By Sonoko Ando
Edited by Loretta
F. Kasper
Advertisements have played a great role for the
companies to make a profit. Due to effective advertising, companies can inform the
consumers about their products or services. An effective advertisement is
essential to a company's survival because it raises their capital and
reputation.
Methods of advertising have changed over the
centuries. The first step came with the development of printing in the 17th
century in England. Newspapers and magazines became popular. In the early to
middle 20th century, due to the expansion of radio and TV, a lot of
companies started to use these broadcast media for advertisements. In the late
20th century, Internet advertising became popular. (Kasper 1998,
Silverman 1996)
Today, as the technology continues to develop,
Internet advertising is growing and is becoming one of the most effective
advertising media for the public. If the companies want to be successful
nowadays, Internet advertising must be conducted to be more competitive. Today,
businesses are getting into E-commerce, which is defined as business or
commerce done over the Internet.
E-commerce has a lot of advantages for both consumers
and companies. The companies can expand their advertisements with little money.
Moreover, there is no need to worry about clients' schedule because the
Internet makes it possible to be in touch with consumers 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week. At the same time, people can get the information whenever they want,
and they can get it quickly. This makes easier for both sides to communicate.
Many experts believe that E-commerce will keep growing all over the world and
will represent the largest revenue for businesses in the future.
Although E-commerce has a lot of advantages, the
companies must consider several factors when they sell their products or
services over the Internet. These are: the diversification of products or
services for each consumers' demand, quick shipping, payments proceeding
information, customer services such as return, security, and a good website
which is easy for the consumer to use.
How
popular is the Internet?
Since home personal computers became affordable, the
rate of Internet users has grown rapidly. "The growth rate of the Internet
is predicted to be at 10% of its total base of users every month" (Rawn,
1994). Moreover, the Internet users are
expanding all over the world. The more Internet users increase, the more
opportunities for a global market come to the business world.
What
is an effective website over the Internet?
One of the most important considerations for
businesses who wish to sell over the Internet is designing an effective
website. An effective website should be simple. When you make a website, you
might want to put some cute pictures or advanced features. However, those
complicated websites just make the users tired. Why do they make them tired? It
is proved by certain research. (Nielson, 2000p106) The research says that reading
from a computer screen is about 25% slower than reading from paper.
People usually feel that it is unpleasant to read over
the Internet. The complicated website may also take a long time to download so
users must sit in the chair and wait for a while. This is one of the most
predictable problems that there are a lot of people who don't like to spend
their time with computer.
There are four factors that businesses must remember
to make a useful website. These factors, which form the acronym HOME, are High
quality content, Often update, Minimum download time, and Ease of use.
(Nielson, 2000p380) These factors are regarded as basic rules for building an
effective and simple website.
While
the Internet has a lot of advantages, the risk is also high. If your consumer
doesn't like your website, she/he will never come back. Based on the HOME
principal, you need to make as simple a website as you can.
The Internet has made it possible for the people to buy
something without going to the shop. Within a couple of seconds, people are
able to finish ordering.
Today,
the amount of Internet shopping is increasing. However, when you want to sell
something over the Internet, you have to consider how you satisfy the
consumers. First of all, you need a website with simple pictures and good
content which makes the consumer understand what you have and what you can do
for them. Again, the information must be simple. In an article about Internet
advertising from the October 31st issue of the New York Times, the
author says, "effective advertisements over the Internet are generally
those that are simple, with one sharp picture, a distinct focal point and an
explicit message in headline contain no more than nine words" (Stamler,
2000).
Also, you have to understand payment proceeding. Since
a credit card is the most useful and reasonable way to pay over the Internet,
you must have connection between your businesses and credit card banks.
Moreover, in order to become a reliable company, you must give the consumer
security. The consumers are usually afraid of giving their credit information.
You have to make sure that your consumers' information will not leak out to
others.
Moreover, you need quick shipping and diversification
of items to give consumers a lot of choices. The price of shipping and items
must be cheaper than other shops to be competitive. One of the reasons why
people buy products over the Internet is that they don't want to waste their
time and money. If shipping and items are more expensive, the consumers will go
to the shop instead of buying over the Internet.
In
the future
A new report from the Boston Consulting Group says,
"by 2004, business to business E-commerce, will generate productivity
gains equivalent to 1 to 2 percent of sales; by 2010, this figure could grow to
6 percent, or roughly $1 trillion" (Internet News.com staff, 2000)
The technology is developing so fast. Even now, it is
hard for the companies to make a high profit without a presence on the
Internet. Also, a lot of experts say that E-commerce is the most effective way
of doing business in this 21st century. Tomorrow, E-Commerce will be
more spread out all over the world. No one can disagree that E-Commerce is
becoming more essential for each company.
The development of magazines and newspapers occurred
in the 17th century, and the discovery of radio and TV gave the
companies various ways to advertise in the early to middle 19th
century. Today, for the business, network technology or the Internet is quickly
becoming an absolute necessity.
The Internet has made it possible for the companies to
extend their services on a global scale and to contact a wide range of people.
Although a lot of companies have taken advantage of the Internet and tried to
attract the consumers through their website, they won't be able to get as many
consumers as they want without any knowledge of an effective website.
The companies' success depends on whether they can
make a productive website. An effective and productive website has to have,
high quality content, be updated often, have minimum download time, and be easy
to use. Moreover, when companies sell their products or services, the website
must have simple pictures, payment proceeding information, reasonable and quick
shipping, security, and diversification of cheaper items to satisfy consumers.
The development of technology has made both companies'
and consumers' lives much easier. In this 21st century, it is
impossible for companies to be successful without advertising on the Internet.
This is because the Internet is the most valuable and productive method for the
companies in order to get consumers and make higher profit.
Getting Rich on E-Markets? [October 30, 2000) [Online] wysiwyg://content.29/http://www.in...cnews/article/0,,4_498461,00.html
Kasper,
Loretta F. (1998). Interdisciplinary English. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Nielson,
Jacob (2000). Designing Web Usability. Indianapolis, IN: New Riders
Publishing.
Rawn
Shah (1994). The business of the Internet [Online] http://www.rtd.com/people/rawn/business.html
Silverman,
Eric J. (1996), I-Highway Road To success. Direct Marketing Association,
Online: http://www.smartbiz.com/sbs/arts/dma61.htm.
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on October 11, 2000.
Stamler,
Bernard. (2000). "What Dot.Coms Don't Know About Marketing" New York
Times October 31.