Everything you ever wanted to know about the

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Internet… …but were afraid to ask Steve Kirsch Chairman Infoseek

How would like to learn everything you need to know to succeed on the Internet in less than 45 minutes?

Agenda ä How to search the Internet ä Internet statistics ä How to create a site ä How to get traffic ä How to avoid losing money ä Other traps along the way ä Java

How to search ä Type words likely to be found only in the document you seek steve kirsch infoseek ä Identify phrases, capitalization “Steve Kirsch” Infoseek ä Optionally: Identify required terms +“Steve Kirsch” Infoseek ä Optionally: Identify rejected terms +“Steve Kirsch” Infoseek -python

Another example ä You are looking for the Obon Festival in Palo Alto +“Obon Festival” +“Palo Alto”

How to find Barney pages suitable for your kids +Barney +dinosaur -bash -kill -maim -destroy -hate

Internet statistics A few that you’ve never seen before

From my brother-in-law golf pro ä 26 year old man is always on the golf course ä “What do you do for a living? ” ä “I sell porn on the Internet. I net about $600 a day. ”

User statistics from Intelli. Quest ä >50 M people, 16 or older use Internet ä Up 46% from last yr ä 17% (8. 6 M adults) claim to be online purchasers, with monthly median spending of $50 (up 300% from a year ago) ä Users satisfaction is low; mostly due to speed ä Increasing online time by watching less TV

Internet site growth What this means ä Growth cannot # sites continue at this pace ä There simply aren’t enough people to design all the sites/pages!

Log/Log law Page views Site popularity # page views (Log) # of pages (Log) # of sites (Log)

What this means… ä Most design focus should be spent on the few pages that generate the most traffic ä By year 2000, less than 2, 000 sites will have enough traffic be able to generate more than $1 M/year in advertising revenue!

List of all Internet companies making profits on the Internet ä Netscape ä Yahoo (barely) ä Porn sites

What this means. . . ä It is harder than it looks

Rule #1: Use the Internet to enhance an existing business ä #1 BEST WAY to use the Internet effectively is to: ä create a web site ä advertise the Web address as part of your traditional marketing activities ä Use the Internet to help: ä provide customers with information ä facilitate the ordering of your products

Rule #2: Don’t violate rule #1 ä If you violate rule #1, you are on your own ä Virtually all companies which violate rule #1 will lose money

Getting started

Rule #3: Ask your friends what works ä Be wary of claims by manufacturers, magazine articles, and “best of show” awards ä The best reference are your peers who actually use the products ä The free Web Server in Microsoft Windows NT is adequate for most sites

Creating a web site ä Microsoft Front Page is my favorite tool ä Net. Objects Fusion is also good, especially for highly structured sites, but harder to use

Rule #4: There are inexpensive and easy ways to get started ä Microsoft Front. Page and Fusion: $149 ä Graphic design: < $500/template ä Best way is to host at an ISP: ä Setup: $150 ä On-going: $100/month or less ä On-going maintenance costs can be very low if content does not change frequently

Traffic analysis ä Web. Trends is an excellent tool for traffic analysis ä Low cost: $299 ä Easy to customize reports ä Be sure to download the Plug-in for extended logging (Netscape and Microsoft servers) ä www. webtrends. com

Search software ä The best is from Infoseek: software. infoseek. com ä Used by Sun Microsystems worldwide for their Intranet and Internet ä ä ä > 2, 000 web servers > 1 M documents Runs on NT and Solaris

Commerce software… beware! ä “Commerce” is not well defined ä From a buyer standpoint, ordering products over the net still leaves lots of room for improvement: ä speed ä reliability ä ease of use

Commerce ä We are currently using ICOMS www. icoms. com ä In 1 day you are up and running ä Software works for Microsoft Web Server (IIS) and Microsoft Front Page

Commerce costs (for ICOMS) ä One-time set-up fee of $2, 500, plus. . . ä Transaction fee is 2% of the value of the goods or services sold, with a minimum of $0. 25 per transaction and a maximum of $4 per transaction ä The monthly minimum for transaction fees is $450 ä One-year contract; billed quarterly

Low end: Viaweb Live Store 3. 0 ä If you are just selling items and already do phone orders manually ä #1 rated by ZD Internet magazine ä $100/mo for 20 items; $300/mo for 1000 ä Create your store in 10 minutes or less www. viaweb. com ä It automates web site creation and sends you each user order form by email

Adding video to your site ä Broadway from Data Translation. ä Creates MPEG files from your camcorder ä 18 seconds, small image, takes 1 Mb ä Under $1, 000 www. b-way. com ä Hitachi MPEG video camera ä 20 minutes of MPEG video on a PCMCIA 240 Mb hard disk

Web site organization

Top pages requested ä Home 62% ä Download Request Form 7% ä Product Line 4% ä Ultraseek Server Home 3% ä Site map 3% ä Search 2% ä What’s New 2% ä Download Form (2 nd page) 1. 2%

Tips in creating your web site ä Figure out the path you want users to take ä Example: Download the sample software ä If they aren’t taking it, figure out why ä Example: Asking for or giving too much data ä Figure out how to get their e-mail ä Example: We e-mail installation key and also require e-mail to get to the download page ä Make it easy to navigate and draw people into the path you want them to take

How to get traffic

Rule #5: People will not beat a path to your door ä The Internet is not a “Field of Dreams” ä A lot of people think: “If you build it, they will come” ä This is NOT true ä I know. I’ve been there. . .

Why people can’t find you ä Infinite number of web pages ä 150 M static pages ä Chances of being found on the net are a lot less than being found in the phone book because: ä there a million times more web pages ä these pages are not organized

The 4 best ways to get traffic ä Submit your site to search engines and directories (www. submit-it. com) ä Purchase banner ads on search engines and directories (this is equivalent to advertising in the telephone yellow pages) ä Include your site’s URL in your advertising in traditional media ä Purchase ads on other Web sites

How do I get to the top of the search result listings? Pray

WWW advertising economics ä Your cost: 2 cents per impression ($20 CPM) ä What you care about is how many people click on your ad: ä Click through=# clicks / # impressions ä Average click through: 4% ä Max click through (untargeted): 25% ä Keyword click through rate: 69% or less

Ad “click through” rates ä 28% Champ v. Chip ä 16% Kitchen fantasies ä 14% Need tickets to a sold out event? ä 14% Click here if you love beer ä 14% Shop naked ä 11% Who is this?

How to get high click through ä This isn’t print! The goal of a WWW ad is usually to get the user to click on it, not necessarily to communicate a message! ä Some ideas: ä sex ä offer a free vacation ä create a WWW site that is entertaining ä create a mysterious ad ä dangle a provocative question ?

Top 15 queries on the WWW ä ä ä ä sex Playboy Penthouse chat Hustler nude porn ä ä ä ä erotica games pornography porno adult ESPN pussy Pamela Anderson

If your ad does not work. . . ä Experiment! Change the message, the keywords, the products ä Not all products can be economically promoted over the net

Can you sell music over the net? ä 13 -18 yr old ä Want it immediately ä Don’t have a credit card ä Don’t want to pay shipping ä Don’t have a net connection ä Won’t pay a premium ä Won’t buy a lot ä Live near a record store No!

How to avoid losing money

The best way to make $1 M using the Internet Start with $6 M

To avoid losing money. . . ä Provide useful information ä Keep it simple ä Examine your log files ä Make it easy for users to give you feedback ä Do NOT try to be the next Yahoo, Infoseek, … ä A good web site can be developed and maintained by just one person

Traps

Once you have a web site. . . ä Test it from another site on a regular basis ä Common errors ä Broken links ä SLOW download times web server bug or reverse name lookup enabled ä page design ä Internet bandwidth purchased ä ä Allow for user feedback