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Archive for Web 2.0

IBM Software Group | Not keeping up with the Joneses

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (2)
Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

A circa 2008 site that missed the memos on Web 2.0, 3.0 and social media

I was surprised at the IBM Software Group zone’s performance in our latest siteIQ evaluations. Once upon a time, this site ranked first among all enterprise software comers by virtue of its huge portfolio of content & features, and competitive usability scores.

Fade out two years later and the story is much different. This site dropped to third among the 5 enterprise software sites we study and stands in 11th place on the siteIQ eBusiness Index. (You can download a free IBM Software Group scoring summary here).

Today, CA.com and Oracle.com are the sites to watch. Between the two, I vote for CA.com. Read More→

Comments (2)
Categories : Social Media & Social Networks, Usability, Web 2.0, Website Rankings
Tags : ibm software group, Social Media, Web 2.0

The new CA.com | One step forward, three steps back

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (1)
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

The new CA.com has retained its powerful “snacking” architecture but missed the Web 2.0 & social media memos

In case you haven’t noticed, CA.com recently launched a new site. As is our custom, we’ve delayed our deep-drive about six weeks to let the CA.com team find snafus and work out the bugs. Now it’s time to put the site through its paces. Here’s our Cliff’s Notes analysis: (siteIQ clients can read the complete analysis here. (log in required)

Pros

CA.com has retained its product marketing “snacking architecture,” which is one of the most powerful in the business. If you haven’t seen this in action, pick any CA product and follow the bouncing ball.

CA.com is one of few sites that know how to craft marketing content as a set of questions that speak to visitor objectives. If you need inspiration, CA.com is the place to start.

CA.com’s new design is consistent across the site; not many page owners missed the memo. CA.com is yet another example of the iterative design strategy we discussed in a recent post.

CA.com makes great use of tab-top organization on its product level pages (shades of Sun.com, yikes!). Overall, a tab-top tour de force.

Neutral

CA.com’s play on mega-menus brings it into the fold, but these menus are much less impressive than those deployed by Cisco.com and Juniper.net. Close, but no cigar.

Cons

CA.com just couldn’t resist the “eye candy” factor on its home page. In this case, it’s those revolving boxes that use type fonts that are a Mr. Magoo moment at any screen size – and whirl at the drop of a hat. Here, CA.com gets a B+ for visual impact – and D- for usability and relevance. Read More→

Comments (1)
Categories : Design, POV (point of view), Social Media & Social Networks, Web 2.0, Website Launches
Tags : ca.com, Social Media, Web 2.0, website launches

Why social networks, communities, and Web 2.0 aren’t B2B shotguns

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (1)
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

Social network, communities and Web 2.0 aren't shotgunsIt’s time to stop fiddling around and apply them where they matter

The French have a wonderful phrase “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”. It’s an elegant way to say that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

That’s certainly the case when you consider the complex B2B buying process. Since our last update in 2006, this process remains the same. It’s still dictated by task forces and committees who must wade through 17 steps to get to the finish line. Participants are still purchase influencers, rather than the decision makers companies crave. Websites still influence only 5 steps in the buying process.

But that doesn’t mean that everything remains the same. Read More→

Comments (1)
Categories : Communities, eSelling, Marketing, Social Media & Social Networks, Strategy, Web 2.0
Tags : B2B buying, B2b selling, Communities, eSelling, Marketing, podcast, Social Media, social networks, Strategy, video, Web 2.0, webinar

The new siteIQ.net – Every Web team’s nightmare

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (0)
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

We launched a new Website this week. It has plenty of bells and whistles and some cool technology that I’ve always admired on other sites. After the launch – and the requisite champagne toast – something smacked me upside the head.

This site is an example of an important inflection point.

Why? Because we conceived, designed & built this site in about 3 weeks. We didn’t have an interactive agency. A horde of programmers. Consultants. Contractors. Just us.

The reason this was doable is because our new site is built on an open-source WordPress platform, a template we tweaked and improved, plus an bazillion readily available plug-ins that nixed the need to hand-craft advanced features, bells and whistles — and important management tools (such as SEO optimization). Instead of getting out the coding book, we spent our time deciding which sets of features and capabilities addressed our visitors’ needs.

Oh, and one other thing. Designs, layouts, color palettes and cool doodads can be changed at the drop of a hat. Site management is a snap – and so is the document management system. Read More→

Comments (0)
Categories : Design, Strategy
Tags : Design, SEO, tipping point, Web 2.0, website design, website development

Mega and Fat Become the Fashions of the Day

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (4)
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

Click on this graph to see a lightbox of all best practices in this post

Five Websites are setting the pace

It’s interesting how something starts to hit a tipping point on the IT Web. Mega-menus are one of these designs – and fat footers aren’t far behind them.

In the mega-menu race, there are two main strategies in play, and some good and best practices worth considering.

On the strategy side, we have two basic approaches in evidence these days: mega-menus targeted at straight navigation – and those that add product marketing, corporate marketing and call to action dimensions.  In every case, there are great examples of both approaches on the IT Web.  Here’s some places to start: Read More→

Comments (4)
Categories : Design, Navigation, Usability, Web 2.0
Tags : brocade.com, dell.com, Design, emc.com, fat footer, hp.com, insight.com, juniper.net, mega-menu, microsoft.com, Navigation, newegg.com, novell.com, Usability, Web 2.0

Why IBM Software, SAS, EMC, Intel, Brocade & Deloitte made the cut

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (0)
Monday, February 1st, 2010

This week we started our Q1 evaluations of 23 Websites, plus additional sites selected by our clients for comparison.

We’ve mixed up the siteIQ eBusiness Index for 2010. In some cases the decision was based on eliminating Websites that haven’t improved over the past year and don’t provide any good or best practices worth tracking. In other cases, sites have fallen off our list because they don’t exist anymore. That would be EDS.com which was integrated into HP.com — and Sun.com which went off the airwaves last week.

In both cases, these sites are a loss to anyone who cares about good and great practices. Don’t bother to follow them to their new homes. Their presence inside of their new parent’s sites is nothing to write home about.

Here’s some more about the new sites added to our roster – and why we’re singing “auld lang syne” to others. (If you are a siteIQ client you can read more about what we expect from these and other leading sites in 2010 in our new executive brief in the siteIntelligence Research Center). Read More→

Comments (0)
Categories : Branding, Communities, Design, eSelling, POV (point of view), Strategy, Web 2.0
Tags : accenture.com, adobe.com, best practice, brand, brocade.com, Communities, customization, deloitte.com, Design, developer, ebusiness index, ecommerce, eds.com, emc.com, good practice, hp.com, ibm global services, ibm software group, intel.com, Marketing, Navigation, sas.com, Search, Strategy, sun.com, Web 2.0, website design, website rankings

Online Communities: Fasten Your Seat Belts

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (3)
Monday, December 14th, 2009

Web 2.0 and 3.0 can and will deliver real value to site operators and their visitors and prospects in 2010. Communities? Not so much.

Recently, I presented how we’re defining Web 2.0, Web 3.0 and communities to several clients, including our POV on their futures in 2010. It’s interesting that these three areas are finally moving beyond all the hype and bright and shiny objects that blinded most Web teams to their real potential last year.

Web 2.0 and 3.0 are finally coalescing into two ends of an important spectrum. Web 2.0 is all about content and information – providing these assets in new forms that make them easier for visitors to digest, use and share. Web 3.0 is actually about changing the interface and how users access these new generations of content. Simply put, it’s about creating adaptive sites that intuit or know why the visitor is there.

From my perspective, Web 2.0 and 3.0 can and will deliver real value to site operators and the visitors and prospects they are trying to woo and win in 2010. Communities? Not so much.

In fact, our in-depth evaluations show that most communities represent a high risk business strategy for companies. Why? Let me count the ways. Read More→

Comments (3)
Categories : Communities, Social Media & Social Networks, Strategy, Web 2.0
Tags : Communities, developer, risk, Social Media, Strategy, Support, Web 2.0, Web 3.0

Twitter for Business: Lessons Learned

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (9)
Monday, October 12th, 2009

If you are tweeting for business, a split personality and a less is more strategy works best.

We’ve received several pings from readers who wanted to hear more based on Kenna’s post about tweeting for business. After three months in the Twitter box, I’m ready to weigh in on my observations — and share four pieces of advice from the peanut gallery.

This isn’t for sissies. Unless you’re a social butterfly by nature, business tweeting gets in the way of your day job. Unfortunately, if you don’t have consistent presence, your company tends to fall off the digital radar. This begs a conundrum worthy of a paraphrase from Hamlet: “Whether ’tis better to have an inconsistent Twitter presence or bag the whole concept?”  For me, the answer lies in the difference between volume and value.

Less is more. Companies that yak ad nauseum creates problems when you are on the receiving side of the Twitter fence. Based on my list of tweeting companies, less would certainly be more. Companies that bombard me with a constant stream of disconnected tweets makes it difficult for me to figure out what really matters to the company – which leads me to my third tweeting gripe.

Tell me something I want to know. The business Twitter landscape is becoming a vast wasteland where companies push “Google-esque” links instead of sharing knowledge or information in a teeny package. I’d rather know, for example, that a company received an award or launched a new product, than being inundated with links to general purpose articles and stories I don’t have time to explore. For business, tweeting should be all about creating the company’s brand one drip at a time, not proving that you can make it through a Harvard Business Review without going into a coma. Simply put, when business is the issue, your personal epiphany doesn’t create my need to know. This, in turn, leads me to my last peanut gallery entry.

Split personalities work best. The most effective Tweeters are those who have a business and personal persona – and keep them separate. This allows me to keep up with the business side of their world, and eliminates getting alerts when their 3 year old is successfully poddy trained. Sure, I appreciate that this is a milestone in their life. For me, too much information.

OK, I could change my opinions after another six months wading through the Twitter landscape — but I wouldn’t hold my breath.  That said, I’ll check in later as behaviors play out. After all, the Web is nothing if not a moving target.

Comments (9)
Categories : Branding, POV (point of view), Social Media & Social Networks, Strategy, Web 2.0
Tags : brand, Social Media, social network, Strategy, Twitter, Twitter for business, Web 2.0

So much for conventional wisdom

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (3)
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

And what about the industry’s largest players — IBM.com and HP.com? Well color us amazed.

When we decided to take a close look at leading IT communities, the conventional wisdom went like this.

Sun.com, Dell.com, and Oracle.com would rank at the top of the charts, HP.com would fall somewhere in the middle, and most newcomers (like Symantec Connect, EMC, Citrix and the like) would fall to the bottom of the list.

We weren’t quite sure where IBM.com’s newer communities would fall, but knowing IBM, we knew there would be a twist in the story.

From our perspective, the thinking was perfectly logical.

  • Sun and Dell pioneered communities on the IT Web, and they’ve had years to flesh out their content & capabilities —and learn from early mistakes.
  • Oracle has long been a leader in developing community award programs and its Mix community has been an interesting trendsetter for the past 18 months.
  • HP.com’s massive industry footprint and strong consumer roots would surely deliver at least a moderately effective catalog of communities.
  • IBM always measures twice and cuts once before making these kinds of bold online commitments – and then throws in a ringer to create a bit of competitive chaos.

As for the rest, we figured that most of these communities would be crafted out of murky objectives or be “Franken-communities” lashed together out of pieces and parts observed on other sites.

When the results were in, conventional wisdom turned out to be dead wrong.

  • SAP.com and Intel.com — both built on totally different platform approaches — tie for first place, proving that architecture isn’t the key to building and operating world-class communities.
  • Sun.com ranks second overall based on its massive size, but delivers truly dreadful usability results.
  • Symantec.com and Dell.com round out the top five with better than average performances and interesting lessons worth learning.

And what about the industry’s largest players — IBM.com and HP.com? Well color us amazed. When 429 criteria were evaluated and 35 usability issues were considered, IBM.com’s over-engineered offering lands in seventh place – but delivers an important paradigm shift that shouldn’t be missed (the twist) — and HP.com’s current community chaos ranks dead last.

Comments (3)
Categories : Communities, Social Media & Social Networks, Strategy, Usability, Website Rankings
Tags : brand communities, Communities, Social Media, Web 2.0

Intel.com delivers a stunning new product marketing best practice

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (0)
Thursday, May 22nd, 2008

If you haven’t already noticed, the past two months have been notable for sites upping the community and audiencing antes—and finding new and innovative ways to communicate with users. We’re speaking, of course, about HP.com’s new home page which launched last month.  Now you can add Intel.com to the list.

The new Intel.com allows visitors to navigate into the site using task-based Work and Play metaphors.

The new Intel.com allows visitors to navigate into the site using task-based Work and Play metaphors.

The new Intel.com allows visitors to navigate into the site using task-based Work and Play metaphors. Like HP.com, it’s pretty hard to miss the new Intel.com. The changes start with a brand new global page that brings a couple of new wrinkles to the party. Unlike other global home pages that provide a list of country links, Intel.com allows visitors to select their country location and instantly navigate into different parts of the Intel site. Here, Intel.com uses a combined task & audiencing metaphor: Work (read: business), Play (read: consumer and gamers) and About Intel (read: corporate info). Interactive fly-outs provide snippets about what’s in each zone. Add the classic links at the bottom of the page, plus a few others (jobs, RSS, investor relations, press), and you have a simple & easy to use global front door.

The Play Zone Delivers a Marketing Tour de Force

Once inside the site, it’s pretty obvious that the centerpiece of this update is Intel.com’s new “Play” zone, which is optimized for consumers. Read More→

Comments (0)
Categories : Design
Tags : best practice, consumer, intel.com, product marketing, small business, Web 2.0, website design
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Marty Gruhn on Twitter

  • New case study on the way: The IBM SWG Website team is executing its cult of personality strategy to perfection. http://t.co/YuBBODwr about 15 hours ago from web ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • Smart moves. IBM uses "Connect" tab 2 drive visitors 2 high value social media venues & LinkedIn groups to start conversations with IBMers 05:20:29 PM January 13, 2012 from web ReplyRetweetFavorite
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