Archive for the ‘Copywriting’ Category
Friday, December 18th, 2009
Interesting post on dot.life on the BBC News site. Someone in the UK is claiming intellectual property rights to the hashtag ‘#uksnow’. Now realizing that the patent office allows patenting life (anyone see ‘Food Inc’?) why wouldn’t they allow patenting this mark? Can you imagine every time you wanted to use a hashtag you had to worry whether someone had patented it first? What about if you built on a tag, such as #uksnowing – is it a new tag or an extension of an existing tag?
Would the large corporations start buying up patents and enforcing them, forcing the small guys into line through the treat of lawsuits?
Pretty soon you wouldn’t be able to write anything on twitter in case it violated a patent, then what? People move to other services, Twitter dies, the corporations have made their profit and the fat cats have got paid (anyone see Crooked E?).
Makes me glad to work as an SEO where we only have to worry about world domination by Google (Google Phone anyone?)
Posted in Copywriting | 2 Comments »
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
By Karon Thackston © 2009, All Rights Reserved
Sometimes choosing which company to buy from is about like deciding which brand of canned peas is the best. To make matters worse, the copy on most websites doesn’t offer any help.
There are three major offenders in copywriting that I see constantly on the Internet. The first is generic copy that offers no specific differentiation points — in other words, reasons why the visitor should choose you instead of the thousands of other sites that are just a click away. The second is overused fluff copy that has no substance. And the third? Using company-focused copy (“we” and “us”) instead of customer-focused (“you” and “your”). It’s the third offender I want to address in this article.
I am literally shocked that — after decades of marketing evangelists preaching “It’s not about you!” — website owners still don’t get it. What’s not to understand? Copy that focuses strictly on your company and practically or completely ignores your prospects doesn’t work nearly as well as copy that speaks to your target customers in their language and about the benefits they will receive.
I discussed this very topic with SEO friend Jill Whalen recently, and she commented, “I think people don’t understand how to write to the customer instead of about their company.” Perhaps my cohort is right. So, in an effort to educate, let’s look at several before and after scenarios.
Company-Focused Copy Examples
It’s as if this web design firm has intentionally made an effort to ignore their site visitors. They use their company name, “the client,” “customers,” and practically every other word to describe who is reading the page. Except, that is, the most
important: you. You must address the one, single person who is reading your web page at any given moment, not a collective population of people.
ABC Web Design is dedicated to customer service. We make great strides to offer high levels of customer service and communication with clients. As a small company, we understand one-on-one service is needed. Our designers have developed hundreds of small-business websites and we make the process simple. Contact us for pricing and a free consultation today.
Do you see that not a single “you” is used? The site visitor is never addressed. It’s all about the company. Now let’s change it to be about the customer:
ABC Web Design is dedicated to your success, promising high levels of customer service and communication. You’ll be kept up to date — on a one-to-one basis — about the progress of your project. Relying on years of experience, your web designer makes the creation process simple, guiding you through every step.
Contact us for pricing and a free consultation today.
Here’s another example.
We have the finest contractors in the marketplace today. Our kitchen experts have been recruited from the most successful companies. XYZ Kitchen Remodeling Company of Kalamazoo has the support of a large network with over 300 reliable and professional kitchen remodeling contractors serving most of North America.
Here’s the rewrite:
When you want to work with the finest contractors in the marketplace, XYZ Kitchen Remodeling Company of Kalamazoo answers the call. Not only will you benefit from using experienced kitchen experts, your renovation is backed by the support of the largest network of kitchen remodelers. That gives you the knowledge and skills of over 300 reliable, professional kitchen remodeling contractors in North America.
See the difference? Is it a sin to use the words “us” or “our”? Certainly not, but your copy should be weighted far more heavily with customer-oriented words than company-focused ones. Tell visitors about your service, your results and your experience.
But do so in a way that makes them and their success the center of the copy.
When you keep the focus on your company, you prevent your target customer from knowing the benefits they’ll reap after working with you. However, when you adjust your focus, you shine a bright light helping visitors to quickly see why you’re the best choice for them.
Karon Thackston creates customer-focused copy that connects and converts. If you’re struggling with copy that doesn’t perform, contact Karon today through http://www.MarketingWords.com for online copywriting or copywriting training.
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Saturday, September 19th, 2009
By Karon Thackston © 2009, All Rights Reserved
During a recent copywriting consulting call with a new client, we discussed her primary concern: having good traffic, but no sales. I’ve seen this a thousand times before. Usually, what I find is a site filled with content that is chock-full of keyphrases and sounds stupidly repetitive. The solution is easy:
Write natural-sounding, persuasive SEO copy that entices customers to buy. But this client’s site didn’t fit the stereotype.
The home-page copy needed some work, but it wasn’t awful. The category and sub-category pages had no copy at all that needed to be fixed. The product descriptions were canned (straight from the manufacturer). While that’s definitely not the best way to go for several reasons, it’s not a death sentence. But still, for a site
- even a brand-new one – to have several hundred unique visitors a week and not one sale was frustrating.
We looked at some stats. Low bounce rate, high number of pages viewed per visit, acceptable length of time spent on the site.
The rankings left something to be desired, but they’d come along soon enough with a few tweaks and some linking.
As we clicked our way through the site’s pages, it became clear.
This site suffered from a common curse among e-commerce
resellers: lack of differentiation.
Why Should I Buy From You?
Generally speaking, most grocery stores carry nearly the same things. So how did you decide to shop at the one you frequent most? Chances are it was because of the store’s location. Online, we don’t have that advantage.
When e-commerce resellers carry the same exact items as hundreds or thousands of other sites, comparison shoppers have a difficult time deciding whom to buy from. Most often, it falls to price.
Since my client wasn’t branding her site to be the cheapest, she had lost the location and the price advantage.
After searching through dozens of websites offering the same products, the surfer had no way to answer their most burning
question: Why should I buy from you?
Identifying Differentiation Points
As our tour continued, I asked questions – lots of questions – in an effort to help my client find ways she was different and/or better than her competition.
> > Do you offer free shipping or reduced shipping (with or
without a minimum order)?
She did, but that wasn’t stated visibly on her site. There’s one differentiating item. Online shoppers love free shipping.
> > Do you hold any promotions?
She did, but that also wasn’t clearly stated. She made a note to draw attention to her promotion on the home page.
> > Do you offer quantity discounts?
She did, but the link to the copy that explained the discounts was rather hidden. We discussed adding a few words of copy right by the price to let visitors know discounts were available.
> > Can you tell me about the wish list feature? What happens
after someone adds products to their wish list?
She didn’t know, so we went through the process together and created a plan for strategically placed copy that would entice visitors to add items to their wish lists. We then discussed the particulars of creating copy for an autoresponder series that would follow up with people who had created a wish list, but never ordered.
When our hour was up, we had identified several actionable steps for her to work on to differentiate her site from her competitors. Of course, they’ll all need to be tested to see which works best to achieve her goals. But for now she’s busy tweaking and tracking instead of scratching her head.
Karon Thackston is an SEO copywriter and trainer. She has authored 3 popular books including the keyword optimization guide “Writing With Keywords.” Get details at http://www.WritingWithKeywords.com today.
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Monday, July 20th, 2009
By Karon Thackston © 2009, All Rights Reserved
Following in the footsteps of Rand Fishkin and Guy Kawasaki, I decided to come up with my own list of don’ts.
There is no shortage of don’ts when it comes to SEO copywriting.
It seems this niche got off to a rough start many years ago when early comers somehow misconstrued the core principles of the trade. Allow me to elaborate on how not to write SEO copy.
- Don’t shove as many keyphrases into the copy as humanly possible. It’s not about the sheer volume of search terms you include. Yes, Google and other engines should be able to follow what the page is about. Yes, engines are looking to match a searcher’s query with search engine optimized content on your web pages, but which pages land at the top is decided through a series of calculations far more complex than any simple ratio.
When you overload copy with keyphrases you sacrifice quality and user experience.
- Don’t lose site of balance. If SEO copywriting isn’t about the percentage of keywords within the copy, then what is it about? Balance. You have two audiences with SEO copywriting: the search engines and your site visitors. But surprisingly, the balance doesn’t come with serving both masters well. The balance comes in how much you cater to the engines. You see, your site visitors always come first. However, if you write with too little focus on the engines, you won’t see good rankings. If you put too much focus on the engines, you’ll start to lose your target audience. Balance… always balance.
- Don’t let someone else choose the keywords. If keyword research isn’t a service you offer, an SEO firm, keyword specialist or some other professional that your client hires will have to conduct the research. Don’t just accept keyphrases these folks toss your way. Ask to see the entire list with recommendations as to which terms would be best strategically.
Then you, as the professional writer, can decide which will also work best within the copy.
- Don’t sacrifice flow for numbers. This is a follow-up to number three and is a major issue with bad SEO copywriting.
SEOs or clients sometimes insist on using hacked-up search phrases that simply don’t work in a normal sentence. An example?
“Candies samples free.” Many copywriters will just grin and bear it, sacrificing quality and flow for the sake of competitive values or other numbers. The result is often some obnoxious sentence like, “If you’re looking for candies samples free, you’ve come to the right place!” Forcing a phrase into the copy at all costs never turns out well.
- Don’t use keyphrases that don’t apply to the page. If you operate a site about wedding receptions, don’t try to force a search term about wedding dresses into the copy just because it pulls a lot of traffic. (A) Unless you sell, alter or design wedding dresses, it won’t be applicable. (B) Even if you manage to get the page ranked well for the phrase [wedding dresses], once the visitor clicks to your site and realizes you have nothing to do with wedding dresses, they will leave. It’s a waste of time and effort and it creates a poor user experience.
- Don’t use misspellings and correct spellings on the same page. I fully understand that the misspellings of keyphrases can be valuable search terms. However, to mix correct spellings and misspellings within the same page of copy looks like you’ve got a bunch of typos in the content. It’s just not professional.
Some writers will go for the old, “We rent limousines (sometimes spelled limosenes) for the most affordable prices in town.” I don’t care for that approach. It’s just not natural.
Would you ever see brochure or newspaper copy that reads that way? I think not.
- Don’t use keyphrases the exact same way every time. This is how we end up with horrible SEO copy that sounds like a 4th grader wrote it. (See #4.) There are lots of ways to use keywords in copy, not just one. In order to sound natural, you have to get creative with your keyphrase use. One way is to break up phrases using punctuation. Since search engines don’t pay attention to basic punctuation marks, you can easily write something using the search term [real estate Hawaii] that reads like this: “Currently there is an impressive selection of available real estate. Hawaii listings can be…” See? “Real estate” is at the end of the first sentence and “Hawaii” is at the beginning of the second sentence. The engines ignore the period so there’s no problem.
- Don’t use all types of search phrases for every situation.
There are many ways in which this “don’t” applies. One quick example is that of an ecommerce site. It wouldn’t be advisable to use specific, long-tail keyphrases on the home page of your site. They are much too specific in most cases and are better suited for individual product pages. Broader terms are typically best for an ecommerce home page. If you don’t understand the best applications for the various types of keywords, you’re likely to have lackluster results.
- Don’t neglect ALT tags/image attributes. These tags are the ones associated with images on your pages and they carry a good deal of weight especially if the image is used as a link. The ALT text counts the same as anchor text in a text-based link.
Depending on a few different factors, ALT text may be a good place for those misspellings mentioned in #6.
- Don’t forget the chain of protocol. There’s a method to the SEO copywriting madness. The idea is not to get as many different keyphrases onto a page as possible. Just the opposite, in fact. Rather than having 12 different search terms used only one time each, you need to use two to four keyphrases (depending on the length of your copy) per page. The title, META tags, ALT tags, other coding elements and on-page copy need to support each other as far as keyphrase use goes. Your goal is to let the engines know that you have original, relevant content about a narrow topic.
Unless you have an exceptional number of back links built up, just mentioning [dark chocolate], [chocolate strawberries], [chocolate chip cookies], [chocolate cake], [chocolate desserts], [organic chocolate] and [chocolate cheesecake] once each on a web page isn’t likely to do a lot of good. Instead, pick two or three terms which are closely related and use them several times each along with mentioning them in your tags.
When you avoid making common mistakes, you’ll find your SEO copywriting flows much better, is more natural-sounding and ranks higher, too.
Need help with SEO copywriting? Karon has written 3 excellent books to help you learn keyword optimization techniques. Visit http://www.CopywritingCourse.com today and click to the Order page for details.
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Friday, July 10th, 2009
By Karon Thackston © 2009, All Rights Reserved
It’s a common complaint. Ecommerce site owners will contact me for help because their product pages don’t get ranked. Among one of my standard checks is their product copy. Very often, what I find is copy that was provided by the product manufacturers. Or, worse yet, copy that is the exact same for a variety of products with the exception of a few words. Both can cost you in the rankings.
Don’t Use Canned Copy
Using copy provided by product manufacturers may seem like the best way to go. After all, you get professionally written copy for free. However, there are two major drawbacks associated with this approach.
First, you lose most of your ability to differentiate yourself from every other website that sells the same products. If a person does a search, for example, on a particular model of Oster blender, he’ll likely find most websites have the same copy that was provided by Oster.
Since the product is the same and the copy is the same that leaves only a few options for proving to visitors why they should buy from you as opposed to any of the thousands of other sites that carry this blender.
When you use custom-created copy, you have the opportunity to entice them and show them why your store is the best choice.
On the SEO side, this is a classic case of duplicate content across multiple domains. What is commonplace these days is for one site that uses the canned copy to rank well while others are filtered farther down in the rankings. The top slots end up filled with review websites, blogs or other ecommerce sites that use original copy.
Don’t Use Copy That’s the Same but Different
Jewelry stores. Foreign language sites. Office furniture stores. There are countless types of sites that will often use the same product copy, but substitute a word or two. For instance, jewelry stores may have a particular ring setting that is available with rubies, diamonds or emeralds. They’ll use the same copy for all three rings, with the exception of the stone.
Like this:
This elegant cocktail ring isn’t just for special occasions. The stunning 14 karat gold band is topped with a classic six-prong setting that cradles a top-quality diamond. This allows the diamond to reflect more light for a brilliant shimmer.
Then, for a ruby ring, the copy would read:
This elegant cocktail ring isn’t just for special occasions. The stunning 14 karat gold band is topped with a classic six-prong setting that cradles a top-quality ruby. This allows the ruby to reflect more light for a brilliant shimmer.
Personal experience has shown that these types of product descriptions may or may not get ranked well. This is not duplicate content across multiple domains; however, it still stands a chance of suffering the wrath of Google.
To get a clearer picture about this situation, I emailed Google know-it-all Matt Cutts and asked the question, “Is Google sophisticated enough to be able to tell when an ecommerce site has a need to use duplicate content for products that are the same but different? It seems as though you can from what I’ve noticed in the SERPs.”
Matt’s reply was a great big “maybe.”
“Typically on-site text doesn’t result in a penalty, just in the other copies of a page being filtered out. Only changing a single word (‘English’ to ‘Italian’) might not be enough though.
If someone has different products, usually it’s a good idea to make sure that the descriptions are at least somewhat different.”
Translation? Typically, if it’s duplicate content on different pages of your own site, and not across multiple domains, one of the product descriptions will rank well, and the rest will be filtered out of the search engine results pages (SERPs). I’ve seen this happen a good bit for exact duplicate content when every word is precisely the same.
Changing one word means the content isn’t an exact duplicate anymore. However, Matt cautions that just altering a single word (diamond to ruby, etc.) may not be enough of a difference to save your products from being filtered. I’ve seen product pages that have only changed one or two words get filtered about 50% of the time.
Safest bet? Do what Matt recommends and use product copy that is significantly different for each item. Original copy gives you the freedom to entice your site visitors, differentiate yourself from the competition and rank high in the search engines.
Karon Thackston is an SEO copywriter specializing in ecommerce websites. Need help boosting conversions and rankings? Visit http://www.marketingwords.com today.
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Monday, June 29th, 2009
By Karon Thackston © 2009, All Rights Reserved
Have you ever noticed that ecommerce sites have their own set of challenges when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO)? If you’re a small ecommerce site owner, I’m sure you have. One reason is copy plays such a vital role in the optimization process. Because ecommerce sites typically have significantly less content than many other types of websites, they can face struggles others don’t have.
There are a few elements you, as an ecommerce site owner, can put into practice that will boost your tendency to get ranked highly. However, you’ll need to start from the ground up. Keep in mind that words on any part of the page or coding count as content.
Keywords First and Foremost
The basis of any optimized website is the keyword list. Why?
Because the search terms you choose to focus on will be used in every area of development from the navigational structure all the way through to the copy.
As you look through your choices, think of the structure of your site. When you create a list of terms to use on each page, start broad and work your way to the more specific keywords. For instance, if your site sells shoes, you’ll want phrases such as [discount shoes], [shoe store] or [shoes online] for your home page.
As you move through the different sections, select search terms that reflect what’s available on those specific pages. In fact, I find it helpful to create a chart and on it I list which terms will go where. It makes keyword usage much easier to keep up with as you move through your site.
Do not use the same exact keyphrases on every single page of your site. Do not try to shove as many keyphrases as you can onto every page of your site. Each page gives you a unique opportunity to rank with the engines because each page stands on its own. Select search terms specifically for the individual pages.
Where do you use the keyphrases you select? In all these places:
Navigation / Links
As you’re setting up site navigation, keep your keyphrases in mind. You’ll want to create category and page names using keyphrases whenever possible. Of course, length is always a consideration for navigation names.
Let’s say (for the sake of example) you plan to have separate categories for men’s shoes, women’s shoes, and children’s shoes.
After looking at the keyword research, you find that these are, indeed, viable keyphrases.
Those are certainly easy enough to work into your site and they are applicable to your particular categories. In your content management system (CMS), name your first category [women's shoes]. Also name your first navigational link [women's shoes].
When possible, also use keywords in your individual URL page links. While I used to think this carried little weight (if any) with the engines, I’ve recently read several comments from Google that recommend using keyphrases with dashes in URLs.
This isn’t always possible due to the constraints of the CMS, but when you’re able to do so, insert keyphrases into URLs.
Breadcrumb Trail
This is a very important SEO and usability feature to add to your site. Breadcrumb trails look like this: home > women’s shoes > designer shoes > black > pumps.
It helps visitors see where they’ve been. But do you notice what else it’s doing? It’s creating long-tail keyphrases of sorts. If you look on our imaginary keyword list, you’ll see that [women's designer black pumps] is another viable keyphrase.
As customers click through the navigation, they are following a trail of keywords. The Googlebot can follow that same trail.
Alt Tags / Image Attributes
Here’s another little-known or forgotten area to include keyphrases in. The text used in these tags counts the same as anchor text used in your copy. Be very sure that the keyword-rich descriptions you include in alt text and image attributes apply to the image they’re related to.
Copy
Last, but certainly not least, we move from behind the scenes to the forefront of your site. Good copy is vital for many reasons.
Yes, it helps you with search engine rankings, but it also communicates with your site visitors.
The biggest mistake I see ecommerce site owners making is not using copy to connect with visitors. They look at copy as the
enemy: something they have to include for the sake of the engines. But well-written SEO copy can quickly convert lookers into buyers.
As you write copy for each page, interject keyphrases into your headlines. Google and other engines give particular importance to headlines, so include search terms if at all possible.
In addition, work keyphrases naturally into your category page copy as well as individual product descriptions, using search terms that are specific to each.
Granted, it takes time and planning to build an ecommerce site with content that’s truly engineered to rank high. However, if you give due diligence to the steps above, you’ll find success comes much easier.
Karon Thackston is an SEO copywriter specializing in ecommerce websites. Need help boosting conversions and rankings? Visit http://www.marketingwords.com today.
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Tuesday, June 16th, 2009
By Karon Thackston © 2009, All Rights Reserved
In today’s economy, where auto and real estate sales are down, most people are focusing more on maintenance of their homes and cars rather than replacement. That means the do-it-yourself
(DIY) market is seeing a surge as was reported recently in Internet Retailer magazine. What did the publication recommend?
One suggestion was for auto parts and home improvement / hardware store sites to ramp up the content on their pages to help DIYers do their projects right. But just how – exactly – do you create a page that assists others and generates sales?
Quality Content Is Key
First and foremost, give quality content. Don’t halfway explain how to replace a broken window or the process for bleeding an air bubble from a brake line. DIYers need details. Give step-by-step instructions for whatever it is that you’re describing. Never skimp.
Use Copy and Video Together
If you’re delivering the material in writing, offer numbered steps or a checklist that your visitor can print off and refer to as he/she makes the repair/renovation. Include pictures when
possible: they can be a vital part of ensuring your reader understands what you’re talking about, especially if your reader is a novice.
Better yet, create a video your site visitors can watch and also offer a printable “notes” sheet and/or materials list that they can keep handy while working. I recommend breaking long videos into short segments, so your customers can watch the parts they want without having to repeat the entire 20-minute session on dishwasher installations from beginning to end.
Explain the Benefits
If you’re selling a specific type or brand of item, explain why in your copy and/or video. For instance, “Using a 3/8″ swivel ratchet with a deep-well socket will make your job easier because you won’t have to strain to reach the nut.”
Or, “I really prefer ABC brand ratchets because they last longer and can stand up to the stress needed to torque these bolts down.”
Your Link to Profits
How do you turn these self-help pages into profit generators?
Include links!
Link the items in your material list to the exact page on your site that offers that product for sale. In videos, make mention of specifically where on your site a viewer can find the items needed to complete the project. For example, instead of saying, “Check our site for the exact wrench you’ll need,” you should say, “Visit the hand tools page of our site and click ‘wrenches’
in the right sidebar to find the exact wrench you need.”
Following these ideas will allow you to give your site visitors the information they need and also help yourself to some increased profits.
Want to learn the professional methods for writing search engine copy that ranks high and makes more sales? Get Karon’s Step-by-Step Copywriting Course, now in its 5th edition. Visit http://www.copywritingcourse.com today.
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Saturday, June 6th, 2009
By Karon Thackston © 2009, All Rights Reserved
“I feel like I’m in a rut.” “I don’t know where to start.”
“I’ve written about everything there is to write about.” If you can relate to these comments, you’re not alone. Many company marketers and copywriters suffer from writer’s block when it comes to PPC ads. Here are 25 great writing opportunities.
Ecommerce
1. Category Sales – Something like “all outdoor furniture 50% off until 1/31.”
2. Product Sales – Along the lines of “every monogrammed tote bag 25% off.”
3. Rebates – “$100 Rebate on Wireless Printers”
4. Coupons – Offer coupons for use on an immediate sale or use coupons as an incentive to get visitors to sign up for your mailing list.
5. Free Shipping – Always a winner online.
6. Holiday Sales – President’s Day, Valentine’s Day… heck, Groundhog Day can bring extra visitors to your site if you offer a sale.
7. Combos – Buy 1 of these and 1 of those and get a discount. A cordless drill and flashlight. A pair of shoes and handbag.
Ice cream and cookies… it works for anything.
8. Buy One, Get One – Get one free, get one at half off, get credit toward a future purchase, etc.
9. New Products – Bring attention to new product additions by announcing them with PPC ads.
10. Seasonal Twists – “Women’s spring pants.” “Great summer markdowns.” “Your favorite fall fashions.”
Buying Stages
11. Need Recognition – “Time for a new lawnmower?” “Computer running slow?”
12. Information Search – “Search for __________.” “Scientific data on ________.”
13. Comparison / Evaluation – “Read reviews on plasma TVs.”
“Compare flat screen TVs.”
14. Decision – “Buy netbooks at 30% off.” “Best-selling netbooks on sale.”
Proof of Performance
15. Statistics – “92% Felt Relief in 7 Days”
16. Case Studies – Offer case studies that focus on the results your clients experienced from using your services/products.
17. Research Results – “88% Recovered in 24 Hours.”
18. Proof of Performance – Highlight anything that shows clients/shoppers know you can back up what you claim.
Customer-generated reviews, testimonials, analytics, etc.
Differentiation
19. Exclusive Products/Services – Anything you have that they don’t should be mentioned.
20. Rarely Found Products/Services – Anything you have that most others don’t should also be mentioned.
21. Specialties – Are you a marketing agency that specializes in email marketing? Say so!
Lead Generation
22. Size – “Largest agency in the U.S.” “More partners than any other firm.”
23. End Results – “Improve your ROI by 22%.”
24. Preferred Clients – “Small business CPA” or “Marketing for Major Corps.”
25. Freebie – A free white paper, consultation or case study for those who respond.
If you can’t get them to click your PPC ads, your whole campaign is finished before it starts. Learn the easy methods for writing PPC ads that get clicked at http://www.writeppcads.com.
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Friday, May 1st, 2009
By Karon Thackston © 2009, All Rights Reserved
We’ve heard it for years. Heck, I’ve said it myself countless times before: “Click-throughs are great, but it’s conversions that really matter.” However, consumer research over the last several years has shown a growing trend that most emarketers believed would have eased up by this date in time. Still, one survey after another reports just the opposite: the trend is getting stronger.
What’s happening is that consumers – in increasing numbers – are researching online before buying offline (ROBO). According to ecommerce software provider MarketLive (as reported in Internet Retailer magazine), “The picture emerging from the data shows many consumers using the web to search for deals, moving quickly from site to site, and often going into stores to buy after researching online.”
But, the ROBO trend isn’t a new one and, while it may be spurred by the current economy, that isn’t the case in years past. The Pew Internet & American Life Project reports an increase of 8% in this area from 2000 to 2007. As of September 2007, 81% of Americans typically did research online for a product they may buy offline. As many as 85% of those shoppers agreed with the statement, “I prefer to see things I buy before I buy them.”
In addition, Pew recounts that 47% of Internet users said that if a store provided product information online, even if it didn’t sell goods at its website, they would be more likely to go into the physical store to buy the product.
eMarketer agrees, reporting, “The most-trod cross-channel shopping path starting online (i.e., from a Web site, e-mail or an online newspaper circular) was browsing a Web site and then buying in a store (37%).”
So then, for pay-per-click (PPC) advertisers, what does this all mean? In actuality, your conversion rate could be a good deal higher than your analytics show.
Is Your Conversion Rate Skewed?
Web statistics only report what happens on your website.
Visitors come and are recorded as a click-through from your ad to your site. Visitors click to different pages; the stats pick up on their movements. A conversion takes place online; it’s noted. But, what if the customer leaves to buy offline? Then, you record a click-through, but no conversion. Instead, it can drive your bounce rate up while stalling out your conversion rate.
Stats programs aren’t capable of tracking offline movements.
So, when a Web searcher clicks from a PPC ad to your site and then leaves the site to purchase in your retail store or calls your 800 order line, it isn’t calculated. It still counts, however. You made the sale. The person is arrives at your location to buy… he just isn’t buying from your site. It’s sort of like the old question, “If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around, does it make a noise?”
Depending on your definition of a conversion, you may be doing much better than you think you are with your PPC campaign. Even if you have the most sophisticated analytics software available today, ROBO shoppers could be skewing your results. The problem is there’s no accurate way to track offline conversions.
How Do You Account for ROBO Shoppers?
There are a few things that might shed a bit of light on the impact ROBO shoppers are having on your site. Here are two ideas.
#1 – Add a “Buy in Store” Option. On each product page, add a button that reads “Buy in Store.” When clicked, a message appears with a discount code (best way to track), the store phone number, and a list of locations. When the discount code is given to the cashier at your retail location, you’ll know immediately that this customer researched online and bought offline.
#2 – Offer In-Store Pickup. The customer would go through the same motions as with purchasing online, but the “shipping” option would default to in-store pickup. Shoppers would research and buy online then drive to your store to pick up the purchase. Include a bit of copy that lets customers know, if they don’t like the item once they see it in person, a full refund will be issued on the spot.
Although technology is getting more sophisticated by the nanosecond, it would be unrealistic at this point to believe you can track all ROBO sales from start to finish. Using a little creativity, however, can give you a better handle on what’s really happening with your conversion and bounce rates.
Before you throw in the towel from frustration over what you think might be a slow PPC campaign, do a little evaluating to see if conversions could be taking place offline rather than on.
If you can’t get people to click your PPC ads, the game’s over!
It all starts with your copy. Learn the easy way to write high click-through PPC copy with Karon’s book “How to Write Successful PPC Ads,” now in its 2nd edition.
http://www.WritePPCAds.com
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Wednesday, January 28th, 2009
By Karon Thackston © 2009, All Rights Reserved
I shake my head every time I read one of these blanket statements. I’m amazed at how so many people still think that one size of copy still fits everyone. It’s just not true.
Here’s an example. A while back, I read, “Prospects hate being bombarded by text-heavy pages, especially on a home/landing page.” This is coming from Internet Marketing Report in relation to business-to-business (B2B) websites. I’m sorry, but I completely disagree.
Just because a website is B2B does not automatically mean every single one of its visitors will “hate being bombarded by text-heavy pages.” The product or service itself, how familiar the product or service is to the market, the target customer’s preferred communication style and a dozen other factors contribute to the decision about whether or not long copy or short should be used.
On the other hand, we have direct-mail experts who’ve taken their style of copywriting (sales letters) online. And, just like the ultra-short copy suggested by the Internet Marketing Report article, long copy has its audience.
If you ask direct marketers, they’ll swear that the long, scrolling, often hype-filled sales letters are the end-all, be-all of copywriting. Again, nothing could be further from the truth. The same reasoning applies to those who say you must use a sales letter as opposed to those demanding short copy.
DISC Helps Us Understand
You may have heard of the DISC model that categorizes people into four primary groups (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Compliance). There are others as well, including Myers-Briggs.
No matter how you group people, the point is that everyone is not the same.
So then, how can one style of copy possibly fit everyone? It doesn’t. There’s not a one-size-fits-all answer. Whether you’re B2B or B2C, you have to know your target audience and communicate with them in the way that they will be most receptive.
For instance, people high in Steadiness traits on the DISC model prefer longer copy. What’s more, those high in Steadiness make up over 40% of the population of the U.S. Those high in Compliance crave details. They, too, would want longer copy.
Dominance types want the bottom line first and possibly details later if they deem them necessary. And Influence? Those high in Influence move at the speed of light and make decisions on a whim. They aren’t much into details either.
Combine with these four styles the additional factors that being male or female add and you’ve really got your hands full. Want to get extremely precise? Toss in some persona/profile elements that deal with lifestyle, convictions and more. It’s enough to make your head spin at times.
Use Your Judgment
Before you buy into a blanket statement about consumers – whether it pertains to writing copy, setting prices or anything else – use your judgment. Does what’s being suggested really make sense for everybody? Is it possible that all people across the entire globe respond in the same way? No.
We all communicate differently. We shop differently. We make decisions based on different criteria. We respond to different stimuli. If there’s one common denominator, it is that we’re all different.
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