Setting Priorities for Hotel Website Improvements
My latest article for Hotel Business Review came out today. Even non-hotel people might be interested in the section on calculating the costs and benefits of various possible site changes to determine which should be the priority investments.
If you are in the hotel or travel industries, Hotel Executive.com is worth signing up for. Lots of interesting articles about the industry. Articles such as mine are normally available to paid subscribers only, but the publication has graciously allowed my readers to link to my articles through the Web Mystery Shoppers website's "In the News" page.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Interpreting Media Reports & Data
An article with the following headline, from the Center for Media Research, came across my desk this morning. What impression does its headline leave you with about the online activities of boys versus girls?
Pre-Teen Boys Are Online Gamers; Girls Listen to Music
The body text conveys a similar impression. But when you get to the table with the actual statistics, it shows that girls actually play more online games than boys! 45.4% of the girls versus only 40.0% of the boys reported having played online games in the past month.
A great example of why you have to read news reports with care and caution!
Pre-Teen Boys Are Online Gamers; Girls Listen to Music
The body text conveys a similar impression. But when you get to the table with the actual statistics, it shows that girls actually play more online games than boys! 45.4% of the girls versus only 40.0% of the boys reported having played online games in the past month.
A great example of why you have to read news reports with care and caution!
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Online donations
Pew Internet & American Life Project Report: Online donations following Katrina and Rita
18% of web users surveyed in this study say they have made donations online. This is up significantly even from January of 2005, when the figure was 13%. The surge was spurred partially by the major hurricanes this fall.
Non-profit organizations need to look more seriously at how they are promoting their sites, how well they are communicating their information once people get there, and how easy they make it to donate online.
In particular they need to make sure they include the following information:
1. Who they are/what they do.
2. Who backs their cause/organization.
3. A physical address and phone number so people can verify that they are legitimate.
4. How they spend their money. Donors want to be reassured that most of the money will be going to the cause rather than to administration.
5. Stories about people you've helped or worthy things your organization has done. Include some pictures if possible.
6. Ensure that you are set up to take credit cards in a secure online environment. (https:)
7. Include privacy and security policies.
8. IF (and only if) you get permission from the donors affected, it is a great idea to include a list of existing donors. This can help inspire others to donate. But never post donor names without their permission.
18% of web users surveyed in this study say they have made donations online. This is up significantly even from January of 2005, when the figure was 13%. The surge was spurred partially by the major hurricanes this fall.
Non-profit organizations need to look more seriously at how they are promoting their sites, how well they are communicating their information once people get there, and how easy they make it to donate online.
In particular they need to make sure they include the following information:
1. Who they are/what they do.
2. Who backs their cause/organization.
3. A physical address and phone number so people can verify that they are legitimate.
4. How they spend their money. Donors want to be reassured that most of the money will be going to the cause rather than to administration.
5. Stories about people you've helped or worthy things your organization has done. Include some pictures if possible.
6. Ensure that you are set up to take credit cards in a secure online environment. (https:)
7. Include privacy and security policies.
8. IF (and only if) you get permission from the donors affected, it is a great idea to include a list of existing donors. This can help inspire others to donate. But never post donor names without their permission.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Best Buy Site & MP3 Players
Although I'm a technology enthusiast, I've been too busy to get myself an MP3 player and start loading songs onto it. But now my kids are nagging for their own players, so I'm doing a little research. Best Buy just sent me a well-timed e-mail newsletter promoting a 16 hour web special, so, being in the target market at the moment, I went to their site.
I've got to give them points for having lots of good content on the site to help you choose what you want. In fact, their main MP3 player page starts with the very issue I needed addressed: "Find the MP3 player that's right for you!"
One of the first things to catch my eye was "Narrow the Field. Try our Shopping Assistants." Great idea, but not all that well executed. It asked a few key questions to help me narrow my selection. I set most of the answers to "no preference", but did choose the lowest price category. (Under $100). It returned "no results". I tried several times, with no luck. This was particularly odd because when I started looking at the individual listings, there are some priced under $100.
An excellent article, reprinted from a music magazine, explained how to shop for an MP3 player, and the differences between flash versus hard-drive models. This helps build confidence, keep me on the site, and make me more likely to buy from them because they seem to care about making sure I get what I need.
Also cool was their "demo", which is a simple animated demonstration of how much music you can fit onto different types of machines. It doesn't really need to be animated, but the animation is simple so it takes up little time, is optional (so people on modems can skip it), and is engaging, especially for a young target audience.
Their only key marketing mistake in my opinion was not letting me have the sale prices right away. It is a 16 hour sale, that apparently only runs during certain pre-set hours this weekend. How likely am I to remember to log on then to buy it? They should have got me to buy now, while I'm there!
I've got to give them points for having lots of good content on the site to help you choose what you want. In fact, their main MP3 player page starts with the very issue I needed addressed: "Find the MP3 player that's right for you!"
One of the first things to catch my eye was "Narrow the Field. Try our Shopping Assistants." Great idea, but not all that well executed. It asked a few key questions to help me narrow my selection. I set most of the answers to "no preference", but did choose the lowest price category. (Under $100). It returned "no results". I tried several times, with no luck. This was particularly odd because when I started looking at the individual listings, there are some priced under $100.
An excellent article, reprinted from a music magazine, explained how to shop for an MP3 player, and the differences between flash versus hard-drive models. This helps build confidence, keep me on the site, and make me more likely to buy from them because they seem to care about making sure I get what I need.
Also cool was their "demo", which is a simple animated demonstration of how much music you can fit onto different types of machines. It doesn't really need to be animated, but the animation is simple so it takes up little time, is optional (so people on modems can skip it), and is engaging, especially for a young target audience.
Their only key marketing mistake in my opinion was not letting me have the sale prices right away. It is a 16 hour sale, that apparently only runs during certain pre-set hours this weekend. How likely am I to remember to log on then to buy it? They should have got me to buy now, while I'm there!
Saturday, December 03, 2005
The Mystery Shopper's Manual: Online Mystery Shopping
The Mystery Shopper's Manual: Online Mystery Shopping
Cathy Stucker, who is one of the few mystery shopping consultants to have her work officially endorsed by the Mystery Shopping Providers's Association, wrote a nice explanation of what we do.
Cathy Stucker, who is one of the few mystery shopping consultants to have her work officially endorsed by the Mystery Shopping Providers's Association, wrote a nice explanation of what we do.
Friday, December 02, 2005
Internet Streaming Video & Mature Audiences
Advertisers Take Note: Internet Streaming Video Now Reaches More Mature Audiences
research by comScore Networks and StreamingMedia.com that found that consumers between the ages of 35 - 54 watched 45% of all online video. And 25 - 34 year olds are 12% more likely to have than other users. At first I was surprised by the figures, but then I started to wonder, how much of that online video is porn? I'm checking with comScore to see if they looked at that possibility.
research by comScore Networks and StreamingMedia.com that found that consumers between the ages of 35 - 54 watched 45% of all online video. And 25 - 34 year olds are 12% more likely to have than other users. At first I was surprised by the figures, but then I started to wonder, how much of that online video is porn? I'm checking with comScore to see if they looked at that possibility.
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