Another survey out today highlights booming ecommerce in the UK . . .
“Online retailing in the UK has grown at its fastest rate since the dotcom bubble burst, a survey has claimed.
The amount of money spent by consumers shopping online increased by 33.4% to £10.9bn last year, retail analysts Verdict Research said. ”
See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6690397.stm for more info.
It looks like the use of video is going to get a real boost very soon.
Google intends to start spreading about links to video in it’s natural search results. This gives you a great opportunity to make a suitable video, upload it to Youtube /Google Video, tag it using the keywords you are targeting and consequently get ranked well.
That’s the theory anyway.
Normal rules on keyword research still apply, but couple this with a viable strategy to target the “longer tail” keywords and I can see some people having a great deal of success with this method. More to follow.
Interesting fact about wireless security published today at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6595703.stm
It says that the standard wireless encryption method of WEP is now extremely easy to crack with commonly available tools. This means your wireless connection can easily hacked, unless you opt for the more robust WPA encryption when setting up your router.
The implications? Well for ecommerce store owners, using wireless internet, it is possible that someone could hack your network and steal important details - passwords perhaps, even customer details. And that would ruin customer confidence, not to mention create a lot of problems.
I see that “experts” reckon that UK online sales will reach £78 Billion by 2010.
That’s just 3 years away!
And online sales are predicted to be 20% of all retail spending by the same date. Wow!
There’s no doubt about the trend (in case you had any!) in ecommerce. What is interesting is the way the big names are sitting up and taking notice and pouring cash into online advertising and dominating the search engines.
What does this mean? Well, while online sales continue to soar, the smaller retailer needs to watch out, as the big guys are closing in. More than ever, the smaller ecommerce store owner needs our help to stay one step ahead of the big guys.
Saw an interesting piece this morning on UK high street fashion retailers.
Stores such as Primark are now responding to customer demand and watching very closely what customers like and dislike, then having corresponding products on the shelves within weeks. Faster supply chains mean they can respond quicker, and rather than second guess what customers want, they are now looking very closely at whats moving off the “racks” and developing more of the same.
Ecommerce store owners can learn from this.
You have a wide range of data available from your online store that can guide you. Obviously you can see what’s selling and whats not: bring in similar stock to what’s selling, drop the stuff that’s not. You can also see what’s being viewed ; are there products people are looking at but just not buying? Why is this? Maybe the price isn’t right, maybe they are interested but there’s just not enough information for them about the product to make a purchase.
Hey, you can always just ask them what they want!! With many ways to conduct a poll, or survey, or simply just email existing customers, there’s no excuse. Give them what they want. That’s the secret to retailing.
Search engines love content and a big part of any strategy to get a website to the top of the rankings, must include creating good content in one form or another.
However, this brings the problem of how to quickly and efficiently create this content, without the costs of hiring ghost writers or freelancers. Of course, if you already have a fully featured office including secretarial staff, then the content of this article will not apply to you!
Let’s look at how we can quickly and efficiently create good content for the Internet.
Articles, Press Releases, and PDF reports are all valuable tools in our arsenal for creating new content. But if you are anything like me, typing with one finger, then creating this content can be a somewhat time-consuming and arduous task.
Here is my preferred method for quickly creating text based content.
First, get yourself a copy of a voice to text dictation package such as Dragon NaturallySpeaking or IBM ViaVoice. Once installed on your computer, and with a microphone or headset attached, these programs allow you to dictate directly into word processing programs.
These programs have come on a long way in recent years — I had previously tried using one several years ago and gave up, but things have progressed so much that the latest versions are a real breeze to use. You just need to spend a few minutes to set them up properly and get used to your voice, and you are already to go. You can even use them to dictate your e-mails!
And here is a really cool feature — some versions can now import digital audio files and transcribe them.
What does that mean?
But my favourite use of this feature is for importing audio files from a digital voice recorder and then transcribing them. This allows you to have the freedom to record wherever you are, whenever you think of useful ideas, or perhaps you have some free time when travelling. Once back in the office you just plug in your digital voice recorder, upload files to your PC and then import them into your transcription program. You just need to check that you have a compatible voice recorder — if it records into WAV format you should be okay. Personally, I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8 Preferred which definitely handles the import of WAV files.
All the technology makes content creation a breeze. You can create articles and reports much, much faster than before. And it needn’t cost you a fortune - a simple set up recording directly on to your PC just needs a cheap microphone and suitable software - you can pick this up cheaply on EBAY (or other favourite auction site) if you look.
Google has recently announced a new meta tag that it’s spiders will take notice of that allows you more control over the text snippet they use in the search results.
Basically, in it’s search results, Google uses the text in the Meta Description tag (well the first 155 characters anyway) as the description snippet and the underlined clickable title comes from the Title meta tag.
All well and good and basic webmaster stuff to set these up and make an appealing title and description to entice Google searchers to click on your link.
However, if your site is listed in the Open Directory Project (ODP) (www.dmoz.org) then things are completely different.
Obtaining an ODP listing was always a top priority for savvy webmasters, as it always seemed to give an extra boost in the Google rankings (all other things being equal). However one drawback is that where a site is listed in ODP, Google takes the title and description from the ODP listing instead of website’s own meta tags.
Why does this matter?
As the ODP is entirely compiled by human reviewers, they generally edit the listings, so that the titles and descriptions are not overly hyped and sales orientated – in effect they “dumb them down”.
The result: a generally bland title and description.
Let’s look at an example - First Choice Holidays (a major UK tour operator)
Their Google listing is:
Title: First Choice Holidays
Description: Services include holidays, flights, car hire and insurance. Contact information.
Now this comes entirely from their ODP listing.
However, their Meta tags from their homepage read:
Title: First Choice - Book your dream holiday online - Great value holiday packages - Family package holidays - Bargain all inclusive holidays - Discount online travel agent - Last minute holiday deals - Free kids holidays
Description: Find great value holiday packages and bargain all inclusive holidays from the online travel agent First Choice where last minute holiday deals and free kids holidays can be found.
Albeit the title and description are too long for Google, so they would shorten them, but still far more appealing to a potential customer when they see that in the search results, don’t you think?
So how do we force Google to use our Meta tags rather than the ODP title and description?
Simple. Use the following meta tag in the head section of your webpages:
Not that not all search engine robots will recognise this metatag, so to specifically target Google you can alternatively use the following:
It will take some time for Google to update it’s database after inserting this tag, but eventually your website should have the appealing title and description that you choose, rather than the watered down version of some anonymous ODP Editor.
Ok.. I made a glaring ommission from the article on Video.
I completely forgot about Yahoo Video ! (www.video.yahoo.com)
So.. if you submit to Google video and Youtube, don’t forget Yahoo!
Robin Porter
Google video is now a fast growing repository of video clips of all shapes and sizes, and has opened up some new strategies for Ecommerce website owners to profit from. Here we will explore how you can use this service to generate customers.
Google video (www.video.google.com) and You Tube (www.youtube.com) are the two main video clip websites. Here, you can search and watch video clips on thousands of different subjects – from trailers, through to tutorials through to peoples plain old funny home video clips.
That’s all very well, but how can you, as an online retailer, profit from this?
- Tutorials and short “how to” tips
You could record short clips (most are under 5 minutes) of tips or tutorials relating to your field. Here are several examples.
Golf: Search for golf tips and you will find a plethora of choice, from tips on chipping from the rough, playing bunker shots, curing that slice and much more. If you are selling anything golf related, make your own video or enlist the aid of your local golf pro.
Fly fishing: Here we find tips of fly tying, finding the best locations, casting and much more.
Dog training: this search returns lots of video clips on different training techniques, including police dog training.
If you are in the sports, recreation or hobby markets, there are lots of opportunities for you to upload “how to” type videos. I even came across a lap dancing video, uploaded by a company that sells pole dancing equipment!
- Product comparisons
In marketplaces such as audio visual, there is ample opportunity to compare different products or product types. For instance, what are the benefits and advantages of Plasma televisions versus LCD tvs? In the fitness industry, what are the different training supplements available and what would suit you best? For clothing retailers, how about a premiere of this seasons latest fashions?
- Product user guides
Again this one works well in technical marketplaces such as audio-visual and computers. For instance, How to set up your home audio system, what you need to view High definition TV, how to set up a wireless home network.
Or something a bit simpler . . food retailers, how about some quick and easy recipes using the ingredients you sell?
Equestrian retailers .. how about clips on correct saddle care, how to fit a saddle, or reviews of timesaving accessories.
- Funny clips
Perhaps you can make (or obtain! ) a funny clip relating to your marketplace. Funny skiing accidents (for ski shops), hilarious banger racing clips (for motor part retailers) or crazy baby antics (for baby wear and equipment retailers). The funnier they are, the more likely they will get passed around the Internet.
Getting traffic
There are several ways these videos can get you traffic. First you need to “brand” your video, by adding graphics to it. You could be technical and add a graphic banner at the bottom quoting a short message and your website address, if you have video editing software. Alternatively, just make the last shots of your video a close up of your web address on a sign or the front of your premises.
Users who search and find your videos, will then have your website promoted to them.
One extremely powerful benefit is the viral factor – the passing round of video clips by email by friends who have the same interests. This works extremely well if you have an original, funny clip – you could find your visits “take off” if the clip is passed around the Internet.
Additionally, many content based sites are able to feature video clips from Google, thereby giving you a free advertisement on their site if they decide to use yours.
How to record and upload your video
You can use digital cameras, camcorders or even mobile phones to record the videos, and the quality does not have to be massively high, so long as its clear enough to see.
To upload video clips to google, you need to go to www.video.google.com and select the upload link at the top. If you don’t already have an account (for adwords, adsense ,gmail or other Google services), you can create one free of charge. Currently Google accepts AVI, MPEG, Quicktime, Real, and Windows Media formats.
As well as Google, the other main video clip repository is www.youtube .com which accepts formats from most digital cameras, camcorders and cellphones using .AVI, .MOV, and .MPG file formats.
There are massive opportunities right now, for online retailers to get in early on the video clip boom, and promote their products, services and business to a wide audience. Get videoing!
The other night, I watched a rerun of the original Superman film from 1978. In it I noticed a considerable amount of time was spent showing how Superman ended up on planet earth. We saw his parents on Krypton, the escalating doom affecting that planet, and why his parents took the decision to place him in a pod and send him to earth. We saw his father Jor-El rationalise this to his wife, explaining how the differing gravities, and less advanced life forms of Earth would give their boy a positive advantage.
What did all this serve to do?
It rationalised Superman’s superhero powers. He would be able to fly because he was from a planet with a different gravity, he would be superfast & superstrong because his molecular structure was different, etc.
Basically it gave a reason why.
However far fetched the reasons were, undoubtedly they serve to make the film more believable. They explain why Superman has superhuman powers. And so do many other Superhero films - The Hulk, Spiderman etc, all explain away the superhero’s powers, adding an increased degree of believability that would otherwise be absent.
All this shows that if you can incorporate Reasons Why into your marketing, you will undoubtedly increase your sales.
So how can you make this work for you?
Special offers
Instead of just blindly putting special offers on products, explain why they are on offer. Perhaps the manufacturer had a cancelled order, and offered you an amazing deal which you can pass on to your customers. Maybe as a result of your annual stocktake, you need to reduce your inventory, and so are selling off your widgets at a ridiculous low price.
Limited availability
Tell a story as to why there is limited availability on a product. Perhaps it was the last stock of a production overrun, or “forgotten” stock that was in one of your storerooms that got “lost” behind other stuff. If the type of product you sell is not of a limited availability nature, you can tweak this to justify why a particular special price is for a limited time only.
Why you are the best choice
Perhaps you have over 20 years experience in your field which enables you to know your industry inside out. Or you have particular inside knowledge which allows you to get the best deals and pass these on to your customers. Think about it - you can always find an “angle” to justify why you are the best person to buy from.
Customer Testimonial
In a way these are “reasons why” someone should buy from you. Although they are well used in information product marketing, they are under used when selling physical products. Make an effort to collect testimonials from your customers that emphasise your quality of service, speedy service, helpfulness or cheap prices.
Give people a reason why. Make a story out of it. We all see shops with “Sales” banners up all the time, but when they say the sale is due to relocation or closing down, we take an extra special look, don’t we? The “Reason Why” is a powerful technique that can add that little extra bit of credibility to give your sales a boost.
Article by Robin Porter, The E-business Doctor