AboutChristine Milot Expertise I can answer questions pertaining to web design, graphic design, e-marketing, social
marketing, search engine management and optimization, pay per click, affiliate marketing,
landing pages, content management systems, shopping cart systems, email marketing,
online video marketing, podcasting, list purchasing, link development, web analytics and
almost anything related to building an internet marketing strategy to effectively grow an
e-commerce or web business with success.
Experience Online and offline marketing. Web design, graphic design and e-marketing.
Education/Credentials MA in Design and MFA in Interactive Computer Design
Question QUESTION: My q is a litle general, nevertheless important to me since it relates with my short-term proffessional future as a site administrator.
What is the typical workload of an average e-commerce site.
Is it enough that an employee is needed to administer it at least part time?
An employee who is sole purpose is that and nothing else in a company.
ANSWER: Your questions is too broad for me to answer. E-commerce sites vary in size greatly. For example Amazon has numerous staff working on their site everyday. It all depends on the business size and volume of business online. It could be a full-time job or a part-time job based on need. A good e-commerce system will be automated as much as possible. Again, it depends on the system you are working with as well.-Christine
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QUESTION: I will give you some info regarding the business so i can help you with the answer.
We are talking about a retail store which sales cycles and cycles equipment and has a client base of about 300.
And because that might not help you either, suppose that a site is not an e-commerce site and is just an ordinary site with info for the visitor regarding cycles.
Such a site what workload might require?
ANSWER: 1. If you get into an e-commerce system that is automated and uploads product data from the main internal server regularly the workload is minimal. It is only the amount of time it takes you to process the order. If this is an internal server. Its a part-time job. My guesstimate is 15 hours a week at most, then again its based on volume. You can always purchase an outsourced system.
2. If you are building a website with 300 hundred products with general information, no e-commerce system then this is a manual job. It is all about how often you need to make changes to the product data, and website data once the site is implemented. I don't recommend this option for anyone. The labor is intensive in the early stages. An e-commerce system would let you batch load this data. Estimate a per product set up. 300x1 hour. After that its a matter of updates. I am assuming there is no database. If there is a database and it can be automated then it is a quicker job.
My suggestion is to research different e-commerce systems. Some come with integration to in-house systems and others do not. Some have batch uploads, others do not. Then there is the design elements of the site such as a template or a custom site.
It really depends on your approach. I cannot tell from your question if you are looking to develop an e-commerce system, or purchase and implement it yourself, or use an outsourced solution.
I hope this helps a little bit.
-Christine
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QUESTION: You covered me in the e-commerce issue.
And now i have one last q.It is again general. It cannot be specific because i do not have a lot experience regarding the administration of websites.
A site that it's purpose is to inform(in this case about cycles) what is the average workload that it might require.
In general a small retail business usually does it employ a separate person for that reason or the owner handles it himself?
I know i am general but i need to start from somewhere since it is important for me to have a clue.
Answer Hi Dimitris,
The issue is this. You need to know the scope of the project that you are diving into. The scope starts with the amount of content you are developing and the functions that you want. For example how many pages will you be developing? Is there a database involved? Will you use a content management system or write all of the code in HTML?
If you are the owner of the business my guess is that you need to evaluate your workload and how you plan to promote the site once it is complete. The effort comes in two parts. The development of the site (information based) and the marketing of the site. Once the site is built it will be up to you how often you change out information and how you will promote it. The fresher the content and the more consistent your efforts with marketing the better your results. The second part can be done on a part time basis. I would suggest e-mail marketing and possibly webinars, or social marketing. Yes, once the site is developed you could work at it part-time...again it will depend on how fast you want it to grow, the income you want to make and the time you have available.
A basic 6 page information based website built in html basics, by a good designer will typically take a week to create. Prices vary tremendously as well as quality. If you are doing the work that will save you money, but remember quality is imperative and on the web represents the quality of the business. If the site is not of quality, no one will purchase from you.
I really hope this helps. Let me know if you have more questions.
My suggestion is to get a complete outline of your business plan plus a marketing plan to get started. Then outline the scope of your project. Then and only then will you be able to see the workload involved and know where to begin.
