If men are from Mars and women are from Venus and Pluto isn’t a planet anymore, is that where the Internet’s from?



While men and woman are very different the Internet doesn’t discriminate between sexes, however many websites are geared towards men; as the traditional and perceived majority of Internet users.

What Women Want

While Mel Gibson did a very good job establishing what women want in the 2000 production of the same name, he focused on our somewhat “irrational emotions" and need for “fabulous" products to beautify ourselves. Now while I am by no means a card carrying member of the male hater club; feminism has come a long way… and I’m pretty sure that this isn’t what women want!

Women Online

In the dark ages, where woman used the Internet for email and banged their heads on the glass ceiling every time they got out of their chairs to make their bosses a cup of coffee – the web was a mans world! Over the last few years there has been such a dramatic shift in women’s behaviours both online and off. Women know their bytes from their bits, they’ve been using computers for years and have a working knowledge of the Internet, and they’re also the majority when it comes to making the family’s purchasing decisions both in the stores and on the net. According to World Internet Stats there are more women online in South Africa than there are men. At the time of the study (June 2006) the ratio of female to male was 60:40. So out of the 3,600,000 Internet users in South Africa 2 160 000 are women!

We bank online, we check the weather online (wouldn’t want to step out in those strappy heels we bought, online, if it’s going to be raining), we communicate online (and no we don’t just use email – we’re on Skype, MSN – you name it we use it), we even plan meals online (who owns cookbooks these days), we express our opinions online (female bloggers are increasingly on the up), we check out reviews online and we express our opinions (we tend to have a lot of those) online… well I guess you get the picture.

It’s True – We Are Society’s Gatherers

Truth is there are more women on the Internet than men (ok, ok so there are more of us in the first place but that doesn’t count), more woman conduct business online and women are the dominant group in terms of e-retail. The essential difference between men and women online is that we are gathering information, we’re not surfing (well not as often as men); we’re looking for very specific information that will inevitable lead to a purchase if not at your online or offline store, then at the company who’s site gave us all of that information and made us feel secure in the knowledge that we would not only receive their product but that we would benefit from purchasing it.

If there was a product that would change the lives of women everywhere (like a miracle cure for PMS) but if none of the woman’s friends had heard of it and if there was no easily accessible and concrete information on the web, there would be no trust associated with that product and it would in all likelihood be a flop. Our purchasing decisions go beyond seeing an advert in the Sunday paper for a fantastic car at a fantastic price. Before we even enter the dealership we are armed with a battalion of information, and yes… we got it all online.

Can you say… “Gender Optimisation Marketing"

So the presence of women on the Internet is on the rise, fair enough you say, what now? Talk to us! Don’t get me wrong I am by no means saying you should include smiling babies, pictures of happy families and flowers (like so many companies who try to talk to us do). Just make your website appealing to us, and if you’re targeting both sexes make sure it’s appealing to both with out being frustrating to one.

Perhaps when woman search for the latest techy gadget they do not want to find a website full of images of suave high-powered business men operating their “oh so complicated devices". No, perhaps we want to enter the website, have every last one of our questions answered and be assured that we don’t have to be from Mars or have the latest briefcase packed with the latest gadgets to need and use these products. Then again maybe we just want to look at the cute guys on the site (mmmmmmm, somehow I think not).

Right now Search Engine Optimisation is all the rage – and why not – by optimising your site correctly you will reap the benefits. But I’m left contemplating the possibility of something more targeted, something more beneficial, and something to take SEO to new heights….. I’ll call it gender optimisation… who knows perhaps it will be the online industry’s latest buzz word one day.

Until then here’s a tip – don’t underestimate the force that is women online, don’t marginalise us… and always try to include at least one pink detail! Ok, ok so I’m a little biased, it is my favourite colour after all.