Are You Asking the Right Question?

How's your conversion? Are your site visitors getting what they need to easily make the decision to buy from you? I really appreciated this article about conversion rates and the "right" question. If average conversion rates are around 2%, that means that 98% of site visitors don't click the "buy now" button. Why not?

Certainly keyword research and testing of landing pages is key, but have you taken the time to understand who your visitor is, what their motivations are, what they really need and what their buying pattern is? Without that information, you won't ever do much better than 2%. Try to look at your site with your customers eyes. Does he see what he needs to buy now?

Page Hijack Exploit: 302, redirects and Google

Last week, I was working on a SEO report for a client and came across several very strange listings for him at Google. The title and descriptions were correct, but the URL of the page was wrong. Wrong as in, not the clients site at all! It appeared that our work had been hijacked. After a lot of work and research, we finally discovered what had taken place.

It's a dirty little secret at some of the major search engines that they have kept quiet for a long time. The problem is an error generated by the search engine while indexing sites. The bigger problem is that some unscrupulous types have found a way to exploit the error to redirect a page to their own site. Please read the story at this link and take the necessary precautions on your site.

Marketers show interest to blogs

Here's an interesting article on blogging I came across on Yahoo.

The phenomenon of blogging is quickly attracting marketers with the hopes to use blogging as a marketing tool and advertising venue. Blogads.com is expecting to have 2,400 ads on blogs this month, up from 700 a year ago. Google, Yahoo Inc., and Microsoft Corp. provide tools for starting and running blogs. Currently Google’s tool helps bloggers place ads, which is something Yahoo is preparing to do.

Search Engine Competition is Getting Ugly

The New York Times (log-in required) reported on a Conference on Digital Technology in San Diego on Monday where Bill Gates knocked Google and touted his own MSN local search and mapping technology. We've seen this agressive side of Microsoft before. It could get very interesing in the Search Engine space very quickly.

Women are a force Online

New research released today shows that women are the driving force behind a surge in certain e-commerce markets. The study conducted by Forrester Research found that online sales rose by 23.8% in 2004 driven in large part by travel, cosmetics and jewelry.

This really isn't a surprise if you follow online demographic statistics. The number of women online has been steadily rising. In fact, the number of women online overtook the number of men last year comprising 51.6% of US Internet users, and that figure is expected to rise.

So, what does this have to do with your marketing efforts? I would pose a counter question. Are you sure you know who and what gender is your target market? Taking a good look at your marketing message and approach may be in order. What do you think?

The hidden value of Search Engine Marketing

An interesting article in Thursday's Search Insider about the value of PPC ads not clicked. Most marketers know the old rule of traditional advertising/branding that states that it takes up to 10 "exposures" to a brand before a consumer buys.

Well, it just may be true in online advertising too. We all tend to get caught up in the "measurability" of our online campaigns. Because it is all so measurable, we just may be overlooking another big value of our organic search listings and our PPC campaigns. The value of branding.

A customer who is doing his pre-purchase research online, frequently spends quite a bit of time searching out reviews, pricing and descriptive information. Inevitably, this means time spent at search engines where he will be exposed multiple times to a given message. Even if he doesn't click the first time, he is much more likely to click an ad that is recognized after repeated exposure to a brand.

What this all means to you, is that your PPC ads and your SEO listings are far more valuable than the listing fee or click charge paid. Each time a customer sees your ad, whether he conscioiusly recognizes it or not, your brand is making an impression. And that ads up to a great deal!

Online Advertising Dollars on the Rise

If you're looking for justification to support an increase in your online marketing spending... look no further. This article lays out the numbers from a new Forrester report.

Some quick stats:
Search engine marketing will grow by 33% in 2005 and reach 11.6 billion by 2010. Contrast that with the projected numbers for display advertising of 11%, expected to reach $8 billion by 2010.

In the study, 78% of the respondents said they think that search engine marketing will be most effective over the next 3 years, compared to 53% who said that TV advertising would become less effective.

The study projects that in this year (2005) the dollars spent for online advertising should reach $14.7 billion, a 23% rise over 2004.

Interestingly (and not really a surprise), the study shows that about half of the companies polled said that they plan to take money from their traditional ad campaigns to pay for the increase in online spending.

Very interesting numbers and something to think about as you plan your 3rd and 4th quarter budgets for this year.

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