Lead Conversions – Metrics Part Three

I’ve saved the best and most important metric for the last post this week. Lead conversions or requests for information coming from your website (from organic search placement) are typically the top metric that top level executives watch to determine if their website is successful. Website design is important but what really drives lead conversions is the content, communicated transparency, and culture of the business.

What you say, how you say it, and the depth of experience in your field that you show on your website works to communicate that you care about your potential customers and effectively explains how you can help them. By communicating your business culture in your content, you differentiate yourself from others in your industry and create a position of authority that search engines typically will reward with organic placement.

It’s great to have a pretty website, but if that website does not make your phone ring and you don’t get regular information requests from your contact form, it is key to take a very close look at your website content.

  • It may be that you simply do not have enough content to make an impact on your potential customers.
  • Your content may be too technical or too simplistic to resonate with your audience.
  • There may be no call to action to encourage a reader to take further action.
  • You may communicate too many specifics that really should be detailed later in a contract and not in the initial interaction.
  • Your message may not be clear as to what you offer and can do.
  • Features and benefits may not be clearly detailed setting your product or service apart from similar offerings.

Periodic review should additionally be done on your website content. What was great and resonated with your audience five years ago may need updating to reflect new services, interests, and trends. There is simply no reason why your website should not be working hard for you. If your’s is not, it may be time to check with us for a website review.

Why Is My New Website Not Appearing on Google?

You’ve launched your new website and are waiting for the phone to ring with new customers wanting to place orders for your products and services, but nothing is happening. Then you go and do a number of searches on Google to see where your website is placed and your site simply does not appear, not even for searches on your own business name or for you domain name! What’s going on! How can you sell if no one can find you!

For newly launched websites, this is a huge issue; you are in essence invisible on the web until someone else links to your website. In fact, you may not even appear in Google’s search index until you have a few other websites linking to you.

Here’s what a newly launched website should do to counteract these problems:

  1. Although an XML site map is not crucial for your inclusion in Google’s search index, it certainly does not hurt to register one on new launch with Google and Bing. Just to make sure they know you are new and what your page URLs are.
  2. Make sure your web designer has linked to your website both in their blog and on their website to aid in getting search engines to know your new website exists. Spiders will follow links from your designer’s website to discover yours.
  3. Consider creating a Blogspot.com blog with a few blog posts talking about your new website and pointing to the home page as well as several inside pages. You don’t need to keep this off site blog updated, but are using it initially to just make sure you have some links from outside sources pointing to your new website.
  4. Make sure to set up accounts at Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Make sure to list your new website URL. Again you don’t have to keep these sites updated for more than several weeks if you don’t have the time, money, or desire, but they will be very important initially to search engine discovery right after you launch your website.
  5. Do a press release and send it out using PRWeb.com. I feel that this is one of the most important steps, although I have listed it last. By doing a press release to announce the launch of your new website, not only are you telling the world, but you are creating hundreds of links that all point to your brand new website.

Want to know more about how to promote your new website to get web visibility fast? Visit us at www.mccordweb.com to find out how we can help you.

Does an XML Site Map Help or Hurt Organic Placement

If you can’t include an XML site map on your website for some reason will this hurt you with search engines? My unequivocal answer is NO.

Although we do recommend the creation and registering of an XML  site map with both Google and Bing (by using their Webmaster Control Panels), to not add one is not a serious blow to your potential organic placement on search engines.

Search engine spiders do not need your created XML site map to spider your website. They will by their very nature spider your home page and then follow the text links in your home page to auto discover the other pages in your website. If your website navigation is not text based or is encapsulated in images or Flash then text links to your key inside sections as well as your own website HTML based site map should be provided on your home page. These links will typically appear in the footer. Doing so insures that you feed search engine spiders a way to travel and discover the pages in your website.

So if you can’t create an XML site map for some reason for your website all is not lost. Just make sure that you have created text links in your home page content that point deep inside your website.

Google is Paying to Watch Your Web Surfing

Google is immersing themselves into market research with a new program they announced on February 10th called Screenwise. You can read the announcement here. Additionally it was reported on the web that Google has just recently bought some new domain names reflecting their strong interest in expanding Screenwise.

“Google said, “Through the new Screenwise initiative, US users aged thirteen and over will be paid up to $25 in Amazon gift cards to have their web site behavior monitored. Additionally, those panelists aged over 18 will be automatically entered into a monthly sweepstake, with a chance to win prizes such as a ‘luxury’ vacation to the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, or Cancun; a variety of electronic goods; tickets to events; or downloads.”

“Google says it will use feedback from panelists to learn how people use the Internet, in order to offer them better products and services.”

Interesting so now if you are willing to allow Google to watch your every move on the Internet, they’ll pay you a token amount. The information that Google will be gleaning from observing user activity will surely impact results and new service offerings. Much of the intelligence will be used to fine-tune social programs and AdWords advertising.

I’ll look forward to seeing what new products Google will roll out this next year as the feedback comes in.