FREE ESSAY ON INTERNET MARKETING - ANALYSIS OF SEVERAL WEB SITES

INTERNET MARKETING - ANALYSIS OF SEVERAL WEB SITES

Over the past few years, with the help of modern technology, people have obtained access
to virtually anything they desire at the simple click of a mouse button. Now, information
can be accessed through various websites without having to visit a library, go to a
store, a friend's or relative's home, or even travel agencies. The Internet is for all
people- regardless of age, race, ethnic background, class, or religion. 
When it comes to marketers and which strategies will be most effective and efficient to
become a successful website, every product in the market is geared towards a specific
target group, regularly based on demographics. Whether it is where a person lives, their
marital status, age, or occupation, marketers try to target one particular area where
they feel that their product will be benefited the most and where profits will be most
generated for the business. 
One particular area that has been expanding not only in website visitations but also in
new website formations is the senior citizen age group. Now, seniors are the fastest
growing audience on the Internet. What is more interesting is the fact that they put
their money where their "mouse" is. This age group's frequent use of the Internet is
absolutely amazing and unbelievable. There are hundreds and hundreds of websites designed
to be most suitable or more geared for this target group. The websites are specifically
designed to meet the needs of older adults about the ages of 60 and above, and
grandparents. It does not steer towards a certain economic or religious class.
The majority of these websites provide much information on healthcare, health issues that
affect them, relationships, money, news, entertainment, and childcare. 
Part1B- Competitive Analysis
Under the top 10 most popular sites for "www.seniorcitizens.com", I chose the top four
websites to analyze the areas in order to compare and contrast where www.seniorgold.com
is strong and where it needs some work. 
The first site is called www.senior.com. Like any website, it will have many strengths
and weaknesses. Allow me to discuss this website's strengths first. The page was
downloaded quite easily, with no error messages to refresh the page. Overall, the designs
of the pages are colorful and have very clear graphics. The text is very clear without
being too wordy and misleading. The home page also has a search engine that allows the
user to quickly find what he/she is looking for. In addition, it has a large variety of
topics to choose from with easily accessible features. 
This website does contain a vertical and horizontal scroll bar on its homepage which
makes the first impression for users a tedious one. It becomes very frustrating when
someone has to keep scrolling up and down to search any information. The contents on the
homepage of a website should be clear, brief, and concise allowing you to link to it if
more information is what is desired of the user. Another weakness would include the
arrangement of topics on the homepage. They begin with serious news that then descends
down to tacky, irrelevant links. Although the content of the text itself is clear, it
looks all jumbled up, busy, and confusing. In order to be simple, and to the point, the
topics should become more condensed, including the amount of links it has. 
Compared to www.seniorgold.com, this website is more visually appealing to the eye. It
appears to be more youthful through the use of cartoon characters and bold color
schemes.
The second website, www.elderweb.com, has tab links at the top of the homepage which
allows the user to click on the tab which is relevant without having to search endless
rows of subcategories to see which one applies to their information search. There are no
distracting side links that allows the user to choose to read the information or simply
click on where they wish to go on the site. Unlike www.senior.com, the page is very
consecutive with the stories and features. The current headlines are brief and to the
point. And, each headline gives the user a good sense of what each story is about without
getting too wordy or redundant. There aren't any banner ads that enable the user to
concentrate more on his/her search without being distracted. 
One feature that I felt was quite important (especially since it is geared toward an
older age group) was a button right on the home page that says, "Increase Text Size".
This is one feature that I had never seen on any of the other websites for senior
citizens. This is an important feature because, unfortunately, there are many senior
citizens that do have visual impairments, and by using this feature, it facilitates their
use of the website. 
A weakness that this website had was that it contained the same dull format and style
throughout the whole website. The uninteresting graphics were all the same no matter
which link you clicked on to view. The use of mute colors did not make this website very
visually stimulating or appealing. This site also had a scroll bar, which, again, made
the layout of the page seem very busy and unorganized. This was the first senior website
that did not have a search engine located anywhere. So, if you wanted some information,
regardless of how consecutive or concise the text and layout may appear, you would not be
able to simply type in what you were looking for to search. 
Compared to www.seniorgold.com, Elderweb has a very dull appearance. It looks very plain
and old fashioned. It seems as though this site is geared more towards seniors that have
a more traditional or conservative way of thinking. They prefer simplicity (i.e. light,
dull colors, same graphics, etc) over complexity (i.e. bold/bright colors, cartoons,
modern graphics, etc). 
The third website, www.thirdage.com, I would have to say is the best website for senior
citizens-conservative and avant-garde. It contains a great color scheme of white and a
soft green with no overwhelming or any dull graphic design. It does not have too many
divertive banner ads. The search engine appears on every screen for easy access. It has a
modern, strong homepage that is visually appealing with more interesting topics and
subcategories geared more towards advice and different lifestyle levels. 
This page does have a scroll down bar which could have been easily prevented by filling
in the right side with that information. The whole right side is completely blank. This
should have been used to condense the homepage without having to scroll down.
Editorially, this page is not set up well. It has many scattered features, which makes
everything look disjointed. The pictures all depict a youthful, healthy person.
Obviously, the illustrations, which seem unrealistic, are not very reflective of their
target audience. 
Measured up to www.seniorgold.com, this website is more appealing visually. The topics
are not as condensed or as easily accessible as that of the one referenced above. 
And lastly, www.1travel.com, is the website which I felt was least relevant to senior
citizens. It may have special discounts for them, however, on the homepage, it is not
mentioned at all that any senior citizen discounts exist. This means that if there are
any discounts, the user has to go searching for it. It is not easily accessible from it's
main page. It does not indicate at all that this site is geared toward senior citizens.
It is another website to make travel/car/hotel reservations. Why not visit any other
travel websites that could probably give better bargains?
A good feature on this website includes easy search methods (several search engines for
each category). Also, the layout is immediate, it is in your face and very easy to gain
access to. It contains excellent searching options and subcategories along with any
questions with regard to the user's travel needs. The layout of it has very basic colors-
not too bold, yet not too boring either and there aren't many banner ads in this page. 
This website does contain vertical and horizontal scroll bars. The graphical layout
overwhelms the text. The site seems to appear very busy, too wordy, or too much text
perhaps. The text is also not very concise it seems scattered everywhere and is extremely
redundant with several topics (ie FAQ's, etc). 
Part1C-Site Analysis
Seniorgold.com makes information searching very obtainable through the use of its
shortcuts, word searches and options located on the left of the homepage layout. The
layout is very colorful. The drop down menus are very resourceful in enabling the user to
find what he/she is looking for without having to search the whole website to find it. 
However, this site has a few weaknesses as well. One includes the busy-looking and
visually unclear graphics. The site looks too full of activity with banner ads whose
color schemes clash with the site's design. Another important thing to note about this
site is that it is outdated! I couldn't help but notice that on the home page of this
site it still had the link to: "Thanksgiving Preparation". We're in December!!! Websites
that are not updated lose the interest and use of their web visitors. It is crucial for
web page designers to keep their websites up-to-date with any new events. Users may see
this and see it a site deficiency. 
Part2A-Drive More Traffic To This Site
I would recommend that the website changed its design layout. It should have a color
scheme that compliments the text. The use of the drop down menus is very clear and
concise. However it should concentrate on condensing the home page (it's three pages
long!). 
One way of driving traffic to the site is to create banner ads for other senior citizen
sites, as well as for nursing home sites, parenting sites, travel sites, and recreational
activity sites. What could also be done is to pay major Internet servers such as America
Online, Yahoo, MSN, etc. for keyword bidding, 
Part 2B-Create A Stronger Community Among WWW.Seniorgold.Com Site Members
I believe that this web site has a strong community as long as the above changes are
made. This website does provide recreational activities such as casino resort trips and
other activities that they could consider joining. Another addition may include the
access to play games. For example, Bingo is a recreational game that senior citizens are
notorious for. 
Another feature that I believe is important in creating a strong community is the chat
rooms. Senior citizens, since retirement or death of a loved one, feel a little lonely at
times. I feel this is a great opportunity for them to communicate with other people
without spending money.
This website does have chat rooms. My experience of trying to enter a chat room, became
well, quite discouraging. Under "Directory Word Search" I typed in "chat". Once I got to
the next page, it did not take me to any chat rooms or choice from various ones. Instead,
it took me to a page where I could find out where my roots come from!! After scrolling
down almost to the bottom of the page, I found a link to chat and clicked on it. I never
reached a chat room. The website needs to create word searches that facilitate the
search, not make it more difficult. In addition to chat rooms, I think it should develop
a variety of rooms where people can interconnect discussing similar hobbies such as golf,
or crocheting, etc. 
Senior citizens need a sense of community and what best way to do it than by helping them
find other people who feel the same!