We all know by now that SEO is not a process that can be done once and stopped. It’s a long-term commitment and well worth the time!  Today, I want to encourage you to try out conversion rate optimization or CRO.  I hope that this post will serve to get the wheels in your noggin turning so you can brainstorm ways to improve your conversions, and check out a number of other helpful resources to get started in CRO.

There’s a lot of debate in the SEO industry about CRO with extreme proponents on both sides, which believe in SEO-only or CRO-only.  Think about it though – a site built to convert can’t do so without being found, and a website built to be found won’t convert to its full extent if it’s not user friendly.  Keep polishing your SEO, like I said, it’s never finished, and it’s the best way to give people what they’re looking for initially.  By adding CRO to the mix, you’ll be well on your way to bringing in as many conversions as possible.

CRO, put simply, is figuring out why your website visitors aren’t taking the desired action (i.e. converting), and tailoring marketing efforts to increase quality conversions.  CRO can involve running A/B split tests to determine which alternative a visitor is more likely to convert with.  When getting ready to start A/B testing, it’s usually better to start big and then drill down to smaller changes.  Spending weeks upon weeks deciding what color your Free Trial button should be isn’t going to give you tremendous changes, and if you do see an increase, research shows that it’s minimal.

This is where the Google Website Optimizer comes in handy.  You can test the design and layout of your website, then begin tweaking everything from the headlines to the body content.  After you’ve set up your tests, you can use a tool like Crazy Egg or Google Analytics heat maps to get a visual representation of what visitors click on the most.  But before you jump the gun and start testing every aspect of the page, understand this – CRO is also making sure that all of your marketing efforts are aligned and bringing in those good, quality conversions.

Let’s look at an example, shall we?  Here at Hanapin, we have a client who does an excellent job of making user friendly changes to their website to improve user experience and increase their conversions. After I started working on this account, I signed up for a free trial so I could better understand what their customers were seeing.

This particular client recently added tutorial videos after recognizing that abandonment often occurs from lack of knowledge on how to use the online product. (Hint: Find where your customers are leaving your site by setting up funnels in Google Analytics, and regularly checking your bounce and exit rates for abnormally high numbers). A great thing about adding video is you can put them on your website, and a 3^rd party like YouTube. Then, you can use some SEO magic to help your YouTube videos get found in the SERPs. Pretty groovy, huh?

So, besides A/B testing everything, what other sort of ways can you help out the customers on your website and bring in conversions at the same time?  Here are some examples, can you come up with more?

1. I’d suggest re-evaluating what your site has to offer in terms of assistance.  FAQ pages are helpful, but there’s more you can do in this day and age. Is live help chat is a possibility for your company?  People love instant fixes!  You can also provide your customers with a way to help themselves through help forums.  As always, make sure your contact information is available and not just on the Contact Us page.

2. Build up your credibility.  The ways to accomplish this are simply endless.  Case studies, blogging, customer testimonials, links to your social sites, and prompt customer service are all great ways to do this.  No one wants to buy from a company they can’t trust.  If your organization has recognizable (trustworthy) companies they provide services for, ask them for permission to use their logo on your testimonial.

3. Set up an email remarketing system.  With the client mentioned above, I receive (not overly frequent) emails from a customer service representative encouraging me to use the product by sending me tips and tricks.  They’re also sure to include a link to their blog, tutorial videos, and social networking sites in the email.

4. Make your blog user focused! Keep it professional, but show off the human side of your company.  General articles about the business are a great credibility booster, but make sure you add in tutorial articles where appropriate. Don’t just blog for a month and call it quits, either.  It takes time to see the benefits. (Make sure to apply SEO techniques to that blog to make it search engine happy).

5. Be feedback friendly! This client has a feedback button on every single page while logged in.  This gives your customers a voice, and it gives you a focus for improvement (and ideas for further CRO A/B testing).  Just make sure you’re keeping track of the feedback and responding to big issues.

6. Make your call to action blatantly obvious.  If a customer is reaching the website, and they aren’t completing your goal conversion, or worse, they’re not immediately sure of what you do, – you’ve got a problem.  This client needs people to try the product and eventually pay for it, so they’ve added their sign up button to the top, middle, and bottom of the page (and they track how many people sign up with each one in Google Analytics).

What it comes down to is that all of the brilliant SEO moves in the world can’t convert a website to its full potential if the user isn’t finding what they need to make the commitment.  So keep up with your SEO for the bots, and find some ways to make your website human friendly at the same time.

The war room is the room where strategic decisions are analyzed, discussed, proposed and made. The war room exists for every company because your company is in competition with another company – it just depends on its quality.  Everyone needs a strategy. I always prefer to do a rundown list on competition. It starts this way…

Someone wants to start a small business – something they love to do – and they want to see if they can make a little money of off it. They ask me, “what could I do to increase website visits.” After I give a punch list, they start backing away. More often than not, they have a fear of getting in over their heads and want to keep it small. Two months later, they come back “ok, let’s do it.” At this point, I wish I could pull down maps out of nowhere and get an expandable pointer. Why? Because there’s no time to waste.

Here’s my initial punch list to develop a war room strategy:

1. SERPs
Search Engine Results Pages. Your keywords. What are they? What are people typing to find you if they don’t know your name? The top results in your keywords and key phrases are your competition. Search less popular terms and take note of any opportunities.

2. Competitor Websites
Visit each website and take note of the following of how their information flows and the direction it takes you.  Does the information make sense? Are you guided to make a decision? Does it prompt you to make a decision now or some nebulous time in the future?

3. Links
Are other sites linking them? Which ones are they? Are they quality sites?

4. Social Media
Are they on Twitter? Facebook? Are they actively using them?

5. Local Results
Google Place Pages, Yahoo and Bing Local. Did they claim their listings? What info are they sharing?
What are they NOT doing?

6. Blog & Forum Chatter
Search on their name and URL – see what people are saying about them. Do they have a blog? How often do they update it?

That’s the short list right there. Once you profile your top competitors, you then look for holes in each instance to “do one better.”

A. SERPs
Place your keywords and keyphrases in places where they matter most.  Optimize for the “not as competitive” keywords to circumvent a bloodbath of fighting.
Example: Three Competitors fighting for “Home Windows.”  Instead of joining in the fray, I optimized for “replacement vinyl.”  It worked, but then the other sites caught on so I changed it again.

B. Websites
Arrange your web pages to flow to increase conversions by giving strong call to actions and empathizing with prospective clients.  Example: After researching a year on the top problems a potential client would face to bring them into my “store.”  I changed the flow of the homepage to those problems with quick solution paths.  Conversion percentages were staggering.  Company information was moved way out of the way to the “About Us” tab.   I have never seen a commercial starting off with the history of the company, why should your website?

C. Links
Seek out better places to link to you. Example: A competitor had 3 times as many backlinks as one client.  They were going for quantity rather than quality.  By getting links from the local TV station, Better Business Bureau and the local university and a government website. It made a difference and it didn’t matter if the “no-follow” link attribute was used because of number 1.

D. Social Media
Do it better.  Example: We started a client with both a Twitter and Facebook account.  Facebook was a lot more popular.  We were able to acquire fans with an offer, a contest and other promotion.  However, it started becoming problematic to retain and engage the “Fans” without annoying them but serving a purpose.  The direction was changed quietly as competitors started to blast their fans needlessly … and still do.

E. Local Results
Fill out your local profiles and use them to the fullest.  Example: Using coupons and mimicking the working language from your website that works, a lot of lead sources and phone calls were tied to the local SEO.

F. Blog & Forum Chatter
If there’s anything you can capitalize on – a mood within the industry, a PR flub, take note and move wisely. Example: Google Alerts were set up for competitor names as well as the client’s name.  This was able to bring in alerts where people were talking about us positively and negatively.  Seeing the negative aspects of a competitor’s customer service allowed us to enhance the client’s.

Hoowah! Don’t get intimidated. Size up your competition and know their weaknesses. Remember, knowing is have the battle.  Scouring this site is a place to build your war room for the above steps.  What tactics are in your “war room?”

What is a doorway page?

A doorway page is a page that is optimized for a specific keyword or two that leads to the rest of the website.

Sounds good, right? Well, this is how it played out:

A doorway page is a page that is generated by software that builds bogus web pages containing vague and generic content, peppered with your search terms to trick the Search Engine into thinking that the doorway page is full of useful content, thereby ranking the page high and pushing competing pages out of the way by flooding search results with junk content.

Ew. The purpose of the Black hat Doorway page was to make sure that you were only seeing their website while also feeding Search Engines lots of matching keyword content. In many instances, the page you
saw looked a lot different than the search engine saw. By disabling javascript on a suspected doorway page you can sometimes see a lot of the actual junk feeding the search engine.  In response to this technique, some search engines would de-list or ban the site or not index more than the home page. It was an abuse that needed to be curbed.

What is a good Doorway Page?

I know I’ll get laughed at by some for putting “good” and “doorway page” together, but there is an actual good way to use a “doorway page.”

1. Keep the concept. Change the Practice.
A website has much to offer. Your main page may list all that your company does, but your sub-pages can be optimized to stand on their own for specific keywords. If you have content that doesn’t sound spammy and sounds focused on the keywords at hand. Don’t have anything “generated” – do it by hand. Content is king, and those who serve the king will find favor.

2. Include Navigation
Some doorway pages were notorious for having vague navigation, if any at all. Creating comfortable usability is essential in providing a pleasing web experience while someone is trying to find an answer to their need.

3. Make the goal clear
Because most doorway pages were for the search engine’s “eyes,” these junk pages didn’t go anywhere. If your new content-rich, hand-crafted, answer-giving page has a clear call-to-action you will reap rewards of leads.

Leads? Yes, leads! The Blackhatter would build pages just to rank high in a web search at whatever cost. You, being a white hatter, build pages to provide a real relevant solution that the user will appreciate and do business with you.

How do SEO results compare to PPC results?

Both are measured differently, so you can’t really say one is better than the other. For quick fast results, PPC can get clicks to your site, but retaining visitors is tricky. For Organic SEO, repeating customers and clients is outstanding, but the road to get there is longer. You can see how both can be applied for an immediate successful marketing campaign.

One Website’s tale in Organic SEO

There was once a nice little website of a local contractor that touted the wares of its vendors. Shiny images of machinery filled the gallery with text of the company’s history. The average email contact was about 1 a week on various types of client’s needs. The business relied heavily on mail drops, radio and outbound calling.  Success was moderate, but there was a slight downward trend.  So they turned more energy to the website – uncharacteristic for their industry.

Usually, a website redesign could boost the visits and email contacts, but SEO would enlarge the pool of web surfers to come into the site.

The Redesign List
1. Dumped the vendor products to focus on branding the contractor
2. Focused content on what the end-user wants hitting the pain points
3. Segmented the website with different paths for different customers
4. Contact forms for all customer paths and products

Why the fuss?

For #1: To show why they are the choice, rather than a shelf for a vendor product
For #2: People need a solution to a problem they have, not a success story
For #3: To show how people are using your site and what people are wanting most
For #4: To make it hard for people to leave your site without making a decision

Of course they could have left it like that, but they wanted to enlarge the pool out there to capture those people searching for solutions they could provide.

The SEO List
6. Getting a list of prominant keywords in their industry
7. Claiming their local business listings online and filling out the profiles
8. Installing Google Analytics
9. Incorporate Keywords into title pages
10. Adding more pages based on the keywords with contact forms

What’s the purpose of those steps?

For #6: To find out the words people are actually typing in to find the stuff you provide
For #7: To be listed in local listings
For #8: To track your website’s traffic and where people come from to get to your site and how they use your site
For #9: Letting the search engines index your pages according to your keywords rather than “home” or “welcome.”
For #10: Maximizing the amount of opportunities for your site to be indexed as well as spreading a large net for potential customers.

The results after a year:

Astounding. Since there were no analytics with the first website, the redesign clocked in at bringing in an average of 30 visits a day. Through different calls to action, the 1 email contact a week grew to an average of 3 a day. After 1 year of SEO and Local SEO efforts, the average visits increased to 80 visits a day and an average of 7 contacts a day. Because of the results, the company is cutting down on direct mail drops and look to more internet solutions.

Could it have been more? Absolutely, there were many SEO methods that could be implemented, but the local competition didn’t change anything on their sites so the high placement was acheived quicker than average.

As you look at your site, just ask “what do you want it to do for you?”

My favorite offhand phrase to date that gets me unexpected traffic is, “Kierkegaard died a virgin.” (The great part is that he didn’t, actually, but that’s existential talk for another day).

Sometimes, the difference between success or failure in campaigns, especially in cases where competition is fierce, comes down to these phrases. These phrases become the details that need not be overlooked.

But how to find high-converting long-tail keywords?

Many people know the value of analytics. A PPC keyword analysis along with simple keyword and phrase searches in analytics often give people the aggregate keywords to help them on their way. But many people have a tendency not to consider the traffic along with the keyword.

For example, if keyword A came from predominately blog links but keyword B came from PPC campaigns, which keywords do you go with? If you have enough pages, you can optimize accordingly and test-test-test, but that’s where Closed Loop Analysis comes in.

Closed Loop Analysis – aka Closed Loop Marketing

The more I utilize closed loop analysis, the more I become addicted to the practice. No matter how much history you have, keywords, long tail and question phrase optimization, anaytics…what is profitable can change on something a simple as a blog post.

Or more typically, a successful branding campaign.

With closed loop analysis, you don’t simply analyze the traffic, but you break it down and analyze the conversions: What product(s) converted? What is the frequency of the conversion? How did they enter the site? Was it direct traffic, keyword search, referrer, CPC, email…What keywords did they use? If you can break down the fundamental data of those who’ve converted, then you can better optimize for that target market(s) with the hopes of attracting more like-minded individuals.

Products that provide Closed Loop Marketing data

I first learned about it when a co-worker first introduced me to Inbound Marketing. The cornerstone behind the movement is Hubspot in Cambridge, MA. They are a software company that offers subscriptions for metrics such as closed loop marketing.

If you are savvy enough, you can have your PPC, email, and media campaigns tagged and from with some custom tweeks, you can set up similar analysis in Google Analytics – remember to use a copy of the profile!

Don’t assume that just because you’ve gotten sales from a demographic that you’ve already tapped the market. Consider those who’ve already converted for you. You just might find you’ve only hit the tip of the iceberg.

This week I would like to discuss the values of considering the same questions brought up in Part 1 – Landing Page Design – and using them in Part 2 – Social Media integration.

Blog Integration with CTA

When a searcher comes to a site, leaving a link on your site that says “blog,” unless you already have a loyal following, isn’t going to be all that appetizing for the searcher. Why? Because for most people, a blog is just a blog is just a blog. It’s trendy, and when it’s just called a “blog” on a corporate or company site, the “blog” has no meaning. People don’t read blogs because they’re “blogs.” Sometimes, they’re even turned off to the page because it is a “blog,” feeling as if the site is just trying to use something trendy to get their attention.

People read blogs because of the value to them.

To paint a picture, my grandfather – oldold man Finn – likes classic outlaw country music. A couple days ago while we were roadtripping back from Gasparilla Island, I played a couple ‘modernized’ country songs for him: a cover of George Jones’ “The Race is On,” and the classic song, “Monkey and the Engineer.” He hummed along, even tried to sing them. When he asked where I got the tunes, I told him they were both of an acoustic album called, “Reckoning,” by none other than the Grateful Dead. Now oldold man Finn will never be confused as a Hippie. If I were to have told him in advance that it was the Grateful Dead, he would have shunned it. But when I simply told him the value of what he was about to hear and let him hear it, he was more apt to appreciate it. The next day when he was paying for our next grueling round of mini-golf, the lady asked him if he was gonna win today.

He said, “Oh, I dunno. I’m just an old Dead Head.”

A Philosophy Worth Integrating

When integrating social media on the website, don’t rest on the laurels of the application’s branding power to do the work for you. They’re just tools. Inform the visitor why they’re important. If the blog is to show the work you’ve done for past clients, let them know “check our recent work.” If it’s to tell them about coupons and deals, tell them, “Learn about our latest deals,” or the like.

It’s not that the searcher can’t figure it out for themselves. It’s that if the site doesn’t take the time to them what they can find, the searcher won’t feel that the site owner thinks its important. And, therefore, the searcher won’t find it important either.

If I can use the approach to get an 84-year-old man with conservative tendencies to like the Grateful Dead, I’m guessing most people can use the approach when integrating social media applications.

Don’t treat Social Media Tools as shiny new toys. To paraphrase and old NFL saying:

“Act like you’ve used them before.”

1. Website
2. ?
3. Sale

My fears are typically perpetuated when their initial opening statement begins like his:

“I just had my site redesigned…”

Or more frightening:

“I know how I want my site to look and have a guy re-doing it.”

Sometimes those sites turn out okay. Sometimes.

But what I think frightens me even more than client decisions is that none of the web and online professionals the client used up to that point tried to talk the client out of their decisions. Not that I’m anymore worth considering than the next professional, but in a world of inbound marketing, online direct response, WordPress, and CafePress, it shocks me how many small and medium businesses still have corporate websites designed in the traditional brochure style without much thought for converting website traffic into leads or, better yet, sales.

Too many sites are dependent on the “contact us” and “blog” header links for visitor interaction.

If an SEO professional takes a site under these conditions, increases relevant traffic to the site, and the sales don’t accompany the cost of the effort, who do you think is getting blamed?

And using the, “I can only lead a horse to water,” excuse – those often valid – will only work so long before the client moves on to other options. SEO specialists already get labeled as voodoo artists. Situations like the ones described above don’t help any.

How many SEO professionals consider the landing page? Not just the onsite SEO, but the ability of the landing page to convert traffic:   receive leads, capture data, generate sales. I’m not just talking about properly integrating a blog and other social media applications on the site, though it’s definitely a topic worth addressing and I will focus on those issues in part II, but for now I’m concerned about general landing page design principles.

Landing Pages Questions to Consider Before Performing SEO

• Are the landing pages set to convert?
• Is the message on the landing page concise and easy to understand?
• How many clicks are between the landing page to the conversion page?
• Are their CTAs (Call to Action) on the site?
• How Many CTAs are above the fold?
• Would the page benefit from an order capture form?
• What design changes would make the pages easier to convert?

The answers to such questions could not only save you headaches but also your reputation as an SEO expert.

And if the answers aren’t to your liking, don’t be afraid to walk away.

And so the debate begins…

Brian Connelly is right in his supporting points. PPC is about Speed, Testing, and Control. This approach can be valuable cross-platform. I recommend reading his post.

But in the end, a site’s success – its traffic and conversion – isn’t a matter of “PPC vs. SEO” so much as it is “PPC & SEO.” To speak in military terms, PPC is perfect for reconnaissance. If you have the ways and means, it’s almost silly of you not to use a PPC campaign. All the keyword research and competitor analysis in the world won’t tell you what terms will work best for you as well as your own internal data. And PPC can provide this. Planning a PPC test budget and implementing a PPC campaign is great for not only seeing where the traffic comes from but, more importantly, where the profitable traffic will come from. Once you have that invaluable data in house, perform a competition analysis on these terms, conduct a feasibility study on what it will take for your sites pages to rank for these terms. With this analysis, you now have the groundwork for SEO content themes by which you may now begin your final assault on the search engines.

PPC is both reconnaissance and the first line of attack – the information gathering, long range missiles, and the bombings; SEO is the force behind the site itself – the invading army.

This is why I am a fan of Inbound Marketing. Their approach isn’t so much which discipline works better so much as using whatever works to make your site a valuable tool in your arsenal. Regardless of whether it’s PPC, SEO, Social Media, Blogging, or email marketing, the focus is on the site not the disciplines. In the end, we’re all on the same team – not that a little competition isn’t helpful once in awhile.

And if you read the PPC Hero article, you’ll see that in the end, we both come to similar conclusions.

Happy Holidays goes out to everyone, especially to the members of our armed forces both home and abroad who keep our boarders safe. We know we aren’t able to do what we do were it not for you sacrifice. Thank you!

People want to do business with companies/people they like and trust. Of course, you need to display the right products to the right people in the right manner in order to get them to your website in the first place. You have to offer great deals and high quality products to get their attention. But in order to stay ahead of the competition, you need to convince your audience that you (as a company) are who they want to do business with.

So, how do you accomplish this? There are a few tactics you can employ on your ‘About Us’ page that can enhance the trustworthiness of your website as well as humanize your website and add some personality into the mix – and remember, people want to do business with companies they genuinely like.

Company history

Tell your audience how long you’ve been in business, how your organization was founded,and where you are today. Remember, there a lot of shady, untrustworthy sites out there so you should go out of your way to make users trust you.

Employee photos/profiles

A picture is worth a thousand words. Yep, I used that cliche because it fits. Users want to know that they are purchasing from, or doing business with, real people. Also, you should provide employee profiles as well (if applicable and reasonable). Again, this is just putting a face to your organization and this certainly increases your likability.

Awards/achievements

This basically speaks for itself. If you are the leader in your industry now is not the time to be shy and demure. Proudly display any awards or achievements as this will absolutely convince users that your business and website are credible.

Certifications

This one depends on the industry you’re in. Certain industries have more certifications than others. Bottom line: if you are competing in a niche that highly values certain certifications, then you need to acquire them and display them on your site. You should display information like this throughout your site and certainly on your ‘About Us’ page.

Links to your blog

If you regularly write a company blog, here is a chance to let people know. If you regularly publish articles on your blog, this lets users know that you’re present and active and available. This can also help position you as a thought leader within your industry as well. However, if you have a company blog and it hasn’t been updated in six months or longer, then you have two options: start blogging more or don’t link to the blog.

Social media info

Does your company have profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or any other social media site? This is a great place to display this information!

Contact info

Include a link to your contact information, or display your contact information directly on this page. Again, users want to know that you are a legitimate company and this is a great way to do so.

Of course, these elements can be present on other pages throughout your website. But culling them into one location can deliver a very strong message. You may not need all of this info on your ‘About Us’ page, or you may need more depending on the level of engagement you are seeking.

As you review your website for conversion optimization opportunities, don’t leave out this crucial element that can help increase your conversion rates and enhance your overall SEO campaign.

This is it, the  final installment of our SEO blog series on building the trustworthiness and credibility of your website in order to increase your conversion rate.

Our post for today is written by our guest blogger, Ted Paff. He will discuss how to use customer reviews to increase the credibility of your website and enhance your conversion rate. Or rather, he is going to give you three hard truths about your website.

Ted Paff is the President of Customer Lobby, the leading provider of customer reviews solutions to non-retail industries.

Over the last 5 years, a lot has been written about the impact of customer reviews on conversion rates.  In retail industries, Bazaarvoice has reported a 20-100% increase in its clients’ conversion rates.  In non-retail industries, Customer Lobby has found a 15-50% increase in conversion rates.

Here are three painful truths about your website… and how customer reviews can help solve these problems:

1. No one reads your website.

I know it hurts but it’s true.  The web has taught us to: browse/scan/click/repeat.   We look for headlines and graphics that give us the gist of what is going on.

But, people do read your customer reviews – especially when you link to those reviews from your home page.  In fact, website visitors typically spend 3-times longer reading customer reviews than a website description of a product or service.  That means your customers’ comments are your best hope of getting your marketing message read.

2. I trust your customers more than I trust you.

Your website visitors read your site assuming that you are trying to sell them something.  But they read your customer reviews like a report card.  There is a fundamentally different level of trust when comments come from a third party.  That trust translates into higher conversion rates.  Surprisingly, having some negative reviews and responding to them will actually further increase your conversion rates.

3. Your marketing material sounds like your competitor’s marketing material.

Try this: Ask someone who is not in your industry to read your website and 3 of your competitors’ websites.  Ask them how they would choose which company to do business with. You will quickly discover how hard it is to differentiate your business in a way that is simple enough for people outside of your industry to understand.   By differentiating your business in a way that a customer can understand, reviews help potential customers choose you and not one of your competitors.

Customer reviews digitize the goodwill you create with your customers everyday and turn it into a marketing asset that drives conversion rates.