Internet Tips
Search Engine Optimization: Domain Names
While many web developers and marketers will go through great lengths to explain how placing specific quantities of keywords arranged in the right way, in the right positions, on the right pages will result in better search engine optimization and better results. And although much of this is true, in my line of work, I am continually surprised on how many people – developers and website owners alike – miss one of the biggest SEO boosts a website can have…
…an optimized domain name!
The Search-Engine-Friendly Domain Name
Companies like Amazon.com and Facebook don’t need to have the keywords “shopping” or “social network” in their domain names since practically everyone who has every placed a finger on a computer mouse has either heard of these websites or uses them regularly. But what of small businesses or brand new websites that haven’t made a name for themselves?
For example: If one were to create a website for a car repair business in Cleveland, and your business name was “Zigamabob”, a business owner might register the zigamabob.com domain name for their website. Although this would function as a domain name for this site, they would get zero SEO benefit from the domain name.
However, if one registered something along the lines of clevelandautorepair.com, they would get the keyword “Cleveland”, plus the key phrase “Auto Repair” smack-dab on the domain name! A fantastic boost to your searchability right from the get-go.
The Human-Friendly Domain Name
Some people might not want to have a monstrously long domain name on their promo or business cards, so another trick of the trade is this:
Set up a “human-friendly” domain name. In the example above, it could be zigamabob.com or something like zigrepair.com. Then one would set that domain name as a “forwarder”, meaning anyone who goes to zigamabob.com ends up at clevelandautorepair.com.
You now have one domain name that looks good on paper, and another one that looks good to Google.
Brilliant, right?
Well, as simple as this trick is, it’s still not as well-known as it could be. Use this secrecy to your advantage, and get a boost to your SEO by simply having a search-friendly domain name. I’ve personally seen small business websites climb to the first page of Google search results within weeks using this method!
Give it a shot. You won’t be sorry.
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How to Create a Website That Sells
The first thing to know when creating a website that is supposed to sell a product or several products, is that first and foremost, the website is supposed to SELL a product or several products. In other words, a person should be able to come to the website, find what they are looking for, and buy it. That is the simplicity of it, and that is what we always do here at Visual Edge Design, Inc. (www.visualedgedesign.com) when building sales sites for our clients. Sounds pretty straightforward, but you may be surprised to know that websites are created every day that do just the opposite. The fact is that omitting certain things on a SALES WEBSITE can kill the sale in an instant.
To create an effective SALES GENERATING web site, there are specific points that MUST be included in the web site that will:
- Make it easy for a visitor to see what is for sale.
- Instill confidence that they are in a REAL store that is legitimate.
- Give them a compelling reason to buy the product(s) at that store.
- Make it easy for them to actually BUY the product(s) from that store.
If any of the 4 points above are omitted, it is VERY likely that the visitor will leave the web site without buying anything.
Let’s take a real life retail store-front for example:
Say you wanted to buy a new pair of shoes today. You would either go to a shoe store you already know of and trust or you would look online for a store near you, or simply open the yellow pages to find the nearest shoe store.
In any case, you would find a shoe store nearby. Now, if that shoe store was hard to get to, you might try another store somewhere else. However, if you arrived at the store, but there appeared to be very few shoes, no cash register, no signs indicating that they take any credit cards, and no one to help you, you might turn around and walk out. What if the shoe racks were disorderly, and shoes were NOT sorted by size or style? What if there was a “store clerk” that had NO register, was dressed slovenly and then asked for your credit card, which he took in back and then came back after a while with a “thank you” note, but no receipt? What if there was NO sign indicating that anything in the store was guaranteed? What if they had a NO RETURN policy? What if the store had hand-written signs with marker on cardboard throughout? What if they made you give them your credit card and purchase the item BEFORE they told you how much you were spending? Would you feel comfortable shopping at such a store? I know I wouldn’t.
Believe it or not, there are many on-line stores that are the equivalent of such a store. In other words, you get to the website and it is difficult to find what you are looking for, there are no indications of how to pay, no guarantees, no phone numbers to get live help, no contact information on the website, no privacy statement or ordering information, and in some cases the store is set up so that you “add the item” to the cart, then checkout and give all your contact and credit card information BEFORE you can see how much you are spending. All of these points create an unfriendly shopping environment and REDUCE the confidence in the person who is trying to buy something. These seemingly simple points when overlooked can cost a website 75% OR MORE of their sales. I’m not going to go into great detail on perfect design, professional sites, etc. as these are a given.
7 Elements That Add Up to a Website That Sells!
You want to sell stuff from your website. So what are the key elements that add up to a website THAT sells?
Here are 7 elements that are a MUST for a web site that sells:
1. Make it Really Obvious What is Being Sold
It should be obvious for any visitor to see exactly what is for sale. If there are a number of products, then the site should be laid out so that one can easily see all of the products at a glance. In a larger e-commerce site, then these can be broken down into categories with sub-products in each category so that the visitor can “drill down” to the single product they are looking for.
For example, let’s take a website that sells books, DVDs and CDs. It might have a navigation structure that looks like this:
Books > DVDs > CDs
and after one clicks on CDs:
DVDs > Action > Children’s > Comedy > Drama > Family >
You get the idea. It’s EASY to see what’s for sale and it’s EASY to find what you’re looking for. And of course, there should be a product search box that is EASY to locate and use.
If the website sells a single product, it should be obvious from the home page and it should be easy to order. If a button says “Tee Shirts” then the link should go to a page about Tee Shirts, NOT “Women’s Apparel” or some other stupid phrase OTHER than what it said the first time. There are even huge company websites that are notoriously difficult to navigate because when you click on a category or section, it does not take you where you think you are going. This creates frustration and sends the visitors running to the competition.
2. How to Order
It should be easy and obvious for a visitor to order something from a website. An ORDER NOW button should be right beside the product being offered and should go straight to that product in a shopping cart. The shopping cart should have easily identifiable buttons like “Add to Cart”.
The point is that it should be obvious and easy to order. There should be as little additional pages or steps between locating the product and purchasing it as possible. Ideally, they should be able to see what they are buying, and how much it costs, add the item to their cart, view the subtotal and then checkout – meaning fill out their credit card and billing information.
A customer should NEVER have to fill in their credit card and billing information before they have their totals as you could lose them at that point.
It is also essential at “checkout” to get the necessary data from the customer to complete the sale only. This would be their Name, Billing Address, Phone, Email, and Shipping Address (if different from their billing address), their Credit Card number, expiration date and the little code that verifies that they have the credit card on hand. This is NOT the time to try and get every last detail about their demographics, survey questions, etc. Just collect the key information to get the sale DONE. Once the transaction is completed, you can ask them to do a short survey or whatever on the transaction receipt page.
3. How Much Each Product Costs
There should be a price next to every product so that one can tell EXACTLY what they are spending on that item. If they are buying multiple items, they should be able to “View Cart” and see their sub-total at a glance so that they can add more items or remove something if they are over-budget.
4. Methods of Payment
Obviously if it is an on-line store, it is highly advisable to take major credit cards and the site should clearly display which major credit cards are accepted. If the site is designed to take PayPal, then that should be included as well. This is easily done by including the credit card icons that are accepted at the top and bottom of each page.
5. Secure Shopping Reassurance
It may seem like a small thing, but adding a line of text that says: Secure On-Line Shopping or Secure Shopping or Secure On-Line Transactions can make the difference between making a sale or losing a sale. This line of text can be accented with an icon of a padlock or a check mark, but the bottom line is that shoppers want and need reassurance. It goes without saying that you would have an SSL Certificate (secure socket layer) so that any transactions are secure. Many SSL Certificates have a “site badge” or icon that you can put on your website to show off to the world that your site is secure. This is an image that looks fancy or simple and says “secure” or “Verified secure” or something like that. It reminds the shopper visually that their purchase is safe and secure. Which makes them much more willing to buy from you.
6. An Incentive to Buy
There are dozens of ways to give incentives to buy, but one should take some time and care in creating these so that the website reinforces the notion that a visitor should buy something NOW. Below are some more common examples:
- Buy 1 – Get a 2nd for HALF PRICE
- FREE SHIPPING on Orders Over $75
- FREE GIFT with EVERY PURCHASE of $50 or More!
- LIMITED TIME ONLY – 10% OFF EVERY ORDER!
- BUY ONE – GET ONE FREE
- OFFER VALID ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST
- FLAT RATE SHIPPING JUST $5.95 PER ORDER
- 24 HOUR TURNAROUND – FAST SHIPPING
- LOWEST PRICE GUARANTEED
- JANUARY SPECIAL (or FEBRUARY or WHATEVER)
All of the above examples have been proven to work. The point to understand is that in the vast sea of Internet stores, it is important that a website has some incentive to BUY from them and not the competition.
A Word of Caution:
Take care in creating an incentive though, that it is a REAL incentive that can be offered and delivered on. You would not want to put “LOWEST PRICE GUARANTEE” on a website that obviously does not have good prices. Likewise, it would not be prudent to have a BUY ONE – GET ONE FREE offer on a low profit margin item that results in no profit with every sale.
The above are simply some examples of real incentives that have worked for others. Regardless of what is done, the bottom line is that there must be an incentive to BUY. Once it is worked out, it should be repeated on every page that has anything to do with BUYING. This can be included in the overall design, as an icon on the top or sides, next to ORDER NOW buttons, etc.
7. Website Traffic Stat Tracking
Every sales site should have stat tracking to see where visitors are coming from, which pages they go to, where sales are lost and which pages or links lead to the most sales. This is KEY to knowing how effective a website ACTUALLY is. You can not assume that just because the sales are slim, that the website is not working without looking at stat tracking. What if the site gets 25 visitors a month and 10 of those buy??? If you didn’t know it had 25 visitors and you just assumed that the site wasn’t working “because only 10 people bought something last month…” You would be making a deadly assumption. In that scenario, the solution is to get TONS more visitors to the site, but you would not have known that WITHOUT stat tracking.
So use the 7 Points above to create a website that sells and then pour the coals on marketing the site. If the website has a product that is desirable by the public and is reasonably priced, then the website should make money if the 7 points above are followed.
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How to Market Your Website
Realize that your website is a marketing tool for your products and/or services. You are investing advertising dollars in the maintenance of your site and should do whatever possible to get the most out of it. Having a website is of course less expensive than traditional marketing, but it can be as effective as traditional marketing if you use it wisely.
The first thing to do with your new site is to promote it broadly. You don’t have to change your traditional marketing tactics necessarily, but you can use your new site as a “booster” to increase your exposure.
So the next question is: “How?”
Once you have a web address that is easy to relay to others, the rest is simple. You should make a habit of adding your website address to every piece of promotional material that goes out.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
| Standard items: | Any and all media ads: | Promotional items: |
| Business Cards Letterhead Envelopes Signs Banners Letters Answering Machine Message Voice Mail Message |
Billboards Radio Ads TV Ads Newspaper Ads Fliers Post Cards Coupons Brochures Magazine Ads |
Tee-Shirts Pens Calendars Refrigerator Magnets Stickers Bumper Stickers Balloons Mugs/Cups Company Note Pads |
Above are the essentials to get started with, but with the Internet – there are even more places to go to market your site!
Part 2 – Using The Net to Increase Advertising
I’m going to break these up into categories so they will be easy to follow, as always you can call us at Visual Edge Design if you need to clarify something or have questions.
Where can I link my website to gain new business? This is a good question, and there are a number of great answers. If you have a business that relies mainly on local business, then here are some suggestions:
1. Chamber of Commerce website. When most people are relocating to a new area, they gather as much information as possible about the area. One of the best resources for them, can be the local Chamber of
Commerce. You may have to be a member to link your site to theirs or there may just be a fee, but what better way to gain immediate exposure and possibly clientele.
2. On-Line Newspapers. Most cities and towns have local newspapers that are available on-line. These are an excellent resource for you, especially if you already advertise in their hard copy paper. Ask if they offer on-line ads, and if it can link to your website.
3. Local Links Pages. Most cities and towns have local links pages that feature all the businesses in the area, etc.. The way to find them is to go to a major search engine (Lycos, Yahoo, Excite, SavvySearch, etc) and do a search for your city & state (i.e.: Durango, Colorado) and see what comes up. When you find 2 or 3 good links pages, you can send them an e-mail or call them and ask what is needed to have your site linked. There may be a small fee, or it may even be free. But you never know ’till you ask!
4. Banner Exchanges. A banner exchange is where you have a small “banner” that gives some basic information about your services, like an ad. It can be linked to your website, or it can just be a stand alone ad. This can be a great resource for you at no charge to you. It works like this: first, you find a business that has a similar clientele to yours. For instance, if you are a bodywrap shop, you may want to hook up with a local gym, salon, spa or other health related business. Do not contact someone that would be considered a competitor though. You would find out if they have a website. If they do, offer to put a banner for their services on the bottom of your home page, and in exchange they would do the same for you. This way, you are both increasing your exposure locally and to a correctly targeted audience. This is done on the Internet all the time and is one of the main lines of advertising across the Internet.
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SEO: The ABCs of the Information Age
Why SEO is Important…
We live in the Information Age: There are quite literally tens of billions of website pages listed in search engines, brimming with information and sales pitches about this, that and the other thing.
Building a website that gets a lot of visits and conversions can be hard to do. With all of the competition out there, how do you get yourself out of this ocean of websites and actually get some exposure and results from your internet “real estate?”
Well, let me ask you this: say you just opened a new store and recently paid to have a large amount of promotional postcards designed, printed and delivered to your door. The postcards are sharp, punchy and effective – a valuable promotional resource just waiting to be put to use.
Now, let’s say you left these postcards sitting in stacks in your foyer. No one knows your business exists, particularly. A few passers-by might walk into your door out of chance or simple curiosity, but are these people your target market? And a large enough market to sustain your business?
Leaving your postcards in stacks, unaddressed and unmailed doesn’t make any sense.
Building a website, regardless of how good-looking it is, how punchy or effective its marketing is, doesn’t make much sense either.
If nobody visits your site, you’re not even getting to the point where you try to sell them your product. How would you sell someone a suit jacket when they haven’t entered the store yet? It doesn’t matter how sharp or inexpensive your suit jackets are, if there aren’t any people physically in the store, you’ll get nothing.
There are practically as many ways to build a website as there are websites. Some are built to be a glamorous portfolio, but have no keywords or content to be picked up by search engines. Others are effective marketing machines with keywords placed in the right places for search engines to find. Only the ones who follow the rules of making a site preferred over others, and getting visits from their target market are effective.
Picking a good domain name, titling your pages correctly with the correct words, structuring your site so that the important text is where it should be on a given page are all important to getting a site seen by search engines – and a flourishing business boosted by effective internet marketing – not just slapping a website together.
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You, Your Company Blog, and Abraham Lincoln
In fielding some questions about using a professional blog writer, we have found a few common confusions, questions, and misconceptions that you may also have but haven’t voiced yet.
So in the interest of anticipation, let’s clear those up shall we?
First off, although it is important that the writer write something relative to your business, it is not important that he be an expert on the subject.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “It’s not so much what you as how you say it”? Well that applies here.
The purpose of a blog is not to educate your public on your product or service. That is what your website and articles are for. They are marketing pieces. They should be technical, descriptive, to the point, directly relevant and market driven.
Not the case with a blog. A blog should be light reading ‘around’ the subject. It should be conversational, informative, entertaining, and hopefully popular. It should be interactive with comments and link backs so people can share it with others and give their two cents (within moderation of course).
In other words, it should be the opposite side of the coin, the photo negative, the reverse angle, etc. too your market heavy website and article content.
It should lightly engage the reader while entertaining them in a ‘safe zone’ away from the sometimes ever present pitch.
That doesn’t require the writer to be an expert in your field. It requires the creative writer to be an expert in his.
My second point is mechanically speaking it really doesn’t matter.
Google could care less WHY a Civil War reenactment forum finds a property title company’s site relevant. It just knows that the Civil War buffs are just one more site indicating that the title company is important regarding search terms like title insurance, faulty land titles, deeds, and farms.
The monster search engine can’t grasp the historical entertainment value of a story about how Abraham Lincoln’s father Thomas lost the family farm in Kentucky where Honest Abe was born due to a faulty land title.
Yahoo and MSN don’t know why there are links from history buffs, Lincoln fans, political researchers, and a thousand other disrelated sites saying that Joe’s Title Company is the a very important site when the words ‘farm, title, land, faulty, insurance’ are typed in. To a search engine, popularity equals relevance as one of its indexing criteria.
Thirdly, you should be as involved in creation of your blog as you want to be. Some don’t have the time and just trust that we as professionals are going to provide the same top-notch service we always do. Some want to be intricately involved in the post creation process providing insight, information, and editing.
Last but not least, unless you have the time to write, SEO structure, and promote your blog, as a business owner, yes you need a professional blogger.
by Michael Graves
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