Computing/IDC Executive Briefing: Experts warn of Web bandwagon

Organisations considering setting up a Web site should approach the issue in the same way they would any other business strategy - gently, with a pilot project and a genuine business case.

This was the advice given to around 100 delegates by the panel of Web experts at the latest Computing/IDC Executive briefing.

Last week's London event about Web Sites was held in association with IBM's RS/6000 division. The half-day session covered the dos and don'ts of setting up Web sites, offered advice to delegates on Web page design, maintenance and security, and examined IBM's experience with the Olympics Web site.

Colin Lansley, special project director at publishing house Conde Nast, which produces and maintains Web pages for clients as well as its own publications, said the most important aspect of setting up a Web page was to ensure that the objectives for doing so were valid.

'The first question we ask our clients is "Why do you want a Web site?" There must be clear objectives, and if there are, the next stage is to get management support for the project,' he said.

Fellow panelist at the conference Julian Patterson, editor of VNU New Media, added that it makes commercial sense to start off with low key projects. 'Companies should start small, and choose pilot schemes carefully.

Also, make sure that people who access the page know that it is a pilot scheme, otherwise, when there are problems or delays, they will not come back.'

Delegates were told that there is, as yet, no guaranteed success story for organisations setting up Web sites, because the medium is so new.

Patterson said: 'The Web is at the same stage as when TV first started.

No-one really knows how best to use the medium, because no-one yet understands its potential.

'We should be looking at ways in which we can find less, but more effective, information. Unlike TV, which assumes very large audiences, there is nothing wrong with having a small Web target audience.'

One of the constant chores in running a successful Web site is to keep it up to date, John Barnes, publisher of VNU New Media told delegates. 'Having created a Web site, one reaches the Web's vicious circle, where the number of hits have to be maintained to justify its costs, and this means updating the pages constantly,' he said. 'Keeping the pages interesting and up to date are big problems.'

One of the most successful Web sites to date was for the Atlanta Olympic Games. 'The Olympic Web site was the biggest single event on the Internet,' claimed Jose-Luis Iribarren, manager of Olympics and sport Internet systems for IBM UK. 'Over the 17 days of the games there were 189 million hits and 34 million pages were seen.'

Events such as the Olympic Games lend themselves well to a Web site, delegates heard, as the daily events mean the results are constantly updated, and multimedia images of events keep users entertained. But the Olympic Web site was also a good example of how successful electronic commerce on the Web could be, selling 14,000 event tickets worth $1.3m (#793,000) over a week through its pages.

Figuring out how to make the most of the Web as a new communications medium inevitably means that some Web sites will fail to meet their objectives. IDC has stated that there are currently as many as three Web pages to every Web user. At the briefing, delegates were told that of the 175 Fortune 500 companies with Web sites at the end of 1995, as many as 20%, or 35 of them, no longer maintain Web pages.

Jonathan Steel, a director at IDC, said: 'Most of those dead Web sites were static, and interactive features are now replacing them. The top 20 in the Fortune 500 companies are now using a good mixture of text and graphics, showing that good design experience is crucial - 75% use interactive sites and nearly 50% have a diversion or entertainment section to keep people coming back.'

Patterson said: 'A Web site can allow you to recycle information and expertise in creative new ways. While it is unlikely to make money, it can create the right conditions for you to make money, and it can certainly improve communications with your customers. Don't expect a Web site to make money or revolutionise your business.'

He added: 'The overriding factor is to make sure there is a business case for setting up a Web site. After all, the Web is only another channel.'