Going to SearchFest ’08 in Portland? I am. I’ll be speaking on website architecture. The SEMpdx blog has just posted a mini interview with Stoney deGeyter (that’s me, I just wanted to get my name in the link!). Check it out and let me know if I’ll be seeing you there!
Audio feed[audio:http://www.polepositionmarketing.com/emp/blog-audio/usability-analogy.mp3]
Every day, we get businesses coming to us looking to improve their search engine rankings. They want to talk about an SEO campaign, but one quick look at their site and we see that SEO may not be the right approach for them. Usually in these cases, the site needs a complete usability makeover.
These businesses, however, don’t want to discuss website architecture, visitor usability, or even making their site search engine friendly. They want rankings and want them now.
Audio feed[audio:http://www.polepositionmarketing.com/emp/blog-audio/eo-enlightenment1.mp3]
Many SEOs obsess over search engine algorithmic details. They spend hours looking at the minutest of details hoping to achieve the perfectly “optimized” web page. In the process they often forget that the web page can’t just be optimized for search engines, but must also be optimized for human visitors.
Optimizing for spiders and visitors are both important for a web site’s overall success. But I don’t think they are necessarily equally important. In order for the search engines to be able to index and rank a site, a “search engine friendly” website architecture must be implemented. And while having a search engine friendly site is good, it must not be accomplished at the expense of the visitor. At best, it must complement the user friendliness of the website. At worst, it must be invisible.
Audio feed[audio:http://www.polepositionmarketing.com/emp/blog-audio/dissatisfy-visitors.mp3]
Since creating a website that is “user friendly” is often difficult and time consuming, I thought it would be fun to explore a few ways to create a dissatisfying user experience on your website. Unlike the dozens upon dozens of things that go into creating a website that provides a positive visitor experience, one that creates an atmosphere of trust and is likely to improve conversion rates, creating a dissatisfying experience can be done fairly easily in just a few steps.
In fact, while I’m sure there are just as many things that can derail a visitor on a website, there is no need to implement more than a few. We have found that any one of the four things listed below will do the trick!
Product pages maintain considerable strategic importance for ecommerce websites. Your visitors enter your product pages not only with an intention to buy something (the most desired end action) but to also learn, research and compare what you have against a competitor. In addition to this, product pages also serve to help buyers find relevant pricing information, delivery costs, warranty and/or return policies and a whole lot more.
To be effective, your website must implement product pages that are able to satisfy each of your visitor’s needs. But information isn’t enough either. While providing necessary information, these pages must be convincing enough to entice your visitors to move through the purchase process — on your site rather than on a competitor’s website.
Along with the About Us page, your Contact Us page is one of the most important and crucial pages on your site to get right. In fact, the Contact Us page could be considered the absolutely most important page. Even if the rest of your site succeeds in the goals, if visitors fail to find the information they need to contact you then you will bring their shopping experience to a screeching halt.
Shoppers are often hampered if they don’t feel they can get a hold of a real person or are limited in their contact options. With all other areas of the site working, a bad contact us page may cause someone to think twice about purchasing with you altogether.
For many sites, visitors that find their way to your About Us page tend to have a somewhat higher conversion rate than those that don’t. Potential customers that do visit this page are showing a bit more than a casual interest in what your site has to offer and are looking for additional signals of trust.
The About Us page can play an important functional role in the process of providing visitors comfort and assurances in your company and your ability to meet their needs. Here you can provide specific information that visitors both expect to find and that will help them feel “safe” with the offerings you provide.
The first session of the last day was site clinic, hosted by Shari Thurow and Matt Bailey. In this session, audience members’ web sites were reviewed from a usability and SEO standpoint. The site clinic brought about many good tips and ideas:
Day 2 began in a non-exciting way as Ask.com CEO Jim Lanzone answered questions during the keynote conversation. I originally had been looking forward to this interview – I’d never heard a major company CEO give a presentation. Much to my surprise, the interview seemed to be a bit more of an advertising commercial for Ask than anything else. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ask.com. From a usability and creative standpoint, it is by far the greatest search engine available (though I rarely use it.) In any event, the keynote conversation lacked much in the way of usefulness.
Clinics Track, Thursday 12:30 – 1:45 PM
Usability & SEO: Two Wins for the Price of One
Moderator: Gordon Hotchkiss, President & CEO, Enquiro Search Solutions
Shari Thurow, SEO, Omni Marketing Interactive
Matthew Bailey, President, Site Logic Marketing
(Don't wait for the movie!)
E-Marketing Performance: Effective Strategies for Building, Optimizing & Marketing Your Website Online
