CAT | Accessibility
23
2 User Experience Tips
0 Comments | Posted by andy in Accessibility, Search Engine Resources, Slipstream News, Webmasters
Christmas is approaching so here is a free tip from Slipstream – share 2 user experience tips:
Build a Text Based Site Map
Large, complex sites should always have a site map. Don’t let your visitors feel their way through the site, if they are lost or confused, a site map will help them find their way.
Use Consistent Navigation
People are impatient, and therefore so are the users of your website. Don’t confuse people by making them learn new site navigation when they have just made sense of your current one. Use obvious and consistent navigation throughout your whole site, and always have a link to your homepage from every page on the site.
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Published by SEO Prof Andy
23
Useful Firefox Plugins for Search Engine Marketing
0 Comments | Posted by andy in Accessibility, Blogging, Hubs, Internet News, Online Ideas - Thinking Outside The Box, Search Engine News
Firefox have now started allowing “Add-on Collections” which is a great way for users of Firefox to share, or make public, their favourite plugins (add-ons) for a give topic.
One of those to already be made available is a “Best of Breed Firefox Collection for SEO and Internet Marketers” from Andy Beard. Andy’s assembled some very useful plugins here in one collection so you could add them all or just view the list and add individually. Enjoy!
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Published by SEO Prof Andy
23
7 Ways SEO Can Help Ecommerce Websites
0 Comments | Posted by andy in Accessibility, Blogging, Online Ideas - Thinking Outside The Box, Search Engine Marketing
Whilst there are clearly many things that SEO can’t achieve, not least on the business side of your online enterprise, it can help you where it really matters, online visibility.
This blog post explores 7 ways that SEO can help your online business succeed. From the obvious to the obscure, you’d be surprised how a little optimisation can go a long way for any ecommerce site.
1) Outrank your competitors – If you’re seen by customers first, then you’re far more likely to convert. SEO will help improve rankings throughout, including for individual product pages, which should help to attract more search visitors.
2) Convert visitors into customers – SEO copywriting not only helps to optimise a product page, it can also help visitors dip into their pockets. A strong call to action and emotive writing throughout can make all the difference.
3) Improve SERPs and on page clarity – A major part of SEO is ensuring that page headings, Meta descriptions and sub-headings are optimised for both search engines and visitors. Therefore it may help you to provide added clarity within SERPs as well as on the page itself. Customers know what they’re looking for, you just have to convince them that you’re the one to buy it from.
4) Identifying site issues – SEO isn’t just about adding keywords to a site left, right and centre, it’s far more complex than that. Any SEO Company worth their salt will work hard to see if there are any duplicate content or page load errors blighting your site. These can be off-putting to customers and undermine hard work elsewhere so it is vital that they’re picked up.
5) Encourage additional traffic streams – Whilst search engine optimisation is primarily targeted at search engines, stating the obvious, often the work that is completed will help open up other avenues of business. For example, whilst developing a link building strategy and carrying out directory submission, SEO provides you with added visibility and may well increase targeted traffic from these additional sources.
6) Attract local customers – One strand of SEO is called Local Search. This is effectively where you optimise a site to be shown in search results for certain geographical localities. So if you have a physical store as well as an online ecommerce presence, this presents a fantastic opportunity to promote both, whilst targeting consumers within your immediate surroundings.
7) Gain targeted traffic – SEO is all about improving rankings and online visibility; with the increase in exposure that you gain, you can attract more eyes, more clicks and more customers. Whilst there’s no finite guarantee, SEO is still the best way of making sure the right people find your site; the first step to creating a successful ecommerce business.
For all of SEO’s many positives, one thing it can’t do is cure the incurable. If your business is failing due to poor service, high prices, an unprofessional website and an overcrowded competitive marketplace, SEO won’t provide a magic cure.
On the Internet consumers can leap from site to site in a matter of seconds. If they like what they see, are happy with the cost, then you may have yourself a customer. But if you can’t back up your online ranking with the same high standard of service, they will simply move on and find somewhere that does.
SEO is, however, ideal for the purposes of helping a good site get better. Making sure that it gets the attention it deserves and boosting its income as a result. SEO is certainly a solution, but don’t expect it to be a miracle cure.
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Published by SEO Prof Andy
Did you know it only takes 8 seconds for your website’s visitors to decide to leave your website?
First impressions really count in business and they can make the difference between your business’ success and failure.
Things that can make visitors hit the dreaded back button are:
- Slow loading speed (caused by big page sizes and bad hosting providers)
- Poor navigation
- Unprofessional design (made in your bedroom type designs)
- Background music (elevator music is not a good idea)
- Flash only sites (some people don’t have the applicable plug ins)
- Site is an obvious ad farm
- Not displaying correctly in all browsers (very common problem with websites)
- Excessive pop up or pop under adverts
- Poor spelling / grammar
- Hard to read text (too small or non standard colours of text or backgrounds)
Are you making any of the above mistakes? If so you know what to do, fix them!
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Published by SEO Prof Andy
When visiting a website today and attempting to use it I was met with a message that said “if the page freezes please use IE”.
Being a Firefox user, I hit the back button, went to a competitor, made my purchase and went about my business.
Any company serious about making it online needs to ensure that their website is accessible by the main browsers as, if not, you can potentially be losing a big percentage of your sales!
Don’t become another statistic and, at the very least, ensure that your site performs in both IE and Firefox as, after all, they account for approximately 93% of browser usage.
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Published by SEO Prof Andy
