How to Increase Online Sales
How To
Increase
Traffic How We Got Here
The internet has become vastly important for businesses, communities and organizations today. Even building a successful personal brand requires the internet. A person’s or organization’s website has become the de facto center of attention and information for consumers. While the internet is the most massive channel, getting potential customers, site users or content consumers has become very diﬃcult. The internet is a big place, and getting the right people to the your web site can be a challenge.
Getting more of the
right people to your
website.
The internet is changing the way we see the world. It has aﬀected society, politics, relationships, business and even the fundamental way we think about information and the world. The internet has become the one place where people can come together and start relationships, do business, conduct research and have a voice. We all use the internet to ﬁnd information about products, services, organizations and people. We have 24 hour on-‐demand access to almost any piece of information we want. We love the internet. Right now, the number of Americans online is estimated at over 248 million, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. That is a little more than 70% of everyone in the 1 of 17
How to Increase Online Sales
Number of Websites
Online
USA. Jupiter Research estimates that by the year 2012, 25% of the entire planet will be online. That’s 1.8 billion people. That is a huge channel. With so many people turning to the internet for information, and more people joining everyday, being on the web is now imperative for business. From large ﬁnancial brokerage ﬁrms that oﬀer online trading to the local corner restaurant that posts its menu, we expect the information to be there when we want it. If we can’t ﬁnd the information we want, then that business, for all intents and purposes, does not exist. This is the world we live in, and have been living in for a few years. 175,000,000
157,500,000
140,000,000
122,500,000
105,000,000
87,500,000
70,000,000
52,500,000
35,000,000
17,500,000
2007
2005
2003
2001
1999
1997
1995
0
Source: Netcraft 7/2008 Web Server Survey.
The numbers represented here are host-names
connected to sites that respond.
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Because of this the growth of the internet has exploded. There are 10 times as many websites online as people living in New York. That’s the whole state of New York, not just the city. According to Netcraft, there are more than 160 million websites online. While that may sound like a lot of websites, it’s nothing compared to what is coming. The ﬁrst website was posted by Tim Burners-‐Lee in 1990 and the web took more than 5 years to reach the 100,000 pages mark. Since then, the growth rate of the internet has exploded. Right now, over 13 million websites are added to the web every month. This means that while the internet and its user base are huge, there is only a little more than 1 website for every 1 person. How to Increase Online Sales
This makes the internet the largest channel with the most competition. So with all this competition and all these people, how can you get more traﬃc to your website? Here are a few tactics. 7 Billion
Searches a
Month
Getting Traffic Through Search
Engines
As mentioned above, the biggest use of the internet is research. Some industries have centers that facilitate online research, and some brands like eBay and Amazon have enough recognition that they attract consumers directly; however, most online research is done with help of search engines. 2 Billion
Searches a
Month
Source: ComScore - US Core Search Rankings,
February 2008
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Search engines like Google and Yahoo index the web and try to predict what websites are the most relevant to users’ needs. When a user submits a query to a search engine, the search engine provides a list of what it believes are the most relevant websites based on the given search criteria. This list is called the organic search results.
Organic Search Results
How to Increase Online Sales
The organic search results for nearly any query is in the thousands or millions. Needless to say, it helps to be closer to beginning of the list than at the end. Online consumers will never go past the ﬁrst few pages of results.
To get the best placement possible for your web property, your site needs to be optimized for search engine indexing, relevant to the community and provide good content.
Optimize your site for search engines.
Optimizing your site for search engines means coding your website in a way that allows search engines to read it. Search engines don’t have eyes, so they cannot read images, Flash, Java and many other technologies. If the titles or content of your website are not plain text, your content cannot be read by search engines. Many websites use Flash or images to make the text look a particular way. This can create a unique presentation for your site, but it will hurt your rankings in search engines. There are ways to make text online appear diﬀerent from the few web-‐safe fonts, so if this is a concern of yours, please ﬁnd a professional that can help you achieve your goals and not harm your search engine standings.
As a general rule of thumb, if you can’t read something by viewing the code of your site, neither can a search engine. For 4 of 17
How to Increase Online Sales
If you can’t read it, neither
can a search engine.
< a h re f= Ÿin d e x.h tm lŸ>
< im g src = Ÿim a g e s/n a v 1 .g ifŸ>
< /a >
Code required to create an image navigation link
< a h re f= Ÿin d e x.h tm lŸ>
H o m e P ag e
< /a >
Code required to create a text navigation link
example, if your website uses product numbers in the URL, it is meaningless to search engines. A search engine will not know that product=19324 is a ﬂashlight, so the search engine will not know what that page is about. An appropriately coded site will alleviate these issues. How search engines rank websites are constantly changing processes, Google changes their algorithm many times every day, so get professional help from time to time to make sure you don’t fall behind.
Be Relevant to the community and your customers
A search engine doesnʼt know what product 9919554 is.
This step has nothing to do with the technology of your site, but it does impact the search engine results. Search engines are always trying to modify how they rank websites to provide users the best possible results. One way that they do this is by counting the amount of incoming links and mentions of your website throughout the internet. They assume that the more people talk about or link to you, the better you must be. A search engine does know what MacBookPro is
The only successful way to leverage this on your behalf is to engage and participate in your community, oﬀering real value. Many people have tried to game the system by buying links or establishing “link farms.” The search engines know about these tactics and will penalize any company uses them. 5 of 17
How to Increase Online Sales
To successfully engage your community it can be very helpful to ﬁnd a professional that can guide you through the process. Provide Good Content
Delicious is a website that allows people to bookmark
and share content they think is good.
Technorati is a search engine for blogs. If someone blogs
about you, chances are it will turn up here.
Digg is a site that allows users to vote content on the
web up or down. The higher you get, the more people
will see your content.
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As in the above section, providing good content isn’t a technological solution. It is not something that can be faked or purchased in the form of a software package. The internet has made amazing technological strides, but even the largest search engine in the world (Google) realizes that the technology has not overcome human judgement. The search engines have found ways through their websites, advertising partners, toolbars, and webmaster tools to track behavior and incorporate it into their search algorithm. If real people feel that your site creates value and visit it often, the search engines will rank your site higher. There is no shortcut or any way to fake this because it is all based on what real people—
your customers—think and do.
Paid Search Results
In addition to the organic search results, there are also advertising results shown on search engine results page. On Google they are called “Adwords” and on Yahoo it is called “Search Marketing.” These programs allow advertisers to bid on keywords and phrases. When someone performs a search How to Increase Online Sales
using terms the advertiser bid on, their link will show up in the sponsored links section of the results page. The advertisers pay for action not exposure, so even if the sponsored link appears, the advertiser isn’t charged until the user actually clicks on the link. These sponsored links can be very eﬀective at driving customers to your website, and because you don’t pay if no action is taken, you can get a greater return on your investment than you can from other media channels. Many companies report that 35% to 90% of their customers ﬁnd their website using the paid search model, but getting users to your site is only part of battle to increase your online sales. Getting Traffic From Traditional Media
There has been a lot of hype about how the internet is replacing old media channels. There is more video content on YouTube than there is on cable and satellite TV combined. There are many people watching video online, but they are also watching television. It is true that social media and digital channels have changed some of the rules, but they didn’t replace old media.
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How to Increase Online Sales
New Media Doesn’t Kill Old Media
1956
Most
Watched
Show
2006
The Ed Sullivan Show
American Idol
60 Million
36 Million
% of US TV
Population
80%
32%
% of Total US
Population
36%
12%
# of Viewers
Before the late 19th century the primary media channels were print and outdoor. Then around the turn of the century radio was invented. When radio was a new and emerging media channel, many futurists proclaimed that it would put an end to printed media. This obviously did not occur. Radio went on to do what it did best and what print couldn’t do: music. This process repeated itself again in the mid 1900’s with the advent of television. Again it was proclaimed that television would be the end of radio, and again the predictions were wrong. We now are experiencing the same phenomenon with the internet and so far the old media is still there. This doesn’t mean that new media is not disruptive. New media doesn’t kill old media, but it does fragment it. With more media channels to choose from, each media channel looses some of its potency as an advertising vehicle. In the mid 1900’s when there were only three networks broadcasting television shows, a commercial on any one of them would reach millions. Now with over 200 TV channels and DVR’s (digital video recorders) that allow consumers to skip commercials all together, a single TV spot doesn’t have the same eﬀect. Create An Integrated Story
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How to Increase Online Sales
Outdoor
Print
Core
Message
Website
Radio
TV
Keep your advertising related, each telling a piece of the
story, but have all your whole story online, and drive your
users there for more information
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Mention your website in all your advertising. The number one consumer use of the internet is research. If your advertising is doing a good job of getting you attention, your customers are going to want to more information. Help them out by showing them where to go. Incorporate your website into your advertising and vice versa. Create a complete story that has parts throughout all your advertising channels. After interaction with your ads, there should be a reason for the user to visit your website: either to ﬁnish the story, or to get more in-‐depth information, or to see a demonstration or to get some other content. Make all your advertising a cohesive story where each channels tells a diﬀerent chapter or shows another point of view.
Create Landing Pages
A landing page is a page made especially for customers to “land” on. These pages are used to track what media channels people are using to ﬁnd you, as well as let the customer know they made it to the right place. Each advertising eﬀort should have its own landing page that reﬂects the information used in the ad. If you run a print ad that focuses on the beneﬁts of “feature A”, make sure you include a web address in the ad that points to a page all about “feature A”. The ﬁrst thing a user looks for when entering a website is acknowledgment How to Increase Online Sales
that they are in the right place. Make sure your advertising is sending people to your website, and make sure your website is set up to accommodate each unique entry point.
Print
Outdoor
Home
What
When
Where
How
Why
What’s the
difference
When can
I get help
Where
are you
How do I
buy?
Why should
I care?
When do
you work
Where
are you?
Radio
Why do
other
Search
Home
When
Where
How
TV
Every channel should point to a specific page, url, or
microsite to complete the story and direct the user where
to go next.
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Include The Little Stuff
Everyone has a website. It can be hard to remember every www and .com that you see. Help your customers by reminding them. Put your domain name on your business card, in your email signature, on your brochures, handouts and anything else that your customers come into contract with. They can’t ﬁnd you if they don’t know where to look.
Engage and Participate in Your Community
Originally the web was about reading information that other people created. That day is now gone. In a few minutes anyone can set up a blog, post a video or start a podcast for almost free. Consumers are in love with hearing the sound of their own voice after not having one for so long. With a few clicks of the mouse they can create content that is just as relevant as a $1 million corporate website. They can say what they want to say and they do. Then they noticed they could hear other people, too. People just like them. People they want to talk to. To listen to. To share with.
How to Increase Online Sales
Technorati is currently tracking
112.8 million blogs and over 250
million pieces of tagged social
media.
Thats 1 blog for every 3
Americans.
There are 5 times more blogs than
American businesses.
0
50
100 150 200 250 300 350
American businesses
Blogs on technorati
US population
Data from the 2002 US Census, the US Census
Population clock for September 2008, and Technorati as
of September 2008.
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For every problem your industry is supposed to solve, there is an online community of your consumers talking about it. If you think that there are some industries that might be excluded from list, visit http://porkpod.pork.org/ to download the latest podcast on the pork industry, or visit http://www.itsapurlman.com to read the newest blog post and hear the newest podcast on knitting in Boston.
Search the web for the group that is talking about your industry. Try search engines like Google and Yahoo, and social media monitoring sites like Digg and Technorati. Remember that when you ﬁnd a community relevant to you, stop thinking like a sales man. Don’t try to control or persuade the group. Start by listening to what is going on, and then join the conversation. People gather online to support their lifestyles and solve their problems, not to listen to sales pitches. Be an active, valuable member of your community, and just like any other community of caring people, they will want to know about you. Don’t hide who you are, be transparent if you service the market you are participating in, but be clear that you are there to participate and add value. As you leave links behind on blogs, in podcast comments or on community networks, the people who need you will ﬁnd you, and maybe even promote you. How to Increase Online Sales
Sometimes a community already exists, and all you need
to do is join and participate.
What if for some reason you can’t ﬁnd a group? It is safe to assume that one exists somewhere, but if you can’t ﬁnd it, there are probably many other people like you who also can’t ﬁnd it. This may be an opportunity. If you have something to contribute to the conversation, think about starting a blog or a podcast. Look into other new media channels such as micro-‐blogging platforms like Twitter and Pownce, virtual worlds like Second Life and social networks like Linked-‐in, Facebook or Myspace. Just remember that you cannot control the space. It’s frightening to give up the control, but remember that they will talk about you and your company whether you are there or not. Better to be involved and have a voice.
Make improvements based on
insights.
Sometimes you might need to create a place for your
community.
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The true innovation of the web was the ability to link to anybody or anything without having to get their permission. Linking creates crisscross paths through documents deemed related by their authors with no consideration to hierarchy. Hence the name “web.” Links will come into your website from your advertising, collateral, search engines, discussion forums, blogs and other websites. The only by tracking this will you know where your traﬃc is coming form, and, by How to Increase Online Sales
extension, where you should put your time and resources to promote your website.
Who are
you
When
can I get
What’s the
difference
Who else
is like you
What do
you do
When do
you work
Where
are you
Where
are you?
When do
I get value
What’s
different
Who else
uses you
Where
do i buy?
How do
I buy?
How have
you helped
Why do
you do it?
Why
should I
Why do
others
Why did
you start?
How do I
How do i get what I
When does get support?
it matter
How much
does it cost?
When does
it not matter
How does
it work
Who else
likes you
Your website is like a funnel,
intended to move people to a
specific goal. Your users can come
from anywhere, so to find out
where they came from, what they
want and what they are doing, you
have to track it.
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There are many software packages and services that give you data about your website and its visitors. This data along with your landing pages will give you a very clear picture about where people are coming from. Use this information to your advantage by directing resources according to what is working and diverting them from what isn’t. Depending on your website’s goals (selling products, generating leads, etc.) you will need additional metrics to make decisions. For sites that focus on getting a user to take a particular action, such as sign up for a newsletter or buy a product, traﬃc is not the most important number. Conversation rate is far more important. The conversion rate tells you how many people from a particular source are taking the actions you want.
Assume you are getting 5,000 visitors to your site each week from tactic “A” and 3,000 visitors from tactic “B.” If you only look at traﬃc, you would put your resources into tactic “A.” If you track conversion rates you might discover that visitors from tactic “A” convert 1 time out of 10 and visitors from tactic “B” convert 4 out of 10 times. With this data, you see that you get 500 conversion from tactic “A” per week and 1,200 How to Increase Online Sales
conversion from tactic “B” per week. Do you still want to spend your resources on tactic “A”? Web metrics are a complicated ﬁeld and it pays to have help. If your website has a goal, be sure to ﬁnd a professional that can help. Web analytics software like Google
Analytics can give you the
information you need to make
good decisions.
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How to Increase Online Sales
“
A partner that understands
your strategic purpose
can help guide you to
what will work, and steer
you away from tactics that
will be little more than a
resource drain. Be wary of
any group that says “This
will always work”.
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Get Some Help
Attracting users to a website takes a lot of work, preparation and planning to achieve. Depending on your circumstances you may need professional help to navigate the cost-‐per-‐click model, advertising and digital promotions channels and search engine optimization. Here is what to look for when hiring help:
1. Strategic Purpose. Your website has its own unique goals and market. There are many ways to increase traﬃc, not to mention what to do with the traﬃc once it arrives. The tactics you should use depend largely on your speciﬁc circumstances and users. A partner that understands your strategic purpose can help guide you to what will work and steer you away from tactics that will be little more than a resource drain. Be wary of any group that says “This will always work.” Look for the group that knows how to take your unique situation and ﬁnd insights to guide your course.
2. Marketing Understanding. This can be a tricky area because there are many marketing specialties. There are digital marketing experts, but even traditional marketing ﬁrms can help with the integration of your message oﬄine. Look for a company that pays attention to marketing as a How to Increase Online Sales
“
Look at any potential
partners website and pay
attention to the way they
write their content. This will
give you a clue as to what
they pay attention to most.
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whole, not just the tactics, but a big picture view of how your company should be presented and promoted. 3. Technology Savvy. This step encompasses two types of technology, the technology of web development and the technology of digital promotions. You will need web development knowledge on your team to ensure that your site is coded correctly for search engines, set up to accommodate visitors reaching their goals and to create landing pages. You will also need the digital promotions knowledge to run any online advertising, search marketing and community activation you might peruse. As in traditional media, there are many specialists in the web world as well. Not every web shop oﬀers the same services or knowledge. Look for as diverse team as you can. For help in identifying a good match for your development ﬁrm, don’t be a afraid to ask around. Look at any potential partners website and pay attention to the way they write their content. This will show you what they pay attention to. Look for big picture and diversity, not just a focus on design or technology.
How to Increase Online Sales
The Next Step
Successful online endeavors require a wide array of understanding and experience. The advice contained here is only a fraction of what it will take to win. There are more tactics that can drive traﬃc to your site, and even more that can persuade users to take some sort of action when they get there. If you would like some help in getting the most out of your online investment, VIADUCT DIGITAL can help.
We oﬀer holistic web solutions that focus around meeting tangible business goals. With our process, we can help you identify needs and opportunities, discover market insight and potential technology solutions, craft road maps to success, implement and support technology, assist in promotion and analyze metrics. We take a partner position with our clients and have helped other companies with solutions in:
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Analysis : understanding goals and mapping plans to reach them
Content : strategies and technology to display, promote and persuade with content
Process : automation of process and workﬂows to realize eﬃciencies, reduce errors and achieve data predictability.
Commerce : assisting companies in the strategy and technology to make money online both directly and indirectly.
Marketing : promotion, research and outreach services utilizing online channels
To contact VIADUCT DIGITAL you can call us at 5 0 5 -‐ 5 0 4 -‐ 8 4 2 6 , s e n d u s a n e m a i l a t [email protected] or visit our website at http://www.VIADUCTDIGITAL.com.
For more information about online business and marketing, you can also visit Return On Intention, Reid Givens’ blog at http://www.reidgivens.com.