13 June 2007

Businesses must have a successful and effective website if their online sections are to compete in the marketplace, one expert has warned.

Filipe Serralheiro, Application Performance Management Consultant at South Africa's Compuware, said that transactional websites should be viewed as shop fronts for companies attempting to do business on the web.

"The tools used to measure performance, accessibility and - most importantly - user experience are therefore vital to any business decision maker," he told Bizcommunity.

However, Mr Serralheiro claimed, following complaints of poor user experience just six per cent of European retailers would take action to rectify the problems.

The expert said that the ability to identify and correct issues on a transactional website is vital to a firm's capacity to make money form the portal.

According to recent research from Hitwise, one-quarter of e-commerce sites in the US are now accessed through search engines, thereby potentially making usability, accessibility and search engine optimisation increasingly important.

© Adfero Ltd

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