Consider the following…

• Search engines are the primary means via which people that don’t know your brand will locate your business. Successfully getting listed for relevant keyword searches in Google is largely dependant upon site structure and content organisation and wording. Google is a fickle mistress and can change its listing criteria on a whim. If your site content and key structures are set in stone your web marketing may be hamstrung.

• Your website is a business tool not a canvass for frustrated digital artists. Loading speeds matter. Business imperatives should trump design aesthetics on most occasions. Over design kills and online there is nothing sadder than a beautiful corpse.

• Think about how your site will be used not just how it will be seen. Not all business sites need to be e-commerce portals, but they should at least provide information of value to a visitor that may ultimately be converted into a sale. Does it make it easier for someone to contact your sales team, research a product, see the latest specials, or find a store near them? I have encountered businesses that spend more on their Yellow Pages advertising than on their entire web budget and yet still leave the phone number off the website. Control over content is central to this. Only pigeons like stale bread and they shit on statues.

• Database interaction is one of the most important functions that your website will carry out, however certain structures and platforms will freeze out search engines or browser types. Dynamic query strings in URL’s are often one of the major impediments to accurate Google indexing and can kill viral marketing cold. Who is going to click on a 200 character link sent to them in Facebook, assuming that line wrapping doesn’t destroy the link altogether?

So the first lesson with web marketing is to learn how to appraise your website dispassionately. The second lesson is learning when to stop the navel gazing. Running business online is a continual game of compromise and trade off. Brand impact versus load speed, search optimisation versus readability, security versus flexibility, and optimisation versus turd polishing. You can always find tweaks if you look hard enough. There is no one perfect solution but there definitely is a difference between being roadworthy and un-roadworthy.

1. All markets are finite. Few businesses can successfully transact globally through their website therefore you will always be limited by the key question – Who can you sell to?

2. Search engines are not level and fair playing fields, however optimising websites for better performance is not rocket science.

3. The key to online success is content and the best person to produce that content is you or your team. If you do not have browser based administration of key website content then your site is a museum piece, or worse still a headstone.

4. On average websites lose 70% of their traffic with every click. Therefore most of your website visitors will not get past the page they arrive on. Any dollars spent on improving this will return greater rewards than buckets of cash thrown at online advertising.

5. Website advertising is a numbers game. Lower your expectations. Unless you are generating millions of page views a month you will be unlikely to generate a fortune from on site ads. They should be considered a supplemental revenue stream not a panacea.

6. The average abort time for website visitors is around 10 seconds. If your site takes longer to load on slow connections you will be losing visitors. Many broadband users are on capped monthly plans and at any given time a significant number of users will be effectively accessing the internet on dial up speeds. Factor in mobile access from handheld devices and the situation gets much worse.

7. The marketing game does not end with a visitors successful arrival on your website. This is not a conversion. A conversion is when they make a booking, spend some money, sign up to your mailing list or take some other action that takes them a step closer to transacting with you.

8. Sometimes you have to don the chicken suit and dance alongside the highway to get attention. Online you are simply one of many options. You need to stand out from the crowd before they click through to your website.

9. Your website could be the problem. There is nothing more doomed to failure than bad service successfully advertised.

10. The web is simply a new medium not a new marketing system. The best results flow from incorporating the web into a businesses global marketing plan rather than trying to tack it on or run in isolation.

Now much of this is of course simply common sense. What we are really talking about here is a consistency in thinking, the ability to break down each decision touch point into the key ingredients that manage a customer through to a desired outcome.

This is one of my pet hates. It is an attitude born out of arrogance and stupidity. It makes several flawed assumptions.

• It assumes that most people will have the latest browser plug in for the file format to enable viewing

• It assumes that those few who do not have the latest plug in are interested enough in what you want to show them that they will take the time to navigate away from your website, (a very dangerous practice as they may never return), download the plug in and install it, (perhaps even requiring a browser restart) and then return.

• It assumes that a person accessing the site actually has authority and the ability to download and install the plug in. People access websites from many locations that may not have the latest browsers installed on their terminals. This includes places such as Internet cafes, airport kiosks, libraries, or schools that impose limits on installations. Additionally many IT controllers will disallow installations on networked office computers. How many people are going to be willing to run to their network administrator just to view the latest lingere catalogue or YouTube video?

• It assumes that the latest version of a specific multimedia authoring tool is actually necessary to produce the material. Programs such as Macromedia Flash have brought some very cool dynamics to the web, however if you do not need complex animation and interaction then the chances are that you do not need to export a file as the latest version of Flash for it to work identically.

The thing to remember is that it is dangerous to believe that your web offerings are compelling enough to make potential customers jump through hoops. Most people who arrive on your site will be only mildly interested in your offering. You need to sell them on your products and brand, and you need to remove any excuse for them to abort. It takes far less effort to simply hit the browser back button and return to Google and click on a link to a less presumptuous competitor.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in relation to broadband take-up in Australia suggest around 78% of Australian Internet users have adopted broadband. (2007-08)

At first glance this statistic appears to be a fairly compelling argument for web marketers assuming almost universal broadband access, and hence developing with minimal regard to page weight. After all the above statistics are a year old and you would expect that the numbers using broadband would have increased in the intervening twelve months. This no doubt is true, however these figures are a little bit misleading.

“Broadband” is one of those all encompassing terms that describe a range of plans, modems and access mediums. The reality is that very few Australian’s, (and the case is similar for most of the world), access the web at the kind of speeds where loading times due to content become irrelevant. The vast majority have a compromised experience due to data caps or variations in the speed due to shared connections or the actual connection technology.

Most household broadband plans are sold with monthly caps on downloads. Young Jimmy downloads a couple of movies early in the August and the rest of the family is on dial up speed till September. The business environment is often not much better with one or two connections having to struggle under the weight of multiple users. When you factor in wireless Internet the situation just gets worse.

The lesson in all this is that you should not believe the hype. The web is not television, (at least not yet), and as a consequence rich media delivery needs to be rationed according to specific need.

This article was originally published in Marketing Magazine’s Retail Marketing Survival Guide in November 2008.

In my years of consulting I have come across numerous examples of poorly applied ideas online. Given the fickleness of consumers it is vitally important that site operators don’t fall into these common traps of retail sites.

• Not adequately considering and testing for variations in the types of hardware customers might use to access your website. This can be at the brand level (Mac versus PC), or at a more basic level of how a potential customer might have their computer set up. For example someone on a lower monitor resolution might not even see your great offer if it is located “below the fold” at the bottom of the page off screen.
• Not adequately considering browser differences. Not only are there a number of different types of browsers (eg. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari etc) that a customer may be using there are also variations between the versions they may have installed or the plugins they have downloaded. This is one of my pet hates. Why should someone have to have the latest Flash or Acrobat plugin installed just view your catalogue? This is arrogance. Just because these plugins are free doesn’t stop it being an irritant and costing you sales.
• Not adequately considering the means of connection that customers may be using. Not everyone accessing your website is going to be arriving via high speed broadband. Slow page loading kills sales. This factor will become more and more important once access via handheld devices becomes more commonplace. If it takes 20 seconds for your best deal to display on a slower connection then chances are the potential customer is already gone.

Often the real challenge is overcoming the perceptions of the web as a retail space. This is especially true for web only operations like Thekidsstore.com.au. who found that Australia’s immature online retailing environment meant that many suppliers were reluctant to supply online stores. “Initially over 50% of wholesalers refused to supply me. I had many heated exchanges with suppliers whose prejudices against the web showed total ignorance” said Persaud.

Many suppliers were either afraid of offending their bricks and mortar customers or having their products sold at a heavy discount. The online space does offer retailers the chance to make some savings versus their offline counterparts, but Persaud suggests that the web is simply another sales channel – “I do not use price as my differentiator, we are no more expensive than offline stores, but our value to consumers is based in the choice and convenience we offer. How many bricks and mortar stores are open at 3am and deliver to Darwin?”

Keeping the customer and convenience in front of mind means that the site eliminates unnecessary distractions. Smart marketers now recognize that customers reveal significant clues to their buying intentions and interests with every search and click. Rather than encouraging meandering retail sites should funnel customers to hubs of interest full of complimentary products. If care is taken setting up and optimizing the content for search then customers can be directed directly to their items of interest from the search results. The less clicks a customer needs to make to engage the more likely they will spend money with you. One of the most useful tools to track and monitor this is free and offered by Google. It is called Google Analytics and once you sign up you are provided with a small snippet of code that you can paste into every page on your website. You are then able to log in and view statistics on site activity as well as where traffic is coming both from organic (ie. free) and paid sources.

So now that you have acquired traffic via organic and paid means, set the site up to operate effectively in the variety of platforms and browsers, and have tracking systems in place the next challenge is optimising the checkout process.

According to a survey conducted by online marketing news websites Marketing Sherpa (www.marketingsherpa.com) and Webcredible (www.webcredible.com ), the average abandonment rate for shopping cart checkouts could be as high as 48%. So with nearly every second customer who starts the buying process aborting it is important that online retailers recognise the common reasons for this and address them. Small changes here can have significant impact on the bottom line.

The most common reasons for abandoning the checkout according to the survey included…

• Hidden charges in the checkout
• Having to register before buying
• The likelihood of customers simply comparison shopping
• Shipping costs being too high
• The long time required to complete

Interestingly the absence of a contact phone number during the process was considered to be more of a negative factor than price. This underlines the importance of fostering customer confidence.
Nicky Prasaud is a keen student of Google Analytics and uses it to track everything from shopping cart drop-off metrics to exit points from the site. “The great thing about the web is how measurable everything is. I know if I spend one dollar how much I make back in actual profit. I also plot lifetime value and build that into my investment case. In my opinion Google Adwords and affiliate marketing are the most cost efficient ways of acquiring customers”.

Some tips on getting better performance from a retail web site.

• Keep it simple. Confusion rarely leads to a sale. Many successful retail websites use bread crumbing to show where a customer is in the sales process. Ideally try and keep it to no more than four steps. The more transitions the more opportunity to leave.
• Remove distractions from checkout process. All roads should lead to Rome.
• Allow customers to navigate back and forward through checkout pages without having to re enter information.
• Use auto responder emails to confirm transaction and provide contact details
  It should not be surprising that the fundamentals of online retail marketing are similar to those successfully practised offline. In the end it boils down to customer service, convenience and value.

This article was originally published in Marketing Magazine’s Retail Marketing Survival Guide in November 2008.

As with most things relating to web marketing setting up a retail store often boils down to finding a compromise between competing objectives. Optimising content for search versus visual branding; fast tracking the sales process versus legal requirements; providing sufficient information to secure a purchase but avoid becoming a research tool for your competitors.

A good example of an Australian online success story is the parental support website thekidsstore.com.au. Founded by Nicky Persaud, the business has gone from back-bedroom ecommerce start-up to leading online retailer in less than 3 years. Seeing a gap in the market and the opportunity to exploit it, she embraced many of the marketing principles that had served her well at her last corporate position as Online Marketing Manager at auction giant eBay in the UK.

In the world of ecommerce, like life, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. You can do a lot worse than looking at how successful web businesses operate for inspiration, and on the web two of the biggest are eBay and Amazon. One of the main drivers of these website’s success is their focus. The sites are clean, load quickly and actively channel arrivals to an objective. Amazon has become the king of the up sell. Using the data supplied by visitors in their browsing to suggest complimentary products. This “Do you want fries with that” approach is a key to their online success. In a nutshell it is simply good customer service.

Convenience and value are also vital ingredients. This has a bearing on the number and type of products stocked. Nicky set up her store with choice, convenience and value front of mind. Instead of stocking three drinking bottles, she’d stock 30 – offering customers more choice and thus increasing the chance of converting visitors into sales. Investing in quality stock and following “the long tail” philosophy allowed TheKidsstore to offer a strong value proposition to busy mums and people buying gifts. Nicky was also quick to introduce free shipping on orders over $99 and nationwide delivery. “In many ways, this is ‘Marketing 101′, ” said Persaud, “but so many businesses forget about the people paying the bills – the customers”.

This is the key. Selling is selling. One of the biggest mistakes that many online retailers make is thinking that salesmanship ends at the shop front. Technology can provide huge economies of scale and allow a business to service markets otherwise unreachable, but it needs to provide value and convenience. If it is too hard or poor quality customers will just go somewhere else. This has implications on navigation, site layout, calls to action in the copy and the specific technology used to display everything.

Part 2 of this article in tomorrows blog

They are a fickle bunch, online consumers. Flighty and nervous like antelopes at an African waterhole. Ready to turn and run at the slightest excuse. Clutching their credit cards close to their breasts. Clumsy retail predators often go home hungry.

The causes of this are varied but often boil down to convenience, customer service and confidence. One of the biggest mistakes that retailers often make, regarding online operations, is to focus too much on using the site for cost cutting rather than improved service. Saving money is of course a prime objective of a successful web arm but it shouldn’t be obvious to visitors. The website should be a customer engagement tool not a customer avoidance one. Online there is simply too much competition and choice to take consumers for granted.

It starts as soon as a visitor arrives on your site. There is an online marketing rule of thumb that you will lose around 70% of your traffic with each click. Therefore what you present to a visitor on arrival will have a great bearing on whether they will become a customer or simply a window shopper.

Consumers have three options when they want to buy something. They can walk in the store, pick up the phone or visit the website. Whilst price is an important determinant it is often convenience that determines where and when they transact. Therefore the simpler you make the web exchange for a potential customer the more likely they will part with their hard earned cash on site. It is important therefore to play your trumps hard and early.

Successful online retailers maximise the flow of customers through the website to areas where they can transact with the minimum of clicks. Techniques to achieve this include…

1. Using teaser content to spotlight specials, popular items or seasonal deals
2. Being up front on price and other conditions/limitations
3. Placing conveniently located internal search boxes on all pages allowing customers to find exactly what they are looking for. This also allows for the site to run more targeted on site advertising as well.
4. Use of shopping carts to allow multiple items to be purchased in the one transaction.
5. Reducing the buying process to the minimum amount of information requests necessary rather than trying to capture as much as market research data as possible.
6. Creating a more horizontal navigation allowing for multiple entry pages for customers arriving via search engines. Someone searching for widgets in Google should arrive on your site on a page about widgets not simply your home page.
7. Reducing visual clutter in the site design to make the products the main focus.
8. Offering choice, variety and options.

Part 2 of this article in tomorrows blog

A pod cast of the full discussions can be found at the following link…
(http://www.churchillclub.org.au/files/cc-the-future-of-search-090416.mp3)

A cheap Shakespearean pun to launch my web marketing blog. But somehow a bastardised quote from Richard the Third seems appropriate when talking about Twitter, especially given the amount of polishing that this newest Social Networking phenomenon is getting in the media. Let’s hope it doesn’t end up a rhyming slang truism. Web marketing doesn’t need another flying pig’s ear handbag.

I do however see tremendous possibilities in Twitter, or more to the point the aggregate data that it is compiling in conjunction with other flavours, clones and spin off sites and services that will undoubtedly follow.

Currently the Twiterverse is mostly a dog’s breakfast of self indulgence and voyeuristic stalking. Stream of consciousness updates shat onto a Jackson Pollack canvas of banality. However this is simply the birth pangs of an emerging communication medium. As it grows even the most purile of posters gains marketing credence through his connections. Social media networks create hubs of common interest and referral. It is these that provide motivations for advertisers to invest. A successful pitch to one member can influence the whole group.

Once advertising dollars arrive en mass then it provides incentives for producing quality content and this is when these sort of technologies cross into the mainstream. The key to all of this is of course search.

Last Thursday I was invited to be a guest panellist at the Churchill Club. The discussion topic was The Future of Search. Together with Angela Beesley Starling from Wikipedia and Alan Long from Hitwise, we discussed search technologies and where it was going. The rise of the Social Networking websites was obviously a regular theme and a number of interesting questions and hypothetical scenarios were raised and discussed. Some of these included…

- What is real time search and how can it be exploited?
- How can you use Social Networks without being seen as a spammer?
- How can I grow a following?
- How do Social Networks make money?

Over the next few weeks I will attempt to answer these questions and provide links to useful resources. I invite discussion on these issues because let’s face it, when it comes to social network marketing, everyone is making it up as they go along. I would be interested in hearing other opinions.

Praying Per Click – Is Your Site Ready For Advertising?

Search Engine Optimism

Is the web really an effective branding tool?

Keeping the click fraud fox out of the chook house

Put another Blog on the fire

Chicken Little’s Rotten Egg

Need an edge? Look to the web

Open Source Web Consulting

Is your site a rich feast or a Dogs breakfast?
Part 1

Is your site a rich feast or a Dogs breakfast?
Part 2

The New Web Accountability

The Tao of SEO

Take Back Control Of Your Site

Google & YouTube

Play Your Trumps