Is Your Storefront Customer Friendly?
I started my professional career in a retail environment; first on the sales floor, then as a buyer. I learned all phases of the sales cycle. How to”
- Create advertising which drove people in the door
- Arrange displays and signs to capture the attention of shoppers and lead them deeper into the department
- Approach shoppers, offer suggestions, upsell,and get the sale
- Manage returns and customer satisfaction issues.
Thirty years later (yes it really has been thirty years) I apply all those same skills to web design .
- Instead of print and radio I help clients create internet advertising to drive people to the site. Targeted messages, intriguing offers and attractive graphics still move people to action.
- Instead of paying attention to displays, I focus on navigation, and page features. Where to place graphics, and how large the graphics should be is an integral part of site design. As a sales manager, I carefully placed items which might sell together next to each other. I use related links to other parts of the site, which bring visitors deeper and deeper into the content
- Special offers and conversion forms allow you to connect with customers, identifying specific interests to you can ” find a belt to match their dress” .
- Today it is easier then ever to monitor customer opinion, through surveys and feedback forms.
Same skills, different applications, so when I am stumped for an idea to finish out a web project, I simply walk the aisles in a retail shop. Of course, I usually have to buy something too.
All Things Marketing: Engage Visitors
When someone walks into a store, a good salesperson greets the visitor and offers to help. The same is true for a good website. While you don’t often have a person, you should have a process to “greet” and direct visitors to the right place on your site.
This process should include a way to engage visitors, collect their name and email address so you can convert them from a random stranger into a prospect.
This topic of conversion was part of the discussion at the All Things Marketing event last spring. Here is a short excerpt of that discussion.
Taking SEO Into Your Own Hands
Every once in a while, we get a client who doesn’t just talk about wanting the best ranked website in their field, they are committed to going the extra mile to stand head and shoulders above their competitors. Dr. Jeff Yoder of Meridian Chiropractic is one of those clients. Dr. Yoder understands the importance of measuring each and every marketing effort he puts forth when trying to reach clients.
When we build sites in WordPress, we do several things to improve the overall search rankings of a site. We use All-In-One SEO to title pages. We work with the clients to develop a list of key words to be used in their posts. And then, after we build the site we train our clients how to manage their sites. Once complete, the responsibility is theirs to continue creating fresh, relevant content to maximize their SEO efforts. It’s important that clients create new blog posts and use the tools we give them to put their websites in the best position to be successful.
Often, our clients adopt a set it and forget it attitude. However, Dr. Yoder has continued to challenge us to find additional ways to help increase his visibility on the keywords he wants to build his SEO strategy around.
He caters to busy professionals who need a chiropractor located in downtown Indianapolis. For him, the words “Indianapolis chiropractor“, “downtown chiropractor“, and “Meridian Chiropractic” are keywords Dr. Yoder wants his site strongly associated with.
Dr. Yoder has been tracking his progress from obscurity to visibility on search engines. He has seen progress and we now as he continues to ad fresh content and optimize each new post for search engines, his rankings will continue to improve.
We always love when clients take an active role in their marketing success. It’s that drive that separates most successful business owners from the pack.
Cashing In with E-Commerce
As a company, we have deliberately avoided websites which included an e-commerce requirement . While we do several things really well, website storefronts are tedious, time consuming, and clunky in WordPress. At Roundpeg we pride ourselves n the simplicity we provide our clients with the maintenance of their website, and typical e-commerce functionality never fit in that wheelhouse…
…until now.
Recently, we discovered a new plugin which has answered our e-commerce prayers. Ecwid allows us to build an easy, professional-looking web-shopping experience on your site. By signing up for a (free) Ecwid account, you can load products into a virtual store and simply plug the store into anyweb page, including one designed in WordPress.
While their paid version has enhanced functinality, even the free plateform handles hundreds of products with ease, provides sales history by product or client in an easy to download format. With ECWID, we can offer our clients a robust eCommerce platform which they can manage with just a little training. The reuslt? We can better serve our existing clients, and work with clients we wouldn’t have considered in the past. And the more folks we can help, the better!
I highly recommend Ecwid to any WordPress developer looking to provide clients with the quickest, easiest, and most functional e-commerce storefront possible.
Fan Pages and Web Pages
These days, everyone form Nike to Nordstrums has a fan page. As I watch this growing trend I wonder, Why?
The answer will millions of users, a facebook fan page puts your brand where your customers are hanging out. The viarl nature alows you to connect with custopmers and prospects in a more relaxed setting. The technolgy makies it easy for your fasns to introduce your cmpany to others.
And the process works! In a recent study,Syncapse determined the average value of afacebook fan is $139. Fans shop more often, spend more and refer more. So with all the activity on Facebook, do you still need a web page.
The answer is definately YES! While facebook is a great way to interact with clients it is not always the best place to sell. At roundpeg we are working on the balance. While our blog, is a bit more business oriented, with informative posts, and the occasional light hearted feel, our fan page is just for fun. Here you will find photos of our Adventures in Dining lunches, and the staff clowing on Friday’s as we share favorite songs on Roundpeg Radio.
We include a few links to blog posts, but keep that to a minimum. Is it the right strategy? Only time will tell as we add more fans and measure the traffic to our primary site.
Still a Place for Email
While social media is all the rage, and everyone wants to follow me on twitter, friend me on facebook, and link up on Linkedin, I still believe there is a place for email in your marketing mix.
eMail is an important part of your overall internet marketing campaign. As a small business owner, it is a simple and affordable way to stay in touch.
Over the last few years I have written quite a lot about email marketing. Here is a summary of some of my favorite tips:
- Respect the Can-Spam rules - Be sure to include an unsubscribe link in your email to be CAN-SPAM complaint. Even if a client opted in at some point, they always have the right to opt-out at a later date. Be sure to give your readers that option.
- Earn the right to keep them coming back with Customer Focused Communication – Focus on information that is interesting or relevant to them! Sometimes the most valuable information you can provide potential customers is general information which demonstrates your overall knowledge or position as a business resource.
- Special Offers - Include special offers or coupons in your newsletters. Make this a regular sections, so interested consumers know where to look for your latest offer. Short-term offers or coupons with an expiration date are more likely to make the phone ring, today.
- Keep it Short - People are busy, so limit your total content to no more than 350 words. Remember this is not a one shot program.
- Track relevant measures such as the open and click through rates. As you experiment over time, you will notice certain headlines and offers perform better.
- Offer more specialized content – Instead of a one-size fits all approach, consider sub dividing your list into small groups, and sending different information to each group. The result is typically an increase in overall open rates and click through.
At roundpeg we use two email tools, Constant Contact and AddressTwo, depending on the type of campaign we are sending. If you need help getting started, we would be happy to talk to you!
Jump Start Your Business: Link Love
We’re continuing our look at Inc. Magazine’s great 25 Tips to Jump Start Your Business series.
As anyone who reads our blog regularlyknows, SEO is one of Lorraine’s favorite topics. While there are many elements which contribute to SEO, one of the most important measures for your website is how many other sites link to it. Links, from credible sources to your site are an indication that your website is trustworthy and contains good content. The more links, the better.
Check out these five great tips for getting serious “link love” for your site:
- Give stuff away: There is not a person on earth who doesn’t love something for free. If you gift it, they will come. Consider a free e-book download, an app, or some worksheets that other people might find useful. Once people hear about the great swag, they’ll link back to your site.
- Share useful information: This is a great way to kill two birds with one stone. Not only are you adding value to to the world with a useful article or how-to guide, you’re also establishing yourself as an expert in your field.
- Connect with your community: This is crucial. You can (and should!) be in regular contact with both your local, geographical community and your industry community. Sponsor, or at least help promote with your social media, local events, and add value to your industry community by sharing great articles.
- Reach out to the blogosphere: Don’t be afraid to get in touch with your favorite blogger to offer praise, constructive criticism, or ideas for posts. Offer a product for them to review, or inform them of some big doings in your industry. Just make sure that the blogger would actually be interested in what you have!
- PR: Sometimes, the classics work. When you send a press release, your “boiler plate,” or the standard text about your company at the end of the release, should always include your Web address and blog address. Always! Then, when you post the release to an online source, people can see and visit your site. Just another way of spreading your posts out into the world.
It takes time to build the links, but if you are work at it, even a small business site, an have thousands of inbound links. According to Website Grader, Rounpeg currently has more than 4,500 inbound links.
Internet Marketing Advice for Contractors
It is easy to see how tech firms and retail companies can use internet marketing and social media, but contracting firms? My friend Matt Michele, founder of the Service Roundtable makes a compelling argument for even businesses in these trades to give it a try.
He identifies a series of simple steps any small business owner can take to begin using the internet more effectively. His list includes:
- Create a Facebook Fan Page – As I mentioned in a post about a week ago, Facebook is coming the social media of the masses. While it may not be the most effective method to communicate to your clients, it is free! And the upside potential of building a loyal following, can give a boost to every small business.
- Collect Customer Emails & Market to Them - While many of us over overwhelmed with email offers, when used and not abused, email is still an effective way to stay connected to your existing customers. To do this effectively, you really need a tool to organize your contacts. It is time to take them out of your filing cabinet, and put them in a data base.
- Complete Your Local Search Profile - It takes just a few minutes to complete the profile and it will help you improve your visibility in the “ten pack” of local search results.
- Create a list of your prestigious reference jobs including pictures – It is even more effective if you can create an individual blog post for each listing. This will give you more unique content to help the search engines find you!
Matt had a number of other suggestions as well. To see the whole list click here
And if you need help getting started, contact us!
Today’s Consumer Still Loves Coupons
She just doesn’t like clipping them.
When my kids were little, I would rip through the Sunday paper looking for coupons on diapers. I am not much of a coupon person in general, but we went through a lot of diapers and it just seemed silly to pay full price.
Once my kids finally mastered the potty, I said goodbye to diapers and good bye to coupons. They were just too much trouble to keep up with, organize and keep track of when I went shopping.
But I do like saving money, so I am the perfect target for digital coupons. Instant savings I can download to my computer as I head out the door, or better yet to my phone.
And I am not alone, it seems the down cycle in the ecomony, along with an increase in technology which delivers coupons has led to the first increase in the use of coupons in almost twenty years.
From a study by coupons.com (ok so maybe they are a little biased) the demographics of the average digital coupon shopper is not the low income, penny pinching housewife. Instead, the consumer who prints digital coupons is an attractive target for many products and services.
- has an average household income of $97,000,
- a 23 percent higher income level than the U.S average.
- 34 percent of those who print digital coupons have a college degree (up from 32 percent in 2008), compared to 30 percent of those who use newspaper coupons and 27 percent of the general populace.
- Users of digital coupons have higher household incomes and are better educated than users of newspaper coupons and the general population.
So what do these numbers mean to you? As the delivery mechanisms continue to improve, and the economy continues to put pressure on consumer spending, coupons, particularly those delivered digitally can be an excellent incentive for existing and new customers.
Interesting, as I was putting the finisihing touches on this post ( sometimes I write a few weeks out) I read a post by Kyle Lacy on the subject of integrating your marketing, tieing all the elements together, especially when you already use printed coupons in your mix.
Some Things Change, and Some Things Don’t
I am working a presentation for a group of HVAC distributors in New Orleans in April. Having spent 11 years in the industry, I feel comfortable talking about how to apply what I know about marketing to their challenges.
But I have been away for a few years, and thought it would be helpful to see what others have been writing and discussing. What I found is that although it seems things are moving very quickly, much of what I am telling my small business clients today, others have been saving for quite awhile.
For example: In 2003 David Squires wrote n article for the ACH&R News about how to make your websites more efficient. Interestingly seven years later, we still see much of the same issues we saw then. Text heavy and product heavy sites which miss what is really important to the consumer; How well you solve the client’s problem?
Check out David’s list of 12 ways to improve your site and see if you agree with me, that while some things do change, others remain, very much the same!
