In Today's Issue
Search Engine Marketing
---> Why Should I Buy From YOU?
High Rankings Happenings
---> SEO Consulting Prices Slashed!
---> High Rankings SEO Site Review
Twitter Question of the Week
---> Recommended Marketing/Business Books
Stuff You Might Like
---> Save $30 on Your Next Press Release!
Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week
---> Website Traffic and Its Effect on Rankings
Advisor Wrap-up
---> Crazy Jill's Price Slashing SEO Services Introduction
Hey everyone!
It's another full newsletter, so let's get straight to it! – Jill
Search Engine Marketing Issues
++Why Should I Buy From YOU?++
Today we have another guest article from SEO copywriter and trainer Karon Thackston. For those few of you who may not have heard of her, she's a long-time friend of High Rankings, plus she's authored 3 popular books, including the keyword optimization guide "Writing With Keywords." She and I will be hanging out together at SMX East in October as we're both on the speaking roster.
Without further ado, take it away, Karon! - Jill
Why Should I Buy From YOU?
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
President, Marketing Words, Inc.
Author, Copywriting Course
Share your comments and thoughts here.
Twitter Question of the Week ++Recommended Marketing/Business Books++
Did I tell you about my new Kindle?
So far I've been trying to read fiction on it. I read a pretty good science fiction novel ("Red Mars ") and am nearly finished with Bram Stoker's "Dracula " (great read!). But the Kindle also provides a good opportunity to read more business and marketing books.
Which brings us to today's Twitter Question of the Week:
"What good biz or marketing books have you read recently?"
Here's what my Twitter followers are reading:
Full disclosure: I've added my Amazon affiliate link to these if you're clicking through and want to buy. - Jill
TechLH: I'm always reading something. Right now it's Trust Agents by @chrisbrogan. So far, so good.
AmyDeMaria: "Ideas that Stick," "Tribes ," "TwitterPower," "Outliers ."
t_jones: "Breakthrough Advertising " by G. Schwartz (not for the novice) & "The King of Madison Avenue " by K. Roman (bio of D. Ogilvy).
jaamit: "Purple Cow " – Seth Godin. Old but absolutely brilliant, SEOs can learn a lot from it re: creating something worthy of links.
Jill: That one goes well with Karon's article this week!
sjbt: Neat little book impressed me. It's about giving value as a biz lifestyle – "The Go-Giver " by Burg & Mann.
MerryMorud: "Juicing the Orange ," "The Anatomy of Buzz ," "Mao in the Boardroom " (guerrilla marketing case studies).
macgenie: "Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? " by Bryan Eisenberg.
marcbitanga: "Free " by Chris Anderson is pretty good read.
RyanJones: Currently reading "The Chaos Scenario " about social media.
NewfangledMark: "The New Rules of Marketing and PR " is tops on my list so far this year – although it is a few years old.
thegrif: Good web marketing/analytics book: "Cult of Analytics ."
chrbutler: "What Got You Here Won't Get You There ."
polymon: I'm in the middle of "Escape from Cubicle Nation ." The beginning was awesome; it's starting to fade, but still great. Want to participate in the Twitter Question of the Week? Follow @jillwhalen on Twitter.
Share your comments and thoughts here.
Stuff You Might Like ++Save $30 on Your Next Press Release!++
Our friends at 24-7 Press Release Newswire have once again provided High Rankings Advisor readers with a special Fall discount on their press release distribution service.
Submit your press release via the "Search Engine Professional" PR package (regularly $89). When you use the coupon code of highrankingsfall59, you'll receive that package for just $59!
Learn more or submit your press release here.
Advanced Forum Thread of the Week ++Website Traffic and Its Effect on Rankings++
New forum member "wsajay" was wondering if and how the traffic to a given website affects its search engine rankings.
Read what other members think and share your own thoughts here:
Website Traffic and Its Effect on Rankings
Advisor Wrap-up
That's all for today!
So you're probably wondering what's up with the price slashing in the newsletter ad for our SEO services. Have I finally lost my mind completely? Is this a last-ditch effort before we go bankrupt?
Thankfully, it's neither of those!
Here's the story behind why we've substantially DECREASED the prices of most of our SEO consulting services.
Pauline and I were having lunch the other day, lamenting the fact that while many potential clients we speak to really want to use our services, they are small businesses (just as we are) and can't afford our premium rates in today's economy.
Because our mission at High Rankings has always been to ensure that as many people as possible are using SEO techniques that make their sites better for their users and search engines while increasing their targeted website traffic, we felt it was important to rethink our pricing structure.
In addition, we found that our recently added, low-priced Recession Buster Website Review ($600) was selling like hotcakes (60 completed so far!). It's clear that people need SEO advice and services, but they are also being cautious with how they spend their money. Rather than allowing these smart people to take their chances with another SEO agency, we decided the best thing was to lower our prices accordingly. We've studied our profitability over the past 3 years, and know that we can slice our margins without hurting our bottom line, so why not pass this on to new clients?
There you have it? Crazy? Maybe. Time will tell. Worse comes to worst, we just raise 'em back up again! (In other words, get in while the getting is good!)
Catch you in 2 weeks! – Jill
 Today's issue is also available online in the newsletter archives. If you prefer RSS/XML please feel free to use our newsfeed here. Feel free to forward this email in its entirety to anyone you feel might be interested in it. Paid sponsor ads are clearly marked as advertisements and neither High Rankings nor Jill Whalen take any responsibility for the claims made within these ads, nor the websites they point to. Paid ads do not constitute an endorsement for the products, services or companies advertising in the newsletter. Please visit our sponsors and use your own due diligence for any purchases you make on the Internet.
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