Web-Marketing Assignment No. 1

Good day! Today, I'm going to blog about Web-based consumers services and Business websites. I have here two examples for you to better understand what those two types of websites are. Isohunt and OnSale are two popular websites on the web but they differ in the services that they give to their visitors.

IsoHunt.com and OnSale.com: Which is which?

Let's start!

1. Isohunt: a Web-based Service Website

Isohunt is a bitTorrent search engine for peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing. It is just like a typical search engine (eg. Google) but the results are filtered for it will only show searches that are filed as torrents. On isoHunt Lite you get ranking by constantly updated seeds/leechers and ratings, statistics specific for BitTorrent, in addition to search relevancy and age. It allows the users to type in keywords that best suits what they are looking for and in return, shows the torrents that are more likely the users are searching for. The website also provides the users a chat box where they can interact with one another. This is also a way for them to stay longer on the page and increase their satisfaction rate.

The viewers pay them through the use of keywords. Because of this, Isohunt will know what are the most searched torrents or what torrents are still not available but has many searches. The website also let the users contribute to the Isohunt community wherein they could post their own torrents so other users can use them. Through this, the users help the website improve.

In addition, Isohunt makes money through the advertisement spaces on the left and right side of the website where advertisers may choose where would they want their advertisement to be placed. Since the target visitors of this website is the general public (because all people who are very much active online could all be searching for torrents), the advertisements are not filtered and can be about everything under the sun. There is also a donation button at the right side of the site wherein anyone can donate for the betterment of the site.

2. OnSale: an Business (E-commerce) Website

OnSale is one great example of an e-commerce website. E-commerce websites are those that doesn't need human intervention. By just looking at its interface, you will immediately know that this is a website made for people who are searching and planning to by computers, electronic gadgets and other IT accessories.

E-commerce websites have these common design element of having products flashed with big prices and the button "check-out now" or "shop now!" Through this huge buttons and prices, it is able to encourage customers to buy immediately.

It has a simple layout which makes it easy for the visitors to browse at the site. There are also a lot of up selling for the buyers for them to have a lot of options where to find their desired products. And also, there are suggestions if ever they also want to purchase more items. This is a way to increase the buyer's satisfaction rate. There is also the use of social networking sites and bookmarking sites to promote OnSale.com. There are no advertisements on this page so we will therefore assume that the website has only one way of making money and this is through the commission they get from the products they sell.