Maintaining and Evolving Successful Commercial Web Sites: Managing Change, Content, Customer Relationships, and Site Measurement (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems) 1st Edition

This is the second book I've read by Mr. Friedlein that shows his extensive experience and ability to clearly impart realistic advice (his other book is "Web Project Management: Delivering Successful Commercial Web Sites", ISBN 1558606785).What sets this book apart from others is the way he focuses on two critical aspects of web site maintenance, (1) change management, and (2) content management. Whereas there are a number of books that address content management, this is the first I've read that goes into detail about change management. Many books mix the two, and fail to emphasize the criticality of change management on site reliability and availability. These two parts of the book alone warrant reading it.There are two additional parts of the book that provide unique insights into critical success factors of web site management and evolution, which are customer relationship management, and site measurement. Whereas the first two parts deal with behind-the-scenes maintenance, these deal with business aspects, which do need to continuously evolve if a commercial site is to provide revenue in a highly competitive environment.The part on customer relationship management starts with a primer on CRM to assure that readers understand a much-hyped topic. It then goes into how to achieve success factors by addressing understanding your users, personalization, community building, and customer service.Site measurement, the final part of the book, is also detailed and filled with advice. Topics include: an overview titled, "Promises and Challenges of Web Site Measurement" and chapters on evolution of E-intelligence, measurement approaches and techniques, and reporting and analysis. This part of the book wraps up with chapters on how to improve a web site and tackling a web site measurement project.Like his first book (cited above and which I highly recommend), this one is essential reading for anyone working with commercial web sites. The author, in my opinion, is one of the most savvy experts who has unique insights in all aspects of web site project and management. This book is yet another achievement and contribution to the body of knowledge by Mr. Friedlein.

Ashley Friedlein guide is a must-read for anybody managing a website or looking to start one up. It is a detailed exposition which explores concepts such as Change Management in a lucid and informative manner. Highly recommended.