What You Don't Know About Google Can Hurt You

Making the Most of Google's SE

The world of e-commerce depends on Google. Even though there are more than 4,000 search engines available, including the biggies like Yahoo, AltaVista, Ask Jeeves, etc., the name people know is Google. Even the word itself has become part of everyday speak, as in, "Let me Google that." (a verb) or "I want the Google on our competition." (the complete picture). So, as a site owner or designer, it pays to get the Google on Google - more specifically, how potential visitors to your site might use this mighty SE with over 100 billion pages currently in its data base

In addition, Google offers a lot of search options that will enable site owners to see their sites the way the Googlebot sees them. Something as simple as revising your site's title tag can make a significant difference in how Google's SE picks you up, views your site, ranks it and, subsequently, places your URL on its SERPs - all in one-tenth of a second.

Most users simply log on to the Google site, enter their query (in the form of key words), hit the enter key and wait to see what pops up. This is called a default search and it will deliver all sites in which the entered keywords appear as part of the SERPs available to the user. In other words, the user will get pages and pages of search results that are only marginally associated to his or her search topic.

By using common symbols, the more sophisticated users can narrow their searches, isolating those sites that are truly relevant. For example, by adding a minus sign (-) in front of a key word, Google's SE will NOT show the results of that key word. So, let's say you're looking for a recipe for apple pie. The last thing you want is 118 useless SERPs about Apple, the company. So, you might enter: 'apple pie -Apple computer' to eliminate pages of information about Steven Jobs. The tilde (~) tells the SE to search for the entered keywords and synonyms of the keywords. Add quotes to key words and only pages in which quotes appear around the key words will be delivered to the user's screen.

All of these basic search techniques improve the quality of search results for users, making users happy and Google shareholders even happier. But then there are Google Search operators - in fact, specified keywords that the SE recognizes as directions rather than words to be searched. And some of these operators will be extremely useful to the owners of e-commerce sites by enabling them to optimize their sites while conducting e-espionage on competitor sites - and it's all free.

Here's a for instance: want to find out how many inbound links are pointing to your site? Try this: link:www.yoursitename.com. Obviously, type in your site's name where it says 'yoursitename'. You'll get SERPs with all URLs pointing to your site. And as most site owners know, quality, non-reciprocal links are like gold when it comes to improving your PageRank. You can also identify links that aren't helping your site. In other words, this Google tool allows you to control inbound links - an ability that's grown in importance now that Google heavily weighs inbound links in its ranking algorithm.

Want to know what the competition is doing? It's simple enough. All you have to do is enter: related:www.yoursitename.com and sites that are, in some way, related to yours, will appear. Not only is this a good means of tracking competitor activities, it's also a great way to find sites that might be interested in some link swapping - always a good thing, especially for the owner of a small or brand new site.    

Now, turning to the matter of SEO and how Google's search services can help determine if your site is, indeed, fully optimized. Check this out: try using the search engine to see how your site ranks when the SE is instructed to find keywords only in the title of your page. Enter: allintitle: fruit baskets (of course substituting any of your keywords in place of the example keywords, fruit baskets, unless you're in the fruit basket business). Chances are, if your site's PageRank tanks on this search, a bit of tweaking of your title tag just might be in order. If your title tag reads 'Rosie's Little Bit of Home", i.e., no mention of fruit baskets, your visitor traffic will increase by simply adding the words 'fruit baskets' to your title tag.

You can also check out your site's level of optimization by conducting the following Google searches:

1. To have Google search for keywords - your keywords - in the text of the site, type in:

            allintext: fruit baskets

This search will identify if keyword density and placement are sufficient to make the Google SE sit up and take notice. 

2. To ask Google to search for your keywords in URLs only, type in:

            allinurl: fruit baskets

A search of URLs will reveal sites similar to yours (since all sites will have the same key words as part of their address, i.e. fruitbaskets.com, yourfruitbasket.com and, of course, the ever-popular fruitbaskets'r'us.com. If these sites are ranking higher than your site, check out what the competition is doing better than you. E-espionage is legal, so do a little spying on the competition and learn from them.

3. How about a search of the anchor text of all sites that mention your keywords? Type in:

            allinanchor: fruit baskets

This will indicate sites that mention fruit baskets somewhere in their anchor text, which might also indicate sites interested in reciprocal links.

4. When Google discovers your site (or you submit your URL for spidering), the SE takes a snapshot of every indexed page and places them into a cache. To search the pages in your site's cache, type:

            cache:www.fruitbaskets.com

To further refine the search of cached pages, you can also conduct a keyword search within the cache. Simply type:

            cache:www.fruitbaskets.com web

And finally,

5. On of the most useful tools Google offers for no-cost marketing research is the info search. This will provide whatever information Google keeps on your site (or any other site, for that matter). Type:

            info:www.fruitbasket.com

This will produce a general profile of your site and the sites of your competitors, at least from the Google perspective. Much of this information - everything from inbound links to meta tag text - can help you (or your web designer) deliver more visitor traffic and  a higher conversion rate because visitors are actually looking for your product, not something like your product. In short, better results all around.

Google's objective is to deliver the highest quality search results to its users, which is one of the reasons they offer this variety of search tools for knowledgeable users and, of course, site owners. Your knowledge of how the leading SE views your site and compares it to similar (competitive) sites is a critical aspect of making adjustments to everything from key word density to fresh anchor text.

To learn even more about the tools Google offers, click on the links below and get  your site Googlized. (See, another new word!)

http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators.html

http://www.google.com/help/refinesearch.html

And be sure to stop by the ol’ website for a free SEO and business development consultation. See ya there.

KEEP YOUR CLIENTS HAPPY AND THEY'LL BE BACK

SEO Client Retention:

The Key to Long-Term SEO/M Business Success

An Unhappy Client Ain't Comin' Back

Building a successful SEO/M consultancy is hard. There’s a lot of competition and a lot of snake oil, SEO voodoo floating around the web, so building a solid reputation – one that leads to referrals and repeat business is essential to long-term business growth.

Once you have a client, you have to keep that client coming back because of the quality services and opinions you offer. You have to build a client base of happy clients. They come back for more. They’re also your best salespeople.

Here are some suggestions for keeping the customer satisfied.

1. Go through an extensive discovery phase. Determine such things as the target demographic, market competition, unique selling position, client objectives, challenges – a top-down analysis of what needs doing. A few hours more at this stage will save days of re-dos in the weeks ahead.

2. Prepare a written SOW. A statement of work describes the work to be undertaken (usually in chronological order), approval milestones, payment schedule, who’s going to do what. The more complete the SOW the more accurate the client’s expectations. Clients hate surprises so get on the same page early.

3. Give a stake to the client. No client is going to quibble with a strategy or design that s/he proposed. Instead of presenting finished pages and data analysis, engage the client and incorporate his or her suggestions into the final product. As best you can, let the client “own” the project.

4. Go proactive. In everything. Offer suggestions and counsel beyond the expectations of the client. If you discover an error you’ve made, call the client to let her know you’re on top of it. 

5. Communicate. A lot. Not just approvals, though they’re essential to increased productivity, but also discuss implementation strategies, guerilla marketing tactics and opportunities for future growth of the client’s business.

6. Fix it. If the client ain’t happy, fix it. Period. A happy client will talk you up through his network. An unhappy client will bad mouth you to anyone who will listen. Rely on your SOW only as a last resort. Keep the client happy – even if it’s a loss leader for you.

Growing a stable of regular clients takes time and trust building. It’s an on-going process. But once your regulars are making up 75% of your work time, you don’t have to constantly worry about where the next job is coming from.


Need more suggestions for building a successful on-line business. Stop by www.webwordslinger.com for more on web-based success.

BUSINESS SUCCESS IS FOUNDED ON A STABLE CLIENT BASE

Managing Customer Care:

“It’s easier to keep a client 

than find a new one.”

Yeah, it’s an old cliché, but it’s a cliché because it’s true. The key to long-term site success is an expanding customer/client base – repeat buyers of your goods or services.

Keeping the customer satisfied, especially for web-based businesses, isn’t a walk in the park but there are things you, as webmaster, can do to manage client care, keeping the customer satisfied and coming back for more.

1. Maintain an accurate order tracking system.  If you use a delivery service like FedEx or UPS, you’ll get tracking software with your account. But, if you’re trucking 37 ceramic figurines to the post office every day, you’ll need an order tracking system – preferably one that can identify “downstream” problems like: “Hey, you’re going to run out of hula girl bobble heads next Thursday. Time to reorder.”

2. Stay involved. You may be using a drop shipper to manage inventory storage, shipping and handling, and it’s not always easy during the rush of the day to check tracking data – even if you’re shipping out of a spare room. Track all problem orders yourself.

3. Provide updates to the buyer. An auto-responder as soon as the problem is identified with an opt out box to cancel the sale. You may lose that one, but your straightforwardness and ease of use will make a positive impression.

Federal law requires that orders must be filled within 30 days, after which the buyer is no longer obligated to pay. Don’t ship without renewed buyer approval.

4. Provide US-based customer support 24/7. In this global marketplace, someone is always buying, and someone always has a question. Also, empower telephone reps to accept returns with the customer’s receipts. This saves on call-backs and significantly lowers buyers’ stress levels.

5. Use dynamic pages designed specifically for each visitor.  Best example? Amazon. My home page is different from your home page based on our past buying histories. All of this data is stored in Amazon’s database and when I log on, I’m bombarded with recommendations based on items purchased five years ago.

But Amazon stills calls me by my first name. That’s nice.

6. Last key point. Overdeliver. If prudent, drop a personalized email or even make a telephone call. People are really pleasant when the company CEO calls and promises satisfaction.

The whole point of quality customer care is to create word of mouth (WOM) viral marketing. Treat your customers or clients right, and viral WOM will do the rest in growing that client base bigger and bigger.

editor@webwordslinger.com

Why Sell Yourself? Let Your Customers Do It For You!

User Reviews:

Let Your Buyers Sell Your Products

Mom always said don’t accept candy from strangers, but what about advice? How reliable is it? Well, when it comes to product reviews, advice from previous buyers helps a lot – assuming the product (and services you provide) live up to expectations.

Amazon has been encouraging reviews from buyers for years and it’s apparently been working fine for them – even if the product is trashed, which it often is. But, consider what Amazon gets. Happier buyers (even if they grumble, they aren’t grumbling about Amazon, they’re trashing the product), fewer returns from buyers warned off one product over another, invaluable marketing data straight from buyers who bought the product and, the cherry on top – it’s user generated content, meaning it doesn’t cost anything to produce. That’s a big plus.

Stats and Facts

Site owners eat stats and facts for breakfast. We want that empirical proof that numbers provide so here are a few to catch your attention from the nice folks over at emarketer.com

Question: Do you use customer reviews before making a purchase?

Always: 22%

Most of the time: 43%

Some of the time: 24%

Occasionally: 9%

Never: 2%

Get that? 65% of online buyers use consumer-generated reviews in making a buying decision. That should get you to sit up and take notice. It’s some pretty powerful evidence that consumer reviews are useful in (1) making the right sale and (2) identifying products the buyer doesn’t want. Either way, as a site owner, you’re ahead – ahead on sales motivated by user reviews and ahead with fewer returns from dissatisfied consumers who bought a different product or brand based on customer reviews. Either way, you win.

How many reviews do you read before making a purchase?

Just 1% relied on a single review. It took two or three reviews for 28% of buyers to make a decision, four to seven reviews for 46% of buyers to make a buying decisions and eight to 15 reviews to convince exceedingly cautious buyers to make a purchase.

The number of reviews required to make a purchase is correlated to the price of the item. A buyer will purchase a $49 off-brand MP3 player after reading a single review but it’ll probably take five to 10 positive reviews to convince that same buyer to purchase his or her next car. The cost factor plays a big role.

Now, how do user reviews stack up against other promotional efforts. Quite well, according to emarketer. In fact, user reviews influence the buying decisions of a whopping 64% of online shoppers. That’s two-thirds of all buyers – all buying based on the reviews of previous buyers.

Compare that to other promos:

• Special offers and coupons: 61%

• Product and price comparison tools: 59%

• Consumer testimonials: 49% (these testimonials have lost any credibility since many are fabrications of some copywriter’s not-so-vivid imagination)

• Product videos: 44% (usually demonstrating the benefits of the product)

• RSS alerts: 39%

• Blogs and forums: 39%

• Questionnaires: 29%

Web Research

More and more web users turn to product reviews to find the perfect fit – but not all reviews are given equal credence. User reviews are believed by 55% of comparison shoppers. And, when skimming through consumer reviews, it’s easy to tell the psychopathic malcontent from the thoughtful reviewer who’s actually trying to help.

Comparison charts are another useful sales tool. 21% of online window shoppers use these list-formatted tools to compare apples to apples, features to features. This format is a terrific means of delivering a lot of useful information in a simple-to-evaluate format.

Expert reviews – the kind you often see in specialty periodicals – carry less weight than reviews written by actual buyers of a product. Why? The consumer-reviewer doesn’t have an axe to grind, making the opinion more reliable. A review by a professional may have an ulterior motive behind it – like the product manufacturer is a big advertiser, or the review is a cut-and-paste job from the manufacturer’s promotional literature.

The reason customer reviews work is they have validity. “I bought it and I love it,” when unsolicited, is as good as a recommendation from a friend. Same with “I bought it and it blew out every circuit in my house.” Now that’s a product you shy away from.

The Ethics of User Reviews

As a site owner, you have god-like powers. Post anything. It’s your site. But what about the ethicacy of user reviews? How do you handle this kind of input?

Consider the site owner who writes his or her own buyer reviews to move more junk out the door. After a while, this tactic is going to come back and bite you in your assets as more and more dissatisfied buyers return products, taking up more of your time and costing money.

And how do you handle the disgruntled buyer who slams one of your best selling products? Is it unethical to remove negative product posts? You bet it is. An occasional slam increases the credibility of all of those positive reviews. If every review sings the praises of the product, well, the reviews become less credible.

Also, if you receive numerous slams on a product or brand, consider dropping the item. Let the buyers tell you what they want – then give it to them.

The tools you use to promote products are often expensive and time consuming to create. A Google AdWords campaign can bust the bank in six months – and you have to write the little blocks of text.

User-generated product reviews have credibility and the nut jobs are easy to spot and ignore. So, give your buyers a place to tell you and other site visitors what they think about their purchases.

Then, watch sales increase as “friend” recommends to “friend.” It’s powerful promotion and, even better, it’s free.

Need some advice on converting those site visitors to buyers. It ain't brain surgery. In fact, it's pretty basic stuff so drop me a line or give me a call and let's let buyers give you the data we need to reach profitability.

Webwordslinger.com

The Disappearing Web Biz: Presto! Your Site Disappears Overnight.

ALL THAT HARD WORK GONE

WHEN YOUR WEB HOST PULLS THE PLUG

How’s this for a nightmare scenario:

You take the plunge, register a domain and begin your on-line business. You work hard and you’re finally starting to see a profit. Then one day, you log on and your site has disappeared! What happened? What happened to all of your hard work? It could be as simple as a clerical error or technical glitch, or it could be that you’ve registered your domain with a low-ball registrar. Think it can’t happen to you? One of the leading web hosts and domain registrars recently removed a client website for an on-line security agency from one of its server. Gone. The website (and the business) had been deleted.

And if it happens to you what have you lost? Much more than just your website. You also lose access to your site’s databases – databases filled with invaluable customer information. You also lose inbound links, critical to higher page rank. Even worse, you disappear from search engines altogether. You can see how this nightmare can go on to the point where you’ve lost it all – and who knows where your web host is. Maybe he graduated from high school.

There are lots of horror stories about deleted domains – websites that have been zapped simply because the owners forgot to pay the annual domain registration fee, for instance. If you’re the forgetful type, you don’t want to work with a host that deletes your livelihood over a $4.95 charge – but it’s happened.

What are the domain registrar’s responsibilities?

There is some law and order on the W3. A consortium called ICANN oversees the relationships between web hosts and site owners. You can access the agency’s rules and regs on-line to see what your “legal” options are when you encounter a problem with your web host. Any reliable hosting company is going to adhere to ICANN guidelines. Look for some kind of sign that a potential web host is ICANN-savvy.

Next, before you sign up for an expensive, long-term subscription for hosting services, read the TOS – the Terms of Service. And not just the big text, either. Before you sign up with any web host, read the entire TOS – even the finest of fine print. Know how a given host deals with deleted accounts and what steps the hosting company takes to provide access to databases and other critical information if your domain is deleted, and what steps it takes to rectify the problem if technically feasible. All of this will be laid out in the TOS. Read it very, very carefully.

However, if you’re reaching for a copy of your host’s TOS, chances are you already have a problem and you’re looking for the host’s contractually-binding responsibilities. So, even if you’ve been zapped contrary to ICANN guidelines or even the TOS of your web host, there’s not much you can do about it. It would cost much more to litigate and even then, getting payment is going to be difficult if not impossible. (And don’t think the unscrupulous web hosts don’t know this. They count on it!)

It all comes down to the way web hosts treat their clients and fulfill the legal requirements of a client subscription. Some web hosts operate out of a spare bedroom (or even a closet) and just don’t have the time to oversee simple, administrative chores like automatic domain renewal for their clients. If you’re working with an unreliable or uninvolved hosting company, you may get deleted, along with an auto-responder in your inbox.

On the other hand, working with an engaged web host – one that provides the tools you need to build a site to success – eliminates a lot of uncertainty and sleepless nights. It’s all about the quality of the hosting services you receive.

The quality of hosting

How do you know your site won’t be vaporized overnight without so much as a heads up from your hosting company? Fly-by-night web hosts disappear all of the time, taking with them their subscribers’ money and all of that hard work. It’s a fact, not all web hosts provide the same level of service, or the range of services, that better web hosts do. That’s why it pays to shop around.

As you’re comparison shopping look for signs of reliability. Does the host’s site look good? Is the text professionally written or is it just some kid working out of his dorm room hosting a few hundred clients on a shared server? It doesn’t take much to call yourself a web host. A small investment in server hardware, administration software and the ability to take credit card payments are about all you need to call yourself a web host company.

However, it takes much more to call yourself a good web host. Think of your web host as a silent but critical partner in your on-line endeavor because, in fact, that’s just what a web host is. Why? Because if you lose access to the world wide web, you lose access to your customers or clients and you aren’t making any sales during downtime. So you want reliability – even if it costs a few bucks more each year.

What are the “signs” of quality web hosting?

Does the host offer an automatic renewal service? If it does, it’s a sign that the host is involved in the success of its clients.

Does the site display any logos – the ICANN logo, the on-line Better Business Bureau or some other affiliation that instills confidence? Look. Ask.

Are the TOS clear, simple and straight up? It’s in the best interests of a quality hosting company that clients not have any misunderstandings before buying hosting services.

Does the host offer 24/7, US-based tech support? If your site has suddenly disappeared you want to talk to someone who can fix the problem – now!

You also want to look for a host that’s been around for a while. Now, this is no guarantee that your site won’t be deleted for some infraction (or for no reason at all). The nightmare scenario described above involved a huge domain registrar with a long-time, web presence.

Is the web host involved in the success of its clients? The good ones are because it’s easier to keep a client than find a new one so quality web hosts build their client bases by delivering quality services, near-perfect uptime, tools and applications required to build and launch a website and grow it to profitability. The more freebies a web host offers the better. That’s a great measurement of how the web host sees its responsibility in your partnership.

So, scour the blogs, read the reviews and visit each potential web host’s site for a thorough evaluation. Read the TOS agreement from top to bottom so you understand just what you’re getting and for how long. Finally, look for a web host that wants to partner with you for mutual success.

Websites will still disappear and the horror stories will continue to make the rounds on the web. But if you go with a hosting company that delivers, has a track record and a commitment to your site’s success, the likelihood that your site will be deleted are greatly diminished.

Need some help finding the right web host for your new e-biz. Piece of cake. Call or click webwordslinger.com and let's get started in the fastest growing marketplace in the history of marketplaces.

Later,

Webwordslinger.com

WHY MAKE IT HARDER TO CLOSE THE SALE?

Six Stumbling Blocks to Making That Sale:

Why Make It Harder to Sell?

What if you went to your favorite clothing boutique and discovered the door was locked? A note on the door states “Please enter your access code to enter.” Access code? Never mind, I’ll just go across the street to buy a new tie.

In the real-world retail sector, merchandising is a science. Makers of your favorite breakfast cereal fight for shelf position at the supermarket. They all want the eye-level shelf because that’s where most shoppers look first. The boxes of cereal on the top and bottom shelves don’t move as fast because of shelf placement.

And how about those displays of soda and hot dog buns you see at the end of each supermarket aisle. This is prime selling floor real estate and food makers pay the store for these prized locations. Same with all the gum, candy and other “impulse” items by the checkout. Those products are there because people waiting to get checked out buy them on impulse. “Oh, I deserve a treat,” so a Mr. Goodbar gets tossed into the shopping cart along with this week’s fabulous edition of The National Enquirer. The buying activities of store shoppers are studied, critiqued, focus-grouped-to-death, analyzed, utilized and ultimately, the entire store is arranged to generate more sales.

Well, the same principles apply to website design. The design of your website can make it easier or harder for a visitor to make a purchase. Here are six stumbling blocks you can remove from your site today to see your conversion ratios improve in a matter of days. Really.

1. Eliminate the member log-in from the home page. You see this a lot and you wonder what the site designer was thinking. When most visitors see a log-in box, they know they’re giving up their email addresses to gain access to the goodies on your site. And they expect the back sell – the sell that takes place once a visitor opts in.

But it makes no sense to place the opt in log-in on the home page because visitors don’t even know what their opting for yet. Instead, use the home page to entice the visitor deeper into the site. Show visitors that by opting in they get a valuable service or good information – free. In other words, prove the worthiness of site information before making the pitch for an opt-in.

2. Provide good information free. And plenty of it. Articles, stories, pictures of products in use embedded in informational content lends credibility to you, the site and the product.

Often times, buyers don’t know what they don’t know. They’re trying to learn as they window shop and you’re going to teach them by providing good informational content about product pros and cons. You want the buyer to purchase the right product. It saves time, money and the hassles of returns so teach and sell on your site. It’s a potent combination. And it works, too.

3. Make it easy to find the right item. There are two ways to do this. Use both.

There’s a web design dictum: The fewer the number of clicks the more sales. Absolutely true. The easier it is to make a purchase the more purchases will be made so making it easy to find a specific item, or to browse items, is essential.

Most sites use a “Products” link off the navigation bar, which works fine if you only sell a few items. This drill down screen can also be used as a product category directory with links taking the visitor to a specific product ‘section’ of the site. This is especially useful for companies that market diverse inventory.

However, even this drill-down design requires some discretionary thought on the part of the site visitor, and if seems like a hassle, a lot of visitors will get tired of endless clicks and move on to a simpler site.

The second option – and frankly a must-have in this era of site interactivity – is a ‘Site Search’ feature. By far the fastest way to find a specific item by name, by make, model number or any number of other search criteria. A ‘site search’ feature contributes to the reason most web shoppers shop online – convenience.

Everything – everything – about your site should point to ease of use, accessibility, functionality and moving the visitor through the purchase cycle without so much as a blip.

4. Add shopping cart convenience. Even if you sell a limited number of items, offer visitors the opportunity to place items in their digital shopping carts – even if it’s one item.

The shopping cart should allow the visitor to:

• Review items purchased.
• Change quantities.
• Delete items.
• See the total cost of items in the cart.
• See the shipping and handling costs for the items in the cart.

Also, throughout the purchase cycle, reassure the buyer by providing prompts on each page. A perfect example: a link to the “Check-Out” on every page – prominently displayed. Easy, easy, easy. Shoppers want convenience and reassurance that “they’re doing it right.”

5. Check out your checkout. Remember that number of clicks axiom from above? This is doubly true during the checkout sequence. Simplify the process for first-time buyers by limiting the number of pages (clicks) required to “get outta here.”

Simultaneously, provide reassurances that the buyer is doing it right. If a piece of information hasn’t been entered properly, return to the form page and tell the visitor what needs changing. Don’t make them figure out what they did incorrectly. Tell them so they can fix it and get outta here.

Provide a final review page of all order information as entered by the buyer. Even the most seasoned web buyer sits at the monitor reviewing everything – name, address, credit card number, quantities and so on. It’s so much easier to get it right the first time than to hassle with returns or unfulfilled orders because of some confusion.

Finally, there needs to be some trust building going on during the checkout sequence. Knowledgeable buyers look for security logos from companies like VeriSign. They also look at the address box of their browser to make sure there’s an ‘s’ in ‘https’ indicating a secure site. Provide buyers with assurances that all is secure just before they click the ‘Submit Order’ button.

6. Deliver an immediate order confirmation. As part of the checkout sequence, buyers provided an email address. Once the buyer has made the purchase an auto-responder should be generated describing all details of the purchase, including tracking information. This assures buyers, cuts down on customer care calls and enables quick resolution of any customer complaint. (Good customer care is a basic building block of any retail business, online or in the real world.)

It’s simple, or at least it should be. The first time buyers are gently guided through the purchase cycle, reassured at every stage and in control, and regulars should have the convenience of providing all information required for a one-click checkout. Ship it here. You’ve got my credit card. I’ve got other things to do. Convenience. That’s what today’s web buyers want.

Think of it this way: a confused customer is a gone customer.

Need some suggestions for removing those stumbling blocks and encourgaing site visitors to make that purchase. You know where to go - webwordslinger.com. 100% Good For You.

Is It Time To Switch To A Dedicated Server? Pros & Cons

Is Your Site Fast? It Is With A Dedicated Server. Zooooooom.

For those new to web hosting services, a quick recap. The lowest cost service is shared hosting where you rent a certain amount of disk space on a server from a web host. You can find this kind of service at a low cost because web hosts can place over 1,000 shared hosting clients on a single server. Very economical and ideal for start-ups and sites that don’t anticipate much traffic.

VPS (virtual private server) is a hybrid between shared and dedicated hosting, providing both the pros and cons of shared hosting and dedicated or managed hosting.

Dedicated servers are just that – dedicated. One server one company. Dedicated severs cost more and are only cost efficient for active commercial sites and business sites with international clientele.

Deciding when it’s time to take your on-line business to the next level isn’t always clear. Monthly costs are higher. Visitor expectations grow daily and, frankly if you don’t offer some bells, whistles and interactivity on your circa 1999 web site, you’re going to be left in the dust.

The biggest problems with dedicated servers have always been maintenance and software compatibility. Many hosts figure that if the client is able to pay hundreds a month for super-supreme hosting, s/he must be working with a site design or SEO company and they must know what they’re doing. This isn’t always the case. In fact, there are many successful, on-line entrepreneurs who rely on web pros for most of their technical services. Oh, and the more services and products there are, the more costly those outside services become. As-needed tech support can really nibble at those margins.

Check out a few SEO or design companies to see what it’s going to cost you to bring your site up to date or improve conversion rate when you move to a dedicated server, and keep the smelling salts close at hand. It’ll cost thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars to design, launch and administer an active and interactive web site.

Plus You Have to Take Care of the Thing

Many web hosts leave the client hanging after that client has signed a nice long contract for a dedicated server. They must use an outside design service. But what about maintenance? You have to take care of the thing!

When you upgrade to a new checkout, are you going to be certain that you won’t wipe out your entire customer database? Or lose that hard-earned Google PR only to slip into the nether regions of the world wide web? If you don’t know what you’re doing installing, deleting and moving sensitive data and software, wouldn’t it be nice to have someone knowledgeable to walk you through it step by step, or better yet, who just goes to your server, inserts tab A into slot B and you’re done with it.

Then There’s Managed or Dedicated Servers for the Digitally Challenged

Do you have a clue what z/OS is? Do you know what a services manager does? If not, don’t take that leap to the one-company-one box model until you ask a bunch of questions (expensive, lots-of-money types of questions).

If you have (or are) a computer professional (most growing companies can’t afford one), no problem. Go with the bare bones hardware and let your technician do his stuff. You can stand right over his shoulder and make changes on the fly. But if you don’t have your own geek, don’t worry. If your business has grown to the point where a dedicated server is required, and you know diddly about digital technology, the solution is managed hosting.

Let Someone Else Do It

With managed hosting, your company enjoys all of the benefits dedicated servers have to offer – a huge amount of disc space, whopping bandwidth for really active sites and complete freedom to load or unload whatever software you choose. Nothing like it and essential for growing businesses.

However, with managed hosting, glitches are taken care of by the hosting service. In fact, part of the web host’s job is to deliver the highest level of service in the shortest amount of time to keep that existing customer base in place.

Here’s What You Want from Dedicated Hosting or Managed Service (same thing)

First, look at the company’s history. Have they been around for more than a week? How many clients do they serve? How many dedicated servers do they maintain?

You also want constant monitoring of your site by the web host’s 24/7 on-site staff. Let them stay up all night watching your site so you can sleep easier. Even better, look for a company that maintains its own warning software to alert the techies that your server needs some attention.

You want a telephone number (preferably toll free) with instant access to a system administrator or at least a techie who gets the problem and fixes it – like now! If your managed server only communicates via e-mail, you are not going to be happy with the attention you think you’re paying for. And if you get stuck in automated telephone answering system hell, you’re going to be steamed at what you’re paying each month. This is your business and you need help now!

You also want automatic updates of the software you use. Very nice, seamless and easy. Upgrade PHP, Perl, MySQL, Apache, Sendmail and other data storage and business administration software without giving it a thought.

Did you ask about data security?

That’s part of the deal with managed hosting. That oversight of your server includes constant tracking and monitoring to identify suspect activity. Monitored service should also include patches and updates when they become available for the security software the host employs and you employ.

Also ask about data recovery in case of some on-line catastrophe. The host backs up your entire hard drive(s) (all of them) for recovery in case you’re cracked or hacked, or your hard drive fries during a wicked thunderstorm. How is data storage and recovery managed as part of your managed services package? Good to know.

Finally, to monitor your host’s activities, you should expect an advanced level control panel or console that delivers the precise information you need with a couple of clicks. Expect to pay an additional fee for a control panel but, if we’re talking about your livelihood and getting the server management services you’re paying for, it’s good to have one. A couple to look at are Virtuozzo Advanced Control Panel and Plesk Reloaded Control panel.

Managed Hosting to the Rescue

With managed hosting, you get the technology to watch your business grow and you get the knowledgeable support from a staff dedicated to your dedicated server. You don’t have to know anything about the technology behind your site and even better, you don’t have to worry about it.

With managed hosting to the rescue, you can focus on more important matters – like the successful growth of your on-line business.

If you’re with a web host that doesn’t offer a complete managed hosting option, time to migrate your site to a host that watches out for you. You’ll feel confident knowing that an expert is just down the hall (eating a doughnut) when the alarm goes off that your server is experiencing an anomaly or just acting hinky.

If your business is growing and a dedicated server is in your future, don’t wait. Start shopping around for good prices, and even better management of your server.

Yeah, it's a lot to think about, but if you'd like some advice on whetehr dedicated hosting is for you, call or click me. (It tickles.) There are other solutions that work just as well.

Later, gator,

Webwordslinger.

Website Features: What Do You Really Need?

What website features do visitors expect? You decide.

You just registered your domain name. You’re one step closer to that dream of your own website and finally, financial freedom. But now what? Well, if you’ve signed on with a good web host (one who values your site’s success because it ultimately means the web hosting company’s success) you’ve got a box full of goodies to play with in designing your website.

You don’t need a pricey site designer. But you do have to decide on what your website will display and which features will be left out. There are lots of options which means lots of decisions – and there are pros and cons to each one.

A Secure Checkout

Pros: If you sell a product or service, and you accept payment over the web, you don’t have a choice. You must have a secure checkout with SSL encryption to ensure that sensitive personal information isn’t snared by a bad guy. The alternative is to use PayPal or some other payment service but the more payment options you offer, the more your offerings will move out of the warehouse.

Cons: Cost, for one. If your web host doesn’t provide free checkout software, like osCommerce, it could cost you a bundle. On the other hand, people want to pay with credit cards as long as they believe the transaction is secure.

Also, opening a merchant account – one that allows you to accept credit card orders – is going to cost you – sign-up fees, per charge fees and a percentage of every sale, so if you’re operating on tightrope margins, these additional percentages may mean the difference between a viable business and one that shuts down after three weeks.

Web hosts should offer free checkout software. And, a premium service will let your site piggyback on the host’s SSL certificate, saving time and money.

A Blog

Pros: Blogs are great for keeping a site fresh with new content. A closed blog (one in which posts are limited to your control) is easiest to maintain. They’re also useful for a couple of other reasons. First, it’s easy to post new content when you have a blog module as part of your site’s infrastructure so you can update daily with a couple of clicks.

Blogs also create site communities. Once a reader begins a thread, others follow the lead and in no time, you’ll discover the same people conducting conversations and debate on your blog. These are visitors who return to your site often. A very good thing.

Finally, blog software should come free as part of your tool kit. If it doesn’t, look for another web host that does offer freebies by the pound at a reasonable price. They’re out there.

Cons: Conversely, if you allow visiting readers to leave comments to your posts, maintenance may become a problem. There’s always some foul-mouthed, trouble-maker who stirs up more interest in his online antics than the topic at hand. As the boss of the blog, you can block these distractions, but that doesn’t eliminate the need to monitor threads. You want an active blog but you also have to maintain it with regular posts and constant oversight of readers’ comments. This means part of your day will be used up in editorial duties, a real con.

Google AdWords

Pros: There are thousands of site owners who create websites for no other reason than to generate PPC (pay-per-click) revenues. They put up a little content, stuff each page with AdWords skyscrapers and wait for the money to roll in. And it does. Some of these site owners see $200 - $300 a month in click-through revenue per site, and if they maintain 10 such sites, it starts to add up to some real “walkin’ ‘round” money.

AdWords is a simple, easy-to-manage way to monetize a new site quickly. You only pay when search engine users click on your link so you’re not wasting money.

Cons: I don’t care how well designed a website is, AdWords – those cheesy little blue links on the top, bottom or side of a web page, diminish the perception of quality in the mind of the visitor. And as we’ve said many times in this blog, on the W3 perception is reality.

If your law firm maintains a website (and it should) you want to project a professional, positive image, not the Lionel Hutz “I Can’t Believe It’s A Law Firm” image.

Another con: click fraud. A competitor can just click on your AdWords link and have all of her friends do the same for five minutes a day. Your AdWords budget gets eaten up by black hat tactics and there’s not a whole lot you can do about it. If you can prove click fraud, Google will give you credit, but it’s up to you to prove the fraud. Google get’s paid whether the click is licit or a scam.

Affiliate Links

Pros: A great way to make cash fast. Affiliates are companies into which you enter agreements. You agree to display the mother company’s logo and link on your site and, in return, you receive payment based on the number of visitors to your site who click on the link and perform some action. For example, put up an eBay link and collect $35 a head plus a nickel for each bid one of your referrals places.

Get a couple of hundred eBay buyers placing bids everyday and that money can add nicely to your site’s revenue stream. Also a great way to monetize a site quickly.

Cons: Same dealeo as Google AdWords. If you access a site jam packed with affiliate links, it doesn’t add much to the process of building visitor trust. The site looks cluttered and cheap.

More negative news: each one of those affiliate links takes up space that could be used to sell your products or services.

And finally, each one of those affiliate links is a ticket off your site. With a click, they’re off looking at something on an affiliate site. You may pick up a few bucks a month in affiliate revenue, but you aren’t making the real money you make selling your own goods or services.

One suggestion: As we said, affiliates do generate cash and fast, so if you’re runnin’ on empty, add affiliate links to a single page with a navigation link labeled “Our Partners,” “Our Favorites,” or “Our Picks.”

Pictures and Other Images

Pros: Pictures sell more than words. Online buyers want to see what they’re paying for and, yes, one good product picture is worth a thousand words. So you will sell more with high-quality pictures.

Carts and graphs are useful for providing a lot of information in a small space.

Cons: Unless you own a decent digital camera and unless you know how to dress a set (the place where the product will be shot) and you know that the product should be lit from at least three directions, don’t use product pictures that you take yourself.

Log on to eBay and look at the range of quality of product pictures. Some are ripped from the web so they look okay. But some are nothing more than a front-on flash that blows out the object to a hot white blur floating against a blacked out background. Awful stuff, and not a good selling point.

If you can get product pictures from your wholesaler’s marketing department you’re all set. If not, have those pictures taken by a professional using a hi-resolution camera, lit properly and attractively staged. It’ll cost you some cash but it’s a lot better than using home-grown product pictures that don’t do justice to the product.

Charts and graphs should also be professionally done, unless you know how to create images in Photoshop or some other image manipulation software.

The Choices You Make Now…

…will often determine the short- and long-term success of your site. And remember, your site will evolve. You may start out using AdWords until your site is pulling in enough traffic to make up the lost AdWords revenue. Then, you drop AdWords and…

… your site takes on a much cleaner, more professional look.

Looking for site solutions, more traffic and improved site performance? Visit Webwordslinger.com for a free site analysis. Hey, you can't beat the price and no strings attached, either. Cool.

Can Anybody Build A Website? It Ain't Brain Surgery

It costs money to have a full-featured website built by a pricey digital design company on the 40^th floor – the whole 40^th floor. Somebody’s paying for all that flash. You. That’s why these pros from Dover want $20K for a website you could build – if you only had the time.

At the outset of any start up, it’s all outgo and no income. However, some new site owners have big plans and small budgets. They know where they want to go. They just need the capital, a little time and a bit of luck to make that dream an online reality.

So, you don't have, or don’t want to spend, an entire year’s marketing budget on some hot shot site design. Okay, no problem.

But are you going to wait until you’ve got all site features in place before launch? Probably not and there’s no reason to. Your ideal site can become your vision over several generations, with each generation adding new features, greater functionality, more products and services and an optimized home page.

If you’re into your sixth month of beta testing your new site and you still haven’t launched, you need to call a meeting of the board of directors (who may be you and your spouse if you’re a start-up) and kick-start this enterprise.

Keep Your Vision Clear

Even though you don’t have the scratch for every bell and whistle you’d like, plan for those additions right from the site. Develop a generational website map showing how all of the pieces fit together.

Take it a step further. Develop overlays of phase one, two, three, four and so on to see the evolution of the site – from bare bones to nicely optimized and, holy cow! – profitable. (Oh, they laughed at you but who’s laughing now?)

If you design the site as a completed, interactive concept on paper, you can begin phase one knowing that phases two, three and so on will fit your ultimate model.

Determine Your Priorities

If your’s is a retail site then a secure checkout, product pictures and complete product descriptions are tops on your to-do list. If you’re using templates to build your site (they make things nearly idiot-proof), you can construct product pages with nice pictures in no time.

So, your bare-bones basics website with products and pictures is up, along with a secure checkout, your SSL certification and a couple of trust-building logos on the first page in the checkout sequence.

You’re database is collecting client data, you’re seeing some traffic from PPC and links advertising and, all-in-all, things look good.

Second Generation Websites

They build on the foundation already in place. You’re now in a position to add some basic features to make the site more friendly and useful. You can add a site search feature to make it easier to find specific products, add a “Recommend Us to a Friend” link to stir the viral marketing stewpot, expand your product offerings and maybe even show products from different angles if it’s useful in making the sale.

Third, Forth and Fifth Generation Websites

Websites are always a work in progress. Want to have some fun? Go to Alexa.com, enter a site URL and, in the lower left corner of that site’s rankings is the Time Machine that takes you back to different iterations of the same sites.

So, you can see the first generation, second generation and so on until you see the current site. The point is, websites are redesigned all of the time. So, if you’re waiting to dot all of those ‘i’s and cross all those ‘t’s, your going to be late for the party.

So, get the site up and running, hook up your product pages, secure checkout and data base, then gradually add design elements, features, new products, a blog, today’s specials, RSS feeds and on and on and on.

Don’t wait. The countdown to launch has begun.

Stuck in the mud, huh? Yeah, it's a little scary but total idiots are making money on the web (and if you ARE one of those idiots, my apologies and congratulations). If your site ain't doin' what it's supposed to do, call me or click me. You know what I mean.

Do Your Clients Pay You For What You KNOW? They Should.

I wouldn't pay two cents for this jerk's advice. Make sure your SEO explains e-commerce in terms YOU understand.

STOP THE SEO GIBBERISH!

Recognizing the value of and building a long list of dedicated, happy clients is the goal of any web site designer, SEO, copywriter, graphic artist or any other creative type working in the digital matrix. That’s the objective.

And that means talking to potential clients – a lot. Now, if the rent is due tomorrow and you don’t have the proverbial “two nickels to rub together” you don’t have much choice in whether to take a low-paying job from a site owner who “found your name on Elance” or some other site but doesn’t want to pay the $10 fee to post a project on Elance.

Man, if the person you’re talking to doesn’t want to pay the $10 fee, how hard is it going to be to get paid when the project is finished?

I’m a nice guy, but…

…at least once a week, I get a call from a prospect who has a lot of questions. How do I do this? Who would you recommend for that and on and on. Now, I’m a nice guy and I usually end up giving away the information the caller asks for in the hopes that it will lead to some paying work down the line.

I want to show the prospect that I know what I’m doing and know how to speak webspeak, but once I get rolling, I’ve given away so much SEO, SEM and site design info the caller either (1) has the answers to the questions s/he had and therefore doesn’t need my expensive writing and SEO services or (2) after taking careful notes during our hour-long conversation, the caller can hand those notes to a much less expensive site designer, SEO, copywriter or other service provider and implement my plan.

The result? After I hang up with these callers I kick myself around the office for 20 minutes, pound my forehead against a (not-too-hard) wall and howl like some crazed, rabid wolf. Oops, I did it again.

So, how do I discreetly tell the prospective client…

…that it ain’t free? That’s a tough one. You want to demonstrate that you know your stuff but you don’t want to educate a potential client out of possible future work. You also don’t want to sound like some spoiled brat, “I know something you don’t know.”

The fact is most clients don’t know what they don’t know. And you have that information. It’s important to make a distinction, here. Yes, you’re paid for your time (though not as much as you think you’re worth) but you’re also paid for what you know.

Went to see my doctor the other day. I spoke to her for less than five minutes on a quick check-up of a procedure done a few weeks earlier. She poked my “owie” with a pencil a couple of times, looked at it with a magnifying glass, pronounced me healthy and escorted me to the door.

Now don’t get me wrong. My doctor (Hi, Jennifer) is the tops. Absolute best. But a couple of weeks later, after my insurance company got through processing my claim, I owed Jennifer and her practice $79.87 – and that was after my insurance company paid it’s itty-bitty bit.

Did I complain? (Well, yes a little, but not because of Jennifer’s bill.) I’m not paying for the office visit (under five minutes) or the pencil poking. I’m paying this professional for what she knows. Four years of college. Four years of med school. A one-year internship and two-year residency. In that time, somewhere, my doctor learned how to poke my boo-boo with a Venus Velvet #2 pencil and give me a clean bill of health.

My attorney charges $400 an hour. It costs me $40 just to wish him a happy holiday. And if I have a legal question, forget about it. I’m paying $40 every six minutes Todd and I speak.

Is it the time I spend with these professionals? Marginally. I mean six minutes out of the work day should be worth something. But the fact is, I’m paying for knowledge not time. This ain’t no Mickey D’s. Clients pay me because I can save them time and even more money. They pay me for what I know.

So, what do I say to the caller with a lot of questions…

…and won’t let me off the phone?

Be polite. Again, most of these callers don’t know the value of the information you provide. Most don’t know you have a $1,000 consulting fee. Most don’t know the difference between an SEO and an SAT, so patience is a virtue when contacted by someone unfamiliar with the world of commercial search engine marketing.

Provide answers but don’t give away the farm. It may seem so simple to you, but to an outsider it’s all geek speak.

Let the caller know you have the answers and the expertise to fulfill his or her needs but don’t give it ALL away. This is your living we’re talking about, and wasn’t there something about a rent check due?

At some point – after you’ve demonstrated that you’re a nice, knowledgeable professional – the questions have to stop and the caller goes on the clock at your consulting rate. It may feel funny but your insider information is your product and you have the right (no, the responsibility) to sell it.

Simply tell the caller that this is your livelihood and that your consultation rate is X number of dollars an hour and you’d like the opportunity to help because you really can solve the client’s problem(s).

Some cold clients will view this as a money grab, and chances are, these tightwads will go elsewhere for more free information. Bye-bye. Ta-ta. So long. But most people (new site owners or soon-to-be site owners) understand the value you, as a site designer, copywriter, SEO or some other digital savant, bring to the equation.

Oh sure, there are other site designers or wordsmiths who will do it for less. A site owner can outsource copywriting by the pound (as little as a dollar a page) but the copy reads like it was written by the Kwiki Mart’s Apu or Gregor from Romania. And you can find a site designer who can build you a site, launch it and hope for the best but, for all you know, your site designer is two pages ahead of you in reading Websites for Dummies.

Honesty is the best policy…

…when dealing with new clients. Lay it all out for them – the steps in putting together a web site. Ask questions. Do they have a secure checkout? How about an insecure checkout? (Just kidding.) Most clients call site designers, copywriters and other professionals with an idea. That’s it, just an idea.

Or, occasionally you’ll encounter the client who’s got 1,000 pages of text on liquid fertilizer stored on his hard drive that he wants you to turn into a website. Wait, did you just hear an alarm bell go off?

Don’t wing it. Develop a rate card or some kind of standard pricing. You can gradually increase your rates as you develop a larger client base of happy customers, but when someone calls, about the only thing they really want to know is “How much?”

And you want to give them an answer – and not one off the top of your head. Offer an hourly fee, a per page fee or a flat-rate based on your knowledge of how long it takes to accomplish a particular task.

Don’t under-value your knowledge. If it takes you five minutes and you earn $500, good for you – especially if the information you provide prevents the client from making a $10,000 misstep.

Once you’ve established the price for services to be rendered, it is perfectly acceptable to ask for an advance. 50% of the total project price is standard with the rest due upon completion of the project to the client’s complete satisfaction. Never start a project without receiving at least partial payment upfront. Without it, the client has no stake in the work and can simply stop taking your calls.

On the other hand, with the client who’s got $5,000 out there as a down payment to build a web site, your calls will go through. And that’s the way you want it.

You know, there's a lot more to web success than SEO. Call or click www.webwordslinger.com to discover how to drive propsects to your site. It ain't rocket science, that's for sure.

Webwordslinger.com

DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR?

Data mining is the practice of collecting and storing information in humongous data bases. The information is gathered from opt ins, on-line surveys, forms and other “voluntary” means of collecting information, usually from customers and buyers and about customers and buyers.

Who uses data mining? Retail outlets, insurance companies, banks, airlines and other industries that not only collect data, but derive benefit from analyzing that data in a scientific, systematic manner to improve service and profit margins. And if it works for the big guys, it’ll work for you (only on a slightly smaller scale).

What are we looking for?

Using data mining technology, industries are looking for trends before they become trends. Relationships between customer A and widget B. Patterns of activity, unusual events – the list is endless and growing all the time.

The fact is, billions and billions of pages are stored on computers and billions of those billions of pages are available through any search engine. And while this information can help your on-line activities in a general way, data mining your own historical repository of data will reveal useful information about activities closer to home – yours!

If you’ve been in business on-line for any length of time, even a couple of years, you’re sitting on solid gold marketing data. Your database of customers and what they bought, where they live and how they pay. And you can use an analysis of this information to improve the performance of your web site.

How can it help me?

Probably the most useful way data mining will help small- to mid-sized site owners is by defining the target demographic – the characteristics of most buyers. Men or women? Age? Zip code? Income bracket? Using data harvesting and analytic software, you’ll quickly be able to develop a picture of that perfect buyer – the one who buys the most, most often.

This information equips you to develop marketing campaigns targeted specifically at your key demographic. If you’re selling knitting supplies, using a Harley-Davidson as the centerpiece of your e-mail campaign probably won’t pull as much as a nice picture of a kitten playing with a ball of yarn. Data harvesting enables site owners (and huge media and retail conglomerates) to target their marketing with pinpoint precision. (You don’t think those Gap ads were created by accident, do you?)

Interactive Marketing

Of most importance to on-line business owners, interactive marketing appeals to visitors to your web site. What can visitors do? Where can they go? What can they learn? And see?

By analyzing harvested data, you can track the movements of site visitors to determine which features draw attention and which are just taking up space. “Google Analytics” will even perform the analysis for you, indicating in GUI form which site pages attract attention and which are quickly passed over.

For on-line retailers, this kind of analysis defines your most valuable digital real estate and, obviously, this is where you’d place your most popular or profitable products, announcements of upcoming sales and other “targeted” information.

Is it working?

It would be nice to know if your Adsense program was pulling better than your banners placed on a dozen different sites. Data harvesting will give you the answer quickly once you establish a baseline.

The baseline is what’s happening now – the status quo. With an established baseline, you have a yardstick by which to measure whether your PPC program should get more dollars while your click-through rate on banners isn’t worth the money you’re spending.

Is it bogus?

Large, on-line (and real world) retailers use data harvesting to better detect fraudulent activity. For example, MasterCard will quickly contact cardholders in whose accounts unusual activity has occurred. For example, using data harvesting, the credit card company knows you’ve never made a purchase of anything in Taiwan. Then, in a matter of two hours, 23 transactions from Taiwan all show up on your card. Now that’s called an anomaly – something out of the ordinary.

The MasterCard program continues with follow through. The cardholder of the account in question is likely to get a call from a MasterCard representative to see if, indeed, you did purchase 23 racing bikes in Taiwan within the past 24 hours. If not, they can often void the transaction before it actually takes place.

Will it make my customers happier?

Much. You’ll be ahead of the curve on spotting trends so you’ll have the latest when visitors come to shop. You’ll be able to better predict seasonal buying patterns for your particular goods or services. You’ll be able to improve warehousing, order handling, inventory management and more – even if the inventory is stored in a spare bedroom.

Where do I get this wonderful tool?

You’ve got the data – or at least you should have it, if you’ve been in business for a while. That customer data just needs to be analyzed to better equip you to refine your site, better target your ideal buyer, identify trends ahead of the competition, better identify fraud and deliver the precise product at the precise time to the exact right buyer. Metrics and analytical software, like Google Analytics, will help crunch the raw data into meaningful results.

If you haven’t started using the information you have on your hard drive, you’re wasting some of the best information you’ll ever have concerning the success of your business.

Use it or lose it.

Need to put your data to work? Okay, NP. Drop me a line or give me a call.Let's get your site operating to your expectations.

Webwordslinger.com