America Online Inc. has taught the industry that building a “sticky” portal translates into repeat visits for a web destination, increased advertising sales opportunities and a loyal customer base.
Having learned a lesson from the master, Juno Online Services Inc. Tuesday announced the launch of JunoLand, its newly integrated community Web site. Juno members may design and display their own Web pages or participate in thousands of different online discussions.
JunoLand will be aggressively market the interactive Web destination to their 7 million e-mail and Internet access customers.
To provide content for JunoLand, the company has formed strategic alliances with self-service Web publishing firm Homestead Communities and with RemarQ, a Usenet discussion provider.
Through its relationship with Homestead, Juno provides its members with a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for novice Web designers to create interesting web sites. Juno intends to build upon the competitive spirit of the community by awarding site-of-the-week honors and by promoting Web site popularity contests.
RemarQ makes it possible for Juno to offer members access to discussion groups talking about anything from parenting to politics. RemarQ will also furnish the technology to filter out unsolicited commercial email and off-topic messages posted to the discussion groups.
Toby Bryce, Juno senior vice president responsible for the launch, said making their web site more attractive to members will build upon the established success of the Juno community.
“Juno users represent one of the largest communities on the Internet. As this community grows, we want to offer our members an ever-wider range of services,” Bryce said.
“Providing people with a simple, satisfying way to build their own Web pages and to participate in online discussions is a key element in enriching our members’ Internet experience.”
