Guidelines for a good website

Like have read about in our previous posts, having a website is very necessary and useful to maintain your customer-organisation relationship. These relationships are developed by the attractiveness of a website caused by pronominal characteristics that are important in this specific one-way communication. It is not just about content, but also how people experience websites. There is no such thing as a standard website since each site should be created for an individual purpose and the right target group.

Besides that it should show the content in a straightforward, coherent way. However there are some essential elements of how a good established website should look like. We think there are three main features to have a good website. But we will also discuss other useful resources that can improve your website.

1. Content
Consistent value-added content is very important for a website. This content must be updated regularly to provoke that people return to your site. You also have to keep in mind what you stand for and what your target audience wants. This by only providing relevant information and not overload it with tons of extras. Clutter must be prevented, because research has shown that a cluttered page can be perceived as a negative feeling towards the site.

2. Community
It is not easy to build a sense of community. By offering constant new content it may attract people to come back and share common interests with each other. The website, the organisation, is the leader in this great effect it has on the quality of a website.

3. Usability
Disregarding content and interactivity, it is also very important that your website is easy to use. Within the limits a website contains because of the one-way communication, it is profound to have a clear navigation to go through your site and easily find the homepage. For instance, a search engine can send the person tot the end of an article that is spread over more pages.
However, there are two big disadvantages when creating long pages:
Web users have a limited attention span. They prefer sites that get to the point and to find information in a quick and easy way.
The real estate above the fold is more valuable than information below the fold for attracting and keeping users’ attention.
People surfing the web spend 80% of their time looking at information above the fold (the information which is directly viewable upon entering a website without scrolling down). Meaning that only 20% of the time is spent on information for which you need to scroll down. We can say that users will scroll below the fold if the information found above it is valuable enough
to read on.
The common scrolling behaviour looks like an F shaped pattern: intense viewing at the top of the page, moderate viewing at the middle and almost none at the bottom of the page.

Knowing this, it is important to adjust your website lay-out to this pattern. Placing the menu at the left side of you website will grab visitors’ attention quicker then placing it on the right side. While far less important information, such as the website’s policy can be placed at the bottom of the page.
Also, long download time for web pages should be avoided, otherwise people can loose their patience and your successful website can loose its purpose. At last it is important to keep the same structure for each page so it is again easy for the visitor to navigate through the website.

Other complementary factors

What is also often overlooked is the fact that a good, consist colour scheme can keep visitors longer on your website. The use of lighter colours and complementary colours are interpreted as a successful combination for people to stay longer on your website. To read more in detail about colour schemes we suggest you read the following article.
The use of a good typography is also part of a web design and necessary to communicate with your visitors. The use of the font should be pleasurable to look at and easy to choosing the right font is not easy. Many things need to be taken into consideration, such as: typeface, contrast, line length, alignment, emphasis, etc.
To learn more about Typography, Smashing Magazine wrote a great article on typography design, which you can read here.

Other methods to improve website quality

Like already explained in our previous post “The importance of E-marketing in SME’s, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of improving your website so more traffic will be generated to your website through search engines. The higher a site appears in search results the more visitors will go to that particular website.

Nowadays you can also hire a company to help you with your website. They are professional companies that can improve your website so it will rank higher in search engines.

Another resource to improve the quality of your website is Google Analytics. By using this free program you can check your website results and statistics (visitors, clicks, etc.) on a daily basis and improve it if necessary. Also Google AdWords, which is actually ‘online advertising by Google’, can be very effective.



Chaffey, D. and Smith, P.R. (2008) E-Marketing excellence: planning and optimizing your digital marketing. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann, Elsevier.

Hernandez, B., Jimenez, J. and Martin, M. (2009) ‘Key Website factors in e-business strategy’. International Journal of Information Management; Oct2009, Vol. 29 Issue 5, p362–371, 10p

Chen, K. and Yen, D. (2004) ‘Improving the quality of online presence through interactivity’. Information & Management. Dec2004, Vol. 42 Issue 1, p217–226, 10p

Vorvoreanu, M. (2008) ‘Website Experience Analysis: A New Research Protocol for Studying Relationship Building on Corporate Websites’. Journal of Website Promotion; Vol. 3 Issue 3/4, p222–249, 28p

Lamberson, T. (2008) ‘How to Make a Website Work’. Broadcasting & Cable; Jun2008, Vol. 138 Issue 24, p30–30, 2/3p

Chen, T. (2009) ‘What Does Good Web Design Look Like’. Looks Good Design Magazine [online] available from <http://www.looks.gd/design/what-does-good-web-design-look-like> [29 March 2010]

Fronterix (2010) Succesful Websites [online] available from <http://www.fronterix.com/articles/successful.php> [29 March 2010]

Jakob Nielsen (2010) Scrolling and Attention [online] available from <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/scrolling-attention.html> [29 March 2010]

Martin, M. (2009) ‘Typographic Design Patterns and Best Practices’. Smashing Magazine [online] available from <http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/20/typographic-design-survey-best-practices-from-the-best-blogs/> [29 March 2010]

Samuel Marchal (2001) Creating good websites: Graphic Design2: Colour schemes [online] available from <http://www.leafdigital.com/class/lessons/graphicdesign2/2.html> [29 March 2010]

Website Design Basics (2008) Typography for websites [online] available from <http://www.websitedesignbasics.com/typography.html> [29 March 2010]

How to earn online trust

Trust is a concept everybody knows on a personal level. It is something special. Why? Because you have to earn trust by proving yourself. This is the same on a company level. In these modern times, you cannot sell products anymore by only having a good and solid product. Trust will always play a key role in the decision making process.

Requirement of trust in Relationship Marketing

“Trust can be conceptualized as existing when one party has confidence in an exchange partner’s reliability and integrity.” (Morgan, R.M. & Hunt, S.D., 1994). Of course there is a process to come towards gaining the party’s trust. Therefore a customer relationship must be developed.

Successful Relationship Marketing is launching your activities for building up a relationship with your customer and he/she must be willing to put confidence in your business and commit himself towards it. Therefore a lot of factors must be taken into account.

The KMV (Key Mediating Variable) Model of Relationship Marketing

Source: Morgan, R.M. & Hunt, S.D., 1994

This module shows the importance of Relationship Commitment and Trust in a customer relationship, with its involving elements, the antecedents (highlighted in yellow) and the outcomes (highlighted in red).

Create trustworthiness in your company policy

In general, companies use loyalty programmes in their company policy to create trustworthiness. If we go further into detail, we can state that trustworthiness can be used as a moderator in loyalty programmes.

“In customer loyalty programme context, Trustworthiness is defined as the extent to which a consumer believes that a retailer offers a loyalty programme for the purpose of rewarding its best consumers.” (Journal of Customer Behaviour, 2008)

There are reasonable effects on the consumer-retailer relationship when it comes to the perceptions of the consumer towards trustworthiness of the retailer’s loyalty programme. People are more affected by a loyalty programme if they believe it is reward-driven instead of sales-driven. When there is a return on customer loyalty, perceptions of trustworthiness are higher. In addition the perceive fit, loyalty intention, relationship quality and relationship investment for the consumer-retailer relationship is enhanced.

Trustor VS Trustee

By giving the example of using a loyalty programme we can say that it is an efficient way to create trustworthiness in your company. But what are we trying to say when we are talking about trustworthiness? How can you make sure you are trustworthy towards you customers?
There is no definition to explain trustworthiness. Why not? Trustworthiness is not only one ‘word’. It is made of many different characteristics. According to Mayer et. al, the three main characteristics of trustworthiness are ability, benevolence and integrity.

- Ability: The group of skills one party has in a certain domain.
- Benevolence: The way in which the trustee wants to do ‘good’ towards the trustor, not only with a profit motive.
- Integrity: The quality of being honest and have strong moral principles.

Trust is being created between a trustor and a trustee. Before there can be trust, the trustor has to check if the trustee can be trustworthy or not. The best way to accomplish this is to perceive the ability, benevolence and integrity aspects of the trustee. This is the main link between trust and trustworthiness. Once the trustor is convinced, he will have the propensity to trust the trustee and they can start their relationship. The following figure explains this theory.


Source: Mayer et al., 1995

Trust and trustworthiness between companies and people already exist for a long time, but what about trust and trustworthiness through the Internet?

(Dis)advantages of E-commerce

Nowadays, with the immense use of the Internet, more and more companies are going online. For some companies it has become an indispensable tool to sell their products or services. They create their own websites, insert product-info and give customers the opportunity to buy their products online. E-commerce has become an advantage, as well for the companies as for the consumers.


Customers:
- The internet is a mass source of information about products.
- Products have the ability to be cheaper over the internet as in the store
- You get the opportunity to let the product be delivered at your doorstep. The products will come to you, not the other way around.
- …

Companies:
- You have the opportunity to reach more potential customers as you had before
- Your customer database is easier to maintain
- …

But there is still one major question which every consumer has: “Can I TRUST this?”. The quality and state of the product is one thing. Often pictures are missing and there are no guarantees that the products is not fake or looks like what the customer has in mind. Even if pictures are available, you can only judge the product by seeing it. (Hanai, T., & Oguchi, T., 2009).

Thereafter, if the order is placed it still needs to be delivered. What happens if the client is not at home, where will the product be shipped too? When will it be delivered? Amazon f.e. gives the product to your neighbors when you are not at home, but what if you don’t trust them?
For online delivery, you need to give your VISA number. What are the chances that other people will abuse this sort of information? And finally the most important question: Will I receive my product?

Some contextual cues, such as location, appearance of the store, etc. may be missing on the web. However, online there can be cues too, for example a set of hypertext links that surround a company.

Companies know that customers are more influenced by the content of trust-assuring arguments when the price of a product is relatively high than when it is relatively low. (Dongmin, K., Izak, B., 2009) So customers should be careful and share information with eachother.

Can you trust online user reviews?

Everybody can write an online review of a product on comparison websites like Amazon, Dell, Yelp and many others. But can online product reviews be really trusted?

People who work for the company that make the product can write misleading positive reviews. Besides that there is also the possibility that people just have limited knowledge about the product. Beau Brendler, director of consumer Reports’ Webwatch website said in an interview: “ Fake reviews happen all the time, but proving it, quantifying it, is very hard. However online consumer reviews are among the most trustworthiness sources of production information. A study done by Nielsen Company showed that the top three most trusted sources are (Luhn, Robert, 2009):

- Recommendations from consumers
- Newspapers
- Consumer opinions posted online

Creating fake positive reviews usually involve creating multiple accounts to generate a positive online conversation on a website. Another trick is to pay bloggers or send them incentives in order to get a positive review of a product in return. Amazon’s spokesman of corporate communications Patty Smith believes that there is no way 1000 of reviews can be manipulated. When potential customers read 25 negative reviews, one outstanding good review won’t change their mind.

Nowadays there is software that can track suspicious patterns in online users reviews. There are even review panels that are being hired by websites who screen reviews before they are being published.

As a consumer you should keep the following in mind when reading a review:
- Beware of illogical positive reviews.
- Consider multiple sources.
- Check for consensus.
- Look for a personal touch in reviews.


Hanai, T. and Oguchi, T. (2009) ‘How do consumers perceive the reliability of online shops?’. Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 3(2), article 6

Dongmin, K. and Izak, B. (2009) ‘Trust-Assuring Arguments in B2C E-commerce: Impact of Content, Source, and Price on Trust’. Journal of Management Information Systems Winter 10, Vol. 26, No. 3, 175–206

Stewart, K. J. and Malaga, R. A. (2009). ‘Contrast and Assimilation Effects on Consumers’
Trust in Internet Companies’. International Journal of Electronic Commerce. Spring, Vol. 13 Issue 3, 71–93, 23

Luhn, R. (2009) ‘Can You trust online user reviews?’. PC World. Jan, Vol. 27 Issue 1, 30–32

Ha, S. and Stoel, L. (2008) ‘Promoting customer-retailer relationship building: influence of customer trustworthiness of customer loyalty programme marketing’. Journal of Customer Behaviour. Vol. 7, No. 3, 215–229

Mayer, C.R., Davis, J.H. and Schoorman, F.D. (1995) ‘An Integrative Model of Organizational Trust’. Academy of Management Review 20(3), 709–734

Morgan, M.R. and Hunt, S.D. (1994) ‘The Commitment Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing’. Journal of Marketing 58, 20–38

The virtual revolution: good or bad?

In 1991 the World Wide Web opened its doors. Tim Berners-Lee, the founder of the web, wanted to create a graphic information system where people could find information and where services were offered. During the 1990s, it was estimated that the Internet grew by 100 percent per year. Nowadays most of us cannot imagine a world without it. More than 1.7 milliard people all over the world are using Internet. The world has rapidly changed to an online culture where people tend to leave the real world for a virtual world. Does the new access to information and people, enrich our humanity?

Baroness Susan Greenfield is a neuroscientist at Oxford University. She believes that once a human brain is exposed to an environment where actions do not have consequences, it can stay in a fantasized state. However according to a study of the MacArthur Foundation, teenagers who use the Web frequently have higher social skills and have the ability to learn more about topics in which they are not familiar.

A research team of 28 people conducted interviews with over 800 young people and their parents. Over 5000 hours were spent on both one-on-one interviews and focus group to find out more about teenagers and their use of Facebook, MySpace, Youtube and many other social network sites.

The results acknowledged two categories in which teens are engaged with Internet:

• Friendship-driven
• Interest-driven

Other findings are:

• There is a generation gap in how youth and adults view the value of online activity.
• Youth are navigating complex social and technical worlds by participating online.
• Young people are motivated to learn from their peers online.
• Most youth are not taking full advantage of the learning opportunities of the Internet.

This proves that the use of Internet can have a positive influence on teenagers’ way of thinking.

Due to the Internet there is been a shift in thinking. While people used to think linearly they now start to think more associative. Meaning that people changed from getting information from one source and reading it extensively to darting from subject to another due to the huge amount of information that is available on the Internet.

These days you might think people know small bit of a lot of things but tend not to know a lot about one subject. This is not necessarily true. It mostly depends on the education you receive while growing up. Books, articles and other written information are better accessible due to the fact of Internet. While people needed to look certain facts up in a huge encyclopedia, we now have the ability to search for it in a faster and easier way.

According to a report from market study firm IDC, people are more likely to use media they grew up with. Older respondents consume newspapers, TV and magazines while younger people prefer the Internet above the more traditional media.

There are a lot of people who link computer problems to Internet problems. Because of the huge use of the Internet, more and more people are spending hours and hours in front of their computer. This can cause some serious damage:

• Some people become more and more antisocial (living virtually).
• A wrong type of chair can create a lower back pain.
• Typing can create a neck pain.
• Focusing to long on the monitor can cause eye pain.
• ...

So, is the use of Internet dangerous? It’s disputable. When you live on the Internet, there is a possibility you will have some problems, but if you can find a good balance between the hours spending on the Internet and your real life, Internet is something which we can learn from.

The World Wide Web gives us the opportunity to learn more and more about all kind of subjects, day after day. How could you not love this?!

BBC (2009) ‘The virtual Revolution: Homo Interneticus (online video)

Dalrymple J., Macworld (2008) ‘Consumers spending more time online – PC world ’http://www.pcworld.com/article/142656/consumers_spending_more_time_online.html

The MacArthur Foundation (2006) ‘Latest news – Digital learning’ http://digitallearning.macfound.org/site/c.enJLKQNlFiG/b.2029199/k.94AC/Latest_News.htm

Mokey K., Digital Trends (2008) ‘Spending time online good for teens’ http://www.digitaltrends.com/lifestyle/spending-time-online-good-for-teens/

Miniwatts Marketing Group (2001 – 2010) ‘World Internet users and population stats’ http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

The importance of E-Marketing in SMEs

Is your company already engaged in electronic marketing? If not, why not?
‘E-marketing can identify, anticipate and satisfy customer needs efficiently’ Chaffey and Smith (2008)

Source: Rosetta and Alba (2005)

Internet marketing is a real turnaround for the marketing industry. The use of both online as traditional marketing methods and channels can really encourage the selling of products or services. Any business which leaves out this digital advertising path has a real loss in developing and growing. Not only can there be more information provided online compared to other media, also customer data can be generated and expanded.

Multinational companies as well as Small and Medium sized Enterprises can reach their targets worldwide using the e-marketing channel which is available 24/7. Furthermore customers can also be approached more personally e.g. personalized offers thanks to a fine-tuned profile. Whereas SMEs marketing budget is not that disposable as for big companies, e-marketing is really an opportunity for them to benefit from this emerging business. Because SMEs can significantly save on traditional marketing costs such as billboards, magazine advertisement and instead use Direct Marketing for example.

By using this one-to-one marketing it is also easy for tracking down the customer, like e.g. the customer is sent an e-mail, his reaction and response towards it will be known. Furthermore it can also be an enormous Return on Investment. Not necessarily in the short term, but it is a long term smart idea like the following successful e-marketing stories reveal.

Real-life case studies

Severn Partnership is a West Midlands company for chartered land surveyors. They wanted to grow and explore new markets, this by starting a website to attain many people in an easy way. Moreover they used Customer Relationship Management software to let the system work more efficiently. With this CRM system you can register and track detailed customer and prospects information and provide the analysis afterwards. In addition, every staff member of the company can have access to this. The customer service remains good in and out of office hours. e-commerce websites can also be combined with the use of a customer database. That gives the company a view on which customer bought which product. So it can be used to target the right person. This and so much other advantages, have lead to an enormous success.

Another SME company, Red Planet Guitars (RPG), specializing in left-handed guitars, also has a successful story to tell. Initially they had an online-store, but they wanted to gain more traffic to their website, this by implementing a website assessment, based on expert advice. To be easily found on the web, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) had to be applied. This was done by matching keywords and phrases read by this system. The use of SEO positively changed the e-marketing strategy for RPG in a way that online volume and traffic increased.

These illustrative case studies have discussed the importance of Internet Marketing. Although it is not just being online, but also how to do it effective and efficient like e.g. having your website on top of the search engines.
We still love our traditional techniques, however the digital marketing world is still not conquered enough.

Chaffey, D. and Smith, P.R. (2008) E-Marketing excellence: planning and optimizing your digital marketing. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.

Rosetta Alba
eHampshire
Articlesbase
The National B2B Centre

Privacy and security on your mobile phone

The mobile phone is everywhere! Starting in the eighties with Motorola, we now have more than twenty brands that produce mobile phones, all with their own models. The use of mobile phones in the UK has significantly increased over the last few years. In 2008 there were in the UK more mobile phones in use than there were people living: 75 million mobile phones for a population of 62 million people.

But is the immense use of mobile phones risk-free or do we have to pay attention to some aspects that can be linked to the mobile phone?

• Mobile privacy

When having a subscription, which makes it possible to constantly be on the Internet, people can be tracked. This is not necessarily negative as it can help many people to ease whatever they are doing. Anxious parents that could track their child, transport companies that could track one of their vehicles, police men searching for a missing person, etc.

But there is also a downside. In March 2009, Google Street View was launched. Google received many complaints on it in the beginning regarding invasion of privacy. The complaint was that some people could be recognized and seen in places where they were not supposed to be. So Google had to erase all the faces and the number plates of the cars.

But this invasion of privacy was peanuts compared to another application Google brought in the market. A week before the launch of Street View, Google had released eleven software applications for mobile phones. Some of the applications were just upgrades, like for text messaging or Google Maps. It seemed guiltless but when combining all, Google would know where you were and what you were doing, at all times. Something not everyone would agree with.

Another disadvantage is the combination of the video camera and the mobile Internet. Nowadays it is possible to make a video and upload it on the Internet in a few minutes.

Again this could be handy for many things, but since the invention of the traditional camera, experts have raised concerns about the privacy issues. There are many examples online of people who did not know they were being filmed and put online.

• Mobile security

The current mobile phones have many applications and possibilities. A lot of people are putting personal info on their mobile phone, e.g. their address, their agenda, their e-mail password, their banking details, etc. In most cases it is just a mnemonic for when they need those details and they can not remember them. There are also people who receive details from other people and put them on their mobile phone such as account numbers, etc.

Those details are not meant for others. This is where the problem begins. Imagine if you lose you phone or it has been stolen, all your details are accessible by others. This might have some serious consequences.

That’s why there are enough possibilities to secure these details. You can set a password, you can lock your mobile phone, etc. So, if you put some important information on your mobile phone, which is not meant for others, just make sure that all your details are well protected.

• Conclusion

Mobiles are changing our Internet and desktop use. Next to the original text messaging and calling, checking you e-mail, updating your profile on the social networking sites and many other activities can be fast done on the current mobile phones. Opportunities are growing regarding mobile phones and mobile Internet, so something tells you that you have seen nothing yet.


Used links

• Cellular News
• Guardian
• Your privacy
• Miss Phones
• Smart Device Freeware
• Dance with shadows

Our student life @ Coventry

Enjoy this video of our student life in Coventry! Please feel free to comment.

About CreativEmarketing

Marketing today

Marketeers are not loved by everyone. They are often viewed as slicks who would sell their soul just to increase sales. And to be honest, some of them are. But have no fear, wherever there is a bad guy, a good guy pops out to defeat his opponent.

What most people don’t get, is that marketing is not only meant to sell a company’s products but also to inform the consumer:

• What’s new on the market
• What’s the difference between product A and B
• ...

Most people only see the traditional media used to promote a product. Billboards on busy streets, Tv-commercials in the middle of a movie, annoying banners and not to mention the thousands of mails we receive of unknown products. The kind of media pushed into the face of the consumer.

With the immense use of the internet nowadays, there is also E-marketing which is becoming more and more popular...

Who are we?

CreativEmarketing is an idea developed by four future marketers with different backgrounds.

Rindert, the leader of the blog, has obtained many skills and insights in advertising due to his travel experience. He worked for mortierbrigade, one of the most creative agencies in Belgium. The second team member Jeroen, already worked on developing a website and has marketing-experience in a production house. Bert has created a marketing-plan for a software product and his passion in advertising began when doing an internship in an interactive agency. Melissa already has work experience abroad which she obtained in a communication agency, and worked for Sara Lee on a new product development.

We all like to travel and meet new people. That’s why each of us decided to go to the UK for a new experience. According to a research study by William Maddox (2009), people who live abroad are more creative. It gets stimulated by the psychological transformation that you might go through.

That is why we want to share our knowledge and experience to inspire others.

Our quest

Of course CreativEmarketing speaks for itself. Marketing or advertising can happen in a lot of ways. We will try to show you guys how you can be creative in both of them and update you weekly with some information and examples of people or companies who were creative in their work trough the internet. You can give your own opinion about it, you can interact with other visitors, etc. Just follow our blog on a regular basis. The rest is up to you!