Tag: Onsite Marketing

Why Audience Segmentation and Targeting is So Important

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I came across a great little B2B case study in a post by Michael Brenner that I recommend you all read. In a nutshell, by providing respondents with “directed paths and audience-specific messaging” the subject of the case study increased website conversion rates by 556%.

It is so often the case that companies offer a tremendous amount of valuable information on their websites but they just are not getting the kind of conversions they expect. Typically the problem is the way in which the information is presented and sometimes even the keywords used to attract audiences. The entire presentation is either too generalized or not targeting audiences accurately.

Not all information is relevant to all audiences. Additionally, even if the information is relevant to everyone, it is often not relevant for the same reasons. These distinctions are important to understand when you are creating and presenting web content, particularly landing page content designed to greet respondents from a search engine or email campaign.

The first order of business is to understand who you are talking to (segment and profile) and why they should be listening to you (value you offer them). There are many ways to segment your audiences and the criteria you select to do so should make sense for your business. An example would be to target differently those familiar with your type of service or products from those who are just now learning how what you offer could work for them. The core information may be the same, but how you present it will determine how successful you are at attracting and motivating each group.

Something else to consider when segmenting and profiling your target audience groups is what their role in the decision-making process will be. If you are marketing B2B, typically you want to get your message across to decision-makers but have to go through those who are conducting the research. In this case, your initial challenge is to speak to the interests of those conducting the research using the language they use.   If done well, later in the process you may begin to present information in a manner that will allow the researcher to be your representative to the decision-makers.

Bottom line, present web content in a way that allows each of your target audience groups to easily identify and interact with the content meant for them. From landing page through to conversion, keep the conversation focused on them, providing each group with interesting ways to interact with your information as it guides them seamlessly through each step to make contact with you.

Business Development Tip to Optimize for Google Preview – It may be time for a website facelift

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Google’s new Instant Preview feature allows users to click on a magnifying glass icon to get a screen shot of the web page associated with the search result link being displayed. With instant access to the ‘look’ of a website page, Google’s new browser feature has big implications for business website owners.

People, in general, are highly influenced by the way something looks. During a search, the first thing they will look for on the ‘instant preview’ is the item or information they were searching for. Additionally, they will be evaluating whether or not they want to interact with the page. If anything about the way it looks is unappealing, they will not even click through.
The history of culture and societies, never mind the brief history of the internet, tells us that people pass judgment based on the way a person, place or thing looks. Your website isn’t excluded here. That brief snapshot, in that split second,  now represents your entire business!

Here’s a good test to start with to let you know if your web pages need improvement. Have  someone you trust with a critical eye, evaluate your ‘instant previews’ against others on the Google Results page for:
1) First impression
2) Fulfilling expectations (can they see what you said you offer?)
3) Professionalism
5) Experience (does it look pleasurable and inviting?)
With Google’s ‘instant preview,’ first impressions count more than ever before.

Think about it.  If you have done a good enough job to even be found in Google within ranking results your buyers are looking, what a shame it would be to not get a click-through to your site based on the fact that you did not put your best foot forward.  If you’re ranking you have the content, DO NOT let leads / sales slip through your fingers because of poor design!

Ranking in Google: Understanding What Google Expects

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Remember “Mayday”, the day a few months ago when Google released the results of algorithm changes that affect the way web page listings would be ranked for ‘long tail’ searches (phrases with 3 words or more)?

One of the most critical explanations Google provided about the change was actually quite simple and can be applied to any of the more than 400 adjustments to the algorithm the company makes throughout a given year.

Google’s Matt Cutts explains that the change is a way of “making sure things look good from a quality perspective.”

That’s it.

This is the explanation that should be your guiding principle behind the development, expansion and search engine optimization of each page of your website.  In their ‘Ranking in Google’ webmaster tutorial video on Youtube, Google states that among the many ranking factors ‘relevance’ and ‘importance’ are the two principle valuations.

To ensure the highest quality, Google aims to provide ‘relevant’ results that match the “query and interest of the user.” There are systems in place to help them achieve this including a degree of ‘personalization’ where the result is “customized to the individual’s search history.” Additionally, a degree of “importance” is attached to the web page through a system that evaluates the “quantity and quality of pages that link to it.” One of the more than 200 components of this valuation is something called “PageRank™”, which is a type of link analysis that determines the perceived value of a web page by the number and quality of “inbound links” from relevant, high quality sources that point to it.

Google recommends that the best way to increase your page’s PageRank™ “is to create good content, participate thoughtfully in relevant communities online and offline, and from this garner links naturally.” It is not acceptable to buy or sell pages with a high PageRank™. This includes the buying or selling of advertising where “you’ll want to make sure those links don’t pass PageRank by using the ‘no follow’ attribute.”

Google warns that that the web is changing at a frantic pace and that “constant content and link updates around the web” can affect your site’s presence in Google. It also cautions that web pages that violate the Google Webmaster Guidelines will “fall to a lower ranking.” The recommendation is to “carefully evaluate your site identifying and fixing any issues.”

For long term results, Google advises the following:

  • Think like your users
  • Provide content designed for users not search engines (no cloaking – sending different content to Googlebot than you are sending to users)
  • Consider how your users are likely to search for this content (use the language they use to search)
  • Don’t disappoint your users as they engage with content and links on your site (fulfill their expectations)
  • Regularly verify that all links on your site are still pointing to relevant resources that reflect well on you and your organization

To improve your ranking in Google you must first be honest with yourself about what is and isn’t working. Don’t confuse a sharp looking site with one that works to convert your target audience groups in addition to attracting them by ranking well in Google. Remember what Cutts said: “make sure things look good from a quality perspective.”

From Google’s standpoint, quality is measured by ‘relevance’ and ‘importance’. You are charged with proving that your web pages provide a frequented and valued resource to users whose search queries include your target keywords and phrases.

SEO for Google Images Search for Added Visibility

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With Google’s recent updates to Google Images, it just makes good sense to SEO your website’s images, particularly if they are an asset to your selling toolkit. Having indexed more than 10 billion images, Google’s densely populated tool attracts users who are “learning and even shopping.”

Searchers who have a very specific need may use Google Images to identify or learn more about what they want while at the same time consider possible solutions. For example, a home owner with a mold problem wants to identify the mold she has, learn more about it, and discover what can be done to get rid of it and keep it from coming back. Using Google Images, she would search ‘black mold on walls.’ Providing eighteen results per page, Google displays images related to the search. When the user clicks on an image, a new screen opens that displays the image and caption on top and the web page where the image resides below.

Ways in Which Google Identifies Images

The context in which the image resides on the web page carries the most amount of weight for image identification. Google’s indexing algorithm is predominantly concerned with the body copy or textual information on the page that surrounds the image or that the image supports. In other words, identification and relevance both play a factor in indexing and ranking. Think of Google’s overriding objective: to provide end-users with information relevant to their query. The assumption is that people search images as a stepping-stone to the more detailed information they are after. They don’t just wnt to see the picture. They want to learn something about it.

What You Can Do

Search engine optimization of your images ensures two very important things:

1) images are clearly identified and contextually placed on your web pages to offer you the greatest support for your sales and marketing or informational message; and

2) Google Search can easily identify them and their contextual relevance, making them easy to index and rank within the Google Image search results pages.

Strategically placing images on your web pages and ensuring they are surrounded by carefully crafted body copy offers you an additional opportunity to increase your visibility online and be discovered by potential buyers, members, or supporters who are actively looking for what it is you offer.

Search engine optimization of your images is another aspect of the optimization process that is designed to help you get discovered by your target audience groups and identify your highly focused content as relevant to their needs.

Why Search Engine Marketing is a Strategy

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If you consider that a strategy is a series of actions designed to obtain a specific goal or result then you can begin to appreciate why search engine optimization and paid search campaigns are part of a strategy and not a one-time initiative.

The process of developing an effective optimization strategy is equivalent to making a good business plan. You look to see where you are now, decide where you think you can realistically be in a year, 2 years and 5 years, and then develop the plan that is approached in phases according to the budgets you have set aside for its execution.

Starting with a comprehensive keyword research and analysis, you select the keywords and phrases believed to attract your targeted audience groups to become the focus of your campaign. A benchmark report serves to show you where you are ranking for those terms now and will be used again to measure your future success.

It is also important to understand the variables that may affect your current and future ranking results. These include items that have to do with your website, such as website architecture, the effectiveness of your web copy and images, design, title tags and meta data, calls-to-action and a number of other factors, as well as off-site factors such as other websites your web pages may be showing up on and what’s being said about your company over the internet on social networking, news, blogs, and review sites.

With website tracking and analysis software in place (generally Google Analytics is the best start), you have what you need to develop the phases of your strategy that will impact both short-term and long-term results. Google and the other leading search engines are looking for a steady, positive trend. Nothing gets accomplished overnight. Every positive step you take toward providing relevant, highly focused web content and establishing your online presence as an authority for the products and services you offer, as well as the areas you serve if you are a local provider, builds your “reputation” and solidifies your clout in the “eyes” of the search engines.

Before you engage in any search engine optimization or paid placement initiative, you will be best served by sitting down with an optimization professional who can clarify for you what needs to be done so you can achieve and maintain positive search engine results.  Select your SEO vendor wisely.  Learn about their process and capabilities, get references and request sample results of work that meet your expectations.