Technology TransactionsWomen Roar on the Internet: Is Your Site Ready?
On-line buying by women is up across the board. Are you ready to serve this
growing demographic with a women-friendly site?
Whether they are purchasing books, toys, or homes, women shoppers on-line
are up by over 308 percent as of 1998. Over 70 percent of buying decisions are
made by women. The majority of AOL subscribers, numbering about 17 million, are
women. According to market observer Acxiom/DataQuick, women from Baltimore to
Georgia are gaining numbers as home buyers, accounting for as many as 43.1 of
home buyers in certain markets. Statistics such as these indicate the
importance of attracting and keeping this important demographic on your Web
site. What do you need to do?
Keep the Action Moving
According to World Research, the three most common reasons for shopping
online were "no crowds" (80%), "ability to shop day or night" (75%), and
"freedom from traffic and parking" (70%) says net observer Annette Hamilton. But, she points out, users
complained that 39 percent of sites aren"t user-friendly enough. As the cure,
Hamilton advises that you keep navigation consumer-friendly and give the user
plenty to jump around. Most shoppers jump between a core group of sites, she
says, so give your customer something to visit besides your beauty page.
Although Hamilton"s advice is geared for retail sites, the principles also
hold true for real estate sites. Have a wide range of links that will cover the
possible areas of interest that your women surfers have. Hamilton suggests that
a good working ratio is that you triple the number of sites that link to yours.
Give Women What They Want
What do women want when they use the computer to go on-line? They want ease
of use. They want the computer, the Internet and individual sites to offer
practical reasons for being on-line so they don"t sacrifice productivity in
other areas of their lives. Time is of the essence.
Women on the Internet tend to use their PCs as learning and entertainment
centers, says DogByte software designer Mark Wong. They tend to think in terms
of occasions and enjoy commemorating the watermarks of life. They teach their
children edutainment programs and are the ones responsible for getting their
children on the Internet.
Women have different decision making styles than men. Research shows that
when women surf the "Net, they visit fewer sites, but they spend longer when
they arrive. So give them something to do! Make sure you have content on your
site which will appeal to women"s concerns.
Develop your site with decision-making points in mind. Women who surf the
net outside of work are interested in homes, the community, children"s welfare,
and improving the quality of life for their families. Put links on your site
that are geared to answering those needs. Women are most likely to want to:
research schools, seek information on trailing spouses and employment, explore
the community, chat with others on-line, look at home improvement options, and
comparison shop for services.
Get the Family Involved
Schools are the number two most requested searches next to homes in the home
search process. You can provide easy access to school information in your area
by offering school information such as School Profile or School Report
on your site. Add information about your community with DataQuick, or by linking to RealEstate.com, formerly Resicom.
Surveys show that women are the most likely ones to teach family members at
home how to use the Internet and to go on-line in the company of another family
member. Yet, most real estate sites do little to address women"s concerns on
their sites.
You can enhance the content on your site to attract this powerful
demographic by including features to give information about children and to
amuse children of all ages. List and put links to teen organizations,
recreation centers, the Parks and Wildlife Department, and any place that has
educational and recreational programs for children in the area you like to
serve. Put them on a map on your site. Have your Web master create overlays on
the map of your area so that your women customers can easily find services that
relate to children.
Think occasions. Put a calendar on your site with links to special events
and holidays in your area. Make it easy for women to dive in and become a part
of the community.
Home Improvement
Have you ever sold an older home in which the buyers said they weren"t
planning any improvements? Of course not. Everyone wants to make a home their
own. As you well know, its the anticipated changes that often make the
sale. The National Retail Hardware Association most recent survey shows that
almost half of all home improvement product purchases are made by women. An
Owens Corning survey shows that
almost 75 percent of women say they are just as good at home improvements as
men.
So be sure to put some links on your site to local resources for home
improvement, gardening, interior design, decorating, etc. Include information
on how to shop for a contractor and what kinds of licensing is required by your
state for contractors to operate. Get information from a variety of sources
such as the National Association of Home
Builders, the National Kitchen and Bath
Association, and Improve.net.
Visit other sites, such as iVillage.com, who do a great job marketing to women for more ideas.