Your 2010 Search Strategy

This is a quick 2-minute video by Google's Managing Director, US Sales, Bonita Stewart speaking about how visitors have been using search, and how they will use it into 2010.

Give a quick listen to learn how you can position your business to be ahead of the pack.

Are You Up On New FTC Rules About Testimonials and Endorsements?

The new FTC rules on testimonials and endorsements are effective December 1, 2009. Pay particular attention to these areas of your Web site which may need some tweaking to comply.

If you have a partnership with another company or have a system in place where you earn a commission for referred sales, or if you have customer testimonials, then you will need to be sure you're including a bit more information. The rules are made to protect consumers from unrealistic expectations, unverified results' claims, and endorsements that are untruthful.

Here's the brief overview:

Testimonials

• Verify that the person giving the testimonial has actually achieved the stated results

• Verify the typical results that can be expected and state them

• If you make a change to the product being endorsed, verify that the testimony still stands 

Endorsements

• Disclose "clearly and conspicuously" compensation in exchange for endorsing a product or service (Compensation can be construed as a freebie in exchange for a review.)  

As usual with all government rules, there are many gray areas. :) 
Bottom line - even if you are already doing business ethically and honestly, now you need to STATE it! 

 

Here is the link to the official guide: FTC Guides Concerning the use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising

Title Tags

The title tag is one of the most important factors in achieving high search engine rankings, and is just one of three things that are given algorithmic weight by the search engines. Equally important is your visible text copy and the links pointing to your page. The title tag is often overlooked when attempting to optimize Web sites for targeted search engine traffic.

Title tags should contain specific keyword phrases. Be sure to do your keyword research to find the best phrases. If you provide products or services that are strictly local, you can be even more specific by adding geographical modifiers to your title tags, such as "New Prague Auto Repair". Try to use 2 or 3 of your most important keyword phrases. I find that using 10 to 12 words works best.

What format do you use to put your title tag together? Does your company name and/or phone number belong in the title tag? These are both common questions. It's fine to place your company name and/or phone number in the title tag. If your company is already well-known, then it's essential. This doesn't mean that you should put JUST your company name; even the best brands will benefit from a few good descriptive phrases.

There is not one right formula for writing it. Don't make yourself crazy trying to create the perfect title tag, because there is no such thing. The best thing to do is to test different ones to see which brings the most traffic. In the end, it's really a personal choice.

Here are some examples that will work just fine:

• Words separated by hyphens:
  New-Prague-Auto-Repair

• A complete sentence:
  We provide auto repair services in the New Prague, MN area.

• Strictly a list of factual keywords in order of importance:
  auto repair new prague mn 555-555-5555

• Written like an ad (my preference):
  Need your car fixed? | Call 555-555-5555 | Quality Auto Repair New Prague, MN  

How your listing appears in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) is crucial. After all, if you have a high ranking but visitors are not clicking through, it won't do you much good. My preferred method is to write a title tag like an ad - with a compelling headline and a description that contains a call to action. Let's pick mine apart (from above):

Compelling headline: Need your car fixed?
It addresses the searchers' problem and asks a question.

Contains a call to action: Call 555-555-5555

Contains important keyword phrase - quality auto repair

Contains a geographical modifier (if applicable) - New Prague, MN

Don't worry if some of your visible title tag gets cut off when the search engines display your information; they are still indexing all the words.

Last, (but should really be first), use your visible text copy (the text on your page) as your guide. Create your title tags after the page copy has been written and optimized. It's much easier to see how the keyword phrases have been integrated into the text, giving you a better place to begin. If you've done a good job writing, you should find all the information you need on the page. Choose the most relevant keywords from the copy and write a compelling title tag. If you can't get a handle on the most important key phrases or words, then you probably need to rewrite your page content. Or better yet, hire a professional web copywriter; one that knows how to write for visitors as well as search engines.

Keep these things in mind when you are gathering information from your copy -

• don't use an exact sentence pulled from your copy;

• don't use the exact wording of your page's headline; but

• do use a unique sentence that contains keyword elements from your copy.  

If you are using software that automatically generates the title tag, in some instances the default is the exact same title tag on every page. This is the best way to kill your rankings because the search engines will only see one page. Remember: search engines index pages, not Web sites; each page has the ability to be displayed on the results pages. If the exact same title is on all pages, the search engines will think you only have a one page site. If you have a unique title tag for each page, then each page has the chance to be indexed. If you cannot customize your tags easily, then you'll want to find new software or a new Web developer.

7 Tips To Get Your Business Ready For The Holiday Shopping Season

The holiday shopping season is coming up fast. During a trip to a favorite home improvement store several weeks ago, I saw all the Christmas stuff out! It will be here before you know it, but it's not too late to have an impact on your holiday revenue. See which of these you can apply to your business to maximize your holiday income.

1. Web Site Review

Take a quick review of your site and fix anything that isn’t working right. This is a critical time to find anything that slipped through the cracks.

Double check your contact form and any other elements that are in place for customers to reach you.

Review your visitor log files (site analytics) and look for any missing file errors (404, etc.), broken links or missing graphics.

Your home page (or your most active page) is a good place to include links to route holiday traffic to your seasonal offers. Your customers probably have different buying habits during the holiday season than they do any other time of the year. Modify your internal linking structure to reflect seasonality. Put additional links (containing keyword-rich anchor text so that these shortcuts pass PageRank) to your popular holiday categories and products. If you have great holiday gifts, create a Gift Ideas page and optimize it placing it one click away from your homepage.

If you are promoting a holiday sale or specific holiday product, don’t forget to polish that page's META description. That way holiday shoppers/searchers will find seasonal search phrases to encourage them to click through to your site. Including a call-to-action in the META description will also help ensure they click through to your site.

2. Shoppers LOVE “Free”

In this economy, we're all looking to save a buck. You can provide real value by offering free gift wrapping or free shipping. Now that's a great call to action for your polished META description! Also include the "free" text in your title tags and your web page's body copy.

3. Gift Cards or e-Gift Certificates

These are great for your last-minute shoppers, for someone who can't decide, or for someone who'd like the recipient to make the choice. If you have the ability to offer this, feature it prominently on your site and in your bricks-and-mortar store (if applicable).

4. Blog

Hopefully you already have a blog. If not, make it your New Year’s resolution! Your blog is a great way to connect and communicate with your customers/readers. Share a story, a favorite recipe, or helpful packing and shipping tips. Blogs are great because you can lend your own voice by adding conviction, humor, personality, and value. Your readers come to know your authentic self.

Don’t have time to blog yourself? Try recruiting a passionate customer as a blog author or compile a small group of contributing authors and run a "group" blog.

I've had success mapping out my blogging and putting it on my calendar. If you're a retailer with regular sales at given times of the year, you can plan those posts now and start working on them for publishing later. In both Blogger and WordPress, I can submit my posts and post-date them to maintain an active publishing schedule. This works great for me if I'm pressed for time or need to take some time off. I write when I'm inspired creating several posts at once for future use. The goal is to publish regularly and frequently.

5. Get Social

If you're participating in any Social Media (i.e., YouTube, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.), publish a list of gift suggestions and "share it".

6. Use Video

The #2 search engine isn’t Yahoo, it’s YouTube! Use a video for products that require complicated assembly, need "how to" instructions, or for things you need to hear like music clips or concerts and performances. It's so easy to make a video these days. Most digital cameras have a video function, you can purchase a Flip for about $160, you can use your web cam, or you can use your home video recording device. Don't get hung up on producing a professional video - just produce a simple one and post it to YouTube. Who knows, maybe you'll be famous! ;)

7. Connect Offline and Online Marketing

Make sure your web address appears in all your mailings, advertisements, and anywhere else you may be marketing offline. If you have a bricks-and-mortar location, remind people that you have a Web site.

TV news, radio stations, and newspaper reporters are often looking for interesting holiday stories. Come up with an interesting story idea and you may not only get valuable airtime or print mention, but possibly even a link from their site to yours.

Recession or no recession, people will shop. There’s still time to maximize your revenue this holiday season.

Ciao for now,
Paula