Category: Onsite Marketing

How Google’s Recent Changes Affect Your Business

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Google recently announced important updates to its ranking algorithm (nicknamed “Farmer’s Update”) that will likely adversely affect website owners who do not provide users with a high quality and relevant search experience. The company stated:

“Our goal is simple: to give people the most relevant answers to their queries as quickly as possible.”

Currently released exclusively in the US, the latest Google update impacts 11.8% of user queries. The company stated the update is specifically targeting low-quality sites identified as “low-value add for users, copy content from other websites, or sites that are just not very useful” to reduce their rankings. At the same time, the new algorithm is designed to allow the “cream to rise to the top” as it were, specifically awarding higher rankings to high quality sites with “original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis, and so on.”

As always, if you want to be among the high quality sites rewarded with high rankings, you have to help Google to achieve their goal as stated above as well as support their efforts “to encourage a healthy web ecosystem.” So how do you do that? Here are some considerations:

  • Conduct comprehensive research to identify the language used by your targeted audience groups to search for what you offer
  • Conduct market research – send out surveys, study your (Google ;)) Web Analytics, study your inquiry and sales reports, monitor conversations and topics on social media related to your site / industry, monitor the news and trade journals that write about topics of interest to your targeted groups, etc. – to identify the interests of each of your targeted audience groups
  • Write professional, compelling, search engine optimized webcopy that covers the interests of your targeted audience groups
  • Include search engine optimized professional images that support your copy and allow users to identify their areas of interest
  • Create search engine optimized, user-friendly web pages that are designed to accurately represent what you offer as well as your professional image
  • Create search engine optimized calls-to-action (CTA’s) that guide users seamlessly through the conversion process to complete the action(s) you want them to complete.
  • Develop a flexible, search engine optimized site architecture that makes it easy for users (and search engine spiders) to visit (and “understand”) every page of your website
  • Develop search engine optimized off-site content (on websites other than yours such as social media sites or relevant third-party sites like news sites, journals, professional organizations, etc.) that establishes your authority for, and links to, the content represented in your search engine optimized website pages.

Google is working on many more changes that they believe “will substantially improve the quality of the pages” in the engine’s search results.

The key is to optimize for Google and for your targeted audience groups. An intelligent strategy requires the right mix of research, content development, and presentation.

Know who and what you’re targeting and present the highest quality possible to remain competitive. The formula is simple, but is takes discipline and ongoing commitment to be successful.

Danny Sullivan has a great write-up on the  topic as well on SearchEngineLand’s site.

Google Global Market Finder and Ads for Global Advertisers – Business Development Tip

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With the consistently expanding online market currently serving over 1.9 billion consumers, Google offers a set of tools to help businesses expand and market globally.

Launched recently, the Global Market Finder is a free tool to help businesses identify foreign markets in which there appears to be “high demand for their products and services.” Familiar to those who have used the Keyword tools in AdWords, The Global Market Finder helps you to evaluate new markets by showing you the following information for each market:

  • Volume of local searches
  • Estimated price for keywords
  • Competition for each keyword

The numbers give you an idea of how competitive the market is, how demand is in one country compared to another, and the cost to start advertising in the new market(s).

Here’s how it works:

First you enter your country and principle language (US and English); then enter the keywords related to your products and services. From the drop-down menu, select the global market that interests you (Africa, Americas, Asia, Emerging Markets, Europe, European Union, G20, Middle East, or Oceania). The Geographic Distribution results identify the Location (country), a bar graph that indicates strength of Opportunity, total number of Local Monthly Searches (12 month average), a Suggested Bid Amount for your associated keywords, and a bar graph indicating level of Competition.

Next you can opt to make use of the Google Translator Toolkit that allows you to upload a document (your intended ad landing page, for example) or specify a url and select the language from which and to which you want it translated. Next you can create a “TM”, or translation memory file where the translated document will be stored.

All of the above tools are accessible from the newly launched website Google Ads for Global Advertisers, which “pulls together resources for businesses to find the right market for their products and services, translate their websites and ad text, find new customers with relevant online ads, and understand options for international payment, shipping and customer service.”

What “Do Not Track” is Really About

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A press release issued in the beginning of December 2010 by the FTC announced its proposed “Do Not Track” policy governing the use of cookies – little packets of text sent back and forth between a web browser and the server it accesses to collect web browser user information. Just like the consumer opt-out “Do Not Call,” the proposal is intended to give consumers the right to block cookies that collect information that is used to profile them for the purpose of ad targeting and other uses not specified.

FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz stated that “the FTC wants to help ensure that the growing, changing, thriving information marketplace is built on a framework that promotes privacy, transparency, business innovation and consumer choice. We believe that’s what most Americans want as well… This proposal is intended to inform policymakers, including Congress, as they develop solutions, policies, and potential laws governing privacy, and guide and motivate industry as it develops more robust and effective best practices and self-regulatory guidelines.”

Considered a misnomer, the “Do Not Track” proposal (read Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change) is really raising a number of questions for which it is seeking comment. For example: “One question is whether there are practical considerations that support excluding certain types of companies or businesses from the framework – for example, businesses that collect, maintain, or use a limited amount of non-sensitive consumer data.” This would include Google Analytics. As Google explains, “Google Analytics tracking (and most web tracking software) uses cookies in order to provide meaningful reports about your site visitors. However, Google Analytics cookies do not collect personal data about your website visitors.”

The fact of the matter is there is a prevailing theme within the proposed “Do Not Track” policy and it all stems from the notion of one’s Right to Privacy. The report includes recommendations to improve the transparency of information collection practices, including ways that enable the public to compare information practices of competing companies. The leading web browsers including Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Microsoft IE9, have each taken their own approach to providing users with the ability to block, all or certain types, of cookies.

The “Do Not Track” proposal is a wake-up call to the industry that consumers want to be in charge. The FTC is seeking to “guide and motivate industry as it develops more robust and effective best practices and self-regulatory guidelines.” As AdAge pointed out, “A Do Not Track law could only be enacted by Congress, suggesting that this report is an appeal to whichever party — industry or Congress — will act more quickly.”

The FTC is really looking to each business to put into place practices that demonstrate to consumers what they are doing to protect them. In a nutshell, here’s what they expect:

  • Let them see the data you are collecting
  • Let them opt-out of your ability to collect all or some of that data
  • Tell them how you will use the data
  • Respect their right to not receive unsolicited communications from you
  • Give them a way to choose to receive communications with you

We are in the Age of the Consumer. They have more control now then they have had in the past and they are exercising it with the support of some pretty powerful backers like the FTC. It is important to recognize this and do what is necessary to ensure consumers that their interests, particularly privacy and security, are being carefully protected.

Third-Party Integration: Know Before You invest

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Many clients ask me to help them find a cost effective enterprise solution for ERP, CRM, e-commerce, and a variety of data management challenges they are faced with. It was not too long ago that third party on-demand and OTS (off-the-shelf)  solutions were simply not what they promised to be. They had an unprofessional look and feel, custom branding wasn’t possible, they took a lot of time to learn, took days to implement properly, didn’t really deliver on what they promised, and often required a very deep commitment from users.

Times have changed and some third-party applications have come a long way to provide cost conscious users with robust, customizable, and brandable solutions.

Affordable no longer equals “cheap”.

The challenge remains though to select from the multitude of products available the one that is right for you.

Whether it’s a custom solution or off-the-shelf, it has to be flexible enough to grow along with you, meeting your needs today while able to accommodate the new ones that come along with growth. Additionally, it is important to be able to detect the product’s limitations and potential incompatibilities with the way in which you do business.

For example, when considering a third-party cataloging solution, you want to find a product that provides you with line item level functionality but does not require your products to be tied into the system to such an extent that if you were to discontinue the service or, for whatever myriad of possible reasons, the service became unavailable (company went out of business, system malfunction, etc.), you would lose all sales and marketing information at the product level. This scenario happens often. My team had to rescue several businesses from such an occurrence when they discontinued using the third-party service but did not plan ahead.

Any quality third-party solution should integrate seamlessly with your branded website. You always want your web pages to provide the indexable product information that serves to educate and motivate your prospective customers.  Your search engine optimized web pages and offsite efforts serve to build your authority score in the eyes of the search engines for the terms associated with your content, providing you with search engine effectiveness and on-going return on investment.

On the other hand, if your content is tied with the third-party solution at every level, linking only from your homepage before leaving your site completely to access it, then you essentially own nothing that serves to build your business online. Once you stop the service you are out of business on the web because no one can access your product content online any more. For those of you who sell through your online application, this can have a detrimental effect on sales.

The third-party app evaluation process has to take into consideration what you can and cannot do without. Sometimes it makes sense to use a comprehensive product catalog solution, for example, that takes care of everything from soup to nuts. What you have to understand is what you are giving up. Does it make sense for the way you do business? What happens if you decide to no longer use the product?

Always consider:

  • What must the system do today and in the future
  • Does it offer a flexible architecture that will grow along with you
  • Does the look and feel accurately represent your branding and your professionalism
  • Is it user-friendly for the public as well as the administrative tools you will have to use
  • What is the learning curve
  • How long does it take to implement
  • How will you be affected if you discontinue to use it or it malfunctions
  • What are your true costs of ownership, including but not limited to purchase price
  • What is the return on investment (how does it streamline processes, particularly for leads, sales, and time-consuming administrative tasks)
  • What are the limitations and how will you be affected by them

There are many excellent third-party solutions available for whatever you need to accomplish, from enterprise level ERP solutions to simple little cart apps for custom requests for quote or online sales. Whatever your objectives, understanding ‘how’ to consider your options is critical to making a wise investment. Make a poor investment and it could cost you dearly in time, money, and business.

Why Good Online Reviews Are Important

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An interesting New York Times article recounts a horrifying online shopping experience a woman had with an e-retailer. The poor victim subsequently learned about an advocacy website where consumers vented their frustrations and experiences with this particular online merchant. The most disturbing part of the story was a statement posted at this consumer advocacy site by this unsavory merchant claiming his dishonest and sometimes threatening business practices (even involving physical threats and intimidation) were part of an overall strategy to generate online sales:

“Hello, My name is Stanley with DecorMyEyes.com…I just wanted to let you guys know that the more replies you people post, the more business and the more hits and sales I get. My goal is NEGATIVE advertisement.”

The merchant claims that the negative response resulted in higher listing spots in Google and increased sales online: “I never had the amount of traffic I have now since my 1st complaint. I am in heaven.”

Negative advertising is nothing new. It works.  And it can even be used effectively in a positive way, like Listerine’s negative advertising campaign that focused on the fact that the product tastes bad: “The Taste You Love to Hate (twice a day).”

Negative online customer reviews, however, are akin to notoriety. And notoriety and popularity are two very different things. Poor customer service and bad business practices are never advisable if you plan on staying in business for the long run. It is much more productive to develop sales initiatives that support both your overall growth objectives and your company mission statement. Three solid years of great online reviews and five star customer satisfaction goes a long way toward helping you achieve not only your search engine effectiveness but your longevity or even your value if you wish to sell your business or go public.

Long term versus short term: every short term initiative has a long term consequence. Encourage positive online reviews by offering your customers real value. From the experience they have at your website to the benefits of the product or service they receive from you, give them a good reason at every turn to take time out of their busy day to rave online about the experience they had with your company.