EBizInsider

Archive for August, 2008

Can The Canned Product Descriptions

We all know by now that running an online business isn’t easy – it takes careful planning, industry research, Internet marketing know-how and tons of skills which you’ll only learn through hands-on experience. With all the time you spend managing your store, who has time to write unique product descriptions? After all, you can just rip them from the manufacturer’s site, and who’s going to notice that tiny paragraph of text you took from their site?

Search engines will notice!

Search engines have been known to reward sites with original, quality content – and penalize those who copy it. Think of it this way:

You’ve got a cold and you walk into a supermarket ready to buy chicken soup. You stare at the shelves only to find there are 50 cans of that same boring condensed chicken soup – and one unique can which has creative packaging and highlights how great chicken soup is for your sniffles. Which are you going to grab?

If you’re a shopper, chances are you’ll notice the distinctive packaging. Likewise, if you’re a search engine spider, you’re going to pick the unique chicken soup can. After all, not only does it set itself apart from all the other cans, but it gives you great information right on the can about how effective chicken soup is in making you feel better.

E-commerce store owners like you know the value of a successful Search Engine Optimization (SEO) campaign. If you’re not listed for keywords related to your store on the search engines results pages (SERPs), how will potential customers find your store and purchase your products? They won’t. But there is another component to successful SEO management. Search engine spiders frown on duplicate content, or content on your site that is taken from another site. Take the time to generate original copy. Don’t run the risk of letting duplicate content adversely affect your keyword rankings.

Writing original, creative product descriptions can attract the eye of search engines and even propel them to rank your site higher for the keywords you’d like to target. Here are some tips for writing effective product descriptions:

• Keep it short. A paragraph of text is sufficient. However, make it original. Remember why you added this product to your offering in the first place. Use the enthusiasm that you felt for this product when you feature it on your site.

• Highlight the product’s features. Think about the product. If you’re writing about chicken soup, talk about how soothing it is and why the noodles in your chicken soup are so tasty.

• Provide the customer with “free information”. Effective product descriptions not only describe the product, they also have take-away value. Tell me how long I should cook the chicken soup for and any great recipes I could use it in.

• Include your keywords. Use keyword research tools like KeywordDiscovery and Wordtracker to find keywords that people actually search for that reflect the nature of your business. For the chicken soup product description, I might target a keyword like “chicken noodle soup”, and use that phrase in the title of the page and about twice in the paragraph describing the soup.

If you have hundreds of products on your site and limited employees, we know it can be extremely time-consuming to write your own product descriptions. Have a good writer in the family, or know an English major who lives down the block? Have him or her read this article, give them a little extra cash, and give them something to do by hiring them to write your product descriptions for you. It’s a good secondary solution. But in fact, if you have the time, no one else knows their products quite like you.

Show the search engines you’re different than all the other sites out there and set yourself apart with unique product descriptions.

Solid Cactus, Inc. has designed or redesigned more than 3,000 e-commerce sites. Solid Cactus is an Inc. 500 company and was named one of the "Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania" in 2006 and 2007.

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Customer Service: What is the Best Medium of Communication?

E-mail might not be enough and a phone call might be too much. So, what exactly is the best way to communicate in different situations? Day to day, we all need to communicate with the world and workforce around us. We all need to keep our schedules synched and we need to keep the world informed and there are so many means to accomplishing this. In other words, the right way to “reach out and touch someone” will change with the specifics of the situation. It is up to you to adjust your method of communication accordingly to be a complete success in business.

Say you’re a successful online retailer that sells clothes for professional women. You’re at the computer when a Live Chat Message pops up. It is your best customer wondering what sizes you have in the black blouse on your homepage. In pops an instant message from a co-worker asking, “Where the heck did you put the packing tape?” As you are typing your answer, you see the window pop up for a new e-mail message. It is your drop shipper changing his pricing, ‘What now?’ You ask yourself. You open the e-mail only to see the charges went up drastically with a side note that they are sorry but shipping costs are unbelievable!! Go figure.

Your customer initiated the inquiry by Live Chat so you respond using that. Simple. You answer your co-worker’s question. That was easy – and fast. Now you sit and ponder how to best voice your frustrations to this company you have been dealing with for the past 11 years. With increasing communication tools, comes increasing demand for response. You need to evaluate what the best medium for communication will be?

• Picking up the phone?

• E-Mailing?

• Instant Messaging?

Depending on the situation, using some or all of your communication tools will work. Just think about what point you are trying to express. E-mails and IMs are a great communication tool, especially if you are including specific instructions or directions. The written word can sum up a situation or a list of tasks precisely. However, written words can be taken the wrong way, especially if you are trying to convey nuance or emotion. A phone call may be the better way to go when you need to express your feelings rather than leave your feelings up for interpretation. As they say, “Others can see you smiling or frowning on the other end of the telephone; they can hear your concerns or just feel your emotion.” Inserting smilies might work – but don’t count on it. They can also be interpreted as too informal or just plain silly.

So – in this situation where you need to discuss a lousy situation, pick up the phone and call your distributor so you can calmly discuss your concerns and hear their immediate response. A live conversation gives you the opportunity to massage a situation where a written message may be taken as cold or misinterpreted altogether. It also gives the person with whom you are speaking a chance to fully explain their side of the issue and “reach out and touch” you, too.

After the phone call, send a follow up e-mail thanking them for listening and summarize the call.

We’re fortunate to have so many tools at our fingertips but remember; with increasing communication tools, comes increasing demand for a proper response – and choosing the method of reply is paramount. When it needs to be specific and clear, write it out. When it needs to reach out and be flexible, to connect at a more emotional level, act accordingly and pick up the telephone. When in doubt about how to utilize them and which direction to take, remember to treat your customers as you like to be treated when you’re a customer.

Solid Cactus, Inc. has designed or redesigned more than 3,000 e-commerce sites. Solid Cactus is an Inc. 500 company and was named one of the "Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania" in 2006 and 2007.

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Toolbox: Keyword Research

To build up the right campaign for your client, you need to have the right keywords. The ten tools below are a progression of activity to simplify your keyword research process.

In the Beginning, There Was General Research

Preliminary keyword research will give you the foundation for your campaign. These are the four tools you’ll need to get started:

Keyword Discovery – This tool acts as a guide in your keyword generation development, as it provides the number of searches for keywords relating to your main keyword research query. This gives you real numbers around which to base your strategies.

Google Tool/Traffic Estimator – Located within Google Adwords, this tool gives you additional options for generating new keyword ideas. Compare advertiser competition, current search volume, last month search volume, and past year search volume trends.

Yahoo!/MSN tool – Yahoo! & MSN employ their own keyword research tools. Find related keywords and monthly search volumes for each engine and then compare your results to those you’ve found in Google. This data can help you decide which keywords will be the most effective.

Wordtracker – Similar to Keyword Discovery, Wordtracker gives the search volume for keywords with the added feature that suggests related keywords to use. This tool can also give you the KEI analysis for keywords, which compares search volume to advertiser competition. With a high KEI, your keywords will have a better chance of ranking well.

The Middle of the Road: Analyze Your Data

Once you’ve selected your keywords, evaluate their performance using tools that will analyze specific keyword data.

Google Analytics – View detailed reports and data regarding your keyword selections. Check your paid keyword performance while seeing what keywords are ranking organically. For each section, you can view keywords, number of pages per visit, average time on site, percentage of new visits and the bounce rate for each keyword. From this, you can choose the keywords that give you the right advantage.

Yahoo! Store Backend – Keyword Finder lies within the backend of the Yahoo! store. It ranks keywords for your site based on the number of conversion and referrals to products. It is a great tool to use in developing your PPC campaigns.

Search Query Reports in Google – Google Adwords allows you to run search query reports that gives you data on search queries that triggered your ads and received clicks. You can tell how your keywords are performing from these results, in addition to gaining insight on additional keywords you’re not using, including potential negative keywords.

Finish Like A Pro with Advanced Strategies

By now you’ve developed a list of solid keywords and have become skilled at using the other tools, but there are still several more resources at your fingertips. Stay on top of the trends with keyword research tools. These advanced techniques in keyword research will keep your campaign going strong:

KeyCompete & SpyFu – These tools provide data on competitor keywords. Search by keyword or domain to get information on both paid and organic keywords. Using these tools, you can find out who your competitors are, then find out the items they’re bidding on. Flesh out campaigns and find the keywords you may have missed. Either way, you’ve got the right advantage.

Compete.com – Although Compete features much of the same keyword data found on KeyCompete and SpyFu, it also contains several other features that set it apart. Compete allows you to find a particular competitor’s keywords, what websites get the most clicks from a particular keyword, and then comparisons on how two sites perform for competing keywords. Use the variety of site analysis tools found on Compete to help you further review and evaluate the traffic coming to your site.

Google Trends – Get insight into broad search patterns and learn what regions of the world are searching for your keywords. An invaluable tool for geo-targeting, Google Trends can help you pinpoint campaign objectives. Google also provides Hot Trends, the 100 most searched keywords for any day.

Effective keywords are crucial to e-commerce success. There are tools available to help you choose and monitor wisely. Be wise. Use them!

Solid Cactus, Inc. has designed or redesigned more than 3,000 e-commerce sites. Solid Cactus is an Inc. 500 company and was named one of the "Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania" in 2006 and 2007.

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Expand your E-Commerce with eBay Listings

Many online e-commerce operators can supplement their current store with listings on eBay, a marketplace transacting over $50B (that’s billion) per year. eBay has huge potential for sellers who have items people want and prices that make them want to bid or buy online. Before you jump in, determine if selling on eBay is likely to be successful for you.

Research!

eBay is a marketplace operating under the laws of supply and demand. To determine if there is demand, room for you in the supply and sale prices that will lead to profits, use one of the many available research tools. The main ones are Terapeak.com, HammerTap.com, and Vendio.com. By running reports on keywords that describe an item you have, you can see how it is performing on eBay.

Rules

eBay has many rules and no single place where you can learn them all. As a result, many sellers with good intentions get warnings or suspensions for breaking rules they didn’t know existed. For example, did you know that it’s against the rules to link to your off-eBay website or even your e-mail address from your eBay listing? Did you know that you can’t sell certain medical devices unless you are properly licensed? Did you know you can’t sell unboxed cosmetics to Germany? It’s important to know the rules and play by them.

Formats

Additionally, you must learn how shoppers find items. Sellers choose among listing formats such as auctions (people bid, time counts down), fixed price (no bidding, fixed price, but time counts down), and Store items (no bidding, rarely shows up in search results, time doesn’t really count down). In addition there are eBay’s new Best Match search results, which are based on an algorithm nobody knows. Search results are now ordered by when an item ends (items ending sooner show up higher) and by things like seller reputation so that sellers with good reputations will be highlighted (and sellers with bad reputations somewhat buried). Confusing? It can be a bit of a learning curve. Educate yourself so that you are armed with strategies like what to list, when, and how.

Part of the “how” is the understanding that most sales on eBay come from search results, and that most searches are for words in the eBay title. For example, if you use a title like, “NEW NWT black leather handbag,” and your shopper types in, “new black leather purse,” you won’t be found unless you also had “purse” in there.

If you sold on eBay more than a year ago, it’s a whole new playing field now. Good sellers rise to the top. Sellers who have DSRs (Detailed Seller Ratings, a new way buyers can score their sellers) that are below eBay’s standards might find their items no higher than page 8 of search results. It’s all about managing shopper and buyer expectations, and giving them a better experience than eBay sellers previously provided.

Design Counts

The design and layout of your listings are more important than ever. For example, if you are seeing low scores for what you charge for shipping, this doesn’t mean that you should lower your shipping charges. It may mean improving communication of your shipping policies, which relates directly to design and layout. Think about your brochure or website. You put certain information and certain design elements in certain places to create a certain experience. eBay sellers can now really see the benefits of upgrading to that type of approach.

Educate Yourself!

Once you’ve decided on eBay, learn about the site from a reliable source. We recommend starting at http://pages.ebay.com/education or attending a conference like RocketPlace http://RocketPlace.com. RocketPlace has a track for those who are new to eBay even if you are not new to retail, online selling, or other areas of e-commerce. Readers can get $25 off registration with code EBIZ.

eBay will also help. The company has a Certified Provider Program http://certifiedprovider.ebay.com, nearly 30 companies who can assist with software, services, design, strategy help, product sourcing and more. These can be your partners in eBay success.

eBay is a fertile field for e-commerce success. But first, learn the rules and learn the territory. eBiz

Debbie Levitt is the Founder and CEO of As Was [http://www.aswas.com], a full-service consulting firm for eBay sellers, specializing in design, branding, marketing, strategy, and operational issues. As eBay’s first Certified Service Provider, As Was produces the RocketPlace conference http://RocketPlace.com. RocketPlace is a twice-yearly conference for eBay sellers at all levels.

Solid Cactus, Inc. has designed or redesigned more than 3,000 e-commerce sites. Solid Cactus is an Inc. 500 company and was named one of the "Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania" in 2006 and 2007.

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Making The Grade: Google Quality Score

How would you grade your Google Adwords account? Targeted campaigns with well written ads, specific landing pages and keyword level bids will have you well on your way to a passing grade. Poorly designed campaigns with generic ads pointing at your homepage will have you sliding toward failure.

Ultimately, the grade that counts is the one that Google gives to your Adwords account, known as Quality Score. Google calculates Quality Score on a variety of factors and then applies it to each of your keywords. In general, as your Quality Score increases, Google will reward you with lower minimum bids and better positioning for your ads. Google developed Quality Score as a way to ensure advertisers are creating the best accounts possible so that users are getting the best search experience possible.

How Google
Determines Quality Score

There are several components that make up your Quality Score. Naturally, Google doesn’t share everything that makes up Quality Score with advertisers. The factors that Google does share are invaluable for improving Quality Score and your overall account performance.

• Clickthrough Rate (CTR) – Your account’s CTR is one of the most important factors in establishing Quality Score. Clickthrough Rate is the number of clicks your ads receive divided by the number of impressions it gets. New ads need time to establish their CTR, so it’s important to set your bids high enough to give Google solid data for determining your Quality Score. An ad on the second or third page of search results is going to have less CTR than an ad appearing on page one. This can have a negative impact on Quality Score.

• Relevance – The keywords in your ad group should tie in directly with your ad, which should tie in directly to your landing page. Divide keywords into different categories and write your ad text to reflect the main theme of your keyword group. If you’re selling iPods, clearly mention them in your ad text, then take the user directly to your iPod product page.

• Account History – If you are a current Adwords advertiser, take a moment to review your past Clickthrough Rates. If your account has performed poorly over a long period of time, a new, well designed ad group may still initially struggle with Quality Score because of the account history. In extreme cases,
it might be worth creating a whole
new account.

• Landing Page Quality – A well structured account won’t perform if it’s sending users to a poorly designed web site. Does your site have fresh, original content? Is it easy to navigate? Are you being transparent in defining your business to consumers? Does your site load quickly? The answers can impact your Quality Score.

Making Quality Score Work For You

Advertisers can find information on their Quality Scores directly on the keyword and ad pages in each ad group. However, it’s not shown by default; click on the “customize columns” link and choose “show quality score” to add the column to your current view.

If your Quality Scores are poor, restructure your account to improve relevancy. Say you were an electronics retailer and you sold televisions, computers and cell phones. A bad set up would be to have keywords for all 3 categories in one ad group, with a very general ad (think: Buy all your electronic gadgets here!!) that linked to your home page. Users wouldn’t be sure if you sold their product because you don’t mention specifics, so you’d probably get less clicks. This is low Quality Score waiting to happen!

A better way is to make each category a campaign and each brand in that category an ad group. Placing keywords in the ad text targets the ads better and sends the user straight to that sub category landing page. It’s a better Quality Score and a better user experience.

Google is trying to help advertisers improve their accounts. When your PPC is well organized, it provides better results for Google users. They’ll find exactly what they were looking for and your campaigns will convert more often. Optimize your Quality Score and you’ll be graduating with honors in no time!

Solid Cactus, Inc. has designed or redesigned more than 3,000 e-commerce sites. Solid Cactus is an Inc. 500 company and was named one of the "Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania" in 2006 and 2007.

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