Auction vs. fixed-price Web sites, making online display local, semantic monetization and more
E-COMMERCE
What are the pros and cons of selling on an auction Web site vs. a fi xed-price Web site?
“The pros and cons between selling on an auction e-commerce model and a fixed-price e-commerce model depend largely on a seller’s goal,” says Jeff Hoffman, CEO of Enable Holdings. For example, if a seller is focused more on moving product quickly than the selling price, the auction model is ideal.
However, if a seller is focused more on meeting predefined margins than moving product quickly, the fixed-price model may be a good choice, Hoffman says.
“Good product will eventually sell, but sale date is not guaranteed,” he notes. “We offer two different platforms
— one fixed-price and one auction — because we recognize that different selling goals require different selling platforms, which in turn attract different types of customers.”
DISPLAY
How can I best leverage online display ads to elicit a response from local consumers?
“To effectively deploy display ads on a local level, advertisers must adhere to three simple principles,” says Michael Nasif, director of digital business development at Media Networks Inc. “The first is localized media: Advertisers must implement a localized media schedule.
Forgo the national buy and instead focus on Web sites that are relevant to that market.”
Next is localized creative. “An ad should address [a market’s] needs and the competition in it,” he says.
“Finally, an effective display ad requires a strong call to action. Conditions in every market are unique, necessitating special promotions and sales. Major retailers frequently take this approach to undercut local competition while preserving more sustainable pricing elsewhere.”
DATA
How will semantics change content monetization?
“Semantics ‘crunches’ text to recognize associations between words on a page. This allows ads to be automatically and precisely connected to the page content,” explains James Oppenheim, CMO at Peer39.
The first of three monetization models for this development is targeted advertising, he says. Another is semantic marketing. “Semantic content will be capable of triggering third-party marketing functions,” Oppenheim explains. “Imagine reading a movie review and being able to purchase a digital feed on the same page. With all that rich semantic information floating around, data mining will be a big money maker.” Finally, he says, paid content will make it possible to semantically annotate digital content, allowing unprecedented search capabilities.
Companies can charge a modest fee to grant a rapid and precise digital content search, he explains.
DIGITAL
How do I know if my site is handicapped accessible?
“As the Internet becomes increasingly important in day-to-day life, it’s essential that sites are accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities,” points out Naveed Usman, principle of the Usman Group. “There are a number of tests one can conduct to determine if a site is accessible.”
Some of these tests include validating the site’s HTML and CSS to ensure device independence, checking that there is alternative text for images so that individuals who cannot see images do not miss content, increasing text size to ensure readability, and disabling CSS to determine if the site content is still readable and meaningful to visitors, he says.
