Maryland Entrepreneur Quarterly (November 2008)
Tech Talk for Entrepreneurs
Internet usage continues to grow across all demographics,
shifts advertising power away from traditional media
By Ken Mays
Just in case there are any CEOs and entrepreneurs still out there harboring the notion that traditional media like print, radio and television are at the top of the advertising and marketing food chain, I’d like to close the book on this 20th century media mindset once and for all. The latest research says it best:
• 87 % of people looking for a product or service go to the Internet first. That’s before newspapers, magazines, television and radio.
• Women have caught up with men in terms of searching and shopping online. In fact, women now slightly outnumber men in the Internet population.
• About 90% of all those who go online use search engines. About 40% of them use a search engine on a typical day. Google is the number one search engine with over 60% of the search market.
• Over one third (36%) of search engine users link search result placement to company prominence. Translation: if your company doesn’t come up to the top of the search engine results, you are not perceived as a major player in your industry
• In the most recent iProspect search engine study, 62% of those surveyed do not look past the first page of the search results. In fact, only 10% look past the third page. Translation: you better make sure your company gets on the first page of the search results for you major keyword messages.
• Younger women are more likely than younger men to be online. Older men are more likely than older women to be online.
• Internet Advertising Benefits: Instant Leads, Easy to Remember, Interaction, Costs Less, and Open 24/7.
• Internet ad characteristics: Colorful, animated, interactive, low cost, easy to change, unlimited audience
• Print ad characteristics: static, high cost, difficult to change, limited audience.
Sources: iProspect, Jupiter Research, PEW Internet & American Life Project, Google Answers.
Business owners already know that consumer credibility is zero if they don’t have a website. A corporate website is not longer an option for a business enterprise; it’s a requirement. With the Internet’s continued popularity across all demographic groups, positioning your brand name, products and services prominently on the Internet has reached critical mass. Businesses are now being barraged by traditional media, especially print, with discounts and deals to keep their media dollars. However, failure by businesses to earmark more dollars for Internet advertising, could spell disaster: especially in these tough economic times when every sale is so important. While I understand that businesses tend to favor what they know and understand, it is important to study and develop an understanding of new advertising and marketing technologies. Step out of your comfort zone and stretch your knowledge base into these new areas. Believe me, if you can use your blackberry, you can learn the ins and outs of Internet marketing.
More domain name shenanigans
In the last column, I reported to you about some of the questionable practices of the major domain name (website name) registrars. These companies control the registration of your various website names. Most of you probably know Network Solutions, Go Daddy, Register.com and TuCows by name. If you’ve registered a domain name recently, you’ve probably been confused by all the options and extras you’re attacked with as you try to register your new website name. Today, the big registration services offer everything from hosting to logo and website design. Just wading through the 20 screens hyping all these extra services is challenging enough. Once you get through this maze of confusion and register your domain name, there are a few things you should remember.
• Network Solutions and Go Daddy are just registration services. The domain name is your intellectual property and they are not allowed to hold it hostage for any reason. If you want to transfer your domain name to another registration service, you are entitled to do so and do not need the permission of the current registrar.
• All domain name services are controlled by ICANN (The Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers), a non-profit corporation that oversees domain name registration for the federal government.
• When you register a domain name, ICANN rules and regulations require that the domain stay with the registration service for a period of 60 days before it can be transferred to another service. Some of the major registration services have interpreted this regulation as a license to lock down the domain name and not allow it to be transferred, even after the 60 days. It is not legal for them to do this.
Recently, I’ve gotten a lot of complaints from businesses saying that “Go Daddy says I can’t transfer my domain name” or “Network Solutions says we need to stay with them.” Our advice is always the same: remind the registrar that you own your domain name, not them, and that ICANN rules allow you to transfer the domain. If they still balk, just tell them you’ll file a formal complain with ICANN.
Web Browser Wars Escalate
The Mozilla Firefox web browser has caught on and it taking market share from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, who has enjoyed a near monopoly in the web browser market since the untimely demise of its major competitor Netscape Navigator. In fact, Netscape was the very first browser and birthed the web as we know it when it launched in 1994. Firefox now accounts for over 20 percent of the browser market and is growing rapidly. In fact, Firefox is so popular that it set a new Guinness World Record for the largest number of software downloads in 24 hours. The record-setting 8,002,530 downloads coincided with the launch of Firefox 3, the latest iteration of the popular Mozilla browser.
If you thought that two major internet browsers were better than one, how about three? Enter Chrome, Google’s new entry into the volatile browser market. Who will win the browser wars and end up in the number one position? No one knows yet. However, some things never change. All three browser platforms have yet to standardize their applications. That’s why so many websites look different on each browser. This is the same problem we experienced when Netscape and Internet Explorer were the major players in the 1990s. Programming teams need to work together and set some standards so we can create a seamless, user friendly experience for everyone surfing the Internet. Based on past history, however, I’m not going to hold by breath.
Ken Mays is President & Creative Director of Mays & Associates, Inc., a 20 year old web development and graphic design company located in Columbia, Maryland. Mays specializes in the development of Web 2.0 portal websites. An award-winning writer and designer, Ken can be reached at 410-964-9701 or by email, ken@ad-mays.com. The Mays & Associates website is www.ad-mays.com.