Attracting and Retaining Visitors
Do a quick search to see the number of web hosting companies offering their services on the internet. Make a simple chart of who they are, what they offer, their pricing, and how much they assist in creating and maintaining your website. What are the costs? How would you evolve a strategy that makes sense for you as you consider an online business strategy or a combination of in-store and online purchase capabilities?
Types of attractors
Summary
Organizations are taking a variety of approaches to making their Web sites attractive to a range of stakeholders. Web sites can attract a broad audience, some of whom are never likely to purchase the company's wares, but could influence perceptions of the company, and certainly increase word-of-mouth communication, which could filter through to significant real customers. Other Web sites focus on serving one particular stakeholder--the customer. They can aim to increase market share by stimulating traffic to their site (e.g., Kellogg's) or to increase the share of the customer by providing superior service (e.g., the UPS parcel tracking service).
Of course, an organization is not restricted to using one form of attractor. It makes good sense to take a variety of approaches so as to maximize the attractiveness of a site and to meet the diverse needs of Web surfers. For example, Tripod uses a variety of attractors to draw traffic to its site. By making the site a drawing card for college students, Tripod can charge advertisers higher rates. As Exhibit 21 illustrates, there are some gaps. Tripod is not an archive or the exclusive sponsor of an event.
Exhibit 21.: Tripod's use of attractors
| Type of attractor | Tripod's approach |
|---|---|
| Entertainment park | Limited development, except for a novel concentration game, members can test their memory by matching different types of contraceptives. |
| Town Hall | Daily interviews on topics of likely interest to college students. Past interviews can be recalled. |
| Club | Only members can use HereMOO , a graphical, interactive environment in which members can interact. Visitors can join Tripod by providing some basic demographic data. Also, members can build a home page. |
| Gift shop | Every 25th new member wins a T-shirt and every 10th new member wins a bottle opener key chain. There are also weekly competitions. |
| Freeway intersection or portal | An entry point for a number of news services (e.g., USA Today ) and stock prices provided by other Web sites. |
| Customer service center | A travel planner and daily reminder are examples of services that members can use. |