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
cleaning team near Winnetka ..Gary Halbert once said that the ONLY advantage he wanted... Read More
Even the best websites with the best marketing plans can... Read More
Search Engines Optimization:Your website must be good optimized by various... Read More
Dear Friend,Many people like to listen to all the graphic... Read More
We all know that the secret to success on the... Read More
Web site traffic is essential to having a thriving online... Read More
If you are looking to increase the number of visitors... Read More
There are many easy ways to get your name out... Read More
A reciprocal link is when a web site links to... Read More
Some of the best advertising available online would be getting... Read More
Webmasters have so much information available to them on the... Read More
Link Popularity refers to the number of links coming from... Read More
Finding quality traffic though effective website promotions is the number... Read More
Sometimes you need a kick start to get of the... Read More
When adding a link directory to a web site there... Read More
This interesting idea is likely to drive your competitors nuts.It... Read More
If you have any experience of work with your web... Read More
As a result of search engine changes, linking with other... Read More
Why would you pay for advertising if you could just... Read More
Traffic exchanges are everywhere. A traffic exchange is a clever... Read More
I don't know about you, but when I built my... Read More
It's a strange world, this place we call the internet.... Read More
Isn't online a magical invention? Surely it is, just imagine... Read More
As a home business, one of the ways you probably... Read More
The one thing that any new Webmaster hears when searching... Read More
family-safe home cleaners Northbrook ..What are web site keywords and how do I go... Read More
Qualified traffic is the lifeblood of any web site today,... Read More
In this article we will look at how to get... Read More
Web sites are on my mind, since I just updated... Read More
It is an open internet promotion secret that the more... Read More
Though each web site is different, it is possible to... Read More
Do not pay anyone or any service to submit your... Read More
There are many ways to get free traffic to your... Read More
If you've been on the internet very long at all,... Read More
A classic way of getting seen and noticed on the... Read More
While most webmasters agree that reciprocal linking is a very... Read More
There are many ways to promote your website for free... Read More
So we gather in all the relevant information we can... Read More
There will be a lot of people unhappy about what... Read More
It's a strange world, this place we call the internet.... Read More
Links are important to you because of two main reasons:Google's... Read More
For the sake of this article let's forget about search... Read More
The debate rages on forums all over the internet-should one... Read More
Targeted website traffic is the lifeblood of any website looking... Read More
In-bound links from other web sites to yours provide two... Read More
Here's what your website must have to get lots of... Read More
Webmasters look for ways to get a higher ranking with... Read More
If you advertise through click-exchange traffic programs or GPTR programs,... Read More
Having a website is great but, if the site doesn't... Read More
When I first started out in Internet marketing, reciprocal linking... Read More
Traffic Building |