Abstract:

This paper examines the potential of social and behavioural sciences, and semiotics, in particular, to contribute to the further study and development of optimal Internet communications. Several case studies of semiotic analyses are presented: the strategic benchmarking of corporateInternet sites with an eye to spotting and capitalizing on trends in industry best practice; a detailed site audit providing an evaluation of the structure and internal performance of a corporate website; and a semiotic approach during the early design phases of website conception.These examples come from professional applications in the authors’ work and focus on the Internet communication needs of Electricité de France (the French national electric utility).