RankPay: seo, internet marketing, traffic generation strategies and more.

Website usability is crucial because it assesses how visitors find your website from the point of utilization.  If a website is user-friendly with potential customers able to find what they want and make the purchase easily, you are going to develop a loyal customer base.  Visitors who find your site difficult to use will quickly leave and go elsewhere.

Website usability involves human test subjects being asked to perform certain operations on your site, such as proceeding to check out and payment.  Usability tests allow you to check how easy it is to use the site, to catch glitches and issues causing visitors to be inconvenienced, frustrated or simply downright unhappy. Continue reading →

Web analytics uses visitor data captured for the purpose of analyzing behavior and helping to determine what aspects of a website are working and which are not.  As a set of tools for helping site owners to tweak their sites and adopt strategies for maximizing the return on investment, web analytics plays a vital role in achieving and maintaining commercial success.

There are several vendors offering solutions but we are going to look at three solutions we think are the best on the market. Continue reading →

As many as 75% of online shoppers fail to complete the purchase and abandon the shopping cart.  Imagine three-quarters of shoppers in Wal-Mart pushing their trolleys around the store and leaving them at the checkout – Wal-Mart would be upset and so should you.

Before we look at what can be done to tackle the problem, we need to look at why shopping cart abandonment happens. Continue reading →

You have a great web site and are generating great traffic, but this is all for nothing unless you turn visitors into paying customers.  Your web traffic needs to be converted – cajoled, persuaded, sold, convinced – to click on your order and payment sections of the site and authorize payment for an order.

Some tips are peculiar to the web, but selling is selling no matter what channel you are using, so some of these tips are based on fundamental sales principles as old as mankind.

Continue reading →

The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) industry is always changing in an endless evolution; the techniques available have largely remained the same for the last five years, but how the net is being used by surfers has undergone a significant sea-shift.  Social Media has made a huge impact, and sites, such as Twitter and FaceBook, are delivering almost real-time information about what is going on now instead of accessing an indexed archive i.e. a search engine. 

Consider this scenario:

Company A relies on traditional SEO – funneling marketing efforts into a keyword or phrase, say, “green energy”, which has been identified from keyword research based on relative use by competitors and search engine research.

Company B operates in the same market as Company A, however it relies on Real-Time Search (RTS) - the RTS results for which keyword they should be focusing on is “bio-ethanol”.  This has been identified by what consumers are discussing, searching for and emailing each other about the most right now.

Under these circumstances, Company B has its SEO finger on the market’s pulse, whereas Company A is using historic information upon which to base its future internet marketing strategy. 

Knowledge is power – Company B is likely to attract more traffic to its site than Company A, because it is deemed to be more relevant to what people are interested in right now and the search engines are going to give it increasing relevance which means a higher ranking.  More than this, users are interested in “bio-ethanol” more than they are in “green energy”, which will generate even more targeted traffic to their web site.

Twitter provides real-time data on what surfers are interested in almost instantaneously, and while other platforms, such as FaceBook, have enabled real-time data access, Twitter leads the way in delivering usable information.  This is why Twitter has become the real-time information source of choice for a number of search engines including Google, Bing (in tandem with Yahoo! and Microsoft) and a host of others. 

The results you see returned from a search engine are giving increasing relevance to fresh content; in other words, what people are talking about “now” is more important compared to what they talked about yesterday, much more so than last month and vastly greater than a year ago.

SEO techniques must change to keep pace with the how search engines are tapping into real-time information sources and the new relevance this has to SEO and rankings.  Clients and their advisers must take into account the increasing weight given to real-time search and real-time sources of information.  As Twitter is the leading source, this means efforts should be focused on establishing a Twitter presence which is relevant and authoritative.

RankPay clients are already enjoying automated, real-time updating by use of an auto-Tweet feature which was enabled for client sites in October.  The auto-Tweet feature automatically posts, or “Tweets”, to a Twitter account, providing interesting content for other Twitter users as well as providing another avenue to generate links back to the main site. 

By leading the way in breaking new SEO ground, RankPay is at the forefront of developing an online reputation for clients which is increasingly important for gaining high rankings.  Within a year, those web sites with a real-time reputation for providing relevant, quality posts using Twitter, will be gaining enhanced rankings simply because they are deemed to be more authoritative than another web site which has ignored RTS issues.

In order to get ahead, clients need an SEO partner who understands how search engines and user habits are developing, in order to continuously adjust the strategies needed to gain and maintain high search rankings. 

Gaining high rankings in the search engine listings is important; the basic principle is that the higher your rank the more traffic to your website you will enjoy and more traffic means more conversions and more sales revenue.  

The typical pattern for online users looking to buy is to use the internet in three steps;

1. Generic searches (or research searches) are conducted which will look like [widgets] – from this the surfer will find out what widgets are, what they do, performance, options, how they satisfy the user’s needs and so on;
2. A Local Search is conducted which will look something like [widget]+[TheirTown] – at this point they are looking for likely sources to provide widgets and are closer to making a buying decision; and
3. The Purchase is made either online or offline with the supplier of their choice.

Changing Surfer Habits: Creative Searches and the Mobile Internet

How internet surfers have been using search engines has changed dramatically; no longer are users simply searching for “widgets” and buying from a site based on such a basic search.  This may have applied a few years ago but times have moved on. Instead, surfers are getting creative with how they use search engines and increasing the level of search term sophistication.  Searches such as, [widget]+[color options]…[green credentials]…[open at midnight]…[allows pets]…[competitors] or similar, are being used to elicit the information they are looking for.

It is a powerful buying signal when a surfer makes a search – [widget]+[location] – because now they have decided the “widget” they are interested in and are now looking for a supplier where they are situated.  The reason they do this is simple – they are looking to buy very soon.

 How surfers search is not the only factor – the Apple iPhone, Googlephone, Blackberry and other smart phones are with us and users are accessing the mobile internet “on the go” to source products and services.

Picture the scene; a couple meet up after work and are looking for somewhere to go, using their iPhone she searches for somewhere to eat while he pulls out his Blackberry and looks for somewhere with great music and dancing – the need is now, the location is “here”, and the time to making a purchase is as long as it takes to get there. 

Online buyers are not using the internet to simply buy from Amazon or the big online brand names – they are looking for suppliers in their immediate locality i.e. where they are at the moment whether that is their hometown, somewhere they are passing through, or while away on business or vacation.  Generic searches are of no use under such circumstances but, because your business has a physical location you can use this to capture your share of the local search business on a far more level playing field.  For instance, Blackwell Bookshop in Billerica MA, will have a far better chance competing for business against Amazon when [bookstore]+[Billerica] is the search term being used as opposed to [bookstore].

What Can You Do To Benefit From Local Search?

Local search represents a major opportunity to increase your sales from your website because generic search terms have far less significance. You can leverage your local presence to increase your local search rankings which is something companies aiming at national coverage find more difficult to do.  You also don’t need to spend huge sums of money which is a prerequisite if you are competing directly with big online names.

What can you do to maximize your local search rankings?

There are a number of local search SEO techniques available and here are just a few to consider:

Use Your Contact Information

Make sure you include your physical business address on every web page – this is good selling advice too as after all, you want customers to be able to find you quickly.  Using the html  <address> tag to enclose your address (and telephone number) will help ensure your location is known to the search engines when they crawl your site. 

Having the address on the site also helps establish what is termed, “trust ranking” compared to a site that has no mailing or location address.

Adding a footer such as: “Widget Business : Billerica’s Widget Source: Based in Billerica, MA”, makes it very clear to search engines where you are located.

Register with Local Search Engines

Google and Yahoo! are both serious players in developing local search – more sales for local businesses means more business for them, so take the time to register with local search engines and communities. 

Here are the links for Google Local Business Center and Yahoo! Local Merchant

You can also set your location using Google Webmaster Tools

CitySearch and Local City Searches

You can register with CitySearch which provides users with local information depending on the city they are in.  More importantly, CitySearch is a major source of local business information for sites such as Expedia and Ticketmaster amongst many others.

Register With Internet Directories

Sites such as Yelp, CitySquares and MojoPages provide good “indirect” traffic i.e. when a surfer makes a local search and it is their entry which has a high ranking, but you are listed within it. They also provide you with back links, which improves your “authority” ranking for that location, i.e. you will rank higher for that location no matter what business you have.

Food For Thought

Obviously, we’re just scratching the surface with Local Search and the techniques available to gain high local search rankings.  What’s important to take away is that Local Search is where the money is at when it comes to increasing sales revenues online – surfers are using and accessing search engines in a more sophisticated way, but more importantly, when they do using Local Search, they are very close to making a buying decision and your physical proximity is more important than having a huge, online presence. 

Great keywords and phrases are crucial for a successful SEO program because they are the terms which search engine users input when they are looking for information on the internet.  If a search engine ranks you high in those rankings, your site will almost always enjoy more traffic from those searches.  The crucial question is just what are all those millions of users (and potential customers) using as the keywords and key phrases?

Let’s start with three different types of keywords before we move on to how to identify those you need:

• Targeted Keywords – simply getting high rank for any search term or phrase will not do; your targeted keywords are those which are aligned most closely with your web presence and ensure someone searching on that word will find your site very relevant to their search.  Targeted keywords generate much higher conversions of visitors to sales and allow you to focus your budget on gaining rankings for those specific terms;

• Generic Keywords – these are general search terms, for instance, a topic e.g. health, lifestyle, fashion, politics; by themselves they attract huge amounts of search activity but they are the least productive search terms to target as well as being hugely competitive and costly to gain high ranking; and

• Competitive Keywords – you’re not alone in thinking that gaining high search rankings for a targeted keyword will reap more customers and sales – your competitors are doing the same thing too!  Some keywords and phrases are highly sought after or have been dominated by websites for so long that challenging their grip on the ranking will be prohibitive.

Ideally, you are looking for targeted keywords and phrases which are not being targeted by other businesses and will produce high conversion rates. This translates to low costs, high sales and an overall higher Return On Investment (ROI).

The Importance of Keyword Research

Keyword research provides the ability to identify search terms which are most relevant, i.e. targeted; and meet your budget expectations, i.e. are not going to cost you more to gain a high ranking than it is worth in sales and profits.  Many consider research to be a minor issue; however, for SEO purposes it is absolutely crucial and managing this process will significantly enhance the results of any SEO campaign.

By identifying which terms internet users are using to find websites which are similar to yours, you can then optimize your campaign to tap into that traffic.  Equally important, your research may uncover the longer phrases, so called “long-tail” search terms, which are very specific and highly targeted and lead to extremely high conversion rates for little cost.

Your keyword research will also help you identify “niche keywords”.  Niche keywords are very highly targeted and usually have few competitors.  Though niche keywords do not generate huge volumes of traffic, but visitors to your site searching on these terms represent very active prospects with high conversion potential.

The Holy SEO Grail: the Ultimate Purpose behind Keyword Research

The Holy Grail of SEO is to find those search terms which will allow every aspect of your website to be optimized in depth.  By in depth, we mean that the constituent pages of your site will provide appeal and attraction to a variety of visitors who are at different stages of the purchasing process.  By creating general pages, such as informative or educational pages, perhaps product category and description information – you will then attract a larger variety of search terms.  For those who are further along the buying path, more targeted search terms can be used to take advantage of the most profitable visitors to your site, i.e. those who are ready to buy.

A search engine’s ultimate goal is to find the best way to present the most relevant search results to its users. As such, Google and the search engines employ over 400 new changes to their ever-growing algorithms every year to help combat potentially spammy and illegitimate websites from ranking well. One method for identifying potentially legitimate websites over illegitimate sites is a website’s domain age and registration length.

A website’s domain age is something that cannot be manipulated or faked, which is why the search engines place greater weight on older domains and domains with longer registration dates. The older the domain generally means that more time, money, and resources have gone into it. Websites that are attempting to manipulate the search results typically have a short life span, with the webmasters understanding that one day soon their website may be banned from the results. Therefore, it isn’t cost effective to register a domain for years knowing that one day soon that website will no longer rank.

Register your domain for as long as possible; the longer the better. Google, Yahoo, and MSN will be able to see the extended registration date, which will help your rankings in both the short and long term. It shows the search engines that you are dedicated to the domain and the future of its development. In one case, we have seen a client’s website go from outside the top 100, to top 20 within several weeks! Have a question regarding domain age and registration length? Please feel free to contact RankPay support.

Lately we’ve noticed that clients have been targeting keywords that are too broad and or generalized and we’d like discuss the idea behind the long tail keyword. Long tail keywords are those that use 3 and 4 word phrases that are specific to products or services that you are selling. Whenever a customer uses a highly specific search phrase they tend to be looking for exactly what they are going to buy. In just about every case, specific searches are far more likely to convert to sales than generic searches customers tend to do prior to making a buying decision.

Let’s take a look at a specific example. Let’s say that your website is for your limo service which is based out of Los Angeles. At first you think that targeting the keyword ‘limo service’ is the best approach. After all by targeting the keyword with the larger search volume it should result in more traffic and conversions right? Wrong. When people search for limo services they typically attach the area in which they need the service, for example ‘limo service los angeles’. Therefore targeting keywords which are too short or broad can actually have a negative effect on your websites rankings and conversions. Not only will it take a much longer to rank for those keywords but it will also bring a lot of non-targeted customers.

Some webmasters tend to focus on the number of visitors headed to a website rather than analyzing the quality and conversions of those visits. Every website has some type of ultimate conversion goal, whether it is purchasing an item or signing up for a newsletter. Targeting a long tailed keyword will not only improve your opportunity to rank well but will also help with conversions. It’s best to think of it this way; would you rather have a keyword which sent you 1000 visitors and no conversions, or a keyword that sent you 100 visitors of which 15 converted.

Now that you understand the idea behind a long tail keyword here are some ways to choose great keywords. If your business services only a particular area, then it is best to add that area to your keyword i.e. limo service vs. Los Angeles limo service. If you have a product for sale on your website than it is best to add action words to your keyword, for example instead of using the keyword ‘blue widgets’ use keywords like ‘buy blue widgets’ or ‘purchase blue widgets’. Adding these action keywords allows for you to capture the customer at the decision making stage of their online shopping experience. This will help the conversion rate of your website and allow for maximum earning potential.

Benefits of Long Tail Keywords:

• Higher Conversions
• Better Ranking Results
• Higher Monetization Potential

How to Choose Longtail Keywords

• Add Geotargeted Keywords (Cities, States, Countries)
  • Ex. Los Angeles Limo Service
  • Ex. San Francisco Italian Restaurant
• Add Action Keywords (buy, purchase, reviews)
  • Ex. Buy Blue Widgets
  • Ex. Purchase Blue Widgets
  • Ex. Blue Widgets Reviews
• Target Specific Products
  • Find items which are your top selling items and target those pages/keywords with the term purchase or buy.

Today, someone posted this question (slightly paraphrased):

I am seriously thinking about signing up for SEO with your company. My web designer recommended you. However, I have some questions… Firstly, for my first keyword I entered, the SEO Opportunity states “poor” however the monthly search volume is 9544 on the keyword and for a “top 3″ ranking the cost is $110/month. However, for my second keyword the SEO Opp is “good” and the keyword has 1393 for the monthly search volume for a price of $79/mnth. I’m wondering why, if we are paying to be in the top three - and paying more for the first option - why the SEO opp is “poor”. Surely the higher the search volume, the better - why is the price is higher??

Second question: What exactly does “top three” mean?? We are looking at Google only. Does that mean for one month each and every time someone does a Google search and enters the key words we pick we will come up on the first page in one of the top three spots?? How do you have control of this - there are many SEO companies out there and what if 10 other companies are all telling their clients the same thing - that means there are only three spots for 10 companies. Please can you explain exactly what the ‘top three” means? Thank you.

Hi Denise -

The answer to your first question is that pricing is actually based upon the existing competition and the existing seo “strength” of your Website. Pricing is not directly related to the keyword’s SEO Opportunity. In other words, if there are a lot of Websites with strong seo strength and your site has a lower strength (often due to being a new site or having a low Google PageRank) than the pricing will be higher. This is because it takes us a lot more work, time and effort to get sites with a lower seo strength ranked high in the search engines.

As for your second set of questions: We can’t only rank your site for Google. We use an optimization practice that targets all of the major search engines. Sometimes you’ll rank in all three and sometimes you won’t. The good thing is, if you don’t rank in a particular search engine, you won’t pay anything. And the pricing for Yahoo and MSN is at a lower price since they tend to drive less traffic. In addition, we can’t guarantee that you’re site will rank for the Ranking Goal that you choose (although most of our customers do end up achieving their ranking goals). That’s another reason we only charge you if you rank, and the amount you pay is predicated upon how high we can get you ranked . . .

I hope this information helps, and please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any other questions!

Kind Regards,

Shawn B.
RankPay Support