Internet Business

Suits

This is the place to find information and tools you need to run a Web business. If you're a suit, or just need to know a bit about the business side of things, we have information about tools and software for business and marketing, Web project management, Web site promotion and electronic commerce.

 The Latest Stuff

• E-commerce in the UK
  Multimillion pound savings are emerging from use of the Web in the UK. Investment bank Schroders are looking to cut over one million pounds from their annual buying costs, by streamlining the buying process. Sutton and East Surrey Water have introduced an online payment system which is forecast to save them a million pounds a year. However, it's not all a smooth ride, as Freeserve will confirm.
  
  
• Andy Grove is wrong. Interactive TV is not a dead end.
  Perhaps he hasn’t recognised the next killer app: tracking and profiling Web site and television visitors and marketing to them in very precise ways.
  
  
• Do the banks hold back e-commerce in the UK?
  In the UK, doing business on the Internet is in some ways still a frontier-town activity. The worst of the outlaws in this game of Cowboys and Indians are the UK banks and credit card companies. Compare the situation of the average UK small business that wants to add e-commerce with his cousin in the USA.
  
  
• Hosting a Big Time Web Site
  If you're building a Web site that is going to be BIG, big in size, big in features, and HUGE in traffic, where do you host the thing? How do you select a company that can handle a complicated Web server farm? I've built a couple like this including one that pulled over $1 million every day in direct, over-the-Web orders. Here's a few things I learned to look for.
  
  
• Shopping Cart Programs Compared
  Need a shopping cart? Here's an overview of your options, from homegrown JavaScript to easy-to-implement turnkey solutions for merchants.
  
  
• Submitting to Search Engines? Read this first.
  Are you sure your site is ready? If you make a bad first impression, you may not get listed at all, or you may get listed, but not properly indexed. Here's a checklist to peruse before blasting off.
  
  
• Today's Junk Software
  Web development software that simply does not work well causes huge problems for start-ups.

• Log File Analysis Software - Hit List 3.0
  Hit List analyses your log files and uses the data to create a variety of reports.
  
  
• Traffic Analysis Software
  Bruce Morris explains how to analyze your Web site traffic, and compares the different software packages available.
  
  
• Analyzing Log Files
  Who's coming to your site? What are they doing there? Where are they coming from? What are the best analysis programs? What features do you need to look for?
  
  
• Analyzing Web Site Traffic - Find the information you need in your log files.
  Is anyone looking at your Web site? Do they like what they see? Do all your links work, or have some of the Web sites you linked to disappeared? The answers to all these questions (and more!) can be found in your log files.
  
  

 Internet Advertising

• We'll Make Money Selling Ads On the Site!
  Build a special interest Web site about your hobby and make millions selling ad banners! Your mileage may vary.
  
  
• Banner Ads Aren't Worth It
  We do the math for you. It's not a good deal.
  
  
• Banner Ads Eat St. Louis!
  Laser-point personalisation is going to spawn a whole new advertising industry.
  
  
• Ad Management Software Shootout
  Details of all the available products, in all price ranges, including a features comparison chart.
  
  
• Evaluating Ad Management Software
  If you’re selling ads on your Web site now or plan to be in the near future you need to decide what kind of ad management software you need.
  
  
• Ad Management Software - Ad Juggler 3.1
  Some mom-and-pop sites may brew up a CGI script to handle serving banner ads, but sooner or later they will graduate to a real ad management system like Ad Juggler.

 Project Management for the Webmaster

• What Internet Skills Shortage?
  There’s plenty of talent out there but most people don’t know how to hire Internet developers.
  
  
• Chaos is Not a Symptom of a Healthy Start-up
  Is chaos a necessary part of an Internet development effort or is it a symptom of poor management?
  
  
• How to Work with a Web Development Agency Without Killing Each Other
  It is possible to outsource some massive Web development projects and reach a comfortable quality and monetary conclusion for both sides with very little violence occurring.
  
  
• The More Things Change...
  Managing change requests is a famously widespread problem in the Internet industry for several reasons.
  
  
• How to Write a Request for Proposal for a Web Project
  The big problem Web development shops are having isn't production chaos - it's trying to respond to poorly written RFPs.
  
  
• Q. Who’s running your project anyway?
  A. The accounting department? No way!
  Marketing people know marginally less about the technical aspects of software development than a hand-reared armadillo.
  
  
• Projects Always Late? Over Budget?
  One big mistake I see quite often is that project development cycles are collapsed. The critical path through the project is paralleled to the extent that code, video, audio, content, text and pictures are all being worked on at once.
  
  
• Controlled Chaos Is the Key
  Establishing and managing a large commercial Web site is similar to running a daily newspaper. Seeming chaos in such newsroom environments is normal and perhaps even desirable. Actual chaos, on the other hand, demoralizes the troops and costs money.
  
  
• Managing Commercial Web Sites
  While establishing and managing a commercial Web site, several key issues need to be addressed not just during the planning stages but on an ongoing basis. Here are a few items a smart Web manager should think about.
  
  
• Freelance or permanent staff?
  These days, there’s not much difference in the risk factor.
  
  
• Where has that bl**dy picture gone?
  This is all about losing your assets.
  Finding the pictures you want to use can be an absolute nightmare on any project. It can take two days or more to scour through all the CD-ROM and hard drive collections of images you have.
  
  
• How to Hire the Best Web Developers
  All you need is to hire some great Web developers who can write HTML and Java. How do you find and hire these people?
  
  
• The Coming (Even Worse) Shortage of Good Web People
  There is a bitter pill to swallow and those in positions to hire had better go get a large glass of water.
  
  
• Information Systems Project Management - Book Review
  This excellent and very readable book can help you get your Web projects done on time (and maybe even within your budget).
  
  
• Secrets of Successful Web Sites - Book Review
  Project Management for the Worldwide Web
  
  
• The AMA Handbook of Project Management - Book Review
  This fine collection of essays forms an authoritative overview of the project management field.
  
  
• Getting a Project Done on Time
  Review of a Project Management Book from AMACOM