Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Optimizing for Search Engines in particular country

Easy and simple way to optimize website for Google / Yahoo / Bing for a particular country - google.co.uk or yahoo.co.us.
  1. The top-level domain (site.co.uk) needs to be from that country. Ex. To optimize for google.co.uk have .co.uk as extension for the domain name.
  2. Host the website in the country to which geo search engine you want to optimize for. Ex. If the website is to be optimized for google.co.uk or yahoo.co.uk then have the hosting server in UK. Spiders consider the server IP to rank the websites in the geo targetted SE.
  3. Know the number of backlinks you have from particular country or geogrphical area. The website needs to have enough number of backlinks from the websites of that geo area or hosted in the geo area. Ex. Easy way to swap links for UK is to have enough number of links from .co.uk domain extensions. A good free tool is available at Ekstreme.com. It shows the number of backlinks the website has from each country website.
  4. Try posting the website in local directories and classifieds.
  5. Have the local phone number and address in the footer of the website and contact us page.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Easy Way to Adopt Web 2.0 Technologies for Better SEO

Heard and read lot about the Web 2.0 technologies and are just wondering how to adopt for better search engine rankings. Here are the easy steps…

  1. Do not think that the traditional tactics of SEO – optimizing using meta tags, keyword density, prominence of keywords…more has lost the importance. They are still important and one needs to follow these for better rankings.
  2. Have a good CSS for the web pages. Usage of header tags is very important. Use the main keywords in the header tags.
  3. Instead of using java scripts on the web pages use Ajax. Ajax is the best way to display more content on pages. The web page does not look stuffy but gets a professional look. Get the content preloaded in the html via CSS.
  4. Content is KING. But not webmasters but the content written by the visitors. Add blog and discussion board on the website. Educate people of new things through the blog and listen to the visitors through the discussion boards.
  5. Do visit wiki and read what is there and provide your feedback and suggestions. You need to be more clever about how to do this.
  6. Have a short video / audio file on the website. Thanks to YouTube.
  7. Use ALT tags for the images. Do not repeat the same ALT tag description for all images. Use the proper keywords for ALT tags.
  8. Have press releases and articles sections on the website. Provide and submit them to newswires. Have RSS, Del.icio.us, DIGG, Technorati Reddit for the visitors to bookmark the sites.
  9. Use Google widgets for showing driving directions (Google maps), time converters. You have bunch of them on Google. Use which ever you feel is best for your website.

7 Steps To Make A Newsletter As A Tool For More Conversions

Here are the 7 Steps to make email campaigns or newsletters a tool to have more conversions - apart from the regular tips like send to who have subscribed for, provide unsubscribe link and provide a link to view in html, use less images....
  1. The subject line is the MOST important for an email campaign to be successful. Need to have a punchy line - Special Offer..., Invitation for ... - try avoid using the words free and $ in the subject line. You need to avoid ending up in the junk folder.
  2. The best way to know how an email campaign has worked is offer a specific promo code for the readers. You will surely know the no. of opens, clicks. But, to know how many have purchased is through the promo code. Just check - how may have made a purchase using the promo code in the store.
  3. The best media to promote our business is through a customer. If customer tells good about us let people know. Have a customer testimonial of a satisfied customer.
  4. New customers want to know the level of after-sales-service. Have a support phone no. or email in the newsletter.
  5. Make the newsletter interesting. Have a quiz or a survey to know what customer is thinking about you and this is the best to know what needs to done to improve the customer service.
  6. Inform the customer that the shopping process is fast, easy and secure in 3 easy steps – select the product(s), provide billing/shipping address and give credit card details.
  7. Last but not least – have the email campaign on Wednesdays. Wednesday is the best day to send out newsletters as research says it is effective and the no. of opens will be more on this day. YES – On Monday and Tuesday most of the readers are busy and they come back after weekend and they hardly want to spend time on reading it. More chances are that the newsletter will go to the trash folder. On Thursday and Friday people tend to prepare for the long weekend. So, we are left only with Wednesday.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Conversion Rate Optimization Part 1, Google Takes the Leading Role

Within the e-commerce sphere, the "mind games" between site owners and search engine designers have focused on search engine optimization (SEO). After all, you can't make a sale if visitors aren't reaching your site. However, as the web marketplace grows exponentially more competitive, attention among webmasters and site owners has turned to conversion optimization — converting site visitors to buyers.

Conversion optimization has nothing to do with SEO. SEO is designed for spiders and bots. Conversion optimization is based on two factors only: the needs and motivations of human site visitors and persuasive site content and design to encourage humans to make a purchase or perform some other action. Any other considerations are sub-sets of these two factors in conversion optimization strategies.

Measuring Human Motivations and Site Effectiveness

SEO is based on the development of numbers (metrics) that are immutable. Numbers are numbers, there's no debating that. The interpretation of site metrics, on the other hand, is a true combination of art, science and testing.

Assessing conversion rate optimization must apply a completely different approach to data gathering and the accurate, actionable assessment of the cold hard facts (percentages and such) that are the basis of SEO.

Measuring Human Motivations and Site Effectiveness

SEO is based on the development of numbers (metrics) that are immutable. Numbers are numbers, there's no debating that. The interpretation of site metrics, on the other hand, is a true combination of art, science and testing.

Assessing conversion rate optimization must apply a completely different approach to data gathering and the accurate, actionable assessment of the cold hard facts (percentages and such) that are the basis of SEO.

The Google Website Optimizer (GWO)

Google owns SEO (sorry Yahoo). It is now moving into eyeball optimization (EBO) to help site owners improve conversion rates. It's got lots of features, it's totally flexible in designing useful tests for human reactions and it provides data using simple to read and understand charts showing what's working and what would work even better.

One key point here: after indexing billions and billions of web pages, who is going to know better what works and doesn't work for solid EBO? After all, all the Google gurus have to do is evaluate their top performing sites to develop measurement criteria and tools to improve conversion optimization. Google is going to know what works.

One other point worth mentioning — it's frëe. A flexible, user-designed test engine developed by Google and available frëe. It's a must have for any site owner, site designer, webmaster or SEO.

What Can Google Website Optimizer Do For Me & How Can It Do It If I Don't Know the Difference Between a Statistical Mean and a Statistical Average?

Multi-Variable Testing

Got to have it. When quantifying human motivations and the effectiveness of a site page, you must have data to compare - data based on site variables such as a different home page image or revised site text. There are hundreds of variables within any website. Color selections, type font, type color, navigation tools, product images and descriptions — literally an endless líst of variables.

Google's Website Optimizer allows you to design tests to compare variables to see which ones work best. Often called A/B split tests, these simply compare a change or two to see which performs best. For example, you might have a picture of your product on test site A and a photo of the product in use by a human on test site B. Simply by comparing visitors' reactions to pages A and B, you can make refinements to your site.

Another useful A/B split test to chëck the success of your Adwords placements is to create two identical ads with two different destination URLs. You'll quickly discover which placements pay for themselves and which should be dropped.

Easy Analytics

The information gathered by Google during testing is delivered in an easy-to-understand format. You'll see, in graphic förm, where visitors go and where they don't go when on site. Taking a good hard look at your bounce rates and possible paths-thru-site are essential parts of your ongoing conversion optimization diet.

Usability Testing

Real humans navigating your site. Get as many people as you can to site down and clíck around - from your computer-whiz 12-year-old to mom and dad who still use dial-up. These tests provide the reasons why visitors take specific actions — over and over again.

Eyeball Optimization

GWO shows you what attracts eyeballs but doesn't generate a clíck. It also shows what visitors miss entirely because it's misplaced or mislabeled. Every page should undergo an "EBO" to improve conversion rates.

Follow the Leaders

You can't copyright an idea so use the same features and techniques employed by higher ranking competitor sites. Then, conduct A/B split tests to see which changes show improvement in conversion optimization.

People Are Still the Same

There's nothing new about direct response advertising, which is what successful sites use. Infomercials, newspaper ads, TV 30-second spots — these are all examples of direct response advertising and the same motivators that work in other media will also work on your website. Once again, you can't copyright an idea and the principles of direct response marketing haven't changed one iota.

Determine and identify the buyer's needs; provide the solution to meet those needs. It's worked for the past few millennia and it'll work for you today.

Small Steps or One Giant Leap

Do you make incremental improvements or try to fix everything all at once. It depends on where you are right now. If you've optimized your site (or paid to have it optimized) a small step here and there can make a huge difference, and a major revamping of your site may actually set you back in the optimization race.

On the other hand, if you're just launching, run a couple of A/B splits and other analytics to see which site pages are hot and which are not. Adjust accordingly. The point here? The more optimized the site, the less optimization is needed so if you've been at it for a while, take small steps and assess improvements. If you're just starting out, launch, track and adjust as needed — whether it be small steps or the proverbial giant leap.

Create a Diagram of Your Marketing Funnel

Start with placed adverts (Adwords, paid links, etc.) Add your home page, each product page, the checkout, automated order conformation, customer care and order fulfillment. Each one of these is a component of a sale and, from the líst and with the help of GWO, you'll be able to more clearly identify holes in your marketing funnel — those areas most in need of improvement, i.e., optimization.

Now, this is just the beginning. Conversion optimization is an on-going process and there are additional steps you can take based on test results delivered by Google's Web Optimizer - steps that we'll look at more closely in part 2 of this series.

Author - Frederick Townes, CEO of W3 EDGE

Online Marketing Tips

Internet Marketing isn't complex or new. Yet we see the same mistakes being made over and over by the marketing executives, sales professionals and owners of small or new businesses.

Small business owners sometimes lament over the fact that they don't have a million-dollar marketing budget. While we've all thought about how much easier things would be if we had unlimited funds, it's still possible to earn a decent profit with the right marketing plan,
product and service.

Thousands of small to medium size business owners can attest to their success at building a profitable business on a 'shoestring' budget. However, making a few mistakes can just as easily lose you a nice chunk of cash.

If done correctly, Internet Marketing is a very effective medium to generate new leads, and build continuous contact with your prospects. It can easily help you yield new sales and exceed your targets.

Many entrepreneurs think that selling to the widest possible market is the likeliest path to success. They are afraid to pursue a niche market because they fear they'll lose business by turning away prospects.

But this 'take all comers' approach is not very effective. It's hard to stand out when you market your business without a distinctive set of prospects in mind. Occupying a niche market means you won't be competing with a lot of similar businesses solely on price.

And because you will be selling products and services that are customized to the specific needs and predispositions of a select group of people, you can often charge more.

Your products and services should serve a market that can't easily find alternatives whether it be the product or services itself, the price or most importantly, good customer service.

When providing my services as an Internet Marketing Consultant to businesses, I often ask these questions:

1. Who are your prospects?
2. Who will buy your product?

I am often surprised that business people either have no idea who will buy from them, or they assume that 'everyone' will. Assumptions like this can lead to wrong decisions, wrong pricing, wrong marketing strategy - and ultimately, business failure.

The most successful businesses understand that only a limited number of people will buy their product or service. The task then becomes determining, as closely as possible, exactly who those people are, and 'targeting' the business's marketing efforts and money toward them. You too, can build a better, stronger and successful Internet Web Services and Online Marketing business, by identifying and serving a particular prospect group - your target market.

One of the first things you need to do is to refine your product or service so that you are NOT trying to be 'all things' to all people - Become a specialist!

Take Care Of These Steps And You Are On Your Way To A Successful Business!