Issue #006- Secret Sauce, Usability, and Conversions

Local Internet Advertising

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By Scottie Claiborne © 2004

Web site marketing is about getting people to your site, then convincing them to take action: buy, join, subscribe, read more, etc. I'm going to give you the secret to unlocking the potential in your website. Right now. Absolutely for free. (Of course, if you WANT to send money, feel free to do so! ;-)

The Secret is Words.

Hmnn ... not very exciting, is it? You were expecting something flashier and unexpected probably... like special meta tags or coding or a secret search engine ranking recipe. The truth is that many websites just need more descriptive copy.

When many businesss owners set out to build a website, they start by looking at images, themes, and color schemes. They worry over technology like flash and javascript, wanting their site to be "cool" and outdo the competition. Their focus is on the visual and the interactive elements of the site. They pony up thousands of dollars to designers and coders to get that cool, interactive site they feel they must have, then they get someone in the office who's not busy at the moment to throw together some copy. It's almost an afterthought.

All You Need is Words.

OK, maybe that isn't all you need, but words are THE MOST IMPORTANT aspect of your site. The professional that most people think they can do without -the copywriter- is the one who can have the biggest impact on the success of your site. No matter what your website looks like, plain and simple or a triumph of visual graphic art, if the words are right it will convert.

Search Engine Rankings & Customer Conversions

Search engine spiders can't read pictures. They can't read Flash very well, although they are making strides in that direction. The same goes for javascript and other non-HTML technologies; for the most part search engine spiders ignore what they don't understand and look for what they do understand- text.

The words that are visible to people reading the page are the key element that search engine spiders use to determine what your page is about. (The other key element is links- we'll cover that in a future article.) Once the engine knows what the page is about, they can show that page to people who are searching for the words found on that page. That sounds pretty simplistic, but it's amazing how many pages only contain a picture and a few words, or flash animations, or other non-text items.

Sometimes the text on the page is really an image and not text at all, making the information virtually invisible to search engines. Some designers will tell you that putting the text from the image into the alt attribute of the image will solve the problem, but alt text is virtually ignored these days by the major engines. It's too easy to put irrelevant information in an alt attribute.

While the site owner often thinks the picture says it all and the web designer thinks it is cutting edge, the customer wants to know more. The web is a research tool as well as a marketing medium and when viewing a commercial site people want to know all the benefits, sizes, colors, and configurations.

Words Make All the Difference

A company rents cotton candy machines in Kalamazoo, SC. Their Cotton Candy Machine page has a big picture of a Cotton Candy Machine with "Cotton Candy Machine- $45" under it. Their page title says "Cotton Candy". That's all. A searcher typing in "cotton candy machine rental Kalamazoo" will never be able to find this page, because the search engine doesn't know that is what the page is about!

A potential customer who does find the page may look at it and think, "Hmnn... the other rental place has their machine for $40, I'll call them instead."

You need pictures and words in order to sell effectively.

Let's take our cotton candy example and redo that page in order to get more search hits and more customers calling to book it:

Add excitement to your next party or event with our Cotton Candy Machine for rent! The sweet aroma and taste of fresh cotton candy can turn any party into a festival.

You can also raise funds for your organization with our Cotton Candy Machine! Sell cotton candy at your next carnival, festival, or even gatherings such as school PTO meetings or church get-togethers.

The low rental price of just $45 includes delivery, and we can even supply you with cotton candy flosssugar and cones.

We are the only company in Kalamazoo, SC that offers a cotton candy machine with a safety bubble for your protection. Our Cotton Candy Machine is cleaned and sanitized after every use and inspected for proper operation before delivery. We'll even review the operating procedures with you when we drop it off.

Page footer on every page: Our Company Party Rentals in Kalamazoo, SC. Call us today! (999) 999-9999

The Payoff

A search engine will know that page is about cotton candy machine rental in Kalamazoo and your customers will know the benefits of renting from you. By taking the time to put all the information about a product or service and repeating the key terms where they make sense you can:

• Help search engines to know what the page is about
• Give people a reason to buy
• Reinforce your company services or offerings
• Spend less time on the phone/sending e-mails giving out basic information
• Identify the location for local businesses

None of that requires a special copywriter, designer, or programmer. You can do it yourself!

Don't be tempted to sneak in extra words… hidden text is penalized these days and stuffing words in your image alt attributes is a waste of time; most engines completely disregard it. And semi-visible or tiny text looks very unprofessional to your clients- it's just not needed. If you can't work it into the visible copy, you don't need it on the page.

Write a page title that reflects what the page is about, a good meta description, keywords that appear on the page, then put all the information you have about the product or service on that page in visible text for your visitors to read. If your writing skills are lacking, hiring a web copywriter, or even better an SEO copywriter. It may very well be the best investment you can make in your web marketing strategy!

Scottie Claiborne is the owner of Right Click Web Consulting and the facilitator of the Successful Sites Newsletter. She is a speaker at the Search Engine Strategies conferences and the High Rankings Seminars as well as the administrator of the High Rankings Forum.

It's All About the Content

Does your copy sell? Or is it just there, filling the page? Karon Thackston's Step-by-Step Copywriting Course can help you hone your writing skills by giving you simple, easy-to-follow lessons on effective copywriting for the web.

By Kim Krause, Cre8pc.com © 2004

You've likely heard of the movie, Jerry Maguire, with its famous line, "You had me at hello." Jerry Maguire was luckier than web sites we find in search engines. Many web sites don't attract user devotion at the first word, let alone after scanning the home page.

How many times has this scenario happened to you? You've performed a search in a search engine or directory, reviewed the results and found a page description that fits your needs. When you click on the page that looks the most promising, you often arrive at the web site's home page, where one or more things might happen:

1. The page loads slowly due to too many graphics, dynamic applications or scripts.
2. There are terms used on the page that you don't understand.
3. It promotes products or services that were not mentioned in the page description from the search engine.
4. The products or services are unrelated to your search.
5. The page is "amateurish" in appearance and you're not feeling confident about things like customer service, user privacy and security, experience with the product, or other credibility issues.
6. The page is so busy you don't know where to go to next, or distractions caused you to forget your original mission.
7. Something has turned you off, such as swimsuit models that don't look like you do, corporate images of businessmen, not women, or multiple animated things.
8. An invasive advertisement appeared that you had to click away so you could read the content underneath it.
9. The page loads but your scumware radar starts beeping like crazy or popup and security alerts appear.
10. You need a magnifying glass to read the content.

If a keyword search brings back an inside page, more common frustrations occur to drive people away from the web site. They include:

1. There is no navigation to the rest of the web site.
2. There is navigation, but no visible, easy-to-locate link to the main home page or main web site.
3. A link "home" is offered, but sub-navigation is missing, so that the user must start at the beginning to figure out where they landed inside the web site.
4. Link labels do not explain what the web site is about, so the visitor may not be inspired to click around.
5. There is no suggested click path to follow. For example, if the page happens to be an article, it might be useful to say "Did you find this article helpful? Here are more articles that may interest you."

We often forget that search engines index more than our home page. People often stumble into our web sites while searching for other things, linking from another web site, or receiving an email link from a friend. The starting place isn't always home base.

So, how do you make a web site page approachable in a crowded room of search engine results? First, make sure your title tag is accurate. Every page requires a title tag unique to the content it represents. The home page is an overview page, so focus on the main goal, which is often also your primary keyword(s).

Next, write a genuine, honest description that isn't all hype and glorified self-worship about your great website. If the site is going to sell something, what does it sell? Does it specialize? Avoid words like "unique", "amazing", and "special" because, frankly, everybody makes these claims.

It's important to not "stuff" keywords in your title and description tags because these are displayed in search engines as your site or page description. When read by humans, they don't make sense. People are getting wiser. They know that you are trying to get higher rank but it doesn't mean your web site is any better in quality that those lower in search results.

Regardless of where the page is in your site, there are lots of ways to attract attention or generate curiosity so that your visitor becomes a potential customer, or least finds the content interesting enough to keep browsing around. My favorite part of discount stores are the displays where they toss clearance items, or the impulse "Oh yes, I forgot I needed that"-type items. You can do the same thing with your web site. Simply place the toenail clippers, scotch tape and calling cards out front where they're easily seen. In other words, remind your visitors you carry the items they didn't know they needed.

Here are some other ideas to try:

1. Provide a good reason to enter your site. Don't expect anyone to take your word for anything. Offer incentives.
2. Put a visible text link to your sitemap on every page. Even your local shopping mall has a map with a "You Are Here" pointer.
3. Be forthcoming and descriptive with pictures. If you sell shoes, show the tread. If you design and make your own crafts, show close-ups of the detail and workmanship. The sunglasses line you offer is likely filled with brand name shades, but what types of faces will they complement? I have a difficult time buying artwork online because I can't visualize the dimensions in my head. A picture of a framed version, hanging in a room with furniture, will help me understand what I'm trying to purchase. In a virtual world, you must go to great lengths to sell things people can't touch or see in use.
4. Place words like "sale", "getting started", "first-time user", "learn more", "try now", "buy now", "free", "download", "we deliver" and "free shipping" on your pages, above the page "fold".
5. On your home page, provide an introduction and suggestions for where your visitors might like to go next, based on their needs.

Search engines can only bring a visitor to your doorstep. It's your job to grab them by the hand, invite them inside and show it off.

Kim Krause is the Administrator for the Cre8asite Forum, author of the Cre8pc blog, and owner of Cre8pc Usability and Search Engine Optimization. She's a contributing writer for the High Rankings Newsletter, Search Engine Guide, ISEDB.com and WebProNews as well as other publications.

Wrap Up

Well, I am excited! When you recieve the next issue of this newsletter, I'll be on a plane to London. And hours later, I'll still be on a plane to London... then I'll be asleep while everyone else is awake...

I'm headed to the London edition of the Search Engine Strategies Conference. I'm going early with my buddy Jill Whalen to do some sightseeing and hang out since this is my first trip to London. My passport application was sent back because the picture was too ugly...(they claimed it was too grainy) so I had some doubts that I would get it back in time. I sent in new pics and it's here! I need to pack!

Thought I'd take a minute to mention that SEOPros is going through some great changes these days- if you are looking for an SEO who uses best practices (and not spam techniques) you can trust the companies in the directory at SEO Pros. For professional SEOs- check out their new member benefits and info!

One last thing- I'm trying to pull together a Web Marketing Basics seminar for Orlando in November, so if you are interested, mark November 16 on your calendar! More details to follow as we get them finalized.

Have a great day! -Scottie

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