Everything you ever wanted to know about the Internet… …but were afraid to ask

1. Everything you ever wanted to know about the Internet……but were afraid to ask Steve Kirsch Chairman Infoseek

2. How would like to learn everything you need to know to succeed on the Internet in less than 45 minutes?

3. Agenda • How to search the Internet • Internet statistics • How to create a site • How to get traffic • How to avoid losing money • Other traps along the way • Java

4. How to search • Type words likely to be found only in the document you seek steve kirsch infoseek • Identify phrases, capitalization “Steve Kirsch” Infoseek • Optionally: Identify required terms +“Steve Kirsch” Infoseek • Optionally: Identify rejected terms +“Steve Kirsch” Infoseek -python

5. Another example • You are looking for the Obon Festival in Palo Alto +“Obon Festival” +“Palo Alto”

6. How to find Barney pagessuitable for your kids +Barney +dinosaur -bash -kill -maim -destroy -hate

7. Internet statistics A few that you’ve never seen before

8. From my brother-in-law golf pro • 26 year old man is always on the golf course • “What do you do for a living?” • “I sell porn on the Internet. I net about $600 a day.”

9. User statistics from IntelliQuest • >50M people, 16 or older use Internet • Up 46% from last yr • 17% (8.6M adults) claim to be online purchasers, with monthly median spending of $50 (up 300% from a year ago) • Users satisfaction is low; mostly due to speed • Increasing online time by watching less TV

10. Internet site growth • What this means • Growth cannot continue at this pace • There simply aren’t enough people to design all the sites/pages! # sites

11. Log/Log law Page views Site popularity # page views (Log) # views (Log) # of pages (Log) # of sites (Log)

12. What this means… • Most design focus should be spent on the few pages that generate the most traffic • By year 2000, less than 2,000 sites will have enough traffic be able to generate more than $1M/year in advertising revenue!

13. List of all Internet companies making profits on the Internet • Netscape • Yahoo (barely) • Porn sites

14. What this means... • It is harder than it looks

15. Rule #1: Use the Internet to enhance an existing business • #1 BEST WAY to use the Internet effectively is to: • create a web site • advertise the Web address as part of your traditional marketing activities • Use the Internet to help: • provide customers with information • facilitate the ordering of your products

16. Rule #2: Don’t violate rule #1 • If you violate rule #1, you are on your own • Virtually all companies which violate rule #1 will lose money

17. Getting started

18. Rule #3: Ask your friends what works • Be wary of claims by manufacturers, magazine articles, and “best of show” awards • The best reference are your peers who actually use the products • The free Web Server in Microsoft Windows NT is adequate for most sites

19. Creating a web site • Microsoft Front Page is my favorite tool • NetObjects Fusion is also good, especially for highly structured sites, but harder to use

20. Rule #4: There are inexpensive and easy ways to get started • Microsoft FrontPage and Fusion: $149 • Graphic design: < $500/template • Best way is to host at an ISP: • Setup: $150 • On-going: $100/month or less • On-going maintenance costs can be very low if content does not change frequently

21. Traffic analysis • WebTrends is an excellent tool for traffic analysis • Low cost: $299 • Easy to customize reports • Be sure to download the Plug-in for extended logging (Netscape and Microsoft servers) • www.webtrends.com

22. Search software • The best is from Infoseek: software.infoseek.com • Used by Sun Microsystems worldwide for their Intranet and Internet • > 2,000 web servers • > 1M documents • Runs on NT and Solaris

23. Commerce software… beware! • “Commerce” is not well defined • From a buyer standpoint, ordering products over the net still leaves lots of room for improvement: • speed • reliability • ease of use

24. Commerce • We are currently using ICOMS www.icoms.com • In 1 day you are up and running • Software works for Microsoft Web Server (IIS) and Microsoft Front Page

25. Commerce costs (for ICOMS) • One-time set-up fee of $2,500, plus ... • Transaction fee is 2% of the value of the goods or services sold, with a minimum of $0.25 per transaction and a maximum of $4 per transaction • The monthly minimum for transaction fees is $450 • One-year contract; billed quarterly

26. Low end: Viaweb Live Store 3.0 • If you are just selling items and already do phone orders manually • #1 rated by ZD Internet magazine • $100/mo for 20 items; $300/mo for 1000 • Create your store in 10 minutes or less www.viaweb.com • It automates web site creation and sends you each user order form by email

27. Adding video to your site • Broadway from Data Translation. • Creates MPEG files from your camcorder • 18 seconds, small image, takes 1Mb • Under $1,000 www.b-way.com • Hitachi MPEG video camera • 20 minutes of MPEG video on a PCMCIA 240Mb hard disk

28. Web site organization

29. Top pages requested • Home 62% • Download Request Form7% • Product Line 4% • Ultraseek Server Home 3% • Site map 3% • Search 2% • What’s New 2% • Download Form (2nd page) 1.2%

30. Tips in creating your web site • Figure out the path you want users to take • Example: Download the sample software • If they aren’t taking it, figure out why • Example: Asking for or giving too much data • Figure out how to get their e-mail • Example: We e-mail installation key and also require e-mail to get to the download page • Make it easy to navigate and draw people into the path you want them to take

31. How to get traffic

32. Rule #5: People will not beat a path to your door • The Internet is not a “Field of Dreams” • A lot of people think: “If you build it, they will come” • This is NOT true • I know. I’ve been there...

34. Why people can’t find you • Infinite number of web pages • 150M static pages • Chances of being found on the net are a lot less than being found in the phone book because: • there are a million times more web pages • these pages are not organized

35. The 4 best ways to get traffic • Submit your site to search engines and directories (www.submit-it.com) • Purchase banner ads on search engines and directories (this is equivalent to advertising in the telephone yellow pages) • Include your site’s URL in your advertising in traditional media • Purchase ads on other Web sites

36. How do I get to the top of the search result listings? Pray

37. WWW advertising economics • Your cost: 2 cents per impression ($20 CPM) • What you care about is how many people click on your ad: • Click through=# clicks / # impressions • Average click through: 4% • Max click through (untargeted): 25% • Keyword click through rate: 69% or less

38. Ad “click through” rates • 28% Champ v. Chip • 16% Kitchen fantasies • 14% Need tickets to a sold out event? • 14% Click here if you love beer • 14% Shop naked • 11% Who is this?

39. How to get high click through • This isn’t print! The goal of a WWW ad is usually to get the user to click on it, not necessarily to communicate a message! • Some ideas: • sex • offer a free vacation • create a WWW site that is entertaining • create a mysterious ad • dangle a provocative question ?

40. sex Playboy Penthouse chat Hustler nude porn erotica games pornography porno adult ESPN pussy Pamela Anderson Top 15 queries on the WWW

41. If your ad does not work... • Experiment! Change the message, the keywords, the products • Not all products can be economically promoted over the net

42. Can you sell music over the net? • 13-18 yr old • Want it immediately • Don’t have a credit card • Don’t want to pay shipping • Don’t have a net connection • Won’t pay a premium • Won’t buy a lot • Live near a record store No!

43. How to avoid losing money

44. The best way to make $1M using the Internet Start with $6M

45. To avoid losing money... • Provide useful information • Keep it simple • Examine your log files • Make it easy for users to give you feedback • Do NOT try to be the next Yahoo, Infoseek, … • A good web site can be developed and maintained by just one person

46. Traps

47. Once you have a web site... • Test it from another site on a regular basis • Common errors • Broken links • SLOW download times • web server bug or reverse name lookup enabled • page design • Internet bandwidth purchased • Allow for user feedback

48. What you should know about Java Beyond the hype...

49. Java is… • Just another programming language • Portable • Over hyped • On the edge of being ready for prime time

50. Summary • IF YOU ARE CAREFUL,… it is both inexpensive and cost effective to create a presence on the Internet