Logan's Website

There are many skills that I have gained throughout my time in the BA 536 course.

Website Best Practices

The first significant lesson that I learned from this course is the fact that user experience (UX) is dependent on many variables and that there are many elements that factor into what makes a website “good”. A website that effectively communicates a business’ services and overall brand while simultaneously creating a positive user experience determines the business’ success. Namely, two key factors that stood out to me was Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and overall website design.

When users visit a business’ website, each element influences the user’s experience in differing magnitudes–even something as minuscule as color coordination on the website. Each interactable surface on the website (ie. menu options or visual cues) creates an impression on the user and influences their image of the business’ brand. I learned that it’s important to focus on the balance creating aesthetically pleasing websites without compromising the speed of the website; it’s important to place focus on creating a visually pleasing website with welcoming imagery and even smooth menu transitions, but not to overload the website and cause loading times and navigation to slow down for the users.

SEO was a new concept to me and it was fascinating to learn that it played such a pivotal role in bringing traffic to the website. I always thought that small companies had a very small chance to be seen by new customers because their website would usually be buried in a search engine result page by bigger brands. However, with proper SEO practice, even small business can reach their target audience if they pick posts and information that’s displayed on their site that matches with the current trends in the market.

Customer Personas

The second significant skill I gained from the course was the usefulness in creating and understanding customer personas. In marketing a product or service, it’s important to understand what what traits the typical customer that uses your product possesses. Once this element of marketing is understood, businesses can take this information to create a personalized marketing product utilization experience. Furthermore, by understanding key characteristics of their customers (ie. traits such as hobbies, income, occupation, and even location), companies can use this information to develop new products to match the needs of their customer.

Customer Relationship Management

The third lesson that I learned from this course is the importance in Customer Relationship Management (CRM). CRM is an important concept to grasp for businesses because it allows businesses to form long-term relationships with their customers (B2C and B2B) to foster new product development and maintain customer retention. Good CRM practice can take the form of exclusive deals, whether it be discounts for repeat customers or early-access for new products. However, keeping track of the different elements of CRM (ie. data communication and revenue goals) can prove to be a challenge. Thus, many businesses choose a CRM application that best suits their needs.

I wrote my CRM software on Zoho. If I were to create a business, I would choose Zoho has the software to manage these elements because of its simple and streamlined client when accessing important information. Furthermore, Zoho can either be downloaded or utilized in a web application. Zoho creates different compartments that allows different information to be accessed by employees in different sectors within the business. For example, a revenue goal page can be accessed by everyone on Zoho, but the application has a built-in cloud file management software that can be administrated so that information that’s pertinent for a given department is only accessible by those employees.

E-Commerce Platforms

The fourth lesson that I learned from this course is the importance of selecting the right e-commerce platform. In the ever-changing landscape of the internet, businesses must find a way to communicate their product online and handle transactions remotely over the internet. Businesses of all sizes utilize e-commerce platforms for this operation, but there are many different options to consider for a business’ specific objectives and/or size.

If I were to create an e-commerce online shop, the platform I would use is Shopify. Although being one of the most expensive e-commerce platforms, Shopify simplifies the experience for all users so that products and transactions can be easily managed. Furthermore, Shopify offers plans that allow users to list unlimited products, as well as handle transactions in physical retail locations. This would be helpful for businesses that utilize Shopify for their e-commerce transactions, but would also like to expand to a physical location and expand their reach within the market.

Online Advertising and Affiliate Marketing

The fifth takeaway that was important to me was the significance of online advertising and affiliate marketing. With much of the population possessing a means to connect to the internet and social media users, businesses can use this as an opportunity to expand their reach to these audiences. Furthermore, due to the popularity of social media, users have taken this to their advantage to create a business and grow their brands. Businesses can, in turn, utilize these influencers to market products. Influencers remain as a powerful online advertising tool because their audiences are very likely to purchase a product that they see advertised by their favorite online personalities. Learning this topic has been very important to me because I realized that there are many different outlets in which I would be able to advertise a product, and creating a deal with an influencer I watch can prove to be beneficial to both me and the influencer.

Most Valuable Takeaway

Overall, I think that the most valuable takeaway from this course is the importance in selecting the right e-commerce platform. This skill is important to me because I have given thought to creating a drop-shipping business and learning about the different platforms that I can utilize in this process has given me an idea of a starting budget and how I should be marketing these products.

In a widely-utilized digital landscape, businesses aim to take advantage of an interconnected worldwide audience to advertise their products and services. Online advertising and affiliate marketing are powerful digital marketing tools to enable companies to reach a wide audience, drive traffic to their websites that display their products and services, and, ultimately, generate/increase revenue. While online advertising entails many different methods to generate website traffic, affiliate marketing is an online advertising method that’s becoming more common in today’s digital landscape with the rise of social media influencers.

As a whole, online advertising involves promoting products and/or services through various online channels, such as social media platforms, entertainment (streaming) services, mobile applications, and much more. One form that online advertising can take is in display ads, which entail banners, videos, and images that often show up on the sidebars of different websites, such as YouTube. Furthermore, YouTube also displays video ads before the YouTube video starts, containing two ads that last approximately 15 seconds. Social media platforms, such as TikTok, Facebook, or Instagram, also utilize video advertisements on each user’s explore page for products and services that each individual is interested.

Elaborating on the previous point, online advertisements are highly effective due to their highly-personalized nature. Social media apps and online entertainment services are able to create a user profile of each individual that uses the app. From these curated profiles, businesses are able to purchase and access this information to target marketing towards an audience that would benefit most from the business’ products and services (Dublino, 2024). For example, Netflix uses big data generated by users across the globe that watch the same show to recommend other shows/genres to each individual (eg. if an individual watches a specific drama, Netflix can refer to other watched shows from individuals who also watched that drama to recommend the starting individual a next show to start).

Affiliate marketing entails businesses working with content creators and their brands on different social media outlets to advertise the business’ products and services; with the rise of social media influencers in today’s world, businesses may feel compelled to increase their traffic by utilizing these influencers to deliver statements regarding their products and services. Each affiliate that works with the business receives benefit from them in the form of commission for each conversion made for their products. Affiliate marketing is most useful when a product is aimed towards a specific market, and that affiliate has built a brand in that market (Enfroy, 2024). For example, gamers are more likely to purchase an electronic component for their computers when they see a big tech YouTuber promote that product (eg. motherboard manufacturers, like Asus, will find it beneficial to sponsor Linus Tech Tips, a YouTuber in the tech industry with a large brand, to promote its product to boost conversion rate and reach a higher amount of their target audience).

For products and services that are marketing to a general population (eg. furniture or finances), businesses may be more compelled to utilize display advertisements to sell their services to a wide population. However, once products are targeted towards a niche community, affiliate marketing is more beneficial in converting their sales because members of those markets would be more motivated to purchase products that their most-watched social media influencer promotes (eg. the newest phones that are positively reviewed by top content creators in the tech industry, like Marques Brownlee). All in all, online advertising provides a high degree of control over targeting and placement, making it ideal for broad campaigns. Meanwhile, affiliate marketing leverages trusted voices within niche communities, driving conversions through authentic recommendations. By selecting the right approach or combining both strategies, businesses can create a robust marketing plan that reaches and resonates with their target audience.

 

References:

Dublino, J. (2024). Reinventing Business Intelligence: 10 Ways Big Data Is Changing Business. Business.com. https://www.business.com/articles/reinventing-business-intelligence-ways-big-data-is-changing-business/.

Enfroy, A. (2024). 10 Reasons Why Small Businesses Should Use Affiliate Marketing. Business.com. https://www.business.com/articles/why-smbs-use-affiliate-marketing/.

The internet has brought many benefits to millions of people around the world, with one of its main benefits entailing the buying an selling of goods online. E-commerce is the action of purchasing services and goods electronically via the internet, completely transforming traditional retail ideas; it has enabled customers to shop from anywhere in the world, and businesses to reach a global audience. However, it can prove to be a tedious task for small businesses aspiring to take advantage of the online market to develop a secure transaction method for all their customers to purchase their products online. Many developers realized this and thusly started to create e-commerce platforms that enables businesses to utilize their service and purchase goods completely electronically.

All e-commerce platforms have three things in common: a search feature (which is customizable through each business’ website), a cart feature allowing customers to manage their order(s), and a payment feature (DX Adobe, 2021). Additionally, some platforms have additional features built-in, such as a business analytics module and store webpage management tools. Though there are many different e-commerce platforms for business owners to choose from, this post will compare Shopify, Big Cartel, and WooCommerce, and their benefits to business owners looking to expand their market online.

Shopify: The most commonly utilized e-commerce platform for businesses in the U.S., Shopify is known for their user-friendly interface for both business owners and customers (Vailshery, 2024). Furthermore, Shopify is able to stay as the most-used platform because of their support with third-party applications, meaning greater customizability on business websites to enhance the user experience. Shopify is also great in real-world settings, offering a point-of-service device for business owners in physical retail locations. Although these features are important in running a business, subscriptions to Shopify’s services are the most pricey out of all e-commerce platforms and businesses that are in their beginnings may face trouble in funding Shopify’s utilities (Novak, 2024).

Big Cartel: Big Cartel is also known for their user-friendly interface for both customers and business owners. Big Cartel also implements customization tools in the form of custom domains. Like Shopify, Big Cartel also offers point of service devices and payment methods for both online and in-person retail use. Big Cartel is also budget friendly, allowing businesses to use their free templates when creating their websites. However, some short-comings with this platform is the fact that Big Cartel only allows business owners to list up to 500 products on their website, even with a paid plan. Furthermore, its limited customization alludes to the fact that it lacks additional features that other e-commerce platforms provide to business owners (Novak, 2024).

WooCommerce: Though not widely known, WooCommerce is a free e-comemrce platform that allows business owners to sell products on their WordPress business websites. WooCommerce is highly customizable and offers many different templates for its users to utilize, both free and paid. Although this is a free platform to use itself, WooCommerce is only works with WordPress websites, meaning that business owners will need a WordPress paid plan to host their website, and is only customizable up to the limit that WordPress sets for its users (though it’s very customizable by itself) (Novak, 2024).

For a new business, it may be most beneficial to begin with Big Cartel and, once business has expanded, transition to Shopify because Big Cartel is user- and budget- for small business owners to first establish themselves online. Once business owners have a larger budget to play around with, Shopify can then be used to expand their business even further without the limitations that Big Cartel imposes on its users.

References:

DX Adobe (2021). E-commerce Platforms. Adobe Experience Cloud Blog. https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/ecommerce-platforms#:~:text=Quick%20definition%3A%20An%20e-commerce,order%2C%20and%20a%20payment%20feature.

Novak, J. (2024). Big Cartel Review 2024: Pricing, Pros & Cons. Forbes Advisor. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/big-cartel-review/.

Novak, J. (2024). Shopify Review (2024): Features, Pros And Cons. Forbes Advisor. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/shopify-review/.

Novak, J. (2024). WooCommerce Review 2024: Pricing, Pros & Cons. Forbes Advisor. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/woocommerce-review/.

Vailshery, L. J. (2024). E-commerce Software Market Share in the U.S. 2024. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/950591/united-states-ecommerce-platforms-market-share/#:~:text=E-commerce%20software%20market%20share%20in%20the%20U.S.%202024&text=As%20of%20September%202024%2C%20Shopify,that%20use%20e-commerce%20technologies.

I made my SlideDoc presentation on the CRM management website Zoho CRM. This website is well-known within the marketing world as the best value CRM management tool, as its price is heavily outweighed by the amount of features offered in successful practice of CRM.

References:

Fairlie, Mark (2024). Zoho CRM Review and Pricing. Business.com. https://www.business.com/reviews/zoho-crm/

Main, Kellie (2024). Best CRM Software of 2024. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/best-crm-software/.

This profile follows the average Spotify customer persona, an individual that utilizes the software on a daily basis for preparing for work, doing their work, on their commutes, and even for leisure on the weekends.

 

P.S. Sorry the size is so small, I keep trying to enlarge the picture but it’s not showing up on the website. 🙁

In today’s ever-changing digital landscape, businesses must find ways to adapt to the widespread use of the internet among consumers today; it could even be said that the success of a business in modern-day standards depends on their online presence and outreach to consumers across the web–through their business website. The success of a website is determined by several interconnected key practices: the User Experience (UX), blog posts, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and overall website design. A business’ website design is crucial in determining their success as a brand; the practice of good website design can yield beneficial results, positively impacting the overall user experience (UX) of consumers that visit their website. Additionally, website design and UX are also closely intertwined with SEO principles and are positively correlated, meaning that the practice of good SEO principles thusly improves overall UX and website design.

When customers visit a business’ website, their interaction with different areas on the website defines their UX. UX is an idea that encapsulates every single interaction and experience a user has on a website, whether it be through physically interacting with product pages and other links on the website, or just how the website is perceived at first glance. It is imperative that businesses strategize the best user experience design for their consumer-base to increase company revenue and also encourage repeat customers to their website. Businesses can provide a greater UX in many different ways. The main improvement that businesses can incorporate to improve the UX is to create a consistent user-centric design, which entails extensive market research to determine their target-consumer’s wants and needs (The Red & Yellow Creative School of Business, 2022). Keeping a website interface simple and easy to navigate enhances usability of site users and can promote a more autonomous navigation experience for users, wherein the website doesn’t overwhelm visitors or cause confusion to new customers. Businesses can also ensure their website design doesn’t hinder loading speed within different menus and pages by designing a user interface (UI) that isn’t too resource-heavy, and also hosting servers that are within reasonable proximity to the business’ target customers (Forbes, 2023). However, this balance is easier said than done to maintain, as aesthetically pleasing websites can slow down the UX while websites designed too simply achieves high speeds at the expense of products and pages being displayed with clear messages.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is another factor that plays into the UX. SEO aims to optimize a website to achieve the highest ranking on a search engine result page, like Google or Bing (The Red & Yellow Creative School of Business, 2022). Though each search engine varies in their algorithm in determining which page receives higher display priority in relativity to the consumer’s search terms, good SEO practice entails using keywords that are relevant to both a business’ products in addition to their consumers, and keeping content on the website up to date as the market changes (Australian Government, 2024). This can be done by monitoring trends across the internet, with prime examples being news outlets or social media content creators. With effective SEO, the consumer UX is augmented, as consumers are able to more readily find information on websites and brands most relevant to their interests. Finally, blog posts, or blogging, is an excellent method of information sharing that businesses can utilize to show expertise in their industry to maintain returning customers, as well as introducing new ones to their brand. Blogging also ties into SEO, as keywords used by the blog post’s author can boost a business’ website higher on the search priority list and increasing traffic on the website. Good blogging practice entails consistent and relevant posts to ensure that returning consumers have a reason to return to the website. Additionally, businesses can create blogs that are interactive through means such as a comment thread to facilitate personal connections to their consumer-base (Business.com, 2024). 

Overall, technological advancements and the internet have enabled businesses to experiment and implement a new means to maintain their outreach to consumers–both new and old. However, there are many factors to consider when assembling a website that maintains relevancy and customer-satisfaction; the user experience is one of the most important factors to consider and, if users are happy with their experience, businesses are also kept happy with an increased website traffic rate, high profitability, and increased brand awareness. 

References:

Australian Government (2024). Improve Your Search Engine Rankings. Australian Government | Business. https://business.gov.au/online-and-digital/business-website/improve-your-search-engine-rankings.

Forbes (2023). 10 Key Rules to Improve Your Website’s User Experience. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/councils/theyec/2023/08/08/10-key-rules-to-improve-your-websites-user-experience/.

Post, Jennifer (2024). Small Business Blogging: 6 Reasons It Works and Tips for Execution. Business.com. https://www.business.com/articles/small-business-blogging-5-reasons-it-works-and-tips-for-execution/.

The Red & Yellow Creative School of Business (2022). eMarketing. Red and Yellow Holdings (Pty) Ltd.