Posts Tagged ‘seo’
4 Common Online Marketing Mistakes That Kill Conversion Rates
Online marketing is a little bit like dieting, in the sense that most of the main principles and ideas are fairly well-known and understood, but that doesn’t stop people from making common mistakes or trying to take shortcuts. And, more often than not, these mistakes and shortcuts don’t just make Internet marketing less efficient, but also end up costing businesses more in the long term.
To help you avoid the biggest blunders, here are four common online marketing mistakes that kill conversion rates and eat away at your bottom line:
1. Unfocused web design. There are a lot of different errors that fall under this category, but two of the most important are websites that make it hard for customers to find what they’re looking for, and those that are just “busy” or outdated to the point of being distracting. Obviously, both symptoms are going to be bad for sales.
2. Search-driven copy. If everything on your website seems like it’s written for Google, and not actual customers, we have some bad news for you: Google might have lots of money, but they rarely give search engine spiders the authorization to spend it. In other words, take advantage of keywords, but also make a point of putting real-life buyers first in your marketing messages.
3. Too many ads. It’s important to monetize traffic if you’re going to remain profitable, but there is a difference between having ads and bombarding users with ads, banners, and other “buy now” links. Each page in your site should have one clear conversion goal, so move towards that and keep things clean and simple.
4. Negative reviews. Now more than ever, customers are entering your company name, or your products, into Google before they decide to buy or register for more information. That means what they find – especially in the form of customer feedback and reviews – has a huge effect on your conversion rates.
Is your company missing the obvious and hurting conversion rates in the process? If so, now is the perfect time to talk to a member of our team and see how we can help put you back on the right track.
3 Ways to Improve Your Search Engine Optimization Campaign… Without Tweaking a Single Keyword
Search engine optimization campaigns are generally all about finding a higher rank on Google or Bing for an important keyword or key phrase. But, what if there was a way you could increase the profitability and return on investment from your SEO efforts without tweaking single keyword, or even thinking about them?
As luck would have it, there are actually three ways to do just that:
1. Inject more energy into your copywriting. It’s a well-known fact that people tend to buy for emotional reasons. Because of that, high-energy copywriting that encourages people to envision a better future and take action on it tends to outperform writing that “just states the facts.”
2. Give visitors a better user experience. Although lots of people might be finding your pages, how many of them are finding exactly what they’re looking for on the first click? Because that number is always likely to be less than 100%, it’s important to have a clear, simple navigation structure that they can follow to find other information resources on your site.
3. Offer more value than your competitors. Any time that you can give potential clients something your competitors can’t – in the form of lower prices, faster shipping, better customer service, or flat-out superior products – you’re going to have an easier time winning new business.
Of course, veteran online marketers will recognize that each of these three tips really comes down to conversion rate optimization – that is, getting more from every visit to your business website. While that might not fall strictly within the confines of search engine optimization, it is a necessary skill if you’re going to make the most of any search position.
Why not give them a try today and see how much more profitable you can be, even before you have moved farther up the search engine rankings?
Are You Following the Wrong Recipe for Pay-Per-Click Success?
If you’ve ever tried to teach yourself how to cook, you probably made one of those classic, head-slap mistakes that ruin an otherwise perfect dish. Common examples would be baking at the wrong temperature, using the wrong kinds of measuring cups, or substituting salt for sugar. In each case, they’re easy blunders to commit, but can kill the result you are looking for – even if you did everything else right.
The same principle applies to pay-per-click advertising, where too many business owners and executives are looking at the wrong goals. It’s understandable, but keeping an eye on the right set of figures makes all the difference, and it isn’t traffic, bid prices, or even click-through rates that matter most… it’s your cost per conversion for each important keyword or phrase.
That isn’t to say that those other numbers don’t work into the mix, but that they should be secondary to the cost-per-conversion calculation. Here are a few quick reasons why:
Cost-per-conversion keeps you better aligned to your business goals. If you spend less on advertising than you make in gross profits, your bottom line is going to generally move in the right direction. You can’t necessarily draw the same direct path from click-through rates or bid prices, though.
Watching your cost-per-conversion stops you from over (or under) paying for keywords. Sometimes, the best keywords seem too expensive, and the worst ones kill you slowly with low bid prices. Success with PPC is all about efficiency, and that’s where your cost-per-conversion figure comes in.
Cost-per-conversion puts PPC advertising into the right context with regard to the rest of your Internet marketing plan. The better understanding you have of this number, the easier it is to decide where to put your marketing dollars, especially when you weigh the cost-per-conversion of PPC versus direct mail, telemarketing, and other tools.
As we’ve already said, cost-per-conversion isn’t the only number that matters in online advertising, but keeping a close eye on it can help you make important decisions and stay on track. Have you been following the right recipe for Internet marketing success?