Your Host: Jill Whalen [jill@highrankings.com]
________________________________________________________
~~~IN TODAY'S ADVISOR~~~
*Introductory Comments:
----> Happy Thanksgiving!
*Search Engine Marketing Guest Article:
----> A Common Pitfall for E-commerce Home Pages
*This Week's High Rankings Offers:
----> In-depth Website Marketing Workshops - April 2009
----> SEO Training Classes
*Stuff You Might Like:
----> Articles and Interviews You May Have Missed
----> "How to Viral Market" Webinar
*Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week:
----> When Should Site Sections Be Separate Sites?
*Advisor Wrap-up:
----> In Pompano During Xmas Week
________________________________________________________
~~~Introductory Comments~~~
Hey everyone!
I hope all of our American friends enjoyed their Thanksgiving and the resulting time off. I had a good mixture of family, food, drinks, Twitter and even a little catching up on work-related things. In fact, I got our new website marketing workshop info and registration all up and running.
I do like being back in the office though, especially when it's newsletter week and I get to provide you with more great SEO info and advice.
So let's get straight to it! – Jill
_________________High Rankings______________________
Brand-New Website Marketing Workshops April 2–3, 2009
__________________________________________________
4 Half-day Workshops to Choose From!
Already know the SEO basics?
In these half-day in-depth website marketing workshops you will learn:
* Keywords: How to research them and use them within your website
* Copywriting: For your target audience and the search engines
* Social media: How to get the word out and gain traffic and links for your website
* Web analytics: How to measure the success of your web marketing campaigns.
Register for just one workshop, an entire day, or all 4!
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-lgP/lVqQE3fpk%403805400-EL0Jb522a5Tsk
__________________________________________________
~~~Search Engine Marketing Guest Article~~~
As president of the Karon Thackston fan club <grin> I'm pleased to present another guest article from her about avoiding a common copywriting pitfall. I also wanted to let you know that she has agreed to teach our half-day copywriting workshop on April 2, 2009. You'll find more info on that here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-sn4ptB3JKinCc%403805401-5Au2A0wKV5eEM
Without further ado, here's Karon...
++A Common Pitfall for E-commerce Home Pages++
By Karon Thackston © 2008, All Rights Reserved
It was a typical request: one I've gotten from many e-commerce site owners because the vast majority make the same mistake. An online business owner emailed me last week asking for help with his conversions. His search engine rankings were good, but his conversions were lacking. At his request, I spent some time on his site and compiled a list of my thoughts, a few suggestions and a quote for making it all happen. What I found on this home page was typical of many other e-commerce sites I've worked on. There was a severe lack of benefits-oriented copy.
The website was very well designed and extremely professional looking. With rotating images in the upper-left corner, visitors would quickly get a wonderful idea of the beauty and functionality of the furniture this company manufactured and sells. What they wouldn't get, however, was information about the benefits and the differentiating elements that set this online retailer apart from all the others.
A tag line, the announcement of a sale and text links were the only visible copy on the home page that fell above the fold. Way down at the very bottom of the page, in a font color that was just a few shades darker than the light tan background, was a single paragraph of copy. There – if the visitor ever got that far – he/she would find several benefits.
One of their biggest differentiating factors was that these pieces of furniture were available exclusively from the manufacturer. About 81% percent of consumers look for information on the Web before buying in a brick-and-mortar store, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-XJveLAWkEbYcA%403805402-Dg5Qic6zXZt12
Letting site visitors know they won't find these incredible pieces in any other store would have a big impact on their purchasing decision.
Likewise, these cabinets are engineered with ample ventilation to protect the wood and your TV set. Plus, they provide wider and deeper shelves than most others, leaving plenty of room for your television.
Another vital point is that this online store offers free shipping and in-home setup. While that was stated on the home page, the mentions were located on infrequently viewed parts of the page.
Will Copy Ruin My Design?
One concern with e-commerce sites is that copy will ruin the graphical design of the page. After all, buying online means shoppers want to see what they are getting. That's perfectly understandable. But, with a little creativity, it is quite simple to add copy. Remember: Not all the copy has to appear in the same place. There is no need for 200 words of text right in the middle of your home page.
You can simply put a sentence or two here and a sentence or two there. The goal is to provide the visitor with the information he/she needs to answer the most pressing question of all: "Why should I buy from your site instead of the other 21,000 I've found online?"
A headline up top, a strategically placed paragraph and a caption under a photo are sometimes all it takes to communicate to your customers why they should choose you. In addition, you'll get a boost with the engines from placing keyword-optimized copy on the page.
The next time you decide to take an ax to the copy on the home page of your e-commerce site, remember that customers aren't mind readers. If you can't make it easy – right off the bat – for them to grace you with their business, your conversion rate will likely never reach the level you desire.
Karon Thackston
Marketing Words Inc.
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-vDv6U7oVJEoXk%403805403-hIGtFAynkB0ok
Share your comments and thoughts here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-1uN1m0PR1m9bI%403805404-LSUA/s9b/MhYQ
Jill's note: Karon just informed me that she's nearly done with the 2009 edition of her highly acclaimed copywriting course. It's jam-packed with new information and she will be increasing the price accordingly. However, she has a special offer for High Rankings readers if you purchase before the end of 2008. You can learn more about the new version and the special offer here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-AfZFs9qIMkRME%403805405-uFArt5drBgX7%2e
______________High Rankings SEO Training___________________
2009 SEO Training Classes Announced
_______________________________________________________
1-day SEO Training Class for beginners to intermediate learners.
You will learn what SEO is and isn't, as well as what you need to
do to bring in more search engine visitors who are seeking out
exactly what you offer.
Class is limited to 6 students and we will work on YOUR specific
website issues.
The March 2009 class is already filling up:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-Qbu6elTQVTauU%403805406-KTvmJb4otXwn%2e
_______________________________________________________
~~~Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week~~~
++When Should Site Sections Be Separate Sites?++
Forum member "kookee" says:
"I'm just about to launch a new site. It should really be 3 sites but the client talked me into making it one or the deal was off. It's for private sales of cars, property and boats. It also has a business directory for each section. The sections are in subdirectories rather than domains for easy maintenance."
In short, kookee wants to know if this site should be multiple sites or just one?
See how other forum members responded and/or share your own comments here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-zljE0EPCBcIcY%403805407-hfbLoyRt4/50E
~~~Stuff You Might Like~~~
++Articles and Interviews++
I wanted to point you to my last couple of articles over at Search Engine Land in case you missed them:
Best SEO Practices During a Website Redesign
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-/oVDP2X.037tY%403805408-Ea8bgcI0e/Fy2
SEO for Big Brands
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-RHVMKXYCZx5jY%403805409-cqnHVU1li0FxY
Plus, look for my latest one coming out this week on Usability and SEO.
Also, you might be interested in reading the "women in tech" interview BlogHer had with me:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-4vjUgUWA.VhdM%403805410-SKfZDJk7FLnCE
++"How to Viral Market" Webinar++
When: Wednesday, December 10, 2–3:30 p.m. EST
The folks at MarketingSherpa have been busy! They are hosting a webinar training event around their new "How to Viral Market" toolkit.
With marketing budgets getting tighter every day, viral marketing is becoming more appealing than ever. If you are a marketer who wants to...
* Decide if viral marketing would work for you
* Sell the concept of viral marketing to your boss
* Hit the ground running with a viral marketing campaign
* Increase your brand awareness or feed your sales funnel with leads
* Run a campaign on a shoestring budget
...Then this viral marketing webinar and toolkit are for you. The cost for the training is only $97 and includes a copy of the "How to Viral Market" toolkit.
High Rankings will be attending; will you?
Learn more or register here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-fsOxKR57.CWLA%403805411-snbDBWfjGiZmA
P.S. You can still freely download the webinar I did with MarketingSherpa regarding their Search Marketing Benchmark Guide:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-DFXdvmcIYa/CM%403805412-AeNlxHZuJi0LQ
~~~Advisor Wrap-up~~~
That's all for today!
We made our travel plans for Pompano, FL for the week of Xmas to visit my grandmother again. (For those keeping count, she's 100 years old.) I'll be in that area from Monday to Friday of that week, so if you live around there or are visiting, let me know and we can try to plan some sort of meet-up.
No other big news to report so I'll catch you in 2 weeks! – Jill
Looking for SEO Services, Consulting or Training?
See what High Rankings has to offer:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-mDf9ugygTwdRU%403805413-d5F6fOupB1PlI
Today's issue is also available online in the newsletter archives:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-NOL2.HSqtMHNE%403805414-4NwmdJuvvjKBo
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