Copyright 2004 Steve Nash

Time for a quick question and answer session.

Question: How can you improve your visitors" experiences of
your website, AND at the same time learn how to
improve your website (or learn how to increase
sales)?

Answer: Use cookies

Cookies? Yes. Let me explain...


=> COOKIES EXPLAINED

A "cookie" is simply a small piece of text information which
a web server stores temporarily with your web visitor"s
browser. (Note: cookies are *not* programs.) This means your
visitor"s browser remembers some specific information which
the web server can later retrieve.

So cookies simply allow your site to store information on
your visitor"s computer for later use.

A basic example of a cookie in action can be found here -
http://www.jsworkshop.com/js3e/list24-1.html

Another example is the "online shopping mall" that uses
cookies to add items to a user"s "shopping cart" as they
browse.

==Aside==
Here are two examples of how my own sites use cookies
(I use them to make sure a pop-up window loads at a
set frequency):

- Pop-up ONCE ONLY
http://www.shoptour.co.uk/webmaster.shtml

- Pop-up ONCE PER DAY
http://www.anyonecansellonline.com/tips.shtml

For those interested, the cookie code is stored here
http://anyonecansellonline.com/makemoneyfiles/cookie1.js
==Aside==


=> WHY YOUR WEBSITE SHOULD USE COOKIES

Basically, cookies allow you to improve a site visitor"s
experience of your website. I"ve listed a few examples to
show how you can achieve this:

* Cookies can store visitor preferences. This means you can
present customised information to your visitor, as per
their own requirements. (This is how portal sites like MSN
work.)

* Cookies can pre-fill form fields for your visitor.

* Cookies can automatically login visitors to your site

* Cookies can provide visitor statistics and therefore help
you understand your visitors" needs. Cookies can provide
site metrics like number of unique visitors, average
number of page-views, percentage of repeat visitors et
cetera. And cookie-generated statistics are much more
accurate than using log files.

(Do remember though, that people sometimes share computers;
some browsers are set to reject cookies; and cookies can be
erased.)

So not only are cookies an efficient way of keeping track of
information, they also help personalise your site visitors"
experiences of your website.

And that"s the point with cookies - how can *you* help your
site visitor?

No, it doesn"t mean you can now invade your visitor"s
privacy! The use of cookies is often abused by site owners,
but this ultimately leads to cookie-blocking software being
installed and used; so do set your cookies cautiously, and
include a privacy statement on your site explaining your use
of cookies! (See below.)


=> USE THIS COOKIE RESOURCE

CookieCentral is an excellent resource dedicated to all
things Cookie. The site"s described as providing
"information of persistent cookies, HTTP cookies, cookies
with JavaScript, magic cookies, [and] maintaining state with
cookies and more."

But don"t worry if that sounds too technical for you,
CookieCentral really is a great place to learn about the
pros and cons of using cookies.

From the concept of cookies through concerns about privacy
to JavaScript and CGI demo code - you"ll find it all at
CookieCentral.

- http://www.cookiecentral.com/content.phtml?area=2&id=1


=> OR VISIT THESE SITES TO LEARN ABOUT COOKIES

If you want to know more about how cookies work, then visit
these sites:

- http://www.howstuffworks.com/cookie1.htm
- http://www.newbalancecatalog.com/General/cookies.htm
- http://www.allaboutcookies.org/cookies/index.html


=> OR JUST DO IT YOURSELF!

As ever, the web is filled with free programs and scripts
that allow you to use cookies. Whether you want to use
JavaScript, CGI/Perl, PHP or ASP - you can find free
resources that help you implement cookies on your site.

JavaScript cookies
- http://webdeveloper.earthweb.com/webjs/cookies/

CGI/Perl cookies
- http://cgi.resourceindex.com/Programs_and_Scripts
/Perl/Cookies/ (all 1 word)

PHP User Personalization System with Cookies
- http://www.devshed.com/Server_Side/PHP/Cookies/

ASP and cookies
- http://www.w3schools.com/asp/asp_cookies.asp


=> PRIVACY WARNING!

More and more web users are becoming sensitive to their
online privacy. Rightly so. And this includes cookies,
and how your site uses them. So do make sure that you
understand the issues involved, and set your privacy
statement accordingly.

This article explains more...
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/p3p-cookies-ie6/1


=> READ MORE...

You can find out a great deal more about using cookies on
your site from the following excellent resources. Just do a
search for "cookies" and off you go!

http://www.workz.com
http://www.iboost.com
http://www.sitepoint.com


--

Cookies can improve your visitors" experiences of your web
site, through personalisation. Using cookies, your site may
well run more efficiently too, and could provide you with
accurate site statistics helping you deliver just what your
visitors are looking for.

Just use cookies carefully, so that your visitors benefit!

(And continue to learn from the invaluable resources above,
and below ;-) !)