Gain more website traffic
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Marketing to women: gain more website visitors... effectively
Increase your website traffic—and convince visitors to buy after they arrive
These days, most customers use the web to research products or services before buying. Getting them to your website and persuading them once they arrive can involve a delicate balance in the use of keywords and coding strategies, among other techniques... but it's difficult for most search engine optimization (SEO) experts to handle both the technical aspects and the writing of persuasive, visitor-friendly text. We can help.
A full 60% of consumers use the internet as their primary way to search for local businesses, according to a 2007 survey by Internet data firm comScore... and 60% of these searchers go on to make a purchase from a local business. The number of online users giving local firms a chance is even higher; MarketingSherpa's 2008 Search Marketing Benchmark Guide says 86% of people searching for local businesses online follow up their search with a phone call or visit. More recent data (February 2010) from BIA/Kelsey and ConStat, meanwhile, shows that 97% of consumers now use online media to shop locally.
It's not just local, either. According to an eMarketer survey of more than 27,500 internet users worldwide, 63% use the web to research a product or service before buying. (Yet half of small businesses spend less than 10% of their marketing budget, according to a Webvisible survey, where people are: online.) And the use of search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing is increasing; according to ComScore, US search volume increased 66% at the core search engines from June 2007 to June 2010 alone.
While women's use of social media is well known, what's less publicized is that women also tend to be especially appreciative users of search engines—sometimes placing online searches ahead of recommendations from friends, sisters, and moms. "In some ways, real-life family and friends have been replaced by search engines as the primary portals for seeking advice," writes Kelley Skoloda of Too Busy to Shop: Marketing to Multi-Minding Women. "In my experiences, women with and without children are using search tools, such as Google and Yahoo!, as the first resource of choice when looking for information or advice. The ability to conduct an online search has emerged as one of the fastest ways for consumers to get the information they want, literally helping women put more time in their day."
Search engine optimizationdefined
Search engine optimization is a constellation of techniques designed to boost your website's rank on Google and other search engines, making it easier for customers to find you online.
Writing keyword-rich content is one of the most powerful components of effective SEO, but there are other tactics as well. This page focuses only on the writing component of SEO.
These are just a few reasons SEO has become a buzz word these days. According to marketing research firm Marketing Sherpa, companies that optimize their website in-house see a 38% jump in traffic; companies that hire SEO experts see a 110% jump.
And now, a website's visual design itself is playing a key role in effective search. Google's new Instant Previews feature, which has increased the satisfaction of users by 5%, thrusts a website's design into the search spotlight, too. Today, visitors may not click on a search result if the preview of the website isn't to their liking, contributing to a decrease in the rank of the affected website.
The Achilles heel of many SEO companies
The typical search engine optimization company focuses much effort on bringing high numbers of visitors to your website through the strategic use of keywords in the content (text).
Unfortunately, the Achilles heel of many a search engine optimization expert comes into view once a visitor arrives at your website and finds keywords repeated excessively and unnaturally throughout the content. Far from persuading her to do business with you, the awkward writing drives her away. After all, the next website is only a click or two away.
We've all seen it—web content like: "We sell pens, black pens, blue pens, red pens, a red pen, the best pens, pens of the highest quality, and pens you'd find at your office supply store but at the lowest prices you've ever seen for pens." (While this is admittedly an extreme example, even a milder version is likely to send someone running—and not to your place of business. Why invest good money in attracting website traffic, only to drive them away when they arrive?)
Sound far fetched? Larry Bailin, author of Mommy, Where Do Customers Come From?, estimates that you have 5 to 8 seconds to convince your web visitors you can help them. A great many things have to be right in order for that to happen... and poor writing isn't one of them.
The smartest search engine optimization experts know this and plan around it. Eric Enge, a regular contributor to Search Engine Land's Industrial Strength column, says, "We don't hire SEO copywriters to work with us and our clients. We hire writers. ... Hire writers and let them write good stuff. Great content, on a site that is search engine friendly, and that is effectively promoted, will always do well."
(Note: writing isn't the only component that makes a website search engine- and user-friendly, though. Intuitive design and navigation also play a significant role... but few SEO experts are trained in this, either. "Very few web developers and search engine optimizers have education, training, or experience in user-centered design," Shari Thurow, author of the Search Engine Visibility
How we can help
What's the solution? While it would be great to offer a free tutorial on writing effective SEO content, in reality writing is a talent that is not easily taught. Like art or design ability, if you have the talent, you can learn new techniques to hone it, but if there isn't an artistic gene in your body, significant improvement is unlikely.
Instead, we offer to you what we can: our SEO writing service. If you're working with an existing SEO company but the content just isn't cutting it from the standpoint of human readers—it's unnaturally packed with keywords or simply isn't compelling enough to prompt your website visitors to want to buy from you—we'll rewrite your website's content so that both goals are achieved.
In a sense, we'll partner with your SEO company to make sure we use the keywords they've chosen in the places they want it to appear, and you'll have the best of both worlds: a high-ranking website (assuming your SEO firm does the rest of its job well, of course) and content that attracts and convinces your prospects.
This is one of the few services we offer to clients who have not also hired us for web design, and we offer it only because we're sympathetic to the cause—we've seen too many frustrated business owners and executives with otherwise well optimized websites! If you'd like our help, contact us today.
