Customization

Roberts refers to the NikeiD website as an example of customizing a product (105). Nike is an international brand and caters to a variety of markets. Upon entering the site, I was asked about my language preference and then my country of residence. Nike is already targeting what products I see based on two simple profiling questions asked as I enter the site (Roberts 208).

I (and presumably many other visitors) had a lot of fun experimenting with the shoe customization. The interactive nature of the activity kept me on the site and playing around with colors, laces and accents. This interactivity definitely increases the stickiness of the NikeiD site (Roberts 103).

Other sites could capitalize on the customization, although the back end product creation must be concrete before starting any kind of program. For example, Spam could customize labels to include a persons face on the can of spam. M&M's did just that by allowing people to purchase candy customized with a short message. These unique uses of customization may cost the consumer (and the producer) a few extra dollars, but the interactivity has the power to draw in customers and keep them on the site longer.

Animal Allies Humane Society (AAHS) is interested in revamping and relaunching the website within the next 6-8 months. Roberts offers several suggestions on website effectiveness that AAHS should take into consideration through the redesign process.

One of the items to be addressed is the navigation. What are logical headers? Logical paths for the drop down menu? One simple way for AAHS to identify possible combinations is to use card sorting (Roberts 279). A group of volunteers/users of the website may be able to identify better a better organizational framework for the site.

Another important part of testing that AAHS should incorporate is the use of a focus group. The group would be asked to complete a task or find specific information. Through a simple testing process of the former online donation form, AAHS found that the online giving process was cumbersome and confusing. After switching to another provider, online donations increased! The same principal is true for the rest of the site. A focus group would be able to identify problems in the site before the public was given full access.  (Roberts 280)

Although a site redesign is an exciting time, no organization can afford to miss the important step of evaluating web site effectiveness before going live.

Spam. View Source.

Spam clearly has someone in the background who knows how to do on-page optimization. A tour of the "view source" to check out the html code reveals a carefully crafted site. Their attention to on-page optimization must certainly help their search engine result placements on Google. (Fleischner 20) A few things I noticed in their source code:

1. Use of cascading style sheets. This keeps the code on the site clean which means Google will be able to browse the site easier, giving the site a better chance for a higher ranking. (Fleischner 31)
2. The title tag is listed as "SPAM > Home." This meets the general guidelines of keeping the title tag short so that Google will put more weight on the words listed in the title tag. (Fleischner 23)
3. Repeated keywords in the text. Words such as "recipe" and "cooking" are repeated in the site description. Fleischner recommends using keywords twice to have a bigger impact on SERPs. (23) Spam.com has avoided keyword stuffing by overusing the words. (Fleishner 25)

Developing an Email Campaign

When I revisited Chapter 7 in Roberts, I started wondering how other websites are developing their email campaigns. Specifically, I wondered about collecting customer data.

To sign up for the fan club, Spam.com asks for name, address, phone and some demographic data. The additional demographic data includes birth year, gender, age of head of household,  number of children and household size. This data is an important way to have insight into customers. (Roberts 188)

Based on my profile, Spam.com can learn about my needs and what I might value. (Roberts 188) For example, they wouldn't want to send me information about how to make spam fun for kids since there are no children living in my household. They might conclude that since I'm a female, I would be interested in receiving recipes. Or, since I'm a young adult, I may be more interested in connecting via social media.

Profiles also give Spam.com a great opportunity to segment the list based on what they've learned about their customer's needs and interests. Segmenting is a marketers best friend because it allows targeted marketing; much more effective than sending a blanket email to all constituents. (Roberts 189)

One recommendation for Spam.com is that they add some preferences to the account page. This is a great place to find out if visitors have specific interests in cooking with spam or if they are checking out the site for fun. I recommend that Spam.com do an overview of what they have to offer, assess how that matches up with customer needs, and then offer additional information through preference check boxes on the account page.

Twitter for Twins

Twitter continues to mystify me. I've got the hang of facebook, but for some reason Twitter terrifies me in the ways only social media can.

I came across an article headline in the SmartBrief enews talking about how many players on the Knicks are Twitter users. The Knicks boast 11 players on Twitter, putting them at the top of the league. Oklahoma City Thunder and Milwaukee Bucks are the other top teams. (Article from NYT, by Howard Beck)

Amazingly enough, just two years ago players couldn't even talk to the media without a PR rep next to their side. Now players tweet on everything from hobbies to religious quotes. They share their lives via social media, just like any other person. (This is significant because anyone can be on Twitter - not just folks who are followed by cameras and make millions annually.)

Why is social media important? The Knicks are not only making themselves more accessible to the public, but they're also driving buzz about themselves and their team. According to the Beck, the N.B.A. is among the more of the professional sports leagues with the most Facebook fans, most viewed You Tube videos, and over 40% of the league players have Twitter accounts.

I did check out the Timberwolves site to check out their Twitter connection. Impressively, they run a constant feed on the homepage with tweets from fans and the team. Kudos to the Timberwolves for working to connect!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/sports/basketball/24knicks.html?_r=3&src=twrhp

http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/

Hubspot's Website Grader of Animal Allies Website

Hubspot gave www.animalallies.net a rating of 88 whereas a “competitors” site ranked 55. (Not a true competitor, but another local animal shelter.)

The grade was given based on: Content (blogs, readability, indexed pages on Google), Site Optimization (meta tags, number of images, heading tags, sites linking to the website), Social networking connections(twitter, delicious) and Interactive (forms on website, RSS feeds).

Based on Hubspot's comments, I would recommend that www.animalallies.net make the following improvements:

• Start a blog. This could be a weekly blog post from the veterinarian or the medical staff about some of the different medical issues coming through the shelter. Or the blog could be written by an adoption counselor, highlighting a specific animal up for adoption. There is also the potential for the volunteer coordinator to write about what volunteers have been working on. To add to blog readership, an RSS feed should be included so readers are alerted when new content is available.
• Promote the site better through social networking sites. Starting a twitter account with simple updates, then linking the account to the AAHS website. Another somewhat simple fix would be to add social networking buttons to make it easy for people to share content (especially adoptable pets!) on their personal sites. For example, a series of buttons could be added to the stray pets so someone could repost a stray listing on their facebook site.
• Assess readability of website. The current grade is College Undergraduate. The content of the site could use a good read through to make sure the pages are easy to read. Some of the copy is rooted in industry jargon or copied from a press release. The press release copy does not necessarily translate into web copy and should be evaluated more closely before posting online.