MKTG 498 Class Notes Page

Initial Four Stages of
Web Site Development

Launch Stage

Domain Name Registration
What problems arise when you don't register your domain name quickly? Remember the web search engine we looked at last week, Alta Vista? Where do the following links take you? What is the product of each of these sites? What confusion do you see arising here?

Domain Name Availibility
How do you know if a domain name is available? Check out InterNIC's free domain name search service. If it is available, they will prompt you to buy it immediatly.

To register your domain name, go to InterNIC. There is a $50 annual fee per name. If you live in Asia, you can also register domain names with APNIC, the Asia Pacific Region Internet Registry.

Strategically Select an Appropriate Name
In choosing a domain name, consider the following. Go to Yahoo!. Type in General Interest Magazines. What do you notice when you see your query results?

Choosing an Internet Access Provider (IAP)
Search the Yahoo Internat Access Provider list.

The IAP I use for Cougar-Net is Zilker.net. For information on this specific IAP, send an e-mail message to info@zilker.net and an infobot will respond quickly to you. Note that Zilker.net is located in Austin, Texas. As long as you have a connection to the Internet, it doesn't really matter where your IAP is located. A local IAP always offers good advantages, but if they don't offer the services you need, you may need to look elsewhere.

Repository Stage

Visit the JMU home page. What information do you find here?

Link Stage

Extensive Link Strategy
Check out the AJR Newslink site. There are links to more than 3,000 publications.
For a jump station of interest to Internet Marketers, check out the Mouse Tracks home page.

Wilson Internet Services uses an extensive link strategy and is very successful at generating both traffic and business.

Frequent Link Strategy
For an example of this strategy, check out The Adventures in Crime and Space mystery and science fiction bookstore.

Infrequent, Directed Link Strategy
Go to the Yahoo! web site. Type in cars in the box (note that the banner ad changes to a company in the automotive industry). After scrolling down through the site, you notice that Yahoo! also has links to competing search engines. Why would Yahoo! want to do this?

For another example, go to the Cougar Sports Magazine Online. All of the links to other pages are directly related to its topic.

No Link Strategy
With this strategy, you do not provide any free links to external Web pages. Some examples of this strategy include Walt Disney and Amazon Books. Note that Amazon Books doesn't even link to the fairly extensive positive publicity it has received!

"Cool" Stage