A simple concepts, and a bit of review…  Chances are, you’ve placed some content on your web site or blog and made it available for your users to download.  If that is the case, I’m guessing you believe your content to be useful to your audience (and it probably is).

Wouldn’t it be helpful to know exactly how many times your content is, in fact, downloaded?    Here is the simple code to install on your site (assuming you are using Google Analytics) to track the each download event of each file:

onClick=”javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/downloads/_custom‘); ”

This code is placed inside the href tag and after the link file name.   The portion noted in red above ‘custom’ is your way of differentiating between types of content you may offer up on your site for more granular tracking.  (eg. white_papers, case_studies, etc.)

So a completed link might look like this:

<a href=”http://www.yourwebsite.com” onClick=”javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/downloads/white_paper’); “>

Things to think about if your download counts are low:

• Is the document download link strategically placed on the page or hidden within the content?
• Is the document link labeled appropriately (might consider a call-out)
• Is the actual landing page where the download is offered well structured and search optimized?
• Is the landing page buried several clicks deep on your site?

These are some areas for trial and error to improve visibility of your downloadable content.  Try to modify one of all of the above to improve exposure to your content.

Our web content should serve a purpose for our audience – that being said, we need to know how it’s performing.

Search Keyterms (or key words) are still a primary focus in web site search engine optimization and do continue to contribute to higher search result ranking.  While search rank should not be a primary focus, it should one of many internet marketing goals.  However, there is no point in achieving high search result ranking if the landing pages that are ranking well are doing nothing for your website conversion rate.

To put it another way (and to be blunt), if your content stinks and your landing pages lack the organization or information your visitors want or need, all the rank in the world will do absolutely no good for you.  In fact, it will drive business elsewhere.

If you are using Google Analytics (or other similar analytical tools), you should be watching this information and making adjustments accordingly.  Let’s review a real-life example. Customer “X” sells a particular type of gloves online.  Of the top 20 performing web site keyterms, 6 of them are related to a paticular type of glove which is not selling well.  Out of those 6 search terms, 5 of them rank in the top ten positions in Google (or display on Google Page 1 search results).   When looking at sales, these gloves are just not selling.   This lends to the question… why?

Why are these gloves not selling if most of our web traffic is coming from those search terms and they have great Google search rank?

We dug in a bit deeper and checked out the keyterm bounce rate for Google traffic and the associate landing page specific bounce rate.  Here’s what I found…  The average bounce rate for those 6 keyterms was over 80% – Not Good.

The above graph is showing those top 6 performing keyterms and what the individual bounce rates are for each.  With that average bounce rate being almost 84%, we quickly realized there was an issue with the content related to those search terms.  To take it to the next level we can dig in to each of those keyterms and review the top landing pages for each.

The above graph shows that the top performing keyterms from the first chart has 2 associated landing pages.  We can then dig into those associated landing pages.  In this real life example, we learned there was a gross pricing error on their site, which made their gloves appear twice as expensive as their online competition.  No wonder they were not selling anything!

We were able to take real data and make sense of the fact that even though search results were fantastic, the site just wasnt working.  The product descriptions had errors that were causing customers to go elsewhere to buy the same product.

If your bounce rates are high it could mean several things (Read “Does Your Website Have Static Cling?“).  If it’s a product page, review the product description, pricing, shipping information.    If it’s not a product page, review the page layout and content.  Find out what your users are looking for when searching on those related terms and adjust your page content accordingly to improve conversions.

Please don’t ignore your bounce rate.  There is so much it can tell you about your web sites performance if you only just listen to what it’s telling you.

I must confess it’s been too long since my last post – but work is work and there’s much to be done.  Today I’m working with a customer on writing product descriptions for their site, and what I am reminded up is often times when we work with our customers, we tell them to do this and that to help sell their products online, but we don’t always explain the logic behind what we are telling them.

I had to take a breath to and explain the why’s of all the what’s I was requesting of them – and in hind sight it’s a practice I will introduce with all clients to give a clear picture of how to write effective product descriptions for your small busines web site (or really any web site content).  The basic concept to remember is this:

If we write FOR Google, the web site content is RIGHT for Google.

What I mean by this… There are several key elements of content related to your product.  Consider your users and how they will search for your products.  Know your search competition and keyterms that you will target and work those into all the key areas on your product page.

If we are talking about a database driven eCommerce site – then there are probably some standards in place on how your products are organized.  You may not realize it but each component of your product related data in your database can affect how your products get indexed and/or ranked.

Start with your web site’s product categories:  If you have many products and they are broken into categories – name your categories in such a way that Google can sort them out, and your users can find products easily on your site.   I’ve seen product categories that make absolutely no sense that not a living soul would search on.  Know your search terms and think about them when writing your product categories logically.

Name your products accordingly in your database:   I’ve seen many cases where a customer provides product data for upload into their web site’s product database and the product title is merely a SKU number that means nothing to nobody.  Generally speaking I don’t recommend using a SKU in your product title.   Your product name – again – should include the terminolgy that your users will find your products under.  Consider also – if you are uploading your products into Google Base (Google’s shopping engine), product names need to be carefully considered.    

I should note that in some circumstances it is necessary to use the SKU.  You may have a site that sells replacement parts for machinery where people WILL search by a part number or SKU.  In that situation you absolutely want that SKU in the product name.  

Next consider your product images:  If your product images are named product.jpg or abc123.jpg what the heck is Google going to do with that?  If your product images are names using search terms that relate to your product title, then Google is more likely to pick them up in Google Images also.  Your Alt-Tags should also be written in such a way to compliment your image title and product name – using variations of the same keyterms that you are looking to get ranking on.  In watching traffic for your website, using tools like Google Analytics, you may find yourself suprised by how much traffic comes from Google Images.

Adding product documentation helps:  If you have supporting documentation for whatever product you are selling, be sure to include a download link for that documentation.  Consider also, when naming your documenation that you don’t name it sales_presentation.pdf or something generic – AGAIN – use your web site’s relevent keyterms based on your keyword research.  I’ve had great luck in getting documentation indexed in Google, driving traffic to some of the small business websites I market.

Write a GOOD product description:    Your product description needs to be written in a such a way that Google can determine what that specific product page is all about, in order to get it indexed.  If there is no product description, it doesn’t say much about your product (literally).  Sometimes it can be challenging to write a good product description because frankly there isn’t always a lot to say, but you can work in related product you recommend, look for ways to use multiple variations of your keyterms for that product, and write for Google.  Most people know what they are looking for before they hit your product page, and chances are they are not reading the description.  Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t write it.  You definitely need to write it.

In short (ok maybe not so short) – these are tips for writing effective product content for your eCommerce website or small business website.  They’ve proven effective for me, and I’ve been fortunate to gain ranking on highly competitive keyterms using these techniques.

Keep in mind, there is a whole internet marketing plan in place for any given small business website I market, and each unique to their needs.  These plans also include things like online press releases, email marketing campaigns, social media activities, linking strategies and so much more than one can list in a short paragraph.  

You want Google to see your site like it’s looking at it through 3-D glasses.  It needs to stand out, and Google needs to know that the content you provide is relevant, and your products are important enough to gain that organic ranking we all work for.   Work all the steps of your marketing plan to make your site jump off the page at Google – and your users or potential customers will have a much better chance of finding you.

Write FOR Google = RIGHT for Google… Remember that. Everybody will tell you differently, I tell you this is what works for me and for the small business websites I market.

One thing I’ve learned in marketing web sites over the years is often times what you think will be your biggest selling product, may not sell well online.  In addition, often times I have clients who have this product they sell that they think wont sell and it ends up being their hotest online product and opens up a line of business they never expected.

When I do an intial meeting with a client to review a marketing plan and kick things off, there is some digging to be done.  Generally when I get a site from our production team, all products are added, but sometimes clients don’t add all their products and you have to figure out where those gaps are.  You may here something like this….

“I also sell a thingamajig but I’m not going to sell it online because it just doesn’t sell, or I don’t think people will buy them online.”

I always challenge that because what harm is there in putting all your products online.  You may find that the ones you thought would never sell end up being your top selling items, which can then lead to add-on purchases of the items you expected to sell.

I encountered this situation with a client selling a customized gourmet items for which they are getting quote requests.  This item, we did not think would be a hot seller, but as a result of the interest, we are rebuilding their online approach to enhance the user experience and make this product easier to buy.  

Each product type you offer gives you new avenues to drive traffic to your site through separate groups of keyterms and unique ways to optimize your web site.

Another way to approach this is to take a look at your product offerings and see where your competition is.  Your main product offering may have huge competition online, making it difficult to gain organic ranking, and challenging for people to find your product.  In this situation, focus on your niche products that are easier to get ranking on.  Start there and then continue working the marketing channels on your main product lines.  As your niche products begin to rank, and subsequently sell, chances are your main product offerings will gain popularity and ranking as well.

Embrace those surprises when they happen, they can open doors to new markets and new customers you never thought you’d develop relationships with online!  That’s the beauty of the internet.  Everyone is on the market for something, and someone is looking for your thingamajig!

SEO back in the day was the latest and greatest thing.  People realized they could improve their search engine ranking through optimization of their site.  Everyone jumped on the SEOwagon.   It started with meta-tags, and people packing their sites full of invisible keywords to get ranking.  You remember – white text on white background that nobody but the search engines could see.  That just doesn’t fly anymore.