reaping full benefits from the www promise

Today, Internet is the most researched source of information for buyers, journalists and consumers and developing an active internet presence is key to any exporter’s success. But with the ever increasing number of websites on the world-wide-web (the world-wide-web is growing at a rate of approximately 7 to 8 Million new web pages everyday and Google currently indexes in its database a total of over 8 billion pages!), a website needs to be constantly updated and improved to rank well in search engine, attract new visitors and generate new qualified sales leads.


“Developing a user-friendly and comprehensive website is a significant investment. Search engine optimization is necessary but extremely time consuming or expensive when outsourced”, explains Damien Pfirsch, the founder and managing director of asiannouveau.com, who also regularly writes a column on search engine optimization for the Bangkok Post Database section. “Many Asian home decor producers and exporters have already developed their own website, but due to a lack of time to update their site and optimize it for search engines, their online venue is enjoying limited traffic and generates very few new trade enquiries for their companies”.


asian nouveau’s goal is to give Asian home decor producers a cost-efficient way to be seen, noticed and contacted by trade buyers on the internet. For an affordable yearly fee, the company presents on its website Asian home decor accents and furniture producers and their creations.


“But unlike most online marketplace, we do more than just listing products on our site, and we go to great lengths to present our exhibitors in the best possible light: we write and edit all texts in English and French and take all pictures ourselves. Furthermore, we promote their company through our newsletters, and publish their news releases on our online news section. We promote as well our site to international media to generate more traffic to our site and increase our exhibitors’ exposure”, explains Mr. Pfirsch. The website has for example already been showcased in the Miami Herald Tribune and Lufthansa in-flight magazine, among other international media.


www.asiannouveau.com is the most visited website specialized in home decor creations from Asia (source: alexa.com). The site ranks at the top of major search engines (for example n.1 in Yahoo! Search and n.3 in Google.com (USA) for “Asian decor”) and welcomes an average of 400 unique visitors per day, who browse the website for longer than 4 minutes and view over 7 pages. “We offer exhibiting Asian decor producers and exporters a truly international exposure focused on Western markets: 55% of our visitors are from the US, 12% from France, 20% are from Canada and other European countries and 13% from the Asia Pacific zone”, says Mr. Pfirsch.


True to their mission to raise the international profile of Asian designers and serve as an advocate of the new trends in Asian decor, asiannouveau.com also features more than 60 designers and artists portraits as well as 150 texts resources on Asian art and Asian decor traditions and recent developments. “We want to support Asian producers’ exports growths, by giving them international exposure on the www. We also want to grow the international awareness of contemporary Asian design by advocating the latest trends in Asian home decor. Our mission is not only to generate new trade contacts for Asian exporters, but also to contribute to the growth of the global market for modern Asian design”, says Damien Pfirsch.


asian nouveau plans to further develop its reach by cooperating with international online and offline publishers, and working closely with government agencies and private industry association. “Today, the internet is mostly dominated by large website from the US and Europe. They appear the highest in search engines, enjoy the most traffic, and have the greatest impact on online audiences. Teaming-up together with government agencies like the Department of Export Promotion in Thailand and private industry associations, we could have an even greater impact and give Asian producers and exporters further opportunities to reap the full benefits from the information globalization on the www” says Damien Pfirsch.