Marketing on the Internet

by Jan Zimmerman

Published by Maximum Press, 2000
Paperback, 476 pages
ISBN: 1-885068-36-0

This best-selling book has just appeared in its fifth edition in as many years and offers a good all-round reference to internet marketing techniques. It follows the familiar style of a Maximum Press book, providing a well-structured layout, bullet-point summaries, numerous web references and screenshots, a useful appendix and index, plus an ‘exclusive’ website for book buyers where elements of the content are kept updated online.

Jan Zimmerman has written a very practical book for Internet marketers and two aspects in particular make this title stand out from some of the other general web marketing titles that we have reviewed. Firstly, she includes sample checklists and action plans to help guide the user through the stages of planning a website, selecting a web designer and marketing your presence on the web. These are valuable to first-time users who need a quick reference to all the potential issues that need to be considered.

Secondly, the book is valuable for both novice and experienced web marketers because it includes numerous graphs and charts reporting on research related to the issues covered. So, if you like your marketing approach to be analytical and supported by hard facts, this book is for you. Peppered throughout this book are such stats as: what online users do and which type of sites they visit; the main uses of corporate websites; the factors driving repeat usage of websites; the most common complaints of web users; plus many others that add solid support to the approaches outlined in the book.

The book includes a valuable chapter on using multimedia effectively on a website, plus advice on legal issues and privacy policies. The final section of the book uses a selection of sample websites as prime examples of sites that achieve some of the different objectives featured in the book, such as e-commerce sites, ‘stickiness’, effective online marketing techniques and excellent customer service.

This is a wide-ranging book that covers a lot of web marketing issues in some depth, supported by good examples, powerful research data and convincing arguments. If you’re planning a new website, don’t do anything until you’ve read this book!

Further information: http://www.maxpress.com