ry displayed phenomenal designs. There were a few small business sites that displayed the same quality as the large companies. Apple, Gateway, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Sun Microsystems, and Xtend Micro Products displayed almost identical marks on the analysis sheet. These sites allow customers to order products online and use a credit card to pay for them. The home pages are simple and usually fit into one screen for easy viewing. The graphics are kept professional and are not too bright or complicated.ANALYSISWeb sites from all ranges of businesses in the computer-selling field were examined to determine what criteria should be used for designing a first-rate Web site.Web Site Features Attractive to CustomersWhen customers visit a web site they want to find what they are looking for quickly. The most common way of doing this is by use of a search function. This feature was only included in one-half of the sites surveyed. This does not mean that it is unpopular; it is a more advanced feature that only the larger businesses can afford. Many customers enjoy the luxury of shopping from home, yet only half of the Web sites display this feature. This is again due to the expense of creating this feature. It is important to show a picture of a product along with its information. Essential Web Site FeaturesThere are many features that every Web site should include. Some of these features include an index on the first page, company logo, easy-to use buttons, topic searching, contact information, online ordering form, order checking and the option to pay with a credit card. These features are important to the success of the web site. Table 1 shows the number of sites that contain these features.TABLE 1. ESSENTIAL WEB SITE FEATURESFeaturesNumber of Web SitesPercent of Web SitesIndex on first page20100%Company Logo1890%Easy-to-use buttons1995%Topic searching1155%Contact information1890%Online order form1155%Online order checking735%C...
