What's Your Click Style?

If there is no click through (on some level) there is no conversion. What may have started as a tangent stemmed from one search and a keyword, can deliver us to the far reaches of the web [as a result of being presented with an array of options].

On each page there are a finite number of links, each one of them beckons you to click and explore what may be behind door#2, but by going there, you may never know what was behind door#3 or vice versa.

The point is, surfing is random, but often started with a faint intent. That intent can migrate into other areas of the click impulse and if likely to change on a whim or moments notice from a brief glimpse of a snippet, a great piece of content (that piques your interest), an image or parallel idea.

Hence, as someone competing for market share, attention or involved in commerce, you must project click- appeal through providing a tangible persona to rival others who are just as intent on capturing the same audience as your own.

It is crucial that your pages contain action words, value propositions or conversion funnels to differentiate your pages when positioning is not the only thing that determines the extent of just how far into the SERPs (or how far a person may click off topic) on a random trek.

Is your click style purposeful and intent, random and scattered with a tendency to hover? Or is it focused like a laser beam, steady and driven to consume a specific experience?

Regardless of what it is, we all have a higher probability of clicking results, links or advertisements that pique our curiosity or ending up on some oasis of a tangent wondering how we arrived at that destination.

Te distinction of commerce implies that you understand what that curiosity is, and what drives those who stumble in on a whim into a purchasing frenzy to satisfy the “I want, I want complex”. Those click triggers and tactics are the most sought after secrets in the realm of e-commerce and online marketing.

A potential surfer may venture into parts unknown for hours online from an intention long forgotten. Much like an infomercial that hooks you late at night with an offer you can’t refuse.

The ingredient of one part happenstance, one part problem / solution and one part entertainment is all it takes to transform impartial indifference to whipping out a credit card to make a purchase.

Just like someone going into a retail store intent on purchasing one item and emerging from the store with 20 items from an impulse purchase; much in the same way, websites that greet visitors (regardless of where they arrived from) with a simple conversion objective, present them with an easy to use, clear action path and reinforce the preferred action subtly with supporting images, headers or layered suggestions inevitably conquer a diffused mind and promote click appeal dripping with the buy me impulse.

Since we all have different “click styles” (aggressive, impatient, methodical)  with expectations attached, the job of marketers is to figure out where the continuity is between your intent and click triggers they can use to monetize traffic.

I discussed the value of using keyword modifiers, the psychology behind the click and how user engagement directly correlates to the bottom line, but all of this jargon doesn’t replace common sense and based on fulfillment and intent.

So, before you spin off on an unknown tangent, or pursue your next topic, keep in mind that you can understand someone’s nature by their path and someone’s path by their nature.

The real trick is to know how to pique their natural curiosity and augment it with some type of utility (at least in the interest of commerce) product, service or affiliate offer to monetize it “if that is your intent”.

The value of knowing the psycho graphic profile of your “preferred audience” or how to position your “value proposition” only matters, if someone actually engages your offer.

That is where SEO comes in handy, but it only represents 50% of the equation when considering that positioning and appeal must coincide to reach maximum impact or conversion.

Think as a consumer might think, investigate PPC landing pages for keywords, observe the triggers and see the difference between random pages in the organic search engine result pages for the same keywords.

Both PPC and SEO are both search engine traffic, and both rely on click appeal and the personas that rest behind eager eyes.

Like two sides of the same coin, both are partial to positioning and the duration of the visit all goes back to reciprocity of desire and fulfillment.

What are your pages offering and what are you looking for when surfing about? If it takes you more than 15 seconds to mentally answer that question or communicate it, then that is one less visitor you may have to worry about.

If conversion is your objective, just make sure you map out the mindset of “the consumers that convert” and include enough traction in your copy, images or on page layers so you don’t accidentally feed your competitor who has mastered this form of transactional analysis another sale from your lack of consideration.

-Jeffrey

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How to Motivate Employees During a Recession

Without communicating effectively, obtaining creative contribution, empowering your staff and sourcing leadership to the right individuals, you could be headed towards a downward spiral.

The first and most necessary step is communication. During a recession rumors may swirl causing a level of panic and unease. Uncertainty sits in which propels employees to fear for their jobs, to fear for demotion or in a worst case scenario, that the company will crumble.

Informing employees of the situation at hand and explaining the steps the company is taking to combat market conditions will provide stability in the workplace. An example points to a recent commercial that was created by GM. The commercial addressed the situation GM is facing and explained that there was a time that their prior business model, which carried several brands, made sense.

Now the focus is on fewer brands that highlight efficiency and economies of scale. They admitted that their pricing structure could no longer compete. They admitted that restructuring was the only way they could survive. They basically admitted that they FAILED and are now having to implement a change in fundamental business strategy to compete once again. This was a very straight forward approach that not only addressed the condition of the auto industry but also gave a glimpse into GM’s direction and integrity.

During harsh economic times, employees will often feel that the company failed them or failed business objectives.  When the company needs to shift its focus and change business strategy during a recession it can be a difficult transition and employees may feel they are in the dark. It’s imperative that employees are made a central cog in the process of refocusing resources and objectives.

Not only does this provide for additional perspective from an array of minds but it also empowers employees to feel that their opinion and ideas are worthy of consideration and perhaps integration. Empowerment is an excellent source of motivation and motivation is ultimately a central force in driving change in the workplace.

When company layoffs have employees chewing off their fingernails in anticipation of the big axe, it’s crucial to inform the remaining employees that they remain for a reason.

Only the strongest survive and hearing that the company feels that they are a core element in rebuilding the companies foundation towards success will also empower the employees; this is called recognition. Recognizing employees’ contributions and their place in the workforce reinforces their position and motivates them to continue forward despite the doom and gloom references.

Lastly, it is essential to identify your cream of the crop. This group can act as your mouth piece, prophesizing the company position and agenda. A disconnect can exist between management and staff so identifying the leaders among the staff and empowering them through additional duties and responsibilities can have a trickle down effect that changes the culture from dismal to positive.

Although recessions often result in a focus on numbers and expense reduction, it’s imperative to implement strategy to keep your employees motivated and excited for the brighter days ahead. After all, who wouldn’t want to be accredited for helping turn the company around?

This post was written by SEO Design Solutions’ VP Mr. Shiraz Madan who consistently refines the focus of our collective marketing and branding efforts through bringing fresh insight and vision to broaden our business horizons. If your business requires a fresh perspective with new eyes, then feel free to contact us at 1 (312) 794 7883 to see what opportunities exist.

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Corporate culture and establishing a corporate culture to improve character and enhance brand perception.

Corporate culture is a very broad term and can be interpreted in several ways. The corporate culture of an organization includes the values, beliefs, principles, business operations and business strategies that make a business unique and establish its character.

This corporate culture is not only a “way of business” internally, but also a foundation for how a company operates with its clients and prospects. Just a like family whose children often adopt the habits, good and bad, of their parents, a corporation’s employees will often adopt the work habits, ethics and strategies that upper level management display.

It’s no mistake that Japan’s leading automakers such as Toyota, continue to improve based on proprietary production philosophies while US automakers…well, we know the story there. With this being said, it’s vital for corporations to select the appropriate candidates for management level positions and provide the needed training in order for management personnel to identify areas to establish corporate culture and create an environment that intrinsically motivates employees to reach their potential while achieving corporate objectives.

A few areas to begin assertion of a corporate culture include the following:  Setting personal and team oriented goals, inspiring vision and innovation, instilling leadership and promoting a “Team First” environment.

When setting goals for an individual, it’s important to recognize the basic components of goal setting. All goals must be: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely, whether they are individual or group based. If the goal doesn’t stand up to these metrics, the goal may not be worth pursuing.

Personal goals within an organization often include sales quotas, production quotas, time management quotas or implementation standards. The key is, providing a broad level scope to each of these goals that allow the individual to understand that each personal goal helps to obtain a specific team or corporate goal.

For example, a sales representative responsible for selling P90X fitness training packages may have individual goals related to meeting a monthly sales quota. It would be vital to allow this sales representative to see that their sales production for the month, assisted in meeting a much larger quantifiable goal for the company.

This should be taken a step further to convey to the sales representative that achieving this company goal has allowed this life changing product to improve the quality of life for X number of people. This reinforces the end level product of their hard work and provides another layer of motivation in the corporate culture.

No matter the industry in question, vision and innovation to adapt and create is what allows companies to gain a first mover advantage. Often times, this vision is limited to senior level executives who are often times too far from the ground level work to fully wrap their head around a process, product or service that needs refining.

It is vital to promote innovation and vision within a company at all levels. This can be achieved through setting monthly meetings where ideas submitted are discussed anonymously to promote the progression of these ideas into implementation. This can be complimented by a rewards system for ideas and innovation.

Based on the value of the idea (which can be measured by money earned, money saved or brand value impact), a reward or bonus can be implemented to motivate employees to participate in the consistent redevelopment of company strategy and implementation.

Identifying the most drastic areas of innovation can also assist in promoting the needed changes in business structure and operations.  In 2000 when Xerox admitted that their business model could no longer compete, it was vital that they focused on innovation to gain a first mover advantage.

In fact, they went as far as creating an innovation system based on their customer’s needs; this was called the 6 S’s: simpler, speedier, smaller, smarter, secure and socially responsible. This created a culture where innovation was now part of the business model and an expected necessity in delivering products to their clients.

There’s an age old adage that states “leadership involves creating leaders out of those being lead”.  This maybe a general term, but digging deeper into this saying reveals the meat and potatoes of leadership and its impact.

First and foremost a leader leads by example. If a 9am start time is applied to employees within a company and management shows up late 10% of the time, employees are now conditioned to feel it is acceptable to be late 10% of the time. This holds true for level of production and quality of work. In order to build leadership qualities in others and truly harness a domino effect of production and quality workmanship, the bar must be set high by those sitting at the top.

While playing tennis in high school, my coach required us to participate in two a day practices. This involved getting to the school at 6am to run stairs, execute wind sprints, calisthenics and other workouts. This would have been a lot more difficult to swallow had our 40+ year old coach not participated in every workout, being the first one to practice and the last one to leave.

In addition to leading by example, it’s important to identify team encouragement, assistance and development. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link and it’s vital for a manager to build up his/her team to establish an acceptable level of competence.

Investing in an employee can result in that employee investing in others, creating a synergy within a company or group. An individuals job requirement at that point stem from their own listed duties to the overall betterment of their colleagues.

Looking to the sports world for exemplification, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are widely touted as the two best players in the NBA. There are players that produce better individual numbers than both players; however, they both carry this status due to their ability to make the players around them better.

It’s no mistake that each of their respective teams had the best record in their respective conferences. Each player is an extension of the coach, on the basketball court. In order to produce leadership qualities in employees, its important to create an environment where everyone is concerned about making everyone else better.

To conclude, instead of banging your head against the wall trying to find ways to leverage business advantages, utilize the intangibles within your firm to create a corporate culture that translates into how your brand is perceived internally and externally. After all, there’s nothing better than reaching the status when everyone wants to to work for you, or with you.

This article was written by SEO Design Solutions’ VP Mr. Shiraz Madan who consistently refines the focus of our collective marketing and branding efforts through bringing fresh insight and vision to broaden our business horizons. If your business requires a fresh perspective with new eyes, then feel free to contact us at 1 (312) 794 7883 to see what opportunities exist.

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Business to Business Internet Marketing

The second characteristic: Is the purchase based on impulse / desire or is the need for your product or service genuine? Depending on how urgent the circumstances are determines the purchasing cycle, the type of keywords used to find you and the type of audience you will attract. Pay particular attention to your analytics to find diamonds in the ruff. Finding keywords that can yield a high conversion exist if you sift through server logs or analytics to find distinct patterns that you can leverage for new landing pages.

Last but not least: the final consideration for transactional analysis that usually determines when the transaction is completed is, the what’s in it for me, value proposition. This, by far is the most important and usually entails benefits, packaging and presentation. The good news, even if you have targeted the wrong audience, SEO can provide a tangible solution for each of these dilemmas (but more on that later).

If you appeal to the wrong audience at the wrong time of the sales cycle with the wrong product, something horrible happens….nothing. Yet, if you appeal to the right audience, with the right message and the right proposition at the right time when they are in the mindset to purchase, then on the contrary, conversion occurs.

However, aside from illustrating a genuine benefit or piquing the interest of a prospect, selling ice cubes to Eskimos is just not that practical. Similarly, not everyone you are targeting (if your focus is too broad) can appreciate your offer, so, discretion in targeting the right types of consumers is imperative for building your online business.

This is where business to consumer (B2C) marketing can be tricky. Is your product or service better served by thinking from a tiered approach and adding another step back to provide more value? such as through business to business sales (B2B) or business to business internet marketing?

The gist is simple, find a need, propose a solution, whether that solution requires you to optimize, consolidate, automate or otherwise it must be appealing to pique their interest. We also know that value based incentives go a long way.

It doesn’t matter what that incentive is, just the fact that there is a reward for conducting some feat, such as filling out a contact form, referring a friend, picking up the phone to receive a chance to win something. Let’s face it, people love to receive free stuff or gifts.

Although the idea of getting a rubber ducky may not appeal to some, for a woman who just had a baby, it’s the perfect gift for toddlers. On the contrary while some may balk at the idea of referring a bank business for $50, to others, who are more value conscious, this is a great proposition. The takeaway here is to know your audience and understand their needs.

Then, you can carefully craft appealing offers that are not so much of an intrusion as they are a real value. The worst thing that can happen is that they decline, but if you do not ask or at least position your content or proposition with action items, action words or a strong call to action or conversion objective then do not be surprised if nothing occurs.

Selecting the ideal customer that is likely to consume products or services you offer is not always as evident as it should be. This is why so many businesses spend countless amounts trying to zero in on the ideal target demographic and perfect customer, but what if you target the wrong audience?

If you are offering SEO for example “easy enough to use our own business model hypothetically”. Does trying to sell SEO to individuals and small businesses with business to consumer (B2C) tactics the best way to go? Or would a more vertical approach, such as partnering with a website hosting company who has hundreds of ready-made prospects chomping at the bit more likely for sales conversion?

Since it is about optimizing websites, hosting companies have more websites and customers than your passive broad or nebulous marketing attempts may reach otherwise. So, the value of positioning your products through business to business sales or internet marketing has immense value. Naturally, finding the same type of synergy in your own business is up to you and your imagination, but possibilities exist if you can think outside the box.

Think as Your Consumer Does and You Will Prosper

By understanding the psycho-graphic profile of your readers (their mindset and purchasing patterns), you have concrete data in which to base your analysis. For example, once you do target the right audience, you can further augment your position with SEO by using zip code, geographic location, keyword choice and other granular methods to increase sales conversion for the said item.

Just as you must choose your words wisely when searching for something online. The same applies to how you optimize your website (are your pages curt and refined or nebulous and broad?). Although it is one metric, content is the bridge and is the second most important facet on success for your online business, the first is getting the right people to engage your offer (which means getting them there to begin with).

This is When SEO Comes In Handy

As a basic optimization principle, each page should be optimized for 3-5 variations of your keywords to hedge your odds at funneling the right type of traffic. The keywords can be juxtaposed in any array and should essentially return a similar position if (a) enough continuity exists on the page using latent semantic structures (b) if enough links are deep linked to that page and (c) if your internal links clearly delineate continuity and have a conclusive target page for each unique keyword variation.

For example, you can find our rates page in the top 5 results of Google for SEO rates, SEO pricing, search engine optimization pricing, or any array of those keywords based on the optimization structure.

Just like you can find our page for a free website analysis, free SEO proposal or SEO quote all pointing at another page to produce the same type of top 5 status. What you will not find is one of those pages appearing for the others keywords, or vice versa, this is due to proper internal linking and external reference from back links.

If you can find a page in your website for over 5 strong searches (for competitive keywords) then it means your site is budding with authority. At this juncture it would be wise to assign a particular range of keywords to each unique landing page and match the content on the page with the keyword data that most resembles continuity.

Beyond the keyword you select, it is more important to know why someone would use them and what sense of urgency they may have when they do. Think about actionable items, incorporate a strong call to action, but make sure it is targeting the right group who can truly benefit from your proposition.

The more specialized the offer the better, for example, if I approached a hosting company and tried to sell them 20,000 worth of SEO services and they were not interested I would not be surprised (if it was not their intention).

On the contrary, if I approached that same hosting company with a proposal on how they could prosper through a co-branded joint-venture by targeting their existing clients with a value proposition for SEO; and offered a revenue share on those who engaged the offer, you can see how the win / win business to business model can produce unlimited returns when replicated across multiple industries.

This is a great way to put the internet in marketing instead of the other way around. The only limit is the inability to gauge how effective your target audience is capable of seeing what you have to offer as an asset to their business model. So, be honest with yourself, are you really targeting the most lucrative marketing channel for your business (B2C) when your real calling may in fact be business to business?

It may be time to test the waters, I am sure you will be surprised to see just how eager those who can truly afford your services are interested in real value. Particularly when they can pass that value to their clients which is a pure win / win scenario for all.

-Jeffrey

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Most enterprise clients have a plethora of red tape and legality that even if they could make a push for specific keywords or market segments, the bureaucracy alone would slow the process to a crawl vs. their nimble and fleet footed small business who are competing for same market share.

So, what can a small business do to turn the tables on the competition large or small?

1) Tone down the PPC Spend Per Month- and focus on creating organic rankings. Sounds simple enough, as you know PPC (pay per click advertising) is addictive and can be like crack in the sense that once you start using it, your hooked.

Why pay for 100% of the traffic when only 2 out of 10 people executing a broad match search actually click PPC links anyway? Just do the math and invest a few months in the less competitive phrases to wein yourself away from the clutches of PPC.

Most keywords can be acquired for $500-1,500 organically, unless they are competitive, which takes more time to chip away and produce the same results.

It is the same traffic/visitors clicking your link ultimately with organic rankings, the advantage is, that you do not have to pay every time they do, so it is an aggregate value amortized over time.

2) Specialize instead of brand – instead of thinking broad and attempting to optimize a series of competitive keywords. Focus on ROI and target dozens of topical long tail keywords instead.

By targeting less competitive terms, you establish a foothold and can start building an organic link profile that indicates that your website is a go to source for related products, services and information. Granted it is an investment in time (to build authority) but the takeaway produces long-term effects that put money back in your pocket 10 fold over time.

3) Plan for the future - Start putting future tense landing pages with supporting content in the index so that when they mature, your website hedges itself as a result of diversity.

This tutorial on how to create a ranking juggernaut will provide a great overview on the process as well as how to develop website authority.

The competition is not going to decrease, so thinking about it will only let them dig in further, you need to take action and take action now to secure your place in search engines tomorrow. Whoever says rankings and SEO are dead are failing to grasp the adage of supply and demand. Consumers will always have a need to consume and as the methodology shifts (yellow pages to search engines, traditional search to personalized or mobile platforms), positioning is imperative across a variety of sectors which have the potential for conversion.

The lines of marketing and SEO are becoming mere facets of the other. To embrace one without the other is pointless. The conversion medium has evolved and necessity dictates that all businesses interested in achieving a higher / more efficient return on investment should also.

SEO is a great alternative to simply broadcasting your message through traditional (muted) channels. Just consider it a cost-effective opt-in method for consumers already searching for your targeted keywords and long-tail key phrases. It all boils down to exposure and opportunity, both are prevalent with SEO.

-Jeffrey

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It is easy to get tunnel vision and overlook the basic needs of your preferred audience or rely on one marketing method instead of diversifying your approach. Fortunately websites are scalable as well as content and design are pliable to accommodate change.

Below are three primary factors that search engines reward with links to articles that provide more depth about the topic. In summary, by successfully managing chronology, topical relevance and search engine trust your web pages will always hit their mark in the top 10 and rise to the top.

The Three Primary SEO Factors Are:

Time - the longer your online the better. Credibility and trust are often synonymous variables when algorithmic assessments scrutinize your website.

Resources:

• The Best SEO Strategies Mature Over Time
• Building Link Popularity One Link at a Time
• With SEO Time and Authority are on Your Side

Relevance – Does your site have 1 page or 100 pages on the topic?, 10 quality links or 10,000 low quality links? All of this matters to search engines. With every node of search engine algorithms, there is another layer of redundancy to cross reference that variable with another to ascertain validity. If you want to acquire a top ranking, your content must have relevant context to deliver to the end user, otherwise your pages will be overlooked as the optimal solution to the majority of keywords that convert from consumers search engine queries.

Resources:

• SEO Design, Relevance and Appeal
• Quality Score and Relevance Score
• Developing Topical Link Weight for Internal and External Links

Trust - just like in the real world, you have to earn it. This by far is one of the most human aspects of search engines, trust equals traffic, trust equals engagement and trust equals authority. Although you can expedite the process, you still have to develop key indicators over time consistently to gain the approval of instantly ascending the rankings unchallenged, which is a by product of search engine trust.

Resources:

• Link Building – Uses Pages with Trust Rank for Internal Links
• Phrase Rank and Trust Rank
• Don’t just build links, build trust

What does amazing imply to you, would that mean tripling your traffic within 3 months? Increasing lead generation by 400% or having a popular authority site that catapults everything you publish to the top 10, 20 and 30 results without effort?

If so, then think ahead of the curve, plan for the future by viewing each page of your website as a holistic piece of the puzzle and above all else add quality content frequently to stay in the graces of search engine spiders as they crawl the web for useful information.

We hope you enjoy the resources, there is no substitute for quality. So, instead of trying to rank before you understand the needs of your audience, take a step back and think about the long-term benefits of your optimization strategy if you want long-lasting SEO results.

-Jeffrey

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As markets fluctuate from the ripples of cause and effect, your business can either shift and adapt or be overwhelmed by the momentum in a positive or negative fashion.

As a result, your business can either sustain itself amidst the turmoil (and just get by), lose its way (and fail) or adapt a new path to embrace the market place to produce positive cash flow with less risk. To the untrained eye, this means change, but how you adapt is entirely up to you.

When considering who your target market is, it is better to remove your blinders and see beyond your own perception of who your best customer is when sales just aren’t coming in as expected. Aside from taking time to work on your own projects, this is where the power of networking can offer a ready-made customer base replete with relationships and trust behind every transaction.

When business to consumer sales slow down to a trickle, business to business sales can still flourish. The power of the third party referral and cross-market promotion based on supply and demand exist. For example, say a graphic design company with a strong presence in corporate branding and logo design combines forces with an SEO & Web Design Company, each has clients who could both benefit from the others services.

This type of referral based marketing can yield numerous opportunities that simply did not exist before, so the possibilities are endless for each to share their resources (services) to the others client base. Obviously, this is based on trust, which is something that money cannot buy, which is why it is such an effective medium for conversion.

Are their opportunities you are looking past, just because you are looking in the wrong places? Take a chance and shift your focus from marketing with blinders and think about behaviors and how each company is probably reacting in the same fashion to the “what do we do now that business is slow?”.

It is important to know how to play both sides of the coin if longevity is your objective. Online business is no different, but you just have to remove the tunnel vision to see past your initial business model and be willing to adapt to overcome change and adversity.

It is much easier to sell products and services to other professionals than just a random cold call (which is the equivalent of spam). If resources are a concern, then diversify your product offering and marketing tactics in order to spread the risk as well as the reward.

-Jeffrey

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Not only would it alienate other demographics, but it would neglect other potential consumers who have a need for their products. APPLE created multiple commercials for the iPhone that showed a close up of a hand navigating through the phone with ease.

If you notice, at the end of the commercial an incoming call is made from an adult. We can see this from the photo tag that is displayed on the iPhone’s screen. Clearly, Apple was targeting an older demographic with this placement. Although many young adults will race out to purchase the iPhone’s latest release, APPLE understands the need to appeal to multiple demographics with the same product.

Another typical scenario is often seen in the nightlife. Nightclubs focus their attention on attracting women to their establishments. This is in hopes that a viral effect will take place, increasing demand from men to attend a venue where a plethora of women exist. I’m not saying this strategy doesn’t work, but solely focusing on women for a night club will be detrimental in reaching several other demographics.

Does your business burn too many resources on a single niche? Are you at high market risk due to dependence on a single demographic? If so, its time to:

A) research a secondary and tertiary market
B) research how these demographics consume
C) connect with multiple demographics

If your product happens to be a video game system you would focus on the 10-18 year old, male demographic. However, you should also create/alter your product(s) to reach the 25-35 year old male demographic that enjoyed video gaming in their younger years. We saw Nintendo achieve this when they released Mario Kart. Mario appealed to an older demographic that consumed video gaming at a much younger age with Mario Bros. The point being, don’t allow fear of untested waters or tunnel vision prevent you from reaching new consumers and experiencing longevity within the marketplace.

This guest post was written by SEO Design Solutions’ VP Mr. Shiraz Madan who consistently refines the focus of our collective marketing and branding efforts through bringing fresh insight and vision to broaden our business horizons. If your business requires a fresh perspective with new eyes, then feel free to contact us at 1 (866) 471-5377 to see what opportunities exist.

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Instead of following the blind impulse to increase your PPC budgets or insist on optimizing more organic keywords to drive more traffic and increase relevant visitors to your landing pages. There is one less-traveled train of thought that you may wish to consider, (converting more of the existing traffic you have into customers).

How many visitors a day is your site losing?

Increasing website traffic is not always the solution if your have not refined a compelling benefit-based value proposition for your visitors, it doesn’t matter if you get 1000 visitors or 10,000 visitors per day. If your pages do not encourage readers to take action, sign up for something, pick up the phone or click another supporting page to encourage trust and conversion, then you have missed the boat entirely when it comes to online marketing.

Honestly, you have to ask yourself, do you want the top ranking vanity plate keyword or key phrases? or would you rather find the low hanging fruit that converts?

Content creation is two fold, if you create content with reckless abandon, you could dilute your precious theme, if you create pages that lack continuity with the other pages in your site, you could be contributing to an internal power struggle that may shift the way search engines view your main subject.

The takeaway here is, it may be time for an audit to assess just how effective your on page content is. Is it clear what your main pages are about, do they have a clear flow of intent from start to finish, can you read the entire page without one hiccup or do you have to read a segment two times to really GET it?

These are just considerations in shaping the ideal user experience, and sometimes you are simply too close to see with new eyes the things that could be blatantly creating user objections or for lack of better terms lack the proper usability.

Conversion Optimization is simple in theory, you assess the number of people visiting the page divided by the number of people who performed the desired action. Then you assign performance benchmarks that you can track and assess to increase over a specified time. This is more about finesse and no budget will fix a problem of this magnitude on its own.

Sure, having a big budget is great, but why keep pumping money into something if that is not the solution. The only flaw in that type of thinking (such as buying more ads, increasing your PPC budget or optimizing more organic keywords) if the pages simply aren’t converting?

So, before you start spending money on things that may or may not work, get an objective opinion from an outside business consultant to test and refine your pitch, so that instead of losing sales and visitors without a clue, you make the most of the ones you receive each and every day.

-Jeffrey

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4. How to Use “Action Words” to Increase Traffic & Reader Response.
5. Keyword Research: SEO, Traffic and Conversion

The tendency to rely too heavily on one marketing medium is a crutch that must be balanced and evaluated for its overall performance, it either works or your attachment to it prevents you from letting it go and finding other alternatives.

SEO is inevitably chained to the calculation of relevance and the whims of engineers who program the search engines to return the most relevant results. The parameters are based on the search query and the ability for the search engine to find relevant information on a topic.

As a result, search engines constantly scour the web looking for websites and solutions to quell such inquiries and provide the ideal solution to each proposed impulse. The obvious attraction to search engine traffic is, if you understand what the search engines are looking for, and your content provides that, then you are a likely candidate for high placement and visibility in their index.

The key is, understanding “how to create and position your content” and how this component is entirely up to you. This is where most fail to see how they can take control over search engine positioning. The days of the 5 page website ranking as the most relevant result are coming to a close, if you want the spotlight, you have to earn it with useful information or immense link popularity from a highly trafficked and trusted site to vouch for your pages.

Topical relevance, trust of the domain (how long has it been around, who links to you, who you link to), site architecture, proper titles and tags, proper use of keywords and context and link popularity all comprise relevant factors that have impact.

Although you may not have control of some of these factors, when you start and how you refine your website is still under your control. No amount of SEO is going to make someone purchase a product they don’t need, just like no amount of SEO or keyword positioning is going to appeal to a person who is not interested in the topic.

These conditions shape the outcome and the extent of the reach search engines have in their ability to
act as a medium or bridge between those searching and those wanting to be found. Small business has more to gain or lose than say, someone who just was a website for their own personal reasons. However, there are only ten spots at the top of any given keyword and reaching the summit is a full time responsibility (for an SEO Firm or in-house SEO) it makes no difference (each page in your site must be treated as its own site) to reach its full potential.

In closing, diversify your methods, use press releases, hire an SEO copywriter, have your website evaluated for the appropriate site architecture, make sure you don’t have spider traps that prevent your content from being indexed and above all, make sure your offer is easy to grasp.

Advertising is only one form of marketing, which is to attract consumers to evaluate your offer. Once they are there, it is all about conversion. So, see SEO for what it is, a tool, then when you pick a keyword you want to rank for, make sure you have plenty of pages to support it and make sure that each page adds value. If this is your mode of operation, search engines above all else will notice and deliver relevant traffic to your content.

-Jeffrey

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