Yeoman Technology News – February 2010

Top Stories

Google’s Surprising View of Their Competition

The search giant raised quite a few eyebrows recently when they named Amazon, EBay, WebMD, and FaceBook as some of their chief competitors in their annual report. Most people equate them as a search competitor to Microsoft and Yahoo, but their vision of the competition says a lot about where the web is heading.

They see themselves as a complete Internet system and fully understand that there are multiple channels on the web, each with its own group of competitors, search systems, and customer sets. The specific competitors names are interesting in that they are all in different types of Internet Sales Channels and have completely separate search engines in place:

Amazon – The giant of the E-Tailer channel has long thought of Google as a competitor. Did you know they started their own search system A9 way back in 2003? Their stated goal is to be the “World’s Largest Marketplace” a place where customers can come (and stay)

EBay – The Company still continues to dominant the different auction systems and showed an impressive 16% revenue growth in Q4 of last year. The auction model attracts a different type of buyer, but covers a broad range of products, including consumer, commercial, and industrial goods.

WebMD – You may be surprised to find that WebMD has over 20 million unique visitors a month. They’re a great example of a ‘knowledge system’; a tightly controlled site for a specific topic. All content is controlled by the owner, but has a distinctively social feel to it. Content sites are still the most visited sites online.

FaceBook – Social networking sites, in which peers have a great degree of control over discussions, continue to make advances as a channel. These sites now account for 13% of all visitors, but their direct impact on sales has only been proven for basic consumer goods manufacturers. Most companies, including those who sell to business, should be closely watching this space, specifically looking for systems tailored for their type of customer.

Google’s report highlights their concern that users are ‘one click away’ from switching. If you’re solely focused on Google it’s a call to action; any potential customer in those other systems simply won’t find you.

At Yeoman, we continue to stress that the Internet has evolved into a group of unique sales channels, each with their own competitors, search systems, and operation models. Organizations need to broaden their strategy and map out a sales and distribution plan based upon the entire web; not just one vendor or particular marketing program.

Take action now. If you’re business that focuses solely on your main web page or you’ve convinced yourself that there’s truly a life for business on FaceBook, you need to rethink your plan. This is what Yeoman is all about; Learn more about our services today.

$1,500 Special Offer on Best Practice Scorecard Report

How does your website stack up against the best in the world in terms of functionality, usability, and its ability to drive sales? Forget how fancy your site is or how pretty the colors are; we've identified 105 best practice characteristics that every manufacturer or publishers' site should have on their site.

The scorecard was developed by combining reviews of the Top 500 websites with usability studies and research from leading consulting and analysis firms. The result is a checklist of key features that we use to build a custom scorecard report for your business.

We’re pleased to offer our new scorecard report at a special introductory price of $1,500. This offer is limited to the main site of an organization with revenues under $200 million. Larger enterprises should contact their Yeoman consultant for a custom proposal. All reports require a kickoff call to validate site and verify some key operational questions. Final reports are delivered electronically and include a web conference review with a member of the Yeoman team.

Reminder - Tomorrow’s Webinar: Gov / Ed Online Buying Trends

Did you know that all 50 states and approximately 40% of cities and towns now have some form of online RFP system? Good news right? Sort of. While having them online is much better than paper based systems, there is no standard for posting, bidding, or notification. Worse still, many have abandoned their old ‘public notice’ rules, believing their new systems meet those requirements. The result is a mix of bid and RFP notification systems that often end up missing potential vendors.

Selling to government and education requires rethinking your bid monitoring and management approach. Session participants will come away with a set of tools for reaching government and educational buyers online. The session is free, but is expected to sell out. Preference will be given to Yeoman customers and guests that match the session profile.

Webinar Recording - Understanding Your Competitors Online

Our January 13th webinar "Understanding Your Competition Online" was a sellout hit. For those of you who were unable to get a spot, Yeoman is providing the webinar recording for a limited time for free in the events archive

Session Overview: The Web has a layer of transparency as it relates to visitors, site usage, and overall activity that can be a powerful tool in looking at your own Internet strategy. In this webinar recording we look at the basic elements of a competitive review and discuss how you can build up a basic framework that you can use for years to come.

Thank You
Michael Healey, President

mhealey@yeomantechnologies.com

Copyright 2010 Yeoman Technology Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved. May be reprinted with permission