Saturday, October 15, 2005
Happy Birthday and a $2 Coupon
Today is my wife, Joanne's, birthday. So I want to start out by wishing the wonderful woman who has put up with me for all these years a great one!
But, of course, as I prepared for her birthday, my mind connected those preparations with business strategy as I stopped by the local DQ for an ice-cream cake.
We almost never stop at DQ otherwise, but we've gotten in the habit of getting a cake there for any celebration at home.
You see, one time we decided to do something special and buy an ice-cream cake there. Printed at the top of the receipt was a message wishing us well on whatever we were celebrating and offering $2 off the purchase of our next cake.
It was a pleasant surprise to find this on the receipt, so—unlike we usually do with the discount coupons we get in the mail, we kept this one. We put it up on our refrigerator to remind us that we had $2 coming to us. And the next time we had a special occasion, we eagerly used the discount.
Next cake, the same thing. Same message, same $2 discount. So we saved it again.
Before long, what had started out as a one-time, special treat became an every-celebration tradition. All because they surprised us by presenting their coupon to us in a way we didn't expect. They could have sent us $2 coupons in the mail or newspaper every week and we would have tossed them in the trash. But seeing it on the sales receipt with warm wishes for our event got our attention.
That simple expression of appreciation turned their coupon into more than just a coupon. It caused us to see that DQ owner as someone who cared about the special events in our lives and enjoyed helping us celebrate them. And we've been back to give them a chance to help us celebrate ever since.
Sure, we're paying $20 to use that $2 "savings." But it's about more than just the money. It's about being appreciated, about being made to feel special.
What are you doing to surprise your customers? Something they don't expect will always get their attention, whether it's lousy service or a special touch that makes them feel appreciated. Surprise them in a positive way and you'll be surprised at the loyalty you can build.
Jeff
Today is my wife, Joanne's, birthday. So I want to start out by wishing the wonderful woman who has put up with me for all these years a great one!
But, of course, as I prepared for her birthday, my mind connected those preparations with business strategy as I stopped by the local DQ for an ice-cream cake.
We almost never stop at DQ otherwise, but we've gotten in the habit of getting a cake there for any celebration at home.
You see, one time we decided to do something special and buy an ice-cream cake there. Printed at the top of the receipt was a message wishing us well on whatever we were celebrating and offering $2 off the purchase of our next cake.
It was a pleasant surprise to find this on the receipt, so—unlike we usually do with the discount coupons we get in the mail, we kept this one. We put it up on our refrigerator to remind us that we had $2 coming to us. And the next time we had a special occasion, we eagerly used the discount.
Next cake, the same thing. Same message, same $2 discount. So we saved it again.
Before long, what had started out as a one-time, special treat became an every-celebration tradition. All because they surprised us by presenting their coupon to us in a way we didn't expect. They could have sent us $2 coupons in the mail or newspaper every week and we would have tossed them in the trash. But seeing it on the sales receipt with warm wishes for our event got our attention.
That simple expression of appreciation turned their coupon into more than just a coupon. It caused us to see that DQ owner as someone who cared about the special events in our lives and enjoyed helping us celebrate them. And we've been back to give them a chance to help us celebrate ever since.
Sure, we're paying $20 to use that $2 "savings." But it's about more than just the money. It's about being appreciated, about being made to feel special.
What are you doing to surprise your customers? Something they don't expect will always get their attention, whether it's lousy service or a special touch that makes them feel appreciated. Surprise them in a positive way and you'll be surprised at the loyalty you can build.
Jeff
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
A Bit of Nostalgia goes RIP
The last couple of days I've been doing an upgrade of a client's site. It was the first commercial site I built and I remember all the thought and effort that went into it.
There was a certain navigation feature I developed when I first built those pages that now is being laid to rest. My thought back then was link each order page to as many relevant other order pages as possible so people could wander around the site until they found what they wanted.
I put dozens of hours into all those links on hundreds of pages. And I've let those links stand for far too long. After all, wandering is not what we want potential buyers to do. We want them to narrow down their choices and buy, not keep getting distracted by the lure of wondering where that next link will lead.
So with this large-scale update, I'm finally dismantling all those links. It's a long tedious job, and I keep thinking of how much similar, long, tedious work went into creating them in the first place. But the bottom line is making the bottom line the best it can be. And eliminating distractions on the order pages is one way to do that.
No, I'm not taking away options. Over the years, careful testing has helped us develop a much more efficient way of helping people find what they're looking for. Yeah, there's a tinge of nostalgia at seeing all that work from my first commercial website go away. But it's also a realization of growth.
You can't hang on to something just for sentimental reasons. Business is about serving customers. And if another way of guiding them will serve them better, then it's time to move on and leave the old, first attempts behind.
Jeff
The last couple of days I've been doing an upgrade of a client's site. It was the first commercial site I built and I remember all the thought and effort that went into it.
There was a certain navigation feature I developed when I first built those pages that now is being laid to rest. My thought back then was link each order page to as many relevant other order pages as possible so people could wander around the site until they found what they wanted.
I put dozens of hours into all those links on hundreds of pages. And I've let those links stand for far too long. After all, wandering is not what we want potential buyers to do. We want them to narrow down their choices and buy, not keep getting distracted by the lure of wondering where that next link will lead.
So with this large-scale update, I'm finally dismantling all those links. It's a long tedious job, and I keep thinking of how much similar, long, tedious work went into creating them in the first place. But the bottom line is making the bottom line the best it can be. And eliminating distractions on the order pages is one way to do that.
No, I'm not taking away options. Over the years, careful testing has helped us develop a much more efficient way of helping people find what they're looking for. Yeah, there's a tinge of nostalgia at seeing all that work from my first commercial website go away. But it's also a realization of growth.
You can't hang on to something just for sentimental reasons. Business is about serving customers. And if another way of guiding them will serve them better, then it's time to move on and leave the old, first attempts behind.
Jeff
Monday, October 10, 2005
A set of fresh eyes and not so fresh thoughts
While discussing with a client today about how I was tweaking his site to improve conversions (converting visitors to purchasers), his newest employee walked into the office. I decided to take advantage of the situation by asking him to do a little searching on the site so I could see the site through his eyes and get an idea of any places that could slow visitors' progress toward a sale.
It quickly became apparent that he was having trouble finding his way to the product catalog. It was located in the ribbon bar; he was looking in the side bar and tuning out the ribbon bar completely.
Good to know and something to deal with in tweaking the site. Unfortunately, having discovered a problem, he took it upon himself to tell me how to "fix" it. "Maybe you can put the link in inch tall letters—red letters—on a green background. And make each letter flash—kinda like a wave! That would get people's attention!"
I agree that all that probably would get people's attention. But it would probably move them also to make a hasty and desperate click on their Back button before vertigo set in.
Getting ill-conceived advice is one of the chances you take when you ask someone to navigate your site. But it's worth it. It's been a while since I last watched someone navigate that site, and I got a much better idea of where the hang ups were that could get in the way of a potential sale.
Sometimes you have to swallow hard when your testers take it upon themselves to give you advice, but you can't afford to let ego get in the way of improving your site. Look at the reality of how people are navigating it. View their successes and struggles with an open mind and a willingness to change even the things you're most proud of in the site if changing them will help visitors work their way through to a sale.
After all, it's about achieving your goals, not about stroking your ego.
Jeff
While discussing with a client today about how I was tweaking his site to improve conversions (converting visitors to purchasers), his newest employee walked into the office. I decided to take advantage of the situation by asking him to do a little searching on the site so I could see the site through his eyes and get an idea of any places that could slow visitors' progress toward a sale.
It quickly became apparent that he was having trouble finding his way to the product catalog. It was located in the ribbon bar; he was looking in the side bar and tuning out the ribbon bar completely.
Good to know and something to deal with in tweaking the site. Unfortunately, having discovered a problem, he took it upon himself to tell me how to "fix" it. "Maybe you can put the link in inch tall letters—red letters—on a green background. And make each letter flash—kinda like a wave! That would get people's attention!"
I agree that all that probably would get people's attention. But it would probably move them also to make a hasty and desperate click on their Back button before vertigo set in.
Getting ill-conceived advice is one of the chances you take when you ask someone to navigate your site. But it's worth it. It's been a while since I last watched someone navigate that site, and I got a much better idea of where the hang ups were that could get in the way of a potential sale.
Sometimes you have to swallow hard when your testers take it upon themselves to give you advice, but you can't afford to let ego get in the way of improving your site. Look at the reality of how people are navigating it. View their successes and struggles with an open mind and a willingness to change even the things you're most proud of in the site if changing them will help visitors work their way through to a sale.
After all, it's about achieving your goals, not about stroking your ego.
Jeff
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Doing keyword research with SearchIt! free research tool
Last Sunday I started a series on the different kinds of Internet marketing research you can do with the free SearchIt! research tool, which is, in my opinion, one of the most versatile research tools around. Last Sunday I looked at using SearchIt! to find incoming links. This week I'll look at using it to do keyword research.
The SearchIt! free search tool consists of a window with two dropdown boxes and two text boxes. In the two dropdown boxes, you select the type of search you want to do. In the two text boxes, you select the search criteria (such as keywords or URLs) you want to use.
Rather than repeat the introductory info about SearchIt! that I shared last week, I suggest that you see last Sunday's blog for this information. Or simply realize that it is important to click all the links and read all the instructions that SearchIt! tells you to do.
Seriously, you'll find SearchIt! A LOT easier and more valuable to use if you do that.
I'll start out by saying that I do the bulk of my keyword research on Wordtracker rather than SearchIt!. Wordtracker provides information on what keyword variations people are using to search, how frequently people search for each keyword variation, and how many pages compete for the same keywords. In other words, it provides the full package of keyword research information.
But Wordtracker charges for accesss to their database. While I'm happy to spend my money on this valuable service instead of spending extra time piecing together keyword research information from different sources, I know some people take the opposite view.
If you're one of them, SearchIt! gives you a lot of options for using free tools that give you parts of the keyword research equation. So here's some of the ways you can do keyword research for free with SearchIt!
Using SearchIt!
Many of SearchIt!'s keyword research options are familiar ones, but the advantage of using them through SearchIt! is that you have all these tools in one place.
Brainstorming tools help you compile a list of relevant keywords for your site, or check monetization options.
Competition tools help you determine how much competition your have for those keywords.
Where Are They? tools help you find how well optimized your competitors are.
That said, let's look this week at the Brainstorming tools that SearchIt! provides.
How to use SearchIt! for keyword brainstorming
In the Step 1 dropdown box, select Brainstorming.
Click the dropdown box for Step 2: Select Search Type. You'll see a long list of options. About half of them, though, are country-specific versions of the Yahoo!/Overture Keyword Selector Tool, a good tool for finding well-searched variations of your keywords and assessing the relative amount of searches for them.
(Note: These options may change. The SiteSell people (who maintain the SearchIt! tool) are constantly adding new search tools to it.)
Yahoo! Keyword Selector Tool
Let's start by looking at the Yahoo! Keyword Selector Tool.
Keep in mind, though, that the Yahoo! Keyword Selector Tool is notorious for exaggerating the number of searches done for commercial keywords. A large number of webmasters search its database (like we're talking about doing right now) to research keywords rather than to find products to buy.
So don't take their numbers as a literal representation of how many people are trying to find products related to those keywords. Use them instead to get an idea of the variations of keywords that searchers use and how frequently they use each in comparision to others.
If you've never used the Yahoo! Keyword Selector Tool before, this is how it works. Type your basic keyword into the Step 3 box in SearchIt! and click the SearchIt! button (no need to type anything in the Step 4 box for this search). After reading the information page that appears after you click the button, click the link to see your results.
The Yahoo! Keyword Selector Tool appears with your results. It shows you keyword variations that were searched most frequently in the past month and how many times they were searched. This should give you a good starting point for developing your keyword list.
Google AdWords Keyword Tool
This option can supplement the keywords you find from the Yahoo! Keyword Selector Tool. Instructions for using it are the same as what you do with the Yahoo! tool. It draws its data from the Google AdWords database of keywords. It doesn't tell you the number of times each variation was searched, but it adds another handy wrinkle.
When your results appear, scroll down to the two columns labeled More Specific Keywords and Similar Keywords. The More Specific Keywords column lists keywords that contain the keyword you searched. The Similar Keywords column contains keywords that don't contain your keyword, but are similar to it.
This allows you to expand your keyword list with keywords that may fit your product, but that you may not have thought of. You can then do a search on those keywords in the Yahoo! or Google tools to find further appropriate keywords.
Related Keywords option
This tool is strictly for finding keyword variations that contain your keyword. It gives you no info on how frequently these variations are searched. You need to check any promising keywords in the Yahoo! option or in the SiteBuildIt! Brainstormer tool (which is part of the SiteBuildIt! website-building package), or in Wordtracker to get any idea of how frequently people search these keywords.
Thesaurus Synonym Generator option
This tool is strictly for finding synonyms. It can give you some synonyms for single word keywords, but I've found it pretty useless for most multiple-word phrases.
Amazon Books and Other Products option
This one is better suited for ideas on what kind of content people are looking for than for adding keywords to your list. Your results will show you what books match those keywords. These titles (and the chapters titles when you click on the book and then use the Search Inside This Book option that Amazon provides) can give you ideas for what kind of content would interest your visitors.
Or you can use the Refine Your Search option in the left column of the Amazon results page to get ideas about related products or catalogs.
The eBay Collection
This again is more of a monetization tool than a keyword research tool. It can help you see what kind of products people are selling related to your keywords.
WiseNut Search Extension
WiseNut lists related categories at the top of your search results. You may find some of these categories useful keywords. And you can click on the Search This link next to each category to see what categories WiseNut suggests for that keyword as well. Actually, you can keep doing this until you reach a point of diminishing returns.
SurfWax (Out-Of-The-Box!)
This one's a little different and is kind of hit-or-miss. Instead of typing your keyword in the Step 3 box, type a competitor's domain name. Your results will show some interesting info about your competitor's site. But the key is to scroll down to the Site's Focus Words section. It contains a list of the most commonly used words and phrases in your competitor's site. Sometimes you can get some great ideas from this tool. Sometimes not.
Patent Office Head-Knocker
Here's another hit-or-miss tool, suited more to developing product ideas than to keywords. It searches patent offices worldwide for patent applications that contain your keyword. I doubt you'll find many useful keywords from this, but you may get a better idea of what solutions are out there for the problem your keyword addresses.
Next week
This Sunday, I've covered just the keyword brainstorming tools that SearchIt! provides. Next Sunday, I'll show the tools it has for gauging competition for your keywords.
All in all, SearchIt! can find you lots of keywords and much other valuable information. The main thing to remember is to READ THE DIRECTIONS. With as many tools packed into this one interface, you're not going to take one look at it and intuitively understand how to use every one of them. But the directions they give are easy, and they do more than just tell you how to use each tool; they also throw in tips on how to use the results you receive to make your site more successful.
SearchIt! is one of these free tools that really produces value for you. I recommend that you check it out and make it a part of your web marketing arsenal.
Jeff
Last Sunday I started a series on the different kinds of Internet marketing research you can do with the free SearchIt! research tool, which is, in my opinion, one of the most versatile research tools around. Last Sunday I looked at using SearchIt! to find incoming links. This week I'll look at using it to do keyword research.
The SearchIt! free search tool consists of a window with two dropdown boxes and two text boxes. In the two dropdown boxes, you select the type of search you want to do. In the two text boxes, you select the search criteria (such as keywords or URLs) you want to use.
Rather than repeat the introductory info about SearchIt! that I shared last week, I suggest that you see last Sunday's blog for this information. Or simply realize that it is important to click all the links and read all the instructions that SearchIt! tells you to do.
Seriously, you'll find SearchIt! A LOT easier and more valuable to use if you do that.
I'll start out by saying that I do the bulk of my keyword research on Wordtracker rather than SearchIt!. Wordtracker provides information on what keyword variations people are using to search, how frequently people search for each keyword variation, and how many pages compete for the same keywords. In other words, it provides the full package of keyword research information.
But Wordtracker charges for accesss to their database. While I'm happy to spend my money on this valuable service instead of spending extra time piecing together keyword research information from different sources, I know some people take the opposite view.
If you're one of them, SearchIt! gives you a lot of options for using free tools that give you parts of the keyword research equation. So here's some of the ways you can do keyword research for free with SearchIt!
Using SearchIt!
Many of SearchIt!'s keyword research options are familiar ones, but the advantage of using them through SearchIt! is that you have all these tools in one place.
SearchIt! keyword research options are divided into three categories:
- Brainstorming
- Competition
- Where Are They?
Brainstorming tools help you compile a list of relevant keywords for your site, or check monetization options.
Competition tools help you determine how much competition your have for those keywords.
Where Are They? tools help you find how well optimized your competitors are.
That said, let's look this week at the Brainstorming tools that SearchIt! provides.
How to use SearchIt! for keyword brainstorming
In the Step 1 dropdown box, select Brainstorming.
Click the dropdown box for Step 2: Select Search Type. You'll see a long list of options. About half of them, though, are country-specific versions of the Yahoo!/Overture Keyword Selector Tool, a good tool for finding well-searched variations of your keywords and assessing the relative amount of searches for them.
Besides the various Yahoo! Keyword Selector Tools, your options include the following:
- Google AdWords Keyword Tool
- Related Keywords
- Thesaurus Synonym Generator
- Amazon Books and Other Products
- The eBay Collection
- WiseNut Search Extension
- SurfWax (Out-Of-The-Box!)
- Patent Office Head-Knocker
(Note: These options may change. The SiteSell people (who maintain the SearchIt! tool) are constantly adding new search tools to it.)
Yahoo! Keyword Selector Tool
Let's start by looking at the Yahoo! Keyword Selector Tool.
Keep in mind, though, that the Yahoo! Keyword Selector Tool is notorious for exaggerating the number of searches done for commercial keywords. A large number of webmasters search its database (like we're talking about doing right now) to research keywords rather than to find products to buy.
So don't take their numbers as a literal representation of how many people are trying to find products related to those keywords. Use them instead to get an idea of the variations of keywords that searchers use and how frequently they use each in comparision to others.
If you've never used the Yahoo! Keyword Selector Tool before, this is how it works. Type your basic keyword into the Step 3 box in SearchIt! and click the SearchIt! button (no need to type anything in the Step 4 box for this search). After reading the information page that appears after you click the button, click the link to see your results.
The Yahoo! Keyword Selector Tool appears with your results. It shows you keyword variations that were searched most frequently in the past month and how many times they were searched. This should give you a good starting point for developing your keyword list.
Google AdWords Keyword Tool
This option can supplement the keywords you find from the Yahoo! Keyword Selector Tool. Instructions for using it are the same as what you do with the Yahoo! tool. It draws its data from the Google AdWords database of keywords. It doesn't tell you the number of times each variation was searched, but it adds another handy wrinkle.
When your results appear, scroll down to the two columns labeled More Specific Keywords and Similar Keywords. The More Specific Keywords column lists keywords that contain the keyword you searched. The Similar Keywords column contains keywords that don't contain your keyword, but are similar to it.
This allows you to expand your keyword list with keywords that may fit your product, but that you may not have thought of. You can then do a search on those keywords in the Yahoo! or Google tools to find further appropriate keywords.
Related Keywords option
This tool is strictly for finding keyword variations that contain your keyword. It gives you no info on how frequently these variations are searched. You need to check any promising keywords in the Yahoo! option or in the SiteBuildIt! Brainstormer tool (which is part of the SiteBuildIt! website-building package), or in Wordtracker to get any idea of how frequently people search these keywords.
Thesaurus Synonym Generator option
This tool is strictly for finding synonyms. It can give you some synonyms for single word keywords, but I've found it pretty useless for most multiple-word phrases.
Amazon Books and Other Products option
This one is better suited for ideas on what kind of content people are looking for than for adding keywords to your list. Your results will show you what books match those keywords. These titles (and the chapters titles when you click on the book and then use the Search Inside This Book option that Amazon provides) can give you ideas for what kind of content would interest your visitors.
Or you can use the Refine Your Search option in the left column of the Amazon results page to get ideas about related products or catalogs.
The eBay Collection
This again is more of a monetization tool than a keyword research tool. It can help you see what kind of products people are selling related to your keywords.
WiseNut Search Extension
WiseNut lists related categories at the top of your search results. You may find some of these categories useful keywords. And you can click on the Search This link next to each category to see what categories WiseNut suggests for that keyword as well. Actually, you can keep doing this until you reach a point of diminishing returns.
SurfWax (Out-Of-The-Box!)
This one's a little different and is kind of hit-or-miss. Instead of typing your keyword in the Step 3 box, type a competitor's domain name. Your results will show some interesting info about your competitor's site. But the key is to scroll down to the Site's Focus Words section. It contains a list of the most commonly used words and phrases in your competitor's site. Sometimes you can get some great ideas from this tool. Sometimes not.
Patent Office Head-Knocker
Here's another hit-or-miss tool, suited more to developing product ideas than to keywords. It searches patent offices worldwide for patent applications that contain your keyword. I doubt you'll find many useful keywords from this, but you may get a better idea of what solutions are out there for the problem your keyword addresses.
Next week
This Sunday, I've covered just the keyword brainstorming tools that SearchIt! provides. Next Sunday, I'll show the tools it has for gauging competition for your keywords.
All in all, SearchIt! can find you lots of keywords and much other valuable information. The main thing to remember is to READ THE DIRECTIONS. With as many tools packed into this one interface, you're not going to take one look at it and intuitively understand how to use every one of them. But the directions they give are easy, and they do more than just tell you how to use each tool; they also throw in tips on how to use the results you receive to make your site more successful.
SearchIt! is one of these free tools that really produces value for you. I recommend that you check it out and make it a part of your web marketing arsenal.
Jeff
© 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Jeff Baas, One Stop Web Support
