. Since a lot of these sites are only listed in the search results page due to the amount of money they have paid for keywords and phrases, it seems unfair to the user. This may be an excellent way for websites to advertise their site, but it ultimately discourages the user.

When you are searching for something on the Internet, a majority of the time you cannot be bothered to scroll through the pages and pages of results. This is why it is so important for websites to make sure that their URL comes up within the first few, or at least the first page of results. There are two different ways for websites to increase their position of the search engine results, by organic and non-organic methods. Non-organic results are those that appear on the right-hand side of search results page, and cost money. Websites pay for their URL to appear high on the results list when users are searching for certain keywords or phrases. An organic result is one that appears in middle of the result page, and their positioning is not paid for. 

In order for a website to appear at the top of list on a search engine result page, they need to make the website friendly to search engine spiders. Spiders are what detects how related the page is to the keyword or phrase that has been searched on the search engine page. When websites are difficult to navigate, or do not contain important keywords, spiders cannot identify and rank websites on a search engine result page. Another way to increase optimization on a search engine is to make sure that elements of the webpage are indexed and listed with major search engines. This includes keywords and phrases, as well as pictures and videos that are displayed on the website.

From my own personal experience, I feel that the further down the search results page, the less applicable to my search the result is. Also, when I look something up on the Internet, I don’t want to spend a whole lot of time looking at websites that may or may not be related to what I am looking for, so I normally don’t go past the first two pages of results. When it comes to whether I have a preference for organic or non-organic results, I generally only look at the organic ones. This is due to the fact that I feel that the non-organic results are simply just advertisements and won’t be related to my search.

Creating the customer experience seems to be the growing trend with websites today.  Internet users are demanding that websites provide them with the option to change the settings and preferences on a website. This option allows for the user to have a more beneficial and enjoyable experience. The most popular way of meeting the needs of the user is customization. Customization allows the user to customize the website to their personal preferences, and allows the users to get a better experience out of the website.

User personalization is changed and altered by the user, and includes aspects such as language, colour, webpage layout, and relative links. An example of personalization is setting a language on hotmail and having the language remembered when the user returns to the same website. The setting must be saved and recorded in order for this information to be remembered, which is often done in the form of a cookie. A cookie will record the user’s preferences and settings, by remembering the user’s computer’s IP when it returns to the site.

When a website offers the option of customizing their website, they appeal to a wider audience of users. If a user has the option to view a website that is in their language of choice, it may allow them to understand information easier and make their time on the site more efficient. In my opinion, I feel that website customization is a beneficial tool to have on a website. If I were not fluent in a language in which the website was created, I would have a hard time understanding the website’s content. By allowing for settings, such as language, it allows for a broader understanding, and a larger audience. On the other hand, I feel that if a website provides a user with too many settings, it takes away from the theme of the website. There is only so much that a user should be able to change, otherwise, they are the ones creating the website.

If you don’t build a website to meet the needs of your target audience, it won’t be worth your while. The consumers are what makes the website successful, and if the website doesn’t appeal to them, it will not succeed. Building an effective web presence is the first step to meeting the needs of the target audience. Online marketing relies very heavily on a website to make its presence known and effective. This means that there must be emphasis on delivering what the consumer wants, and  how they want it. In some cases, the only touch point between the consumer and the company/product is the website itself. The website must be able to provide a positive experience , as they are no longer receiving the physical aspect of the purchasing or information receiving process.

There are eight key points to consider when a company is designing a website, including: design, product, interactivity, service, reassurance, ease of use, relevance, and performance. Before any of these eight aspects are applied to a web site, a designer need to be able to determine a purpose for the web site. The purpose of a web site includes the site’s goals, the target audience, design issues, and tone. All of these need to be determined first, in order for the the designer to obtain the ability to intrigue and entertain the consumer with their site.

I my opinion, if a web site does not interest or inform me within the first five seconds of viewing, I’m moving on to another site. A site needs to be flashy enough to make me feel as though the designer has put in time and effort, and wants the consumer to have a positive experience. I like to be at a site that gets to the point, and doesn’t provide too much filler. On the other hand, I need a site that can provide me with information easily, and is easy to navigate. By being able to know what a consumer wants, and what they don’t want is the most important part to building an effective web site. If a consumer gets what they need, they will return, which will only make the site more profitable.