Your Host: Jill Whalen [jill@highrankings.com]
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~~~IN TODAY'S ADVISOR~~~
*Search Engine Marketing Guest Article:
----> How Poor Usability Can Kill Your Copy and Conversions
*This Week's Sponsors:
----> SEO Training Class – Nov. 21
----> Search Marketing Training Videos
*Stuff You Might Like:
----> Jill's Latest SEO Columns
*Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week:
----> Effect of a Domain Name on Search Results
*Advisor Wrap-up:
----> Send Some Good Luck Vibes
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~~~Introductory Comments~~~
Hey everyone!
I've got a great guest article for you today from copy queen Karon Thackston. In fact, by the time you read this, I'll be spending time with Karon in person in NYC for the SMX East conference. I'm looking forward to catching up with her, as it's been ages since we were last together.
So without further ado, let's get straight to the good stuff! – Jill
______________High Rankings SEO Training___________________
Register for the November 21, 2008 SEO Class Before It Sells Out
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Looking for an SEO strategy to optimize your website for more
targeted Google traffic?
Join us for our last SEO class of 2008 – Class is limited to 6 students.
You will learn what SEO is and isn't, as well as what you need to do
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All our past classes have sold out, so don't delay!
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-gS.s3cux/54d6%403670482-TrNqqZzQRGusE
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~~~Search Engine Marketing Guest Article~~~
++How Poor Usability Can Kill Your Copy and Conversions++
By Karon Thackston © 2008, All Rights Reserved
It's funny how we, as website owners, don't always think like our visitors. A course of action that might seem perfectly obvious to us may stop our visitors right in the middle of their buying process. Take, for instance, e-commerce–type copy. Do you realize that what happens after your customers read your copy could make or break your sale? I'm not talking about shopping cart abandonment. I'm talking about good communication that keeps the buying cycle moving forward. Let me give you a real-world example.
One website offered custom-designed gift bags. The photos on their site were gorgeous. The copy seemed self-explanatory until I got to the request for quote page. There I found a form that asked questions I wasn't expecting. I was supposed to explain my preference of fabric color, the type of handle I wanted and a description of any accessories that should be added to the bag. I had no idea how to answer.
Because the copy stated that each gift bag was custom designed, I assumed I'd be given options to choose from. Instead, as it turned out, I was responsible for knowing precisely what I wanted and also for describing it in detail in writing on the request for quote form. It set me back a little.
Since most people aren't very comfortable with writing, I can easily see how a page like this would immediately stop visitors and send them packing. I could place the most compelling copy ever written on the sales page for these bags – copy that would have visitors primed and ready to whip out their credit cards. But after clicking to a request for quote page like the one described above, most would likely not order.
Would that be the fault of the copywriting? No. Yet most site owners would assume the text wasn't doing its job. Low conversions, in this case, would be an error in the sales process.
Web Page Copy Doesn't Involve Just One Page
Unless you're talking about a specific landing page that is created for the sole purpose of receiving clicks from a targeted PPC ad campaign, there are very few instances where the copy on one web page won't be affected by the pages around it.
Visitors click in and out of pages and back and forth throughout your site. They can also enter your site from literally hundreds of different links around the Net. For this and other reasons, you have to consider where they might come from and where they'll be headed.
How to Test
One of the best ways to make sure your site flows as it should is to ask several outsiders to take a tour. Have them start at one of the many beginning points (a search engine listing, a link to you from another site, your home page, etc.) and click through just as a customer would. Ask them to make notes about what they didn't understand as they go along so you'll know where to tweak your copy.
You may even choose to give them specific tasks to complete while they are there. For example, ask them to read the copy and then explain the benefits of a new product or service you've added, or ask them to tell you the process for registering for the members-only area of your site.
Another good idea is to draw a flowchart of your website. Seeing all the pages on paper can oftentimes give you a better understanding of how the copy on each page might affect all the others surrounding it. Once you take a look at the big picture and get some feedback, use that information to shore up the weak copy on your site.
When you take time to see things from your visitors' perspective and then implement adjustments accordingly, you'll begin to notice increases in conversions. And that makes all the work worth your while.
Karon Thackston
Writing With Keywords
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-BTaV354KKoNak%403670483-u2hjaqpSdepDc
Marketing Words Copywriting Blog
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-bn2hrCwRRfuGI%403670484-mmgAEl8mrRCMY
Share your comments and thoughts here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-q9SQCq8YNMCEM%403670485-B05.G7Zu43Z5o
___________SEO / SEM DVDs and Downloads______________
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~~~Stuff You Might Like~~~
++Jill's Latest SEO Columns++
In case you missed them, my September columns for both Search Engine Land and TalentZoo are definitely worth a read (if I do say so myself!).
Stop the Confusion! Use SEO Terms Correctly
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-AFYj7pkXRrSqU%403670487-lDG9ZmdWNCOJ%2e
Best Practices for Working With an SEO Agency
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-9Xs2yeWhXyAc2%403670488-ZqVxR.9R3FKkQ
(Unfortunately, that last one on TalentZoo is nearly unreadable in Firefox and Chrome due to some font issue they can't seem to figure out how to fix. Looks good in IE, however. Maybe they own Microsoft stock? ;)
~~~Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week~~~
++Affect of a Domain Name on Search Results++
Forum member "wassim" asks if a domain name affects the search results, and if so, how much effect does it have?
Read the thread and share your comments here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-D4BsxJYiCV98M%403670489-Hh4OfHDLjmP6g
~~~Advisor Wrap-up~~~
That's all for today!
We've had a good response so far for our SEO Lunch & Learn on Nov. 7. There are still a few seats left, if you're interested in joining us. There's no charge and no catch! Learn more here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-YdESNEukBU8EI%403670490-3W.EYaO5DQV8I
I'm preparing this newsletter a bit early, so by the time you read this my daughter Corie will have taken the LSAT over the weekend. She's been studying her butt off for the past few months, and is really hoping to do well. It's probably too late now, but please send some good luck vibes her way – after all, you have to attend an excellent law school if you want to become a Supreme Court Justice!
Catch you in 2 weeks! – Jill
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