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
maid service near Lake Forest ..Starting a new website and developing a traffic base if... Read More
If the headline is what gets them there, then it's... Read More
The desire of every webmaster and in fact anybody with... Read More
Do you have your own site? Do you have any... Read More
1. Add a message board to your web site. People... Read More
If you could get high quality traffic that would grow... Read More
Who else wants traffic that buys? I for sure do,... Read More
Overview:Many leading search engines and b2b web sites offering online... Read More
If you have any experience of work with your web... Read More
When people look to submit their sites to the major... Read More
Most webmasters keep their prized web traffic generating systems to... Read More
"How do I get more traffic to your site?" That's... Read More
Here's the "How-To-Do-It Guide" for driving search engine traffic right... Read More
I am not a web designer or search engine optimizer,... Read More
Building a successful web site is a process that works... Read More
Just imagine ... your website having high PageRank and a... Read More
Suddenly your site's traffic multiplies. You get "Money Waiting" emails... Read More
Webmasters look for ways to get a higher ranking with... Read More
This old saying which addresses the variability of the weather... Read More
Ever since the time websites became new to the World... Read More
The ProblemNo matter how good your product or service is,... Read More
Trying to get traffic to your new website or to... Read More
If you don't create a successful strategy for marketing your... Read More
This is the first article of a three-part series. I... Read More
Today I would like to talk about an easy way... Read More
top rated cleaning service Des Plaines ..We will begin this topic with one assumption, that our... Read More
As a result of search engine changes, linking with other... Read More
Just to recap - Parts 1 and 2 of this... Read More
Are you looking for an effective way to generate more... Read More
Do you want to pump up sales at your website?If... Read More
Do you ever wonder what the point is in spending... Read More
Dear Friend,Many people like to listen to all the graphic... Read More
Have you spent a lot of money on advertising with... Read More
Today I would like to talk about an easy way... Read More
Reciprocal linking is considered by many people the most effective... Read More
Here's what your website must have to get lots of... Read More
1. Make all or part of your site into a... Read More
There are literally billions of Web sites online now offering... Read More
You may be shocked to hear this.You DON'T need a... Read More
Track all sources of traffic generation.John Reese stresses the need... Read More
Search Engines Optimization:Your website must be good optimized by various... Read More
How to Build Web Traffic DailyI - Introduction II -... Read More
There are many different approaches and techniques required when optimising... Read More
Traffic Exchanges. What are they? How do they work? What... Read More
Most people have the notion that generating traffic is a... Read More
Once again I used my wacky test marketing strategy to... Read More
How To Get At Least 50 Visitors A Day Free!Every... Read More
It appears that most webmasters have come from the world... Read More
There's no shortage of ways to spend money promoting your... Read More
If you are only looking at Search Engines too send... Read More
Traffic Building |