creating a winning e-business second edition understanding web technologies chapter 9

Creating a Winning E-BusinessSecond Edition

Understanding Web Technologies

Chapter 9

Creating a Winning E-Business Second Edition, Chapter 9

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Learning Objectives

Identify Web site and Web page development tools

Explain the importance of Web site testing

Define Web site benchmarking

Describe ways to measure Web site ROI using Web analytics

Identify Web analytics software and service providers


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Web Site and Page Development Tools

Tools a programmer or developer might use to create Web pages– Markup languages

– Text editors

– HTML/XHTML editors

– Web authoring software

– Multimedia tools and scripting languages


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Web Site and Page Development Tools (continued)

Markup languages– Set of rules or tags embedded in an electronic

document

– Describe data or define layout and formatting


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Markup languages (continued)– Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML)

• The ISO standard on which markup languages for the Web are based, including

– Extensible Markup Language (XML)– Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)– Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML)


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Extensible Markup Language (XML)– Streamlined subset of SGML

– Developed in 1996 by the XML Working Group at the W3C

– Used to describe data in documents transmitted over the Web

– XML tags are customizable and can identify any data—the sender and receiver must agree on what the tags represent


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Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)– Originally developed by Tim Berners-Lee

– Created to lay out and format documents for the Web

• Headings, text, tables, bulleted or numbered lists, images, links, and other style issues

– Became an SGML standard in the mid-1990s

– Tags are predefined


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W3C sets the standards for HTML– Adds or deletes predefined tags and properties

– Current standard is version 4.0.1• More strict coding standards• All tags now in opening/closing pairs

<img> and </img>• Tags written in lowercase• Properties (attributes) used to define formatting

being deprecated in favor of cascading style sheets


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Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML)– Reformulation of HTML 4.0.1 into XML

– Current W3C standard for Web pages

– Benefits of XHTML• Stricter coding rules to help eliminate coding errors

and omissions• Better structured documents that display in a browser

more quickly• Flexibility of custom tags


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Basic text editor software– Used to create Web pages by manually typing

tags and their properties as well as text content

– Lacks special features common to word processors

• Windows Notepad


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HTML/XHTML editors– Software designed specifically to create HTML or

XHTML documents

– Special features that make inserting tags and properties easier

• TextPad• BBEdit• HomeSite• HTMLPad


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Web authoring software– WYSIWYG environment

– Similar to creating a document in a word processor• Menu commands• Toolbar buttons

– Automatically inserts HTML/XHTML code as user inserts and formats text, images, links, and other elements


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FrontPage– Similar to working in Microsoft Word

– Familiar working environment that shares common features with Microsoft Office products

– Easy to learn and use

– Inexpensive

– Offers design templates and multiple working views and sub-views


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Dreamweaver– “Industrial strength” version of Web authoring

software used by professionals

– More complex and perhaps more difficult to learn to use for a novice

– WYSIWYG environment

– Multiple working views


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Tools used to create and edit multimedia content– Photoshop and Fireworks

• Create and edit animated GIFs• Draw vector graphics• Edit bitmap (raster) graphics


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Tools used to create and edit multimedia content (continued)– Flash

• Originally designed to provide animation for vector graphics

• Used to create Web page ads or online product tutorials

• Used to create interactive Web sites• Viewer must have Flash player plug-in installed


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Tools used to create and edit multimedia content (continued)– FreeHand

• Graphics design program• Used to plan the layout of any document that contains

graphics– Brochures– Product catalogs– Web pages


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Tools used to create interactive Web page elements– Java applets and servlets and ActiveX controls

• Small programs that execute at the server or in the browser when a Web page is served

• Control interactive Web page elements, such as clickable buttons and scroll bars


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Tools used to create interactive Web page elements (continued)– JavaScript, JScript, PHP, CGI, and ASP

• Scripting or programming languages used to embed run-time instructions in a Web page

– Build Web pages “on the fly” from elements stored in databases

– Update databases with information from Web-based forms– Open pages in pop-up windows


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Web Site Testing

Test all Web page features and functions before they are published to a final destination server– Links work correctly

– Data submitted by visitors on Web-based forms updates databases correctly

– Dynamic or interactive elements function properly


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Web Site Testing(continued)

Web site should also undergo a “stress test”– Ensure that the site can function properly with a

heavy load of customer/visitor activity

– Hire outside testers, if necessary


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Evaluating Web SitePerformance

Measure the performance of a “live” site on a regular basis– Establish measurable performance benchmarks

– Evaluate actual performance against the benchmarks

– Learn from the experience and make necessary changes


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Evaluating Web SitePerformance (continued)

Measure the performance of a “live” site on a regular basis (continued)– Revisit performance benchmarks and make

changes, if necessary

– Begin again


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Benchmarks– Performance-based goals

– Developed by observing actual performance of similar e-businesses or reviewing industry averages

– Typically include sales goals

– Typically include evaluation of visitors’ actions at the Web site


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Web analytics– Used to help determine Web site return on

investment (ROI)

– Identifies and measures visitor behaviors and actions

• Visit or session measures continuous requests for pages by a single visitor’s Web browser for a specific period of time


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Web analytics (continued)• Unique visitors measures the number of individual

visitors to a site• Repeat visitors measures unique visitors who return to

the site• Page views or impressions measures the number of

times a specific page is viewed• Page views per visitor measures how deep a visitor

goes into a site


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Web analytics (continued)• IP addresses identifies origin of unique visitors• Referring URLs indicates how visitors reached the

site• Browser type identifies which browsers visitors are

using• Click-stream analysis shows the path visitors take

from page to page at the site• Conversion rate indicates the rate at which visitors

become customers


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Web analytics (continued)• Shopping cart abandonment indicates how many

customers fail to complete their purchase

Web analytics measurement tools– Server log analysis

– Page tagging


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Chapter Summary

Markup languages are a set of rules or tags that are embedded in an electronic document: SGML, HTML, XML, and XHTML

Text editors are used to manually create Web pages by typing HTML or XHTML tags and properties as well as typing text and inserting pictures.

HTML/XHTML editors provide tools for quickly inserting tags


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Chapter Summary(continued)

Web authoring tools provide a familiar WYSIWYG environment with toolbars and menus

FrontPage, Dreamweaver, Flash, FreeHand, Photoshop, and Fireworks are popular Web authoring and multimedia tools

Java applets, servlets, ActiveX controls, PHP, JavaScript, JScript, CGI, and ASP provide Web page interactivity


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Chapter Summary(continued)

Web pages must be thoroughly tested before they are uploaded to a live Web server

Web site performance must be monitored by setting benchmarks and evaluating actual performance against those benchmarks

Web analytics is a system of Web site performance measures based on server log analysis and page tagging

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