Personally, I think now is the time for your SEO company to show exactly what they are made of. For the latecomer wishing to claim their stake of top-notch search engine real estate, there is serious ground to be made up (and it’s up to their SEO company to make this happen).

The ugly truth is that small businesses with confined resources may find it difficult to achieve optimal rankings on competitive, high traffic keywords. This is especially true, where larger or more web savvy businesses have already grabbed their stake. But wait. There’s no need to despair. Or worse, return to the lull and security of traditional advertising with your marketing budget in tow. Instead engage a SEO company who understands your marketing objectives and can develop an SEO programs to suit.

I can’t stress how important it is that your digital strategy be consistent with your overarching marketing strategy. Many SEO companies tend to lose sight of this  (to the detriment of their clients). If you are servicing a niche market make sure this is replicated online. Examining the search behaviour of your target market will help you to uncover SEO opportunities that exist for your business.

Once you have identified opportunities in your online market, keyword selection will be your best friend in achieving optimal rankings on Google, Yahoo and Bing. When selecting keywords consider not only the volume of traffic but also the competition associated with specific keywords. Rather than solely targeting high traffic keywords, take a look at those keywords that offer less traffic but are more in line with your target market. These keywords will often be surrounded by less competition and you will find it easier to achieve higher rankings on Search Engine Results Pages.

Once you have selected keywords relevant to your target market you will need to ensure that these are reflected in your website content. Many SEO companies tend to write for the omnipotent and omniscient search engines, losing sight of the end user (your target market). However, search engines ultimately look at providing search results for websites that are going to provide the best outcome for the user. By including rich and relevant content, written primarily for your target audience, you will subsequently be rewarded with high rankings on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS).

So what’s the take home message? If you are looking to engage an SEO company or digital marketing company, it is vital that they understand your overarching marketing strategy. At the end of the day Google is interested in providing the best results for the user. Write for your target audience and Google and other search engines will reward you accordingly.

Put simply, conversion optimisation is a critical element that should be incorporated into any high level SEO strategy. It is the process of converting the traffic you have spent your hard earned cash on into positive user actions. Sometimes, this process is also referred to as Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO).

Currently, the industry average conversion rate for any website is 2.9%, or 2.9 people converting (inquiring, purchasing, signing up, downloading etc) for every 100 website visitors. However, is this really enough? In the competitive online world, if you have managed to get a potential client to your website, I bet you sure as hell want to convert them! If you haven’t got the necessary conversion elements within your site, a visitor may head back to Google and commit the ultimate crime – convert at one of your competitors websites!

Little things like enquiry forms, clear site navigation, intuitive check out systems, ‘desired action’ sign posting and comprehensive remarketing campaigns can all work to increase your overall website conversion rates considerably.

If the right conversion elements aren’t in place, a website visitor won’t look around to find where they can act, they will simply leave your website.

As Steve Krug so elegantly stated, you should never make your user think!

So to move forward with your website’s conversion optimisation, ask yourself:

1. Are you aware of how many people are visiting your website each day or month?
2. Do you know your current conversion rate?
3. Do you have Google Analytics setup on your website?
4. Are you happy with the amount of conversions you receive from your website?
5. Is each website page encouraging a viewer to contact you?

If you frantically screamed ‘NO’ for any of these questions, you might just need to implement few simple changes that could help you plug that hole in your bucket!

So here’s some tips..

• Use Google Analytics!

Head to Google Analytics and sign up. Google Analytics provides you with an analytical dashboard where you can view endless stats on your website’s performance, including the golden conversion rate and site visitors. Best of all, it’s free!

• Ensure that each page on your website has a purpose.

Is your website designed to inform? Or, is it to persuade or sell? Whatever it is, you need to sell your business’s services and get your point across in a convincing way. Encourage viewers to take action through enquiring or purchasing by including call to actions around your products and services like ‘Enquire Now for a Free Consultation’ etc.

• Insert an Enquire Now link or an Enquiry Form on all of your pages.

This will make it easier for website visitors to enquire. The trick with increasing your conversion rate is to not provide a barrier to enquire. Make it as easy as possible for a visitor to enquire, otherwise, they will simply leave!

• Show credibility.

Make sure your website accurately represents your business in terms of trust. If you are a reputable company with lots of experience and successful clients, make sure you show this through relevant web design and copy.

• Make sure you’re targeting the right audience.

Double check your SEO work. Are you targeting relevant keywords? Sometimes, purely getting more web traffic isn’t the best strategy. Make sure that you are targeting and ranking for relevant keywords that are aligned with your business and what you are trying to achieve. For example, if you sell boats, don’t optimise for the keyword ‘Boats’. Optimise for keywords around your area like ‘Boats Brisbane’ or ‘Boat Supplier Brisbane’. You have much more chance of ranking for more targeted keywords, and you will be attracting a more relevant audience.

• Analyse your Google Analytics!

Constantly monitor your analytical data. This will allow you to identify trends based around website traffic. You might realise that certain pages convert more than others and some pages might have higher bounce rates. Use this data to constantly tweak your website and ensure it is up to date and working best for you.

That’s my two cents for this week. Let me know of any conversion difficulties your website is experiencing and I can provide you with some customised advice!

Your domestic traffic is through the roof and your conversion rates have remained reliable and stable for a prolonged period of time.

But how are you going to move forward?

There are two integral questions you need to ask yourself when attempting to solve the Online International Market Puzzle (OIMP!):

1. How am I going to convert International traffic? and
2. How am I going to generate International traffic to my website?

Sounds simple… doesn’t it?

Let’s start with the first part of the OIMP equation – converting International traffic.

For most domestic e-commerce websites, some simple conversion optimisation and usability changes need to be considered before any International marketing begins in order to accommodate foreign visitors. There are a number of points to consider when upgrading to an International e-commerce website.

There’s no place like home page

First impressions count. Have you ever heard the term ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’?  Well forget that. On the web, your home page or landing page generally only have 8 seconds to capture your audience’s interest before they decide whether or not they have landed in the right spot. It is therefore imperative that you customise your home page or landing pages for International markets. Some ways to do this are to:

• Recognise your user’s IP address and display content based on their geographic location. This might include a custom welcome message for French visitors or a special shipping sale for German customers etc.
• Maintain country recognition throughout visit. Remember to make sure that, if you have a customer from Germany on your website, you should always display currency in Euros, have an option for German language/site translation and only include information relevant to German visitors.
• Buy a domain name from the user’s country of origin in order to reduce proximity dissonance.

Make them feel safe

One method to gaining your customer’s trust within the first 8 seconds of their visit is to make them feel like they are in safe hands upon arrival. Although a custom, geo-targeted greeting may help the customer feel welcome, there are some other ways to help make the consumer feel safe on your site.

• Mention the security credentials of your site.
• Use a number of well known payment methods and options.
• Make sure your visitors know and understand that you have shipped to their country before and that you can guarantee quick, safe, and reliable delivery of your product or service.
• Mention your local shipping partner for that country. If you can secure well known local shipping partners, this will help to establish trust between you and your international audiences.
• Let your customers know about any additional fees or taxes that may not be included in the price of your product or service (for example VAT fees, shipping insurance and import/export taxes).
• Be sure to include all of these extra fees in your overall total price so there are no surprises for the users down the track.

Check out your Checkout

One of the biggest conversion barriers in international markets is your checkout. Here are some questions you should ask yourself when implementing a checkout system for international customers.

• Would you feel safe or comfortable using this checkout if you were an international buyer at an American store?
• Have you provided international assurances during the checkout process? Once again, you need to let your audience know that you’ve done this before! Assure them that they will always be able to contact you and that they will also be able to get a quick response from your company.
• Have you included a package tracking option?
• Have you sent a confirmation e-mail receipt when your customers order is purchased and dispatched?
• Have you added all shipping costs to the order total?

Where in the world?

• It might go without saying, but if you are targeting a non-english speaking country, it would be preferable if you could have your site translated into your target countries language!
• Even in countries that do natively speak English, ensure that local terminology and spelling is used. (eg: don’t use American spelling if you’re selling to the UK)
• You should also make sure you have altered your checkout fields to suit the country you are targeting. (e.g. Hong Kong has no post code so this field should not be mandatory in a Hong Kong checkout form)

Leave Your Boat Ashore!

• Don’t revert to your country of origin’s domain or pages after the user clicks off your home page. Stay in the country you are targeting.
• It is important to maintain a smooth, customised and personalised browsing experience for each international customer in order to generate optimum results.
• Remember to leave out information which is Australian centric information which is not relevant to your international customers.

Now that you’ve got your website converting, the next step is to send quality traffic. Coming soon will be part 2, how to design an AdWords campaign for International markets.

“Googling it” has become a common form of follow up action after hearing a radio ad or viewing an ad on TV. This means that there is no clear cut segmentation between online consumers and offline consumers.

The benefits of creating an integrated digital strategy are numerous. In short, however, one of the best outcomes of implementing an IDS is that just about everything can be tracked.

For example, different website URLs can be referenced in offline advertisements which can then be tracked using code like Google Analytics. This means that you can track the actual advertising sources that your users are coming from.

But what does it mean for your digital marketing strategies? We’ve included a quick check list below to help you check the health of your digital strategy.

1. Do you have Google Analytics installed on your website?   YES / NO
2. Do you have code installed in all your links on your website to track which link has been clicked?   YES / NO
3. Are you ranking in the search engines for slogans and tag lines that are used in your offline advertisements?   YES / NO
4. Are you using promotional codes or unique URLs in your offline advertising so that you can track where your website visitors are coming from?   YES / NO
5. Are your digital offers available offline as well, in-store or over the phone?   YES / NO

If you answered no to any of the above questions, your digital strategy may not be fully integrated. Contact Reload today to discuss how we can help your business get the most out of your marketing strategies.

It’s no good having a fantastically designed website that communicates your brand and engages with your customers when they reach your website if they can’t actually find it when they start searching in search engines. And similarly, it’s no use having a website that ranks at the top of Google if your users only get frustrated after the first 10 seconds they spend on the site, only to return to the search engine results and go to a competitor’s website that ranks below yours.

But there are a few ways that you can balance the requirements of both users and search engine spiders:

1. Content, content, content. Search engine friendly websites are all about the content. However, usability experts say that users won’t read your website extensively and excess content will only frustrate them as they won’t be able to find the important information they are looking for. There are a couple of ways to ensure your users can still find what they are looking for while also increasing the content on your website for the search engines. Firstly, make sure important content that is aimed at users is kept above the fold line. Users will read by scanning the page and they’ll often get sick of reading before they get to the bottom of the page. Search engine spiders, however, are not so fussy. They’ll read the text even if it’s at the bottom of the page. Therefore, place SEO content at the bottom of the page and even segment horizontally with a line to deter users from reading that far and becoming bogged down.
2. Use logical headings. These need to strike a balance between your SEO keywords and the need to also guide users as to what will be included in the page content. Users read a web page by first scanning the headings before deciding whether it is worth the time reading the content. Search engines also like headings so it’s important to make sure your headings are logical and well thought out.
3. Keep content fresh. Make sure your content is always up-to-date. Users will become frustrated if they find out of date information, particularly if your site advertises upcoming events or other date-related items. Search engines also like to see fresh content that is constantly updated.
4. Check for errors regularly. Not only are broken links frustrating for users but they also annoy the spiders. It goes without saying, but you should also make sure there are no spelling errors on your website.

Obviously there are far more ways to improve the usability or search-engine-friendliness of your site, but these are just a few starting points to help strike a balance between a user-friendly site and a search-engine-friendly site.

Every company has different targets, keyword rankings and goals that it is striving to achieve with their website, so undertaking in one or the other can be sufficient for your site’s traffic, enquiries and sales.

But if you want the best of both worlds, put simply, your site can benefit from both as there are numerous advantages of appearing in both paid and unpaid listings.

Around 55-65% of users will click on the organic search engine listings, and around 35-45% will click on the paid search engine results (depending on whose research you believe).

The unpaid, organic listings can increase a site’s keyword rankings by undertaking Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). The majority of users will choose to follow the organic listings, as these results are seen to be less biased and can be perceived as being more relevant to the keywords that the user is looking for.

The catch for engaging in SEO is that most companies do not guarantee results and it can take months to start seeing traction on keywords, especially in competitive industries. Online competitors could have an authoritative advantage in the search engines if their sites have been around for longer and hold the keyword positions that your site is trying to target.

This is where dabbling in Search Engine Marketing (SEM) as well as SEO, is handy.

SEM creates the paid, “sponsored” links that appear usually on the right-hand side of the search engine results page and are virtually instantaneous. This allows your site to emerge on the first few pages in Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines, while SEO is doing its ground work to get noticed.

The benefits of creating an SEO and SEM synergy include:

Market Penetration

Engaging in both SEO and SEM allows search engine users to be ‘captured’ at all stages of the buying process. Users that are in the problem recognition or information search stages of the buying process are more likely view organic listings. On the other hand, users who are closer to making a purchase decision or are evaluating alternative products and services are more likely to click on SEM advertisements.

A Stronger Web Presence

SEM paid listings provides visibility for competitive keywords that a site may find hard to rank initially through SEO.

Greater Measurability

Having a site’s SEO keyword ranking statistics and the SEM traffic, keyword and conversion statistics allows for a greater level of accountability and the ability to cross-reference results. These results can also be measured and reviewed over time and can help drive traffic and sales for your site by focusing efforts on top-performing keywords.

Build Credibility

Research shows that users associate the ‘Top Ten’ organic page results with companies that are the industry leaders. Couple this with some catchy Google AdWords or other cost-per-click advertisements and a site will appear to have the online industry covered.

This statement may have some scratching their heads, but the similarities between a business’ website and their employees makes it more than achievable.

Let’s firstly look at initial costs. Most websites cost between $5,000-$30,000 to build, which, depending on your industry, is also around the amount it can cost to recruit and train new staff.

But once you’ve recruited a new staff member, the job’s not done. In order for that employee to become a valued team player you need to invest in training, resources and time, as well as pay them a yearly salary.

This goes for your website as well. Once it’s built, you need to invest in continually improving its effectiveness. This often includes both search engine optimisation (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) on an ongoing basis as the website’s salary, and ongoing usability improvements as their training.

Like an employee, websites also work best when there’s an ongoing buy-in from managers, spending time actually trying to improve the work that they’re doing, rather than being left alone to twiddle their thumbs and cost the business money.

Flash websites are nice, they’re pretty and stimulating but still far from practical. In fact, in many cases, the prettier your site, the more complex message it sends to a potential or current client. Considering how far we’ve advanced in technology and with the Internet, you’d expect this primary focus would be clearer.

Unfortunately since we’re all wrapped up in these fancy improvements, we are focusing less on the potential/current client and more on our own wants and desires. Adobe Flash is one of these technological advancements which has utterly stunned everyone from the beginning, though it’s important to know the mechanics behind it and what effect it has on your pocket.

The first point I would like to make is that in my opinion you should never make your whole site entirely out of Flash, as this can be riddled with complications. In addition, I have provided other examples to why Flash isn’t ideal:

• Speed & Size – A full Flash site is simply too big in size. Majority of people do not have lighting fast fibre optic Internet, so they won’t be sticking around for long if they’re staring at a loading bar all day. Size has been reduced remarkably with further advancements, however catering for the majority is still essential.

• Dynamic Resolution Resizing – Catering for various resolutions isn’t possible with Flash, without spending countless hours and tens of thousands of extra dollars into creating multiple versions of one site. CSS (or Cascading Style Sheets) offers this option and is free and compatible with every browser!

• Mobile Web – Many unfortunately still don’t take mobile browsing into account, however this is critical in today, especially when mobile phones are replacing land lines (home phones) and some computers and laptops. Not to mention the revolutionary iPhone, enabling fast web browsing via 3G or Wi-Fi, many simply don’t see the need to carry around a 2kg laptop when they can carry a phone.

• Price – Flash takes longer and requires much more extensive knowledge, making a Flash designer worth their weight in gold. However with all these combined, comes one big hefty price tag. When you require a modification, you pay for it, and not lightly either.

• SEO – SEO is required for your website to achieve high ranking positions in the search engines and substantial traffic, which ultimately will be your potential/future clients. However, as Google can only read a very small part of Flash and other search engines aren’t unable to read it at all, you’re losing a great deal of potential clients.

This is not to say flash is bad, quite the contrary, as it engages users and creates a very dynamic feel, but it’s important to note with the combination of all these complications that creating a website in Flash is often only to impress or provide a “wow” factor to people, stimulating only their brains and not necessarily your pocket.

More and more users are being drawn to alluring information that has something to offer and conversing about topics in online groups rather than being influenced through traditional mass-marketing mediums that can haphazardly pump out information.

Just like traditional marketing, it is important to target your markets online. For example, if you’re engaging in SEO, there is no point in targeting high-volume, generic keywords that have little to do with your site’s actual content or what you offer online in a bid to get high traffic to your site. Once users land on your page, they bounce straight off again because it’s not what they’re looking for. It’s simple; don’t try to attract the wrong crowds!

Even after you attract the right crowd, it’s vital to engage your market and encourage them to connect and interact with other users. It is this two-way dialogue and significant content that will keep people actively involved with your site.

Put newsworthy and valuable information that is pertinent to your target market, coupled with the right digital marketing tools that harmonises with an alive and kicking website, and you will find that the right market will gravitate to you. Put your feelers out there because like will attract like.

To create a gravitational presence online, ensure you have:

• Researched your target market – Know exactly who your market is, where they are, how they search for information, what they are looking for etc
• A visible website – Implement search engine optimisation techniques or a Google AdWords campaign to make sure that you can be found and are noticed
• Killer content – Provide relevant, unique and updated content that will draw in users and is search-engine friendly
• Fulfill your users’ needs – Why are they on your site? Needs are varied and can include informational, transactional, social and for entertainment value
• Tools to talk – give your customers and users a platform to interact with each other, the community and you. Let them ask questions, give advice and provide invaluable feedback
• Help your content travel – implement multi channel marketing techniques such as social bookmarking, RSS feeds and other social networking tools that help people to connect. This will give your information and message a path to travel.

In the past there’s been a trend amongst many businesses to treat their online presence as a completely separate entity. However, as the Internet becomes more and more mainstream in terms of online buying, the need to make online customers feel comfortable with a brand is also growing in importance.

Online consumers expect to see a consistent brand image in order to be reassured that they are receiving the same level of service that offline customers are.

The Australian pizza industry is one market where there’s a range of approaches. Of the three major pizza chains in Australia, one provides a very slick online experience, allowing coupons to be added, pickup or delivery options specified and most importantly uniform pricing across all marketing channels. That is, the prices advertised in mailbox drops, TV commercials, coupons and online ads are all uniform.

This is a critical factor for an industry such as pizza, where traditionally phone orders have been the primary ordering method. Online ordering in an industry such as pizza doesn’t create a huge deal of cost savings over phone ordering, but it does give customers more convenience.

By contrast, one of their competitors has a scatter-gun approach to pricing and uniform marketing. Prices advertised on TV often can’t be ordered online, certain coupons are only able to used by phone and what a potential customer is faced with is a bizarre form of brand confusion whereby the same company is advertising across multiple mediums a completely different range of products.

However, this particular case is not unique. Countless businesses fall into the same trap of thinking there are two different types of customers; 1) ones that buy online, and 2) ones that don’t. The distinction is not so black and white anymore, and many customers will feel comfortable using both.

But this multi-channel shopper needs to see a certain degree of pricing and brand uniformity, or else they will likely switch to a competing provider.