Best Practices

Use Google Webmaster Tool to find site opportunities

If you don’t already have a Google Webmaster account login, I highly recommend you do.  You can sign up here or if you have a Google account for your business (say through Adwords, Analytics, Merchant Center, etc.), then you can sign up through the “My Account” area in the upper right of the screen when you are logged into your account.

By having a Google Webmaster tool, you can find many traffic opportunities, especially for SEO, not identified anywhere else…and you will get these right from the horse’s mouth!

Here is how to uncover traffic opportunities and appropriate suggestions for you to take as action steps:

• From the Dashboard, see the keyword phrases that are ranking well and then see which pages are indexed for these terms.ACTION STEPS: optimize these pages for SEO - if it is not ranked #1 in Google, you have work to do! J Also, an advanced SEO strategy is to use these pages to get other pages indexed well too.
• Under Site Configuration, click on Crawler Access - if spiders are crawling parts of your site hierarchy that you don’t want them to (e.g. Paid Search landing pages that may be duplicate pages), you can tell Google to stop. Pages with duplicate content can hurt your SEO rankings because you are competing with yourself with multiple pages. You will want to avoid this.
• Under Site Configuration, click on Sitelinks - this feature helps control what Google shows when Google’s search engine results display the “ten pack” for your business.ACTION STEPS:  What can be removed?I like to tell Google to block certain areas of my site that are not critical for attracting new customers (e.g. Shipping Page, Return Policy, Privacy Policy, etc.) and parts of my site departments that not strong performers (e.g. a department page like Accessories versus a top tier department page). Maybe these are different for your online store, but the concept is the same - you can optimize these listings for your advantage. This is an underutilized technique.
• Under Site Configuration, click on Settings - there are two traffic tips for this section:ACTION STEPS:
  1. You can geographically target your traffic. For instance, if you only ship within the United States, you can tell Google this to help them generate targeted traffic to you. If you sell internationally, you can select countries that you only ship to.2. The other VERY important step on this page is to tell Google your preferred domain. For instance, when sites link to you, they might use different URL structures such as:
• www.YourOnlineStore.com
• http://YourOnlineStore.com
• http://www.YourOnlineStore.com

You will notice three different URLs above.  To maximize the SEO benefit of sites that link to you, you will want to let Google know your preferred domain.  Here is more information from Google about the preferred domain.

I prefer setting my preferred domain to be
“Display URLs as www.YourOnlineStore.com.”

• Under Your site on the web, click on Top Searches - here you will find the highest ranking search phrases and ones that are driving the most traffic…two different lists. There are actionable items on both.ACTION STEPS:
  1. Download each table and identify which keywords that you will want to focus your efforts to improve their Google rankings then begin your optimization process.2. Identify keywords that are not ranking well and implement paid search efforts to make sure you are getting your share of the keyword’s traffic.

  3. Take a look at the actual keyword results and see which URL of yours is ranked for the keyword. If it is not the optimal URL, you can work on either optimizing the best URL or if you don’t have an ideal page on your online store for the keyword, you can create one.

• Under Your site on the web, click on Links to your site - Google is kind enough to show you the actual sites (and pages) that are linking to particular pages on your online store.ACTION STEP:
  Take a look at the sites linking to your site. Are the links to you optimal…do they use good anchor tags and point to your best pages? If not, see if you can work with those sites to optimize the links to your site.Try emailing or calling the site owner. Usually, you will find that owners of active websites will adjust your link. If you find inactive (or abandoned) sites - the lights are on but no one is home - simply, move on.
• Under Your site on the web, click on Keywords - this area shows the keywords Google thinks your site is all about. Even if this isn’t exactly accurate from your point of view, you can often identify keyword opportunities.ACTION STEPS:
  1. When writing copy on your site, you can keep these keywords in mind to sprinkle within your page content.2. If you don’t see keywords on this list and you think Google is “missing-the-boat” about what your site is about, you can make sure to build pages and implement keyword rich copy to help Google figure out how to classify your online store.
• Under Your site on the web, click on Internal Links - this feature shows pages with many internal links, which are links within your online store pointing to other internal pages.ACTION STEPS:
  1. A good rule to remember regarding SEO best practices is that internal links can significantly help boost your SEO rankings for a particular page. Therefore, you can create more internal links to pages that need help indexing well. And remember to use good anchor tags when linking within your online store.2. For pages that have good internal links and are not indexing well in search engines, these pages likely need other optimization other than internal links. Look to optimize META tags, H1 copy, page copy and external links.
• Under Diagnostics, click on HTML suggestions - this feature shows issues regarding HTML on your site. By fixing these, you can enjoy better SEO rankings and find more customers today.ACTION STEPS:
  1. Duplicate META descriptions - whenever possible, adjust META tags within your online store to make each unique2.  Long META descriptions - avoid too long descriptions

  3.  Short META descriptions - too short META descriptions are ineffective.  Good description tags can help get customers to click on your result once you are indexed in the search engines.

  4. Duplicate title tags - since title tags remain an important SEO tactic, this fix is a no-brainer.  It is easy, fast and effective to adjust the META Title tag!

Under Labs, click on Site Performance - this feature shows pages with slow load time.  This might help you identify potential performance issues within your online store.

ACTION STEP:
If you find your online store is slow to load, this might hinder your ability to rank well.  You should have your IT person (if there is one) investigate for potential issues.  Perhaps your site’s code is heavy or there are unnecessary calls to dynamic content. 

To investigate your site’s speed, check out the free tool, Full Page Test, at Pingdom.com.

Good luck.  There’s a lot of information here.  I hope it helps you drive more traffic to your online store!

Here’s to your online success,
David

How to develop a direct mail program for your online store

Direct mail is HUGE opportunity area for online retailers.  Unfortunately, businesses often dismiss direct mail as too expensive.  Too often online retailers rely too much on other marketing channels like email and organic search engine traffic, due to the low cost nature of the medium.  Admittedly, this is easy to do.

It is important to realize that fortunes were built through the use of direct mail across all industries.  For retailers, it is a proven media - think catalog companies’ successes like Lands End, of-the-month clubs, niche brick-and-mortar stores and more.  In fact, I am aware of several pure-play online retailers that have recently and successfully launched print catalogs to great return-on-investment and increased market share in this down economy.

So we are on the same page, direct mail is printed material delivered directly into the physical mailbox.  Usually, it is delivered via the post office but some marketers use other services too like UPS or FedEx. 

Direct mail comes in many different formats - some typical (see below) and some not so typical - I have heard of sending watermelons, bricks, 3D shapes (like a mini trash can or a boomerang) and more. 

Typical formats of direct mail for retailers include:

Print catalog Mini-catalog - a shorter version of the above Postcards Valpak® Newspaper inserts Magazine ride-alongs Statement stuffers

Brochures Sales letters CDs - remember all of those AOL software CDs back in the ’90s for new customer acquisition DVDs Flyers Samples And the list goes on…

The competitive advantage to any online retailer with a strong direct mail program is significant.  Advantages include:

Finding New Customers:

• Tap into other companies’ customer lists - larger companies have their customer list for rent. So, if you are competing with a particular company, their customer list may be available to you for rent. Also, some similar companies or even direct competitors use a third party company to pool their customers’ data for direct marketing purposes. This could be a great cost-effective way to acquire new customers.
• Less clutter - as other businesses cut back on budgets on traditional media like direct mail, your mailings can stand out in your customers mind when they open their mailbox.

Driving Repeat Business:

• Building strong relationships with current customers - direct mail can allow you to speak to your customers at the right time with the right message or offer unlike any other media. Email is great, but the inbox is cluttered. If you can get your direct mail opened and read by your customers, you can establish a strong relationship that will lead to improved customer loyalty and more referrals to your business.
• Segmentation of efforts for targeted campaigns - this is often the secret sauce to establishing a strong relationship with current customers.

If you are new to direct mail best practices, then you might want to start with a direct mail campaign to your most loyal customers.  If the return-on-investment is there, you might have a winning campaign and only then, try to roll it out to other targeted customer segments.

Here are nine proven campaign ideas for your current customers:

1. Welcome campaign
2. Happy Birthday campaign
3. It has been a while since your last order campaign
4. Private Sale (limited-time)
5. VIP Customer Event
6. Refer a friend and get $15 off your next order
7. Editorial site event - e.g. “Customer Favorites for Summer 2010″
8. Friends & Family event
9. Sneak peek event

The ideas are infinite…

QUICK TIP:

One very practical tip that is well documented is that the use of multiple media improves customer response.  For retailers, this means that sending emails and direct mail to reinforce your marketing message can improve the lift (or response) of your entire campaign. 

If you have a special valuable offer, say a Friends & Family Sale Event, then try to get that message in front of your customers in as many ways as possible for the best response.  You will like the results!

MORE ABOUT DIRECT MAIL:
Direct mail is a huge discussion, not able to be effectively covered in this e-book - there are sections of your local bookstore dedicated to this stuff!  But, I wanted to give you enough in this section to get you aware and thinking about this powerful marketing channel.  Don’t make the mistake of dismissing direct mail as too expensive for my business.  It is not about the cost, it is about the return on investment!

Unlike other marketing efforts such as search engine optimization and paid search efforts where smart competitors can view your entire efforts and in effect, reverse engineer your efforts, the details of a targeted direct mail program are “under the radar”. 

Herein lies a great competitive advantage!

Here’s to your online (I mean, offline) success,
David

The Importance of Good Keyword Research

Even though you have tried to think of every possible keyword or phrase a customer might use to find your site or the products you offer, this is an impossible task.

Luckily, great tools exist - many for free - to help you discover new, profitable keywords to drive additional traffic to your online store.

There are two main types of keywords.

1. One type is called “head” keywords. Some examples may be “iPod”, “t-shirts”, and “gift baskets”. These are the keywords that generate a lot of traffic everyday. These are important to generate a significant volume of site visitors, but they might not always produce qualified customers ready to purchase.

On the positive side, they might give your online business some good quick exposure and reach.

On the negative side, your return-on-investment (ROI) might be low on these keywords and the customers might be just starting their shopping process - conducting research and comparison shopping instead of ready to make that purchase.

Don’t be afraid to remove or bid much lower on keywords that aren’t performing as well as you expected. It is okay to put your ego aside and not own the number one PPC spot for the “head” keywords in your niche.

2. The second type of keywords is called “tail” keywords. Often, these are multi-word keyword phrases such as “buy an iPod”, “men’s white t-shirts” and “thank you gift basket”. Other examples may include product names and local terms such as “Buy a dress NYC.” These keywords are typed into search engine less often than “head” keywords, but they usually have a higher conversion rate.

Both types of keywords should be in your keyword portfolio.

There are many uses for keywords, which is why they are key to your online store success. Here is a short list of uses of keywords:

• Paid Search - used to find qualified traffic in Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask and more.  Also, can use keywords for negative terms.
• Search Engine Optimization (a.k.a. organic or natural search) - implement on homepage, department pages, product listing pages, product detail pages, article pages and more.
• Online Press Releases - produce keyword rich press releases
• Site Search - improve your store’s search results
• Social Bookmarking - sites like delicious.com, Technorati^TM and digg.com “tag” content and pages. “Tags” are just a fancy word for keywords.
• Social Media - sites like YouTube.com and Flikr.com “tag” content and pages too.
• And many more reasons!

Recommended Keyword Research FREE Resources:
FREE - Google External Keyword Tool
Free Trial and Paid Version - Wordtracker

For instance, if you use Google External Keyword Tool, then you will find keyword suggestions that include search volume (overall monthly average as well as last month’s search volume), average CPC (cost-per-click), seasonality and overall competition for the keyword phrase and more. Powerful stuff!

QUICK KEYWORD RESEARCH TIP:
Each keyword research tool uses different data, so it is in your best interest to use multiple keyword resources to discover new opportunities.

Good luck,
David Wauters
OnlineStoreCoach.com

101 Ways to Drive Traffic to Any Online Store

Marketing Tips for Internet Retailers

This list of traffic building tips can work for any online retailer or Internet business.  I hope you find several marketing tips to use in your business.

FIND FREE TRAFFIC:

1.   Submit and follow-up with human edited directory like Mahalo.com

2.   Write a valuable post comment on someone else’s blog and link back to your site

3.   Submit your site to Forbes.com Best of the Web

4.   Participate in industry forums and link to your site from your signature

5.   Pick a section of your site and perform some search engine optimization

6.   Implement a sitemap.xml page (and tell Google about it)

7.   Log into Google Webmaster Tool and look for any site opportunities Read more

Marketing Lesson - How Not to Feed a Dead Fish

Each day I would feed our pet fish, Max. Max is a blue Betta fish.

The first point you should understand is that Max is my family’s first pet. My kids wanted a pet and since neither my wife nor I are exactly pet people, we decided we can handle an easy-to-maintain, starter fish like Max.

Since we got him about a year ago, I was in charge of feeding him and my wife was in charge of the inside of the tank - cleaning it, replacing the filter, etc. Yes, somehow I got the easier job.

So, I feed Max daily, rarely missing a feeding and if I ever did, I would make it up to him with a little extra next time. Sort of like my eating habits.

Over time I actually enjoyed the ritual of feeding Max. I’d like knowing my efforts are appreciated. Sometimes he’d realize the food was dropped in the fish tank and he’d immediately swim to the top of the fish tank and begin his feast. He seemed very happy and content (for a fish).
Read more

9 Tips to Improve Email Signups for Online Retailers

It’s important for Internet businesses to capture opt-in emails throughout the shopping experience. Building an email list is one of the most important marketing efforts any online store can do. 

Well, let me clarify.  Your email list won’t matter much if you don’t have a strong email program, but email list building is still a key effort to set up your email program for success. Read more

E-commerce Lesson - Holes in the Bucket

Take a moment to envision your online business as a bucket. 

You fill the bucket with two types of customers - potential customers (leads or prospects) and repeat customers.  But not all these “customers” purchase from you every time (if they do, let me know…I want to invest!), so there are holes in your bucket. 

So, here are some hard facts.  Every day your business is losing sales.  You are letting customers leak out from the bucket.  Sometimes these customers find you again and sometimes your competition finds them. 

In fact, if your business is like most businesses, you already have MANY holes in the bucket.  Some small holes (or cracks in the bucket) cause only several customers per day to funnel out.  And some holes are the size of the Lincoln Tunnel leading customers escape every day never to come back again.  Bye Bye!

Let’s explore these two types of holes for online retailers.

The small holes in your bucket are often unknown or not discussed in your day-to-day business.  Often they are not measured, so they are easy to miss.  Luckily, these are easiest to fix too. Read more

Email Marketing – Forget the Excuses

Many pundits have incorrectly dismissed email marketing.  They’ve pronounce it DEAD.  I’m baffled by this!  What’s next, people won’t use credit cards?  People won’t watch television?

Many “marketing experts” are spewing email goobly-gook.  Be careful if you listen to this nonsense.  Please don’t fall for the lame excuses…email deliverability is not what it once was or nobody is reading emails anymore because there is too much email clutter.

These are just excuses and should not be used in YOUR thinking.  Read more

7 Simple SEO Tips and Tricks for Your Online Store

Here are seven of the easiest search engine optimization (SEO) techniques that ANYONE can implement in their online store.  No tech department needed!!! Read more