OuterBox’s eCommerce Blog
Pay Per Click Optimization – Reducing Risks and Making Money
As we’ve been analyzing our most successful clients and working on marketing plans, we’ve seen a pattern…. Pay per click advertising. It’s true. If you can optimize your pay per click campaign it can be very successful and sometimes the results are exponential. Spend a dollar and make two I often say. Who wouldn’t take that? That’s a much better return on investment than I’ve seen on any of my stocks in the last few years! Pay Per Click advertising can be scary, so we really do need to take a good look to understand what it’s all about and how we can reduce risk. It’s all about stats and numbers. It’s not a guessing game and if you make it one you’re setting yourself up to potentially lose a significant chuck of cash. Spending $5,000 a month or $200,000 a month can seem out of the question, but it’s not when the ROI (return on investment) is there. In this article we’ll look more in depth on whether PPC (pay per click) is a method of advertising you may be interested in and if you feel it’s a method that’ll work in your business model.
Will PPC work for me? This depends on a few factors. I’ve listed the main factors below:
1) Conversion Rate (what percent of users purchase after visiting) – A typical conversion rate is 1.5% on the low end. We usually use this number.
2) CPC (cost per click) – How much will it cost for each visit
3) Average Sale – How much is the average sale
4) Profit Margin – How much do you make on each dollar purchased
4) Potential Visitors – How many visitors do your keywords allow you to receive. Each market and industry has a certain amount of searches per day.
These 3 variables can usually tell you if you’ll make money. An example is a client’s marketing plan we’ve been working on.
We’ll do this based on 10,000 visitors purchased.
20,000 visitors @ $.50 (CPC) = $10,000.
20,000 visits at 1.5% conversion rate = 300 orders.
300 orders X $340 (average order) = $102,000 in sales.
$102,000 (total sales) X .30 (30% profit margin) = $30,600 profit.
Well, the numbers don’t lie. That’s a lot of money to make. Yes, it was a $10,000 investment but it was a 300% return! This is how you make money. The saying “you have to spend money to make money” is the first thing ever business man and business woman knows. PPC is the perfect example.
The biggest thing to look at is whether or not you have a product with a decent profit margin. If you don’t, any advertising is tough. The next variable we need to take into consideration is the CPC. The cost per click is going to let us know if this is possible. If the most per click was $3 for the industry in the example above, PPC wouldn’t be profitable. As you see, it’s a science and not a guessing game. Guessing is expensive. Guessing loses our clients money.
The next step in pay per click optimization is looking at the conversation rate. A 3% conversion rate in the example above would yield results that would be out of the world. Huge numbers. The numbers we’d all like to see. The way to achieve a conversion rate above and beyond the industry average is to optimize the pay per click campaign. The way this is done is to remove keyword that are not converting, run ads move often during times that visitors purchase the most and be sure clients are being driven to the page on the website that converts on the highest level for the keyword. This is done through constantly monitoring and updating the campaign. Creating powerful landing page for specific keywords that have clear calls of action (COA) is also a very important step.
Remember, spending money to make money is necessary, but spend wisely. If you’d like help in creating a successful PPC campaign, contact us.
Your Website Being Copied – Problem for Duplicate Content?
Before we begin, if you’re not sure what duplicate content is, it’s content or text that’s exactly (or for the most part) the same on multiple websites or multiple pages within a site. Google and the other search engines look down on this as you should be developing unique content that you’ve written yourself and also not be using the same content on multiple pages. Now we’ll get into the post to figure out what happens when someone copies your website.
Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, but I have to admit I’m not thrilled to find the OuterBox website has been copied… multiple times. From web design companies in other countires to whole pages of content, people have stolen our design, graphics and content in various forms. I couldn’t even believe my eyes when I realized a company from across the globe stole our entire website. They used the exact design just by saving all of our graphics and code and then using Photoshop (or paint possible) to change the language on a few of the buttons. Either way, it was our site destoryed to match another language and help another company sell. As frustrating as this is due to the fact that someone stole our hard work, there may be other complications as well above and beyond being very annoying.
Duplicate content can be an issue and it’s very tough to spot other websites from copying what you’ve done. Using a duplicate content checker program we search text we’ve written to see if other website also have the same content on their page. Another easy way to do this (and free) is to go to Google and search for a line or paragraph of your text within quotes. Example: “This is the text you’re checking to see if other sites stole”. The results will bring up any other pages that have this exact text in it. If other people stole your code it means Google may not realize that your content is unique and may not realize that you wrote it. We’ve found however that Google does try hard to figure out who the unique content belong to and they realize people do steal content. Our website for example has been hijacked many times but has not had a major impact at this point. It’s still something we watch our for and we are proactive in always having duplicate content removed.
What to do: Usually contating the website that copied your content and asking them to remove the stolen content will result in them taking it off. Sometimes website in other counties are less responsive, but it’s worth a shot. Another option is to contact the hosting company the website is on and file a complaint of a copyright violation. If done properly and they rule in your favor, they should shut the website down.
I recommend on a somewhat regular basis going through and looking for other site that may have copied yours or specific content. The most important pages will be your main landing pages and the pages that rank the best in the search engines. You want to be sure that people have not copied these. Remeber, as you grow people will try to copy you. Feel flattered, but also fight back! You wrote it and you deserve for it to only be on your website.
The Importance of Online Video – Social Media and Conversions
Lately we’ve been working on and developing multiple videos and rich media presentations for various applications and I felt I’d be beneficial to discuss some of the benefits video can bring to the table and what we’ve seen happening. I believe video is the best way to quickly educate a visitor on your service or product, but it also has a lot of value in other respects.
For many of who run (or advertise) eCommerce websites / online stores or even a serviced based business, it’s not always easy for the owners or partners to meet with each client and give your customers the warm feeling that you’re there for them and you genuinely care about them. Online video is the perfect way to say “hello”, introduce your company and build that personal connection. The personal touch may be a larger benefit to a service based business while product demo may be more powerful for the eCommerce industry.
Working with Germ Guardian on their most recent site launch we not only developed a custom eCommerce website, but also put together a rich media piece that incorporate a presentation and also has video embedded. The rich media piece has been used on their website but will also be featured on Cosco, Lowes, Walmart and other various outlets in which they sell. Within days of the launch we saw the presentation almost double their sales of the featured product. Why? Because a buyer wants to know what they are getting into. They want to lear all they can about the product and we need to make them excited!
Keeping a visitor on your website and engaging them in one of the toughest parts to developing any website and we’ve found that video make it much easier to accomplish that at a high level. Simply offering video on the homepage will often double the time a visitor may spend on that page and in the end increase your conversion rate. As we all know, in the end it’s about the conversion rate! Below are a few tips to consider when developing an online video:
- Be to the point. If the video drag on too long your visitor may lose interest. Say what you need to say or show what you need to show in order for someone to make the decision of buying from you or requesting more information. I believe product demo should be short while a company introduction or overview may be longer.
- Quality is Key. We’ve all seen the attempts at web video that look like they were shot on a web cam. If the video is not as professional or as high of quality as your products or services, don’t use it! Spending the money on professional video recording is the best money spent.
- Brand it well. When shoot and editing the video be sure to include contact information at the end, your website address and of course your logo. Use company colors throughout and be sure there is a call to action (purchasing, calling, filling out a quote request, etc.)
- Share it! Once your video is done it may have a powerful impact on social media sites, You Tube and all over the web. Don’t put the video on your website and no where else. You have it, show it!
What is Web 2.0 and How Does it Work?
Many clients ask about Web 2.0 features as they have heard this phrase before and of course, it sounds like the latest and greatest. In some ways, it is. Web 2.0 can be very complicated or can be basic, clean and easy. Our goal in using Web 2.0, especially within eCommerce design, may be a little different than some of the over-the-top Web 2.0 sites.
How Web 2.0 works in eCommerce design and development: When designing an eCommerce website we look at the user experience. The question we try to answer is “how could the user experience be easier and quicker?” The goal of any eCommerce site is to get a visitor from point A to point B (ordering). If Web 2.0 features are distracting than it can hurt your site and send visitors in the wrong direction. An interesting navigation is great, but would you rather a user play with a navigation for 5 mintutes or learn more about your products? Website visitors have a certain amount of time to purchase an the quicker you can get them through the order process the better! We often use Web 2.0 and AJAX to load content without the page reloading. This is one of the most effective ways to use these features to make the experience easier. When going from one tab to another, for example, the tabs content can reload but not the whole page. When options are choosen on a products (red shirt, green shirt) the product image can change or fade to the next color. These basic, but effective, Web 2.0 features will give you site the edge needed to boost sales.
Flash or Web 2.0? A lot of elements or interactivity that was acomplished through the use of Flash is now accomplish through Web 2.0 development. Sliding navigation, fading images, roating photos and interactive experiences can be developed without the use of Flash. What the benefit? One, Flash is not always installed on all computers. If a visitor does not have Flash installed those elements will not dispaly for the visitor. If your navigation is in Flash, you’ve just lost a customer. Web 2.0 features do not include 3rd party programs to run (Flash does) and it will also allow the search engines to easily read all of the content within your site. eCommerce Search engine optimization is one of our key services and we always want to be sure everything we develop will be found by the search engines.
If you’d like to see some Web 2.0 examples check out Moo Tools. This will show you some basic functions that Web 2.0 Javascript can accomplish: http://demos111.mootools.net/
W3C Validation – SEO benefits, does it matter?
I’m going to say no, but this doesn’t mean clean code doesn’t matter. It can make all the difference!
In my experience and research, both in witting this and reverse engineering hundreds of websites that rank, I’ve seen many top sites that do not pass validation perfectly (without any errors). Now this isn’t to say they are not fully CSS / XHTML driven websites. Many sites that are all CSS based may still fail W3C validation for one reason or another. For example using Google’s Website Optimizer will cause your site to fail validation sometimes.
The main difference in sites that have an advantge in code is they do not use many tables. It may not even mean they don’t have any, but that don’t have a bunch and especially not tables within tables. Looking at code and going line by line to be sure you’re using as little of code as possible is always going to be a benefit.
Why does Google or other search engines care? One, sites with clean code load faster. A faster loading site is going to give a better user experience. Remember, (always) Google wants to display websites that’ll be best for the user searching, in all aspects. Two, I believe Google thinks you probably have a more up-to-date, better developed website than someone with a mess of code. This seems to make sense and I like to think Google thinks logically sometimes (it helps me sleep at night.)
All in all, clean code matters. If you have a few W3C validation errors, life and rankings should go on. For fun try to validate some of the biggest sites. Almost none will pass.
11 Main Reasons for Unsuccessful eCommerce Websites
Often when talking with potential clients they ask, “What are the main reasons eCommerce websites do not succeed?”. There are many variables, some which we (an eCommerce design company) can affect and some that are up to you, the client. Below we’ve outlined important issues you must consider.
1) Products You’re Selling
I’ve talked with people looking to build a website selling a small amount of strange products a wondered, “is there really a large enough marketing for these products”? This is the biggest decision of all when starting an online store. What should you sell? make sure you choose quality products that people want! Even if there are many other websites selling the product (like a name brand shoe), there is still a place for you if you market your website correctly. Make sure online users want to buy the products you’re selling!
2) Pricing
Most important of all! We’ve all heard the stories and seen the websites that we know are making millions and they look very amateur. Although amateur is never good, even at times these people succeed when offering LOW prices. Of course these sites would do even better if they had better design and a solid marketing strategy, but the idea is low prices will attract customers! This is the case in the retail market outside of the web, but even more important on the web when the next store is only a click away. Be sure you’re researched your competitors (or hired us to do it) and that your prices are competitive.
3) Marketing Plan
Be sure you’ve planned how you’re going to market your website. Without a strategy developed, you’ll never make it. Map it out and take time to execute the plan. And remember, if it does not work the first time, tweak it and continue to grow your ROI.
4) Search Engine Optimization
A big part of your marketing plan and business model should be eCommerce search engine optimization. To learn more about SEO, click the “eCommerce search engine optimization” the the previous sentence. The basic idea is moving you to the top of the search engines which allows search engine users to find your website when searching keywords related to your website.
5) Design / General Feel
Of course the look of your website is probably one of the biggest factors in whether or not you’ll be successful. We’ve all pulled up a website and as soon as it loaded hit the back arrow. Why? Because the website looked sketchy. Shady. Like they’ll steal your credit card number and you’ll never get your items. Even though they may be a legitimet company we all get worried when shopping online. The goal needs to be to build a big, strong, trusing brand and look for your online business.
6) Calls to Action
If you’re trying to get someone to add an item to their cart, make sure the button stands out! If you want them to call in, make sure your number is visible! Be sure you’re always telling the user where to go, what to do next and of course, pushing them towards a sale.
7) Content
A good amount of content will allow users to learn more about you and feel more comfortable shopping with you. Whether its an about us page or product details, you must inform your visitors!
8 ) Shipping
Shipping is tough to pay for. We all hate it. Who wants to buy a $35 item that cost $20 to ship? Even if $35 is a great price, it seems like you’re paying another $20 for nothing! Try your best to lower shipping prices and offer free shipping as much as possible. Let me stress that again, FREE shipping. (You’ll sell WAY more.)
9) Promotions
Run promotions! Give someone a reason to buy today! Even if you’re not offering a great deal, make it seem like it! I know many website who always have a 15% off sale. That’s because the set their price 15% higher and now always make their items seem like they are on sale. Easy enough.
10) Product Photos
This is a big one! As the old saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. If a visitor does not want to read multiple paragraphs they can learn about your product by looking at detailed photos. Be sure your users can zoom and see the details. If your product warrants multiple angles or a shot of the back, show it!
11) Have an edge!
Be unique. Something must make your company different. Whether your products are organic or you’re connected to a charity, let people know!
Aged Domain Names – How Important? Very.
Recently we’ve spent some time researching aged domain names after finding a combination of tools that allowed us to pick up some good ones. A few of the domain purchased were ClevelandAgency.com and Designs2020.com . One of the tools I recommend using to find domain name age would be http://www.webconfs.com/domain-age.php
Running a search on this site will show you that ClevelandAgency.com is 9 years and 9 months old, while Designs2020.com is 8 years 6 months old (As of Sept. 2009). We also picked up CoolDJgear.com which is 8 years 6 months old. Now you may be thinking, how much did these cost? The answer would be the same as any other domain, new or with age. No one owned these so we purchased them through Name Secure (similar to Go Daddy only less expensive) and now we own these gems.
So, what’s the big deal? Well, someone owned these before us and for whatever reason, they never renewed them. What happened is Google saw these existed 8+ years ago and now still considers them to have “age”. Domains with age will typically rank above brand new domain names. Think about it…. would you rather visit a website that has been around for years or was created last week? Chances are the site created last week may not have the same wealth of information and as strong of a brand as the site (or company) that has been around for years. Whether you think this way or not, as of now, Google does. These old domain names make ranking higher much easier.
A few test show how valuable aged domain names are. You’ll see by looking at the few domains we listed above that we’ve added a few paragraphs of text and set up inexpensive hosting accounts for these sites. As of Sept. 2009 they are all just 1 page websites with a paragraph or 2 of text. Even though none of these rank for major keywords, with the minimal amount of content they have, they do rank.
Why does this matter? If you’re building a new site, the last thing you want to do is sit in the Google “Sandbox” after it’s developed. The Sandbox is known to hold websites and not let them rank (in basic terms) for an amount of time until they prove themselves. A brand new domain name is not going to rank. That’s just reality. We recommend trying to find a name that someone use to own, and now they don’t. You can even use the Wayback Machine to see what the website use to be. I believe a website that use to have a good amount of content and was possibility a respectible site will rank better than one that was just a landing page. In consulsion, take time and find an aged domain. You’ll results much quicker! (if you have to pay someone to find you one, do it!)
Hosted eCommerce Solutions – Fries With That?
The significant differences between hosted and custom eCommerce website solutions
As eCommerce website design evolves the industry has separated into hosted and custom eCommerce website solutions, both very different from each other. As we explore the differences take into consideration what your goals are for the website your having built in respects to traffic, sales and longevity. We’ll help you in making the correct choice that’ll best fit your goals and budget.
What are hosted eCommerce solutions?
Hosted solutions offer an easy-to-start eCommerce website solution that you can usually get up within a few days, possibility a week or two if you customize the design. The advantage to these premade solutions is they usually cost less to start, which is the main attraction. Aside from this you don’t have to worry about maintenance, updates (assuming your solution of choice updates often) and making sure everything is set up correctly. Again, this can depend on the solution, but since hosted solutions are premade they are often stable and don’t require much attention.
What are disadvantages of hosted solutions?
The main disadvantage with a hosted eCommerce website is that the customer does not own of the website and the code behind the site cannot be modified, making functionality customization nearly impossible. The eCommerce features that come with the website are what you get and custom features cannot be added. Now, this is not always a problem if you’re running a basic store and don’t need a website that offers features that are unique. If you want a website that stands out, looks unique and would allow a web designer to make modifications, a hosted solution is probably not the way you want to go. For a very basic site with a stand eCommerce structure and flow, a hosted solution may work. But, if you want the ability to grow the website and make updates in the future, you’ll probably need to move to a custom solution. If you anticipate this happening it’s better to start with a custom eCommerce website which will allow your website to grow without it needing to be completely redesigned.
SEO for Hosted Solutions – The Struggles
A problem we’ve run into multiple times is the task of performing eCommerce SEO on a hosted solution. We’ve found, nearly 99% of the time, we’ve very limited in what can be changed. Of course changing and tweaking code in the website is essential in the SEO process. The results we’ve seen optimizing hosted solutions have resulted in significantly lower traffic and sales. Also, without the ability to modify code variance testing becomes very difficult. An example of variance testing would be creating multiple versions of the same landing page or product page and comparing statistics on which performs at a higher level. Without the ability to modify code and all design elements creating these pages is usually not a possibility or is very limited.
Custom Developed / Open Source eCommerce Website Solutions
Custom eCommerce websites will allow you, or your developer, to make any changes to the website, given their knowledge or programming, design and SEO. This is an obvious advantage but of course a custom solution also takes more time to set up, additional programming hours and often no type of template solution is used. In the end you’ll pay more upfront for a custom website but you will not have monthly charges as high as a hosted solution. We’ve seen multiple times clients paying over $2,000 a month (without SEO!) for their hosted solution when they have high traffic and sales. Your custom eCommerce site also creates a high-end feel and in the end will provide the functionality you need without the clutter that you don’t. Not to mention you can update it and make changes as you need. Want to try a new checkout system? Not a problem. Need to import and integrate 50 different manufacture databases? Again, not a problem. If custom fits your budget, it’s the way to go and no one will ask you “Do you want fries with that template?”.
Not Your Momma’s Brick and Mortar
Applying the basics to selling online
Good aesthetics and good information are two necessary components to reaching an audience that is constantly bombarded with every kind of advertisement known to man. You have heard that before, right? Do you really believe it? In today’s world of e-commerce and the continual growth of online business, I should hope that people understand the importance of a good homepage, and a good website all together. However, just in case you do not, here are a few things to keep in mind.
1. Your homepage = your storefront.
Let’s pretend instead of selling things online, you have an actual brick-and-mortar location. You would first have a sign in front of that location, or in the window, or something, right? You would try and make it as nice-looking as possible, right? You would not have snapshot images of vacuum cleaners in the windows of your pet supply store, right?
Your website is the same. People tend to think that because a website is cheaper to host than having overhead costs, they can skimp on the aesthetic as well. This is a mistake if you want to make any money from your website, and if you do make money from this, you are certainly not maximizing its potential. It kills me when an ecommerce site looks outdated, sloppy, or unorganized. Your site should only look like that if you are trying to sell outdated, sloppy, or unorganized items. However, if you are trying to sell nice items worth buying, you need to look like you know what nice is! Otherwise, you will just look like an amateur trying to sell a product you know nothing about. Shoppers need to be TOLD and SOLD on what looks good and you are not sellin’ anything looking like that!
2. Your online store = your floor layout.
An online store has navigation links guiding shoppers through a site to eventually find what they want and buy. A site without good navigation is like a store with no particular sections dividing their different products, no signage to tell the shopper what they are looking at, blank boxes with white labels but no way to open the box to see what is inside, and a hidden cashier counter…just in case the shopper actually made it to the buying stage. People are busy. If they cannot find something easily, quickly, and pleasantly, they will go elsewhere….because they know they can.
3. The information you give your users on your website = your sales associates.
Bad information does not help the user buy. Good information, much like a helpful sales associate, answers all of your customer’s questions and guides them to the buying stage, instilling confidence in your customer that they know exactly what they are getting and what they are getting is great. The information includes options on how many items per page the visitor can view, good product details, product descriptions, reviews, related items, availability, shipping information, sizing information, and high-quality images with multiple views and ZOOM, for goodness sake!
Imagine a clothing company whose product display in their brick-and-mortar store is just like the bad images on their online clothing store. You walk in and want to see the shirt that they have displayed in their storefront window. The sales associate takes the shirt off of the rack, takes five large steps away from you, turns back around and holds it up for you to look at it. You aren’t allowed to come closer to look at it. You are not allowed to reach out and touch it. The sales associate will not turn the shirt around for you to see the back and she will not hold it closer to you for you to see any details. Oh, and you cannot try it on. See my point? You would never buy that shirt from them. You would go somewhere else, where you can be sure you know what you are buying.
Never underestimate the power of aesthetics and good information. You are trying to EARN business. Earning it is the only way you are going to get it. To earn it, you must be able to tell AND show them why they need it and what they are getting. An E-Commerce Website is not yo momma’s brick and mortar store, but many of the old rules still apply. Don’t forget those basic building blocks…and don’t forget to make them pretty!
Contact us at OuterBox Solutions for help and more information.
Become a ‘Social’ Butterfly
Social media has quickly become a key element to any successful marketing strategy for online businesses. While most people think that sites like Facebook and Twitter are for only for college kids, they can be used as effective marketing tools to help your company reach out to a much larger audience. Social media can help complement your newly launched eCommerce site, helping your business build links and network throughout the Web.
Twitter has quickly become an excellent tool for businesses to utilize information about their products and services. Major news stations like CNN use Twitter as a way to quickly post news stories and information for “followers” to receive via their iPhone or BlackBerry.
Online businesses for example could post tips about subjects relating to your business, field questions and answers from followers of your Twitter page to talk about your products, or post general information about sales and promotions. It’s all about making connections that help grow your companies’ network.
While creating a blog is an integral part of keeping customers up-to-date on your company, it also gives them the opportunity to bookmark your site from a variety of sources via RSS feeds. Sites like Digg and Del.icio.us utilize the bookmarking of blogs and a site’s newest content. It all makes it easier for customers to track new content, while being able to share that content with others–which will help increase your site’s rankings in the long run. Giving visitors the option to bookmark your blog will help ensure that they will keep coming back to read more.
Facebook is another way to position your company on the Web by creating a profile that showcases your business–another way of posting current information about your business; it also gives you the opportunity to advertise throughout the site. LinkedIn is a more professional, resume-driven alternative to Facebook, giving you a chance to create a professional profile about your company and your employees.
There are too many social media sites and programs to mention here, so you’ll have to investigate what is the best route for your company to go. In short, social media is all about building links and connections to add to your business’s online customer base. Social media is just another way to help you improve the amount of traffic coming to your site on a daily basis, giving visitors the opportunity to stay connected to your site without being on it.
The best part of social media is that it is completely free, and there are no strings attached. When you used correctly social media can be a powerful marketing tool that will help your business grow and reach out to a much larger base than you could ever imagine.
