I remember when I first launched these sites, I optimized the meta tags (well, I actually spammed the heck out of the them, and haven’t changed them since); and I HAVE NOT engaged in any link building activity whatsoever.  Google and Yahoo referrals accounted for about 75% of the above visitors.

The conclusion is simple.  Aggressive link building and fresh content is not necessary to achieve great search results; however, that’s not to say I have no back links because I do, but they were strictly natural. Of course, the caveat is 5 years of waiting for these results.

Technorati Tags: search engine optimization, seo, online marketing, online marketing blog

Technorati Tags: search engine optimization, seo, online marketing, online marketing blog

Quick Conversion Statistics

Conversion rates, or the percentage of consumers that actually make a purchase, varies from one website to another.  A recent study by Intermarket Online states that the average online consumer conversion rate is 2.7%, and that 62% of merchants have a conversion rate of 2% or less, while 5% have in excess of a 6% conversion rate. A Forrester Research study of 41 online merchants found that conversion rates typically vary from 1% to 4%, with under 2% for 70% of merchants. Amazon and CDNow get 6% to 8% rates.

Online Purchase Decisions

It is true that website traffic is essential, but getting potential customers to your site is just the first part of a complex behavioral process. Traffic without business goals or a defined web strategy to support those goals usually turns out to be… well, just ordinary traffic. When consumers shop online, they go through a three stage buying process: want, need, and validation. If you’re not sure that this decision making process is convincing, think carefully about the last time you purchased a high priced item from the Internet. As rational beings (for the most part), we are reluctant to admit that our ‘need’ starts with a ‘want’ and ends with a ‘validation’. We like to think we just buy that which best suits our needs at the best possible price – yeah right; try telling that to my wife.

WANT

FACT: The majority of visitors on your website will never purchase your product or service. Don’t fret; it happens to all of us. That’s why only 6 out of every 100 visitors actually purchase something on Amazon.com (see above stats). The other 94 visitors are just browsing. Nonetheless, it can’t hurt to reinforce the ‘want’ factor; and at the same time seize the attention of those who are just browsing and begin the relationship building process.

Convincing a customer to want your product can be easily done by using a stylish image of your product. The image can show the product being used by a celebrity, as T-Mobile did with the lovely Catherine Zeta-Jones.  Or, you can use attractive models to showcase our products like Calvin Klein.  Having a person in the creative helps the consumer relate to the situation by identifying with the person using the product. On the other hand, especially where you’re selling into a niche market, a really nice product shot may be compelling enough. Lexus does a great job of this.

A minimal amount of copy accompanying the picture is usually suitable. The message should focus on the benefits of the product; not the features. Remember the old marketing cliché learned in undergrad, “features tell, but benefits sell”.

The basic reasons for wanting something can often be stated in very brief phrases: look sexy (Calvin Klein), be creative (HP Printers), be a hero (Ford Trucks), more productive (IBM), feel safe (Volvo), etc. Longer statements are usually addressing the ‘need’ not the ‘want’, which brings me to my next point.

NEED

Now that you have stirred up the ‘want’ emotion, it’s time to create the need. Using ‘create’ may seem strange or perhaps unethical, but this is exactly what superior online promotion must do. It’s equivalent to “creating” demand for a product or service.  As Seth Godin states in his book and blog, All Marketers Are Liars, “good marketing tells a story and reinforces the lies that consumers tell themselves everyday” (i.e. I look really sexy in these Abercrombie jeans. They make me look so sexy; much more than GAP jeans do).  Even if your product is as ordinary as a roll of tissue paper, it’s important to position the product in your customer’s mind; so when they think of wiping or blowing, they think of you. In the case of tissue paper, they aren’t just for blowing your nose anymore; now they have lotion to make your skin soft.

Marketers are very creative when positioning their product in the mind of the consumer. For example, Nike has created the position that if you wear their running shoes, you can run a little faster or perhaps jump a little higher than your competitors. Whether or not it’s true doesn’t really matter. They are simply reinforcing the lies that consumers tell themselves everyday.  They own and exploit that position on their website, in their ads and just about other communication method they use; and that’s what makes them market leaders.

The more benefits you can demonstrate for a product, the more compelling will be the customer’s ‘need’ for the product. Once a need is established, your website presentation can move to stage three, validating the purchase decision.

VALIDATION

Validation is a process of rationalizing a purchase in order to alleviate buyer’s remorse. We all do it. Online Marketers must provide specific information that will help the visitor develop this rationale in order to convert them into a customer.  This requires a strong presentation of the hard facts about the product all throughout out the shopping cart checkout experience. The hard facts are specific product attributes, comprising specifications, price; or anything that differentiates you from your competitors such as 24/7 Customer Support, 30-Day Money Back Guarantee, etc. Customer testimonials are also effective.

Sales promotions are great for rationalizing. I hear it all the time from my wife, “honey, look at my shoes that I bought on sale for only $30!” as though this in itself was a good reason for making the purchase in the first place.

Technorati Tags: web strategy, online marketing, internet marketing, conversion rates, seth godin
 

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However, I would also say that Social Media Marketing is somewhat of a different practice within the same space; where firms aggressively target the social media channels (like Myspace, Friendster, Hi5) by creating profiles (Nike, Cingular, Jack in the Box, Aquafina); and engaging in conversations with consumers in places where they frequent.

Technorati Tags: social media optimization, smo, socialmediaoptimization, social media, social media marketing

Technorati Tags: paid search, search engine marketing, seo, search engine optimization, organic search

The biggest no-no in executing an article marketing strategy is to post the same article on your blog that you do in a directory.  Not only is this considered duplicate content but its proven to be a horrible customer experience. As a user, the last thing I want to do after reading an article somewhere is click through to the blog and see the same exact article.

What I normally do when I write an article is submit it only to a few select directories like (Associated Content, Buzzle, Ezine Articles, Go Articles, Web Pro News, Site Pro News, etc.). Then, I will write a paragraph or two about the article in my blog (perhaps why I wrote it) and then link to it on Associated Content (AC). The reason I choose AC is that they allow readers on their site to easily add content (articles) to social bookmarking sites like Digg, Newsvine, Netscape, De.licio.us, etc.

Lastly, and keeping in mind Social Media Optimization, I would also add the ability for the readers of your blog to easily link to it, subscribe to it, tag it, post a comment; and then add it their favorite social bookmarking site(s).

Technorati Tags: article marketing, article syndication, article distribution, article submission, blogging, blog marketing, social media optimization, socialmediaoptimization

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