Social media is a broad phrase that refers to a variety of user generated content on the web. You may think of it as the online equivalent of traditional word of mouth. Social media has proven its value over the past few years, even playing a role in both the Obama and McCain campaigns during the 2008 presidential race. Social networking platforms like MySpace and Twitter as well as forums and blogs make communicating with wide audiences easier than ever, and as a natural result, online discussion about companies and products are taking place constantly all over the Web.

Interacting and shopping on the web have evolved into an integrated set of behaviors that influence the way consumers research products and make purchase decisions. Honest consumer reviews and comments about products are powerful examples of social media influence at work. A recent survey by Harris Interactive and commissioned by Volusion revealed that 27% of respondents would be encouraged to shop on social networks based on the presence of comments about products. The survey also found that 30% would be encouraged to shop based on the availability of special deals and exclusive products. The takeaway from these findings is that consumers are paying attention, and they are open to what businesses and consumers have to say through social media. Online businesses that choose to get involved have much to gain from developing relationships and communicating their messages in the online spaces where potential customers are actively socializing and learning about products they are interested in purchasing.

As an online store owner, social networking can give you the opportunity to interact directly with those in your target market and build relationships and loyal customers. Relationships have long been a core component of business, and social media provides a contemporary means of developing and fostering them.

-Pam Westbrook, Ecommerce Marketing/Copywriting

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The holiday shopping season is in full swing, and if you haven’t already, now is the perfect time to tweak your online store to maximize sales from the influx of holiday shoppers. Often shoppers procrastinate making a purchase even when they have full intention of buying, and just need a little extra incentive as motivation to buy right now.

These simple ideas for your online store can help you establish a sense of urgency and turn more interested shoppers into customers today:

Prominently Display Expiration Dates on Holiday Promotions

If you are offering a promotion that expires on a certain date, be sure to communicate the end date prominently on your site. Allowing interested shoppers to submit an e-mail address and receive a friendly reminder before the promotion ends can increase your response rate.

Communicate Accurate Delivery Time

Shoppers are wary of purchasing gifts over the internet without knowing if their order will arrive in time for the holidays. One technique for alleviating any doubt is displaying when an item must be ordered if it is to be delivered by a certain date. If you cannot be that specific, a simple timeframe such as “Usually arrives within 1-2 weeks” can be enough to overcome this concern. Displaying this information to shoppers is simple, just activate the EnableDisplayAvailability variable from the admin panel of your Volusion store. Learn how here.

Ease Inventory Concerns

Uncertainty regarding the availability of an item is another issue that can prevent holiday shoppers from becoming buyers. Noting “In Stock” on items you have in inventory can alleviate this concern and increase the chance that a shopper will place an order. Listing inventory levels such as “Only 7 left” for low stock items can instill a sense of urgency and motivate buyers to take action now. To get this functionality in your Volusion store, activate the EnableDisplayStockStatus or EnableLiveStockStatus variables. Learn how here.

Of course, even with excellent marketing copy and communication, many interested shoppers will still procrastinate purchasing or leave your site to shop around a bit more. Here are some ideas for guiding those shoppers back to your site when the time comes to purchase:

• Allow shoppers to keep a wish list or e-mail details about a product to a friend. This will allow them to easily return to products they liked as well as share them with others. In your Volusion store, this can be done by activating the EnableWishList and EnableEmailAFriend variables. Learn how here.

• Make it easy to return to any page with a “Bookmark this Page” button. Learn how here.

• Allow shoppers to subscribe to your e-mail or newsletter list to build relationships and present more opportunities to visit your site. Learn how here.

In addition to creating urgency, giving away freebies such as free shipping, bonus gift certificates or gift wrapping can be the incentive shoppers need to purchase from your store and give you a competitive edge this holiday season.

-Pam Westbrook, Ecommerce Marketing/Copywriting

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Instead of challenging antitrust concerns posed by the U.S. Department of Justice, Google recently pulled out of the deal it made with Yahoo! in June to feature Google advertisements on its web pages. In an email sent to Yahoo! advertisers, the Executive Vice President of Yahoo! U.S., Hilary Schneider, expressed disapointment in the decision and then concluded the email with reassurance that Yahoo! will continue to improve the quality of its search engine and online advertising services:

“We wanted to reach out to you directly regarding Google’s decision, announced earlier today, to terminate the advertising services agreement that the companies announced in June. Yahoo! continues to believe in the benefits of the agreement, and is disappointed that Google has elected to withdraw from the agreement rather than defend it in court. Google notified Yahoo! of its refusal to move forward with implementation of the agreement following indication from the Department of Justice that it would seek to block it, despite Yahoo!’s proposed revisions to address the DOJ’s and advertisers’ concerns. While disappointed by this turn of events, we are writing to you to reaffirm our commitment to working together to drive your advertising results, and to provide the continued leadership you expect…”

Does this mean a Microsoft+Yahoo deal may be back on the table? In February, Microsoft expressed interest in purchasing Yahoo! and in a comment made on Wednesday, Yahoo CEO Jerry Jang said “I believe the best thing for Microsoft to do is to buy Yahoo.”

Read more:
Without Google’s help, Yahoo’s options limited
Google-Yahoo: Unintended Consequences
Microsoft and Yahoo! Partnership Possibility (May, 2008)

-Stacie Leonard, Ecommerce Marketing/Copywriting

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Halloween is just around the corner but if you are thinking of starting Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your company it does not have to be a frightful time. The biggest challenge in managing your website’s SEO is simply motivating yourself to tackle something that seems so intangible and insurmountable. By breaking SEO into pieces, it makes the process a little easier to stomach. An article titled “Overcoming Your SEO Fears” in the March/April 2007 issue of Revenue magazine suggests four key steps:

1. Determine Which Keywords to Use

Keywords are what are going to drive customers to your website. You may have great products but unless you can lock into what customers are searching for, your products may never be seen. Here are some suggestions on what to consider when developing keywords.

• The Right Keywords
  • Get recommendations from individuals in your target market
  • Research your competitors
  • Use words that are important to your business
  • Use keyword tools to research potentials and get suggestions for new keywords
  • Be specific
• Creative Keywords
  • Target various uses for your products
  • Include phrases used in the research stage (i.e. before a customer purchases)
  • Think about alternatives to your products
  • Consider the level of expertise of your market
  • Keep keywords current- seasonal, sale related, etc.
  • Use slang expressions/common jargon where appropriate
  • Include misspellings
  • Consider regional language differences
  • Focus on the features of your products

2. Have a Great Website

This step may be the hardest to accomplish but it is also the most important. There is no need to work on driving traffic to your site if it is not going to stand out and get customers excited about purchasing your products; after all, traffic does not mean much without sales! One important thing to remember though is that your site does not need to be the best it will ever be before you go ahead and start working on SEO. Your site is like any other business- it is dynamic. You can develop your keywords and start tracking the progress you are making with SEO while you work on making your site great! This is not a linear process. Working on the “wow factor” of your site is not something you will need to check off before moving on to another stage of SEO. Some great tips include:

• Make sure your domain name is logical and uses your site’s keywords where possible
• Showcase quality product images
• Use color well
• Provide quality information
• Have an about us section
• Utilize customer reviews and testimonials
• Display contact information
• Have a quality homepage
• Make it easy for repeat visitors
• Show what is new- with the company and it’s products
• Get feedback about your site through forums, focus groups, conversations with customers, etc.

Attract Customer Attention

3. Set up Link Exchanges

If there are any companies that you are partnered with or you have a good relationship with, it is a good idea to try to leverage their popularity for your own site. If you link to them, many times they will link back to you. This can be a great way to add perceived value in the minds of customers by showing them that you are not just out for their business but you are also plugged into their interests. If you do not have any existing business relationships that you can utilize this is a great way to start trying to form some. Whether it be making some connections within your own industry, or jumping on the bandwagon of supporters of popular sites, link exchanges are a great way to dial into the synergy of the internet.

Do not make the mistake of getting carried away. If you link to numerous sites and they are not linking back, you are letting your hard earned traffic slip away. The last thing that you want is to go to all the trouble to get potential customers to your site, only to have them skip over your products and head to someone else’s site.

4. Collect and Analyze Data

Hopefully, now comes the fun part. After all the work you have done, you will definitely want to measure the results of your toil. Volusion’s “Smarter Stats” and “Reporting” tool, and Google’s “Google Analytics” provide excellent ways to track the progress you have made in your SEO endeavors. It is important to have a way to view statistics about the demographics of the visitors themselves, the search terms they used, where they were on your site, etc. The more information you can get about your site’s performance and how it measures up in your industry, the more informed decisions you can make.

If All Else Fails Hire Someone

If you find yourself at a dead end and need some professional help, you can always hire someone to do your SEO for you. Some important things that you should remember are:

• It will not be cheap; and the more competitive your industry is the more you should expect to pay.
• The company you choose should not make unrealistic guarantees. SEO is not magic. If it seems too good to be true it probably is.
• Some SEO companies have specializations- know if the one you plan on using specializes in your industry.
• Know what the prospective company’s process is (what information they will need from you, what the timeline will be, if any additional fees may apply down the road, etc.).
• Research the company’s reputation and current and past clients.
• Know what you are getting on an ongoing basis.

-Kate Pierce, Ecommerce Specialist

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Brainstorming is an essential phase of keyword research for both paid search campaigns and search engine optimization. The goal of brainstorming keywords for a site is to generate a large, diverse pool of potential phrases without regard to search volume, cost or competitiveness just yet. Brainstorming keyword phrases is not a task that should be rushed. Taking the time to thoroughly think through variations that may be used to search for sites like yours can help you uncover potentially lucrative keywords you may otherwise neglect. While the final keyword list for a site is chosen based on research and focuses on quality, brainstorming is all about quantity and allowing your ideas to expand upon one another.

Remember that each page of your site you want to optimize or promote through PPC needs its own set of keywords. Usually you will find the best keywords for the most important pages of your site, but sometimes keyword research may uncover a targeted, untapped key phrase worth building a landing page around. The brainstorming pointers below can help you generate keyword phrases fitting for either situation.

• Consider the level of expertise in your target market.
  One common problem with brainstorming keywords is that we become constrained by the vocabulary and industry jargon familiar to us, when in fact consumers are using totally different phrases to search for products. Let’s assume we are brainstorming keyword phrases for a website selling a highly technical product, LED signs. Some search phrases obvious to those in the industry are:
  • LED signs
  • LED display
  • scrolling LED sign
  • outdoor LED sign
  • programmable LED sign

  While the above phrases are common to those in the industry, consumers often search for LED signs using their own vocabulary, such as:

  • LED moving message sign
  • electronic LED sign
  • scrolling sign
  • moving message display

  Sometimes, layman descriptions that would make industry insiders cringe may be exactly what users are typing in. Even better, your competitors may be focused on the obvious keywords, giving you the opportunity to capitalize on less competitive but frequently searched terms with minimal investment.

• Include phrases used in the research phase, before the purchase process.
  Let’s say we are brainstorming keywords for a website with the primary purpose of selling supplies for making paper. Our initial brainstorming session may generate something like:
  • papermaking supplies
  • paper making supplies
  • paper making equipment
  • paper making kit

  Once we have a few phrases on the list, mental block often kicks in and tempts us to move to the next step armed with only the most obvious key phrases.
  Instead of quitting there, we decide to brainstorm phrases we can target on our informational pages to attract consumers who are researching papermaking. Including original, informative content on your site adds tremendous value for both users and search engines, and can boost your conversion rate since consumers are more likely to purchase from a company they perceive as an authority on the subject.
  We add “how to make paper” to the list. Now for demonstration, let’s take a look at the approximate monthly search volume for each phrase on the list, based on data from Google’s keyword tool:

  • papermaking supplies 390
  • paper making supplies 720
  • paper making equipment 210
  • paper making kit 590
  • how to make paper 201,000

  Wow, one informational keyword accounts for a big difference in potential targeted visitors to the site. While search numbers from any tool should not be taken literally, they can give us helpful clues about the search volume for certain keyword phrases relative to others. In this case, “how to make paper” appears to get thousands more searches than any of our other phrases so far, and is definitely worth keeping on our brainstorming list.

• Think about keywords that describe alternatives to your products.Maybe you sell bamboo floring but you also want to get your brand in front of consumers in the market for wood floors. Or perhaps you want consumers searching for dog training services to find your new book on the subject. Marketing for alternative or competing products is usually more efficiently accomplished through paid ad campaigns, but can be an effective SEO strategy under the right circumstances. If you are publicizing a new-to-market item for which no one searches, for instance, you may build awareness by writing about products your innovation replaces or supplements so that people searching for existing products may find your site.
• Target specific uses or desirable features of your products.When searching for products, people often have in mind specific uses or features they want. Include in your brainstorming list adjectives or descriptive phrases that point out specific selling points for your products. Here are a few examples:
  • Storage chest vs. Waterproof storage chest
  • Cell phone vs. cell phone with GPS
  • Coffee table vs. wooden coffee table
  • Toaster vs. Mickey Mouse head toaster (seriously)
• Develop seasonal or current event specific keywords. Depending on your product offering, promoting seasonal keyword phrases or those related to current events or trends can bring an influx of qualified traffic. Here are a few examples:
  • Father’s day gifts (or other gift-giving holidays)
  • Superbowl party ideas (or other sporting/special events)
  • Back to school clothes
  • Snow shovels
  • Thanksgiving tablecloths

  If your products fill a need for a specific season or event, brainstorm how you can work that angle into your PPC campaign (or SEO campaign if the return is worth the effort).

Some other considerations to point you in the right direction when brainstorming key phrases are:

• Language differences among geographic regions (think soda vs. pop vs. coke)
• Commonly used slang expressions
• Differences in jargon used by people in different age groups
• Acronyms and abbreviations for phrases
• Common misspellings (generally for PPC)
• New words or phrases that emerge with new technology (like “webinar” or “ringtone”)
• Targeted long tail phrases for which there may be little competition
• Alternate ways your products may be used (“tennis balls for walkers”)

One final tip: Ask your customers, friends, family, colleagues and anyone who may fall into your target market what keywords they might use to find a business like yours, which can give you valuable insight into the language that is commonly used by those inside and outside your industry. Only when you have an exhaustive list of brainstormed keyword phrases should you move into the next phase of researching which of these phrases will attract the highest volume of qualified traffic to your site. Starting with a well thought out list of brainstormed keyword phrases will provide a solid foundation for the rest of your search marketing efforts.

-Pam Westbrook, Ecommerce Marketing/Copywriting

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