OMC452 - Digital Marketing - Session 6 - Website

Module Code: OMC452
Module Title: Digital Marketing
Session 6: Website for Marketing
Course Leader
Dr. H.S.Srivatsa
Professor, Faculty of Management and Commerce
Email: srivatsa.ms.mc@msruas.ac.in
1
Faculty of Management and Commerce ©Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences
WHAT MAKES A
GOOD WEBSTE ?
HS SRIVATSA
2
We all know what a website is
• A website can serve many functions: personal,

commercial, government, non-profit.
• Can be the work of an individual or organization

– usually dedicated to one topic or purpose.
3
A brief history
• Started off by scientists in CERN (European Organisation for

Nuclear Research), Switzerland developed a way to share
data, in 1980
• By 1990, the inventor (Tim Berners Lee) created a protocol, a

browser, a language, server and even a few sites.
• For the first few years, most websites were scientific

departments based.
4
5
And then…
• More people started getting onto the internet and the

type of website started becoming more ‘mass’ in nature.
• 1993: iMDB, MTV

• 1994: The Economist, Simpsons Fan Site, Yahoo!
• 1995: Boing Boing, eBay, MSN, AltaVista
• 1996: The Onion, Rediff
6
It was only a matter of time…
• With more people getting on to the internet, brands

realised they needed to be online too
• Some started selling their products directly, or just acted

as repositories of information for offline services
• But communication was still largely one-way
7
MSN: 1995
8
Apple: 1996
9
Amazon: 1995
10
The Telegraph: 1994
11
Then came “Web 2.0”
• This broadly means going beyond just static content
• This includes social networking, participation,

collaboration (Wikipedia), user-generated content, etc.
12
Is a website relevant today?
• Many people ask this question – especially given the

advent of social media and the fact that people interact
with brands on Facebook and Twitter more
13
The answer is yes!
14
To answer this question, let’s
look at some classifications of
websites for our convenience
(this is an informal categorization)
15
Websites which would seek to draw people with
Destination websites content, make money through advertising
Companies whose business IS the website –

Online businesses including ecommerce
Online-aided businesses Companies whose business is vastly aided by online
Companies for which online is an add-on to the

Online is a repository marketing mix, helps customer make a decision
16
Destination websites TechCrunch, aFaqs, Pagalguy, Firstpost, Buzzfeed
Online businesses Flipkart, MakeMyTrip, eBay
Online-aided businesses HDFC Bank, CitiBank, Fastrack
Online is a repository FMCG, auto, colleges, tourism, etc.
17
The important question to ask…
• What do you want your website to do for you?
• In other words – what is the role of the website in your

marketing mix?
18
19
This will help answer:
• What to put on your website
• What will be your website promotional strategy
• How often should you update your website
• What budgets to allocate for your website
• From a technical point of view – what the user experience, design and
technology should be
20
Destination websites
• Heavy investment in content since that is the prime driver to the

website (rarely – subscription)
• Will need SEO, and stay topical so that it shows up on searches and
social results
• Usually has a content management system (CMS) tailored towards

frequent updates
• Simple User Experience

21
Online businesses
• Very robust in terms of technology since transactions are happening
• Very heavy investments in terms of UX, UI, design (since this is the
primary business!)
• Lot of promotion: Online as well as offline in certain cases
• No content per se – but updating products / prices and a mechanism

for feedback needs to be built in
22
Online-aided businesses
• Again - Robust technology needed since many times

confidential information is being used
• In the case of banks: While it is an add-on to the main

business, online can significantly reduce costs
23
Repository
• Most brand websites would fall here
• Users come to the website to check out the product during the
consideration stage of the purchase journey
• Very important for high involvement categories

– Automobiles, electronics, educational institution
• Not as important for lesser involvement categories or categories

experienced at PoS
– FMCG, food, apparel
24
Repository
• These websites are like a brand’s CV!
• All information needs to be laid out nicely – to address needs of

different users at different parts of the purchase journey and
different awareness and education levels.
• Content is usually updated only when there is news, a new

variant added or a refreshed brand identity.
• SEO and online advertising is extremely important.

25
Some basics of a corporate
website
26
Must be in sync with company branding
• Look, feel and tonality of the website must be similar to

what the brand says in its advertising or communication
• This is important so that the user does not get conflicted

messages from various media
• If there is a campaign change, it must reflect on the

company website
27
Sites vs microsites
• Sometimes, brands build a ‘microsite’ for a campaign or

activity – which is basically a temporary website with
very few pages.
• There is no right or wrong – usually microsites are

determined by company policy (Eg: HUL: Not allowed)
• Sometimes, company brand is for investors and media

while sub-brands have microsites (Eg: Auto brands)
28
SEO for a website
• While building a company website, one must consider

SEO and AdWords
• This will be covered in detail in a later session
• Basically – the site must be optimized for keywords from

that category
29
Designing a website
30
Website development
• A website should be designed such that it’s easy for

visitors to find what they are looking for quickly and
easily.
• This will optimize the visitors experience on the site and

help eliminate obstacles to conversion or confusing calls-
to-action.
• For this, building a good UX is important.

31
Why is UX important?
• A great experience will not just help the user get what
he’s looking for (and hopefully tilt a decision towards
purchase) but it will also encourage him to come back to
the website later.
• Importantly, a frustrating UX can make a customer leave

a site and have a negative opinion of a brand!
32
Requirements while building UX
• Business requirements
• Design requirements
• Technology requirements
• User requirements
33
Next steps while building UX
• User analysis: Who is this for, what do you want them to

do, what stage of purchase do users come to the site?
• Task analysis: What is the primary action the users need

to perform?
• Function allocation: What handles what? (servers,

backend vs frontend, automation or manual)
34
Next steps while building UX
• Develop wireframes: They are like the skeletons of your

website
• Usability testing: You can do this during any part of the

design process
• Collaboration with visual designers and programmers /

developers
35
Wireframing
36
What is a wireframe?
It’s a sort of website

skeleton, which helps
you plan the user
experience and tells
other teams (design,
programmers) what
the layout should look
like
37
How to build a wireframe
• Be clear in your head as to what all pages will be there

on the website. If needed, draw it all down on paper
(especially if it is a large complicated website). This acts
as a site map as well.
38
How to build a wireframe
• Start with each page. Put boxes to signify the various

elements you want on your page. This will help you
determine the role of everything.
• You can either draw it, make it in Powerpoint, use

Photoshop, or use specific wireframing software
39
40
Hot / cold / warm areas
• This is called the Eyetrack study, which is based on how

our eyes move when we navigate a website
• Eyes start on the upper left of the page
• Only after perusing the top portion of the page for some
time do eyes explore further down
41
42
43
44
Hot / cold / warm areas
• Keep this in mind while designing a wireframe and user

experience
• While it is just a thumb rule and not mandatory, if your

website warrants a lot of stuff to be put up, it’s useful to
follow.
45
High-definition wireframes
• Here, you improve your wireframe by adding exact copy,

ideal font sizes, exact layout pixels etc.
• You are basically moving your wireframe closer to the

actual design and making the life of the designer / coder
much simpler
• This also helps to anticipate problems like alignment etc
46
Analysis
47
How does one measure a website?
• Depends on the objective of the site and the part it plays

in the purchase journey
• Website traffic is well analysed by Google Analytics which

gives you traffic, sources, time spent, etc.
48
How does one measure a website?
• A product website should ideally result in leads
• A website such as Netbanking should make it easier for

customers to transact and hence reduce dependencies on the
banking staff.
• An e-commerce website should ideally result in sales (which

of course depends on many other factors). But a good design
can aid the process while a poor one can lead to dropouts
49
Questions?
50

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Module Code: OMC452

Module Title: Digital Marketing

Session 6: Website for Marketing

• A website can serve many functions: personal,

• Can be the work of an individual or organization

• Started off by scientists in CERN (European Organisation for

• By 1990, the inventor (Tim Berners Lee) created a protocol, a

• For the first few years, most websites were scientific

• More people started getting onto the internet and the

• 1993: iMDB, MTV

• With more people getting on to the internet, brands

• Some started selling their products directly, or just acted

• But communication was still largely one-way

• This broadly means going beyond just static content

• This includes social networking, participation,

• Many people ask this question – especially given the

(this is an informal categorization)

Companies whose business IS the website –

Online-aided businesses Companies whose business is vastly aided by online

Companies for which online is an add-on to the

Online businesses Flipkart, MakeMyTrip, eBay

Online-aided businesses HDFC Bank, CitiBank, Fastrack

Online is a repository FMCG, auto, colleges, tourism, etc.

• What do you want your website to do for you?

• In other words – what is the role of the website in your

• What to put on your website

• What will be your website promotional strategy

• How often should you update your website

• What budgets to allocate for your website

• Heavy investment in content since that is the prime driver to the

• Usually has a content management system (CMS) tailored towards

• Simple User Experience

• Very robust in terms of technology since transactions are happening

• Lot of promotion: Online as well as offline in certain cases

• No content per se – but updating products / prices and a mechanism

• Again - Robust technology needed since many times

• In the case of banks: While it is an add-on to the main

• Most brand websites would fall here

• Very important for high involvement categories

• Not as important for lesser involvement categories or categories

• These websites are like a brand’s CV!

• All information needs to be laid out nicely – to address needs of

• Content is usually updated only when there is news, a new

• SEO and online advertising is extremely important.

• Look, feel and tonality of the website must be similar to

• This is important so that the user does not get conflicted

• If there is a campaign change, it must reflect on the

• Sometimes, brands build a ‘microsite’ for a campaign or

• There is no right or wrong – usually microsites are

• Sometimes, company brand is for investors and media

• While building a company website, one must consider

• This will be covered in detail in a later session

• Basically – the site must be optimized for keywords from

• A website should be designed such that it’s easy for

• This will optimize the visitors experience on the site and

• For this, building a good UX is important.

• Importantly, a frustrating UX can make a customer leave

• User analysis: Who is this for, what do you want them to

• Task analysis: What is the primary action the users need

• Function allocation: What handles what? (servers,

• Develop wireframes: They are like the skeletons of your

• Usability testing: You can do this during any part of the

• Collaboration with visual designers and programmers /