Bill Huang sits down at his computer. As he connects to the Internet, he glances out at the sun poking its nose above the Hong Kong skyline. It will be another busy day, and he has to order those slippers for his wife before rushing off to a meeting.
He types in his search terms and Google faithfully reports: "Results 1 - 100 of about 1,760,000. Search took 0.34 seconds."
Bill clicks on a the Big Soft Slipper web site and waits for the page to load. "Site unavailable," Bill reads. He hits the "back" button. Then he clicks on another of the 1,760,000 pages Google offered him.
High above Cleveland, USA, the executives at Big Soft Slipper are clinking their glasses and patting themselves on the back. "We sure did it," the CEO crows. "Look at that beautiful home page. Look at the easy navigation. Look at how fast it loads."
Somebody please tell them about Bill Huang.
"Very few people realize how the web site that loads so zippy in their office, flows like molasses on their customers' computers ? and may not even be accessible at all," says Vadim Mazo, CEO of Dotcom-Monitor , a web site monitoring company. "While they celebrate, they could be losing customers."
Even in the United States, the most developed Internet market in the world, one out of five Internet users still operate on 56K connections. Smart companies have gotten wise, and test their web sites on slow connections ? usually 56K. That leaves 13 million Americans with even slower connections ? along with hordes of customers in India, China, Australia, Russia, South Africa and elsewhere around the world.
Who is monitoring your web site from Europe and Asia?
"We just opened up a new web site monitoring station in Hong Kong, because there is a growing demand for monitoring web site performance from Asia," Mr. Mazo adds. "While nobody can monitor individual connections, we can monitor sever side connection speeds and web site accessibility ? both of which are affected by transatlantic transfers."
In fact, bottlenecks can develop in several spots along the transatlantic connections ? bottlenecks that could slow down or even block a web site completely. If a webmaster is not monitoring the performance of his web site overseas as well as at home, he will not be aware of the bottleneck and unable to contact his provider about it.
The fact is that a web site will load slower on the opposite side of the world, regardless of the type of connection the surfer has. But that is compounded when the transatlantic connections, or other local connections, block up.
Is connection speed a problem worth monitoring?
In May 2001, Zona Research reported that slow loading web sites accounted for $25 billion in lost sales each year ( http://www.marketresearch.com/map/prod/483429.html ) As Internet usage continues to climb around the world, that figure might be closer to $40 billion by now.
Another study, by BizRate.com ( http://www.marketresearch.com/map/prod/483429.html ) in 2000, revealed that most people abandon purchases on the Internet while already in the shopping cart section ? 21 percent due to slow-loading pages. In other words, even when the home page and the sales pages operate at a satisfactory speed, customers get frustrated by slow loading or failed shopping carts.
"It's one thing to know that your web site is accessible. It is another to know that all your forms and your shopping carts are performing to your customers' satisfaction," Mr. Mazo says. He adds that web site monitoring avoids the embarrassing moment when the customer lets a company know its site is not accessible. "The only thing worse is if nobody lets you know and you just keep losing sales."
This suggests there is value in monitoring your web site from overseas -- and in monitoring the forms and shopping carts and anything other server requests and user transactions
Stella Huang loves her new slippers. They are just perfect. She really does not care where they come from. The executives at Big Soft Slipper were not monitoring their web site performance, so they have no idea that they just lost a customer. And another customer. And another...
About The Author
David Leonhardt is a freelance writer, and an online and offline publicity specialist. Contact him at:
http://www.marketresearch.com/map/prod/483429.html
or visit his website at:
http://www.marketresearch.com/map/prod/483429.html
http://www.marketresearch.com/map/prod/483429.html
recurring maid service Buffalo Grove ..Traffic-generation is a hot topic for marketers. In particular, "free... Read More
Web site traffic promotion is crucial in today's Internet world.... Read More
You get a flash of inspiration and an interesting topic... Read More
If you're feeling a bit of confusion and frustration about... Read More
This is the third in a series of three articles... Read More
Search engines have become so intimidating lately - most people... Read More
If you are looking for an immediate increase in your... Read More
IntroductionBanner exchanges allow you - as a website owner -... Read More
There's a stiff wind blowing in a new direction on... Read More
Should link exchanges be used? What are link exchanges? Do... Read More
I`ve had people come to me and say "Traffic Exchanges... Read More
Web site traffic is essential to having a thriving online... Read More
All too often I find site owners are confused (or... Read More
Getting visitors to your web site is not one of... Read More
Reciprocal linking is considered by many people the most effective... Read More
Ok so the first way to get traffic is not... Read More
Did you know that web linkage is responsible for a... Read More
Establishing inbound links through reciprocal link exchanges is a very... Read More
There are many different approaches and techniques required when optimising... Read More
Many websites have great ideas, excellent content, brilliant deals and... Read More
It's pretty well-known that one of the best ways to... Read More
Viral Marketing DefinedIt is allowing others to giveaway and use... Read More
There are many "offsite" promotion tactics that work well to... Read More
Do you have your own site? Do you have any... Read More
When you are trying to promote your website, you want... Read More
premium house cleaning Glenview ..One Way Links from High Page Rank Pages are Your... Read More
Increasing your website traffic does not have to be a... Read More
All of us want to increase traffic to our web... Read More
Does anyone really enjoy the tedium of spending hours upon... Read More
All we webmasters know the importance and procedure to exchange... Read More
The number one problem new website owners have is, "How... Read More
This interesting idea is likely to drive your competitors nuts.It... Read More
There are 1001 ways to drive traffic to your websites.I... Read More
By doing one thing solve other people's problems.That's it this... Read More
I don't know about you, but when I first entered... Read More
"Submit to 10,000 Search Engines" or "Submit to over 200,000... Read More
FAQ pages are an often overlooked way to generate free... Read More
It's pretty well-known that one of the best ways to... Read More
In this Article we look at the second competitive advantage... Read More
The keyword marketing guide to a linking strategy that packs... Read More
Sometimes you need a kick start to get of the... Read More
Why Award Sites?Award sites are, in essence, directories that hand... Read More
If you don't know by now one the best ways... Read More
Did you know that according to alexa, www.eBay.com is ranked... Read More
Some of the best advertising available online would be getting... Read More
For many years now, getting traffic from search engines when... Read More
Ok so the first way to get traffic is not... Read More
This is the first in a series of three articles... Read More
Most people have the notion that generating traffic is a... Read More
To increase web site traffic, you first need determination, a... Read More
Traffic Building |