Conversion Rate Web Marketing Blog 

Have you noticed that the format has changed for Google Local Business Results?

The above example was from a Google web search on Storage Melbourne. 

We’re now seeing about 10 listings in the same space that we used to only see three or four. I think it’s more efficient, don’t you?

From the author: If you run an eCommerce website then you might wonder, “How do I know if I’m getting as many orders as I could be through my website?” The answer to that question is in your website’s conversion rates.

We know that to achieve high conversion rates and sales from your eCommerce website you need a team that includes seasoned marketers, web designers, web programmers, copywriters, editors, bloggers and search engine gurus. That’s why we created Bitemark.

And yes, we can get your website to number one in Google too ;-)!

Contact us on 1300 248 362 to find out how you could boost the conversion rates of your eCommerce website.

Last year, Google Maps quickly became the number one online map directory service in Australia, surpassing whereis.com.au. 

 Did you know that you can put your business on the Google Map?

If you haven’t yet done so, head over to Google’s Local Business Center to list your business. The Local Business Center allows you to add your business to Google Maps and list additional information about your business.

Once your business is listed, it will soon come up on the Map in many Google web searches that include a location. For example, if you search on Storage Melbourne, you will see that the search result features a Map like this:

One of the handy things that Google Maps adds is the ability for customers to get directions to and from your business by just by clicking on your business name.

You can see how this change to search results has changed the game a bit. If you had a number one ranking in Google for a location based search, you might now find your website way down the page. So it’s vital to ensure that your Local Business Listing is showing up on the Map.

From the author: If you run an eCommerce website then you might wonder, “How do I know if I’m getting as many orders as I could be through my website?” The answer to that question is in your website’s conversion rates.

We know that to achieve high conversion rates and sales from your eCommerce website you need a team that includes seasoned marketers, web designers, web programmers, copywriters, editors, bloggers and search engine gurus. That’s why we created Bitemark.

And yes, we can get your website to number one in Google too ;-)!

Contact us on 1300 248 362 to find out how you could boost the conversion rates of your eCommerce website.

Newt Barret explained an important shift in his blog post today, “Real World Experiment Explains Impending Demise of Yellow Pages”

Talking about the Yellow Pages® he says, “Their old slogan, ‘Let your fingers do the walking,’ was all about how easy it was to use the print directory compared to wandering around downtown looking for a store, a lawyer or a doctor.  Unfortunately, Google, Yahoo, MSN, and all the rest of the search engines are letting our fingers do the walking today.”

Newt’s statement perfectly explains the biggest challenge for the Yellow Pages® today. For many years the Yellow Pages® was the only way to find things easily. Those days are long gone.

Here in Australia, the Yellow Pages® is run by a former government monopoly called Sensis (part of Telstra), and it appears from Newt’s review that our Yellow Pages® does a much better job than the local Yellow Pages® in Florida.

According to Sensis, the Yellow Pages® book in Australia yields around AUD$1 billion of advertising annually and the Yellow Pages® Online a further $100 million.

Access is the key to Yellow Pages® success.

The Yellow Pages® is actually a massive repository of content. In the information age, what will make or break it is access to its content. Traditionally it could only be done through the book or the website directly.

A company of this size is typically slow at responding to market trends, however there’s too much at stake for them not to take action fast.

Yellow Pages® in Australia have responded to the challenge of access with initiatives like:

• Yellow in the Car - A small directory for use in the car
• Yellow Mobile - Online Yellow Pages® for mobile phones
• Go Stay® accommodation guide
• Yellow at Home portal website
• Choice buyers guides on the Yellow Pages® online
• Partnership with NineMSN and mylocal.com.au.

They’re making some good moves. 

For what it’s worth, here’s what I’d do to make the Yellow Pages® Australia into a $2 billion guide and to massively increase the value that it delivers to its customers:

1. Open up the category pages to Google

Imagine if the Yellow Pages® category pages came up number one in Google.

For example, search in Google on “Restaurants Melbourne.” Yellow pages are nowhere to be found. 

Would you be interested in advertising in the Yellow Pages® if it was number one in Google?

A quick review of the Yellow Pages® robots.txt file shows that they do not allow any search engine indexing of their content. This seems to be a legacy of pre-information age thinking about content (keep it all to yourself).

What if they simply created search engine friendly pages of content for each of their categories? They don’t have to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

2. Optimise the Yellow Pages® websites for conversion

The current Yellow Pages® online listings are set out very poorly for lead generation. Smart application of simple conversion techniques could massively increase the number of leads generated, and overall change the perceived benefit of the Yellow Pages® online from cost to investment.

One Melbourne business that we deal with gets over 400 leads from its website each month compared with 20 or 30 from the Yellow Pages®. However, this would be very different if the Yellow Pages® took these ideas on board.

It will be interesting to see if the Yellow Pages® can catch up to the massive market shift that happened when Google became the dominant search engine in early 2000.

What I do know is that you’ll see the Yellow Pages® around for many years to come. It’s a question of what form it will be in. Just don’t expect it to be in the form of A-K and L-Z.

From the author: If you regularly advertise for leads in the Yellow Pages®, in the newspaper or on the radio, then there’s a good chance that your website could be generating more leads for you than it is. The key is in your website’s conversion rates.

We know that to achieve high conversion rates and sales from your web marketing you need a team that includes seasoned marketers, web designers, web programmers, copywriters, editors, bloggers and search engine gurus. That’s why we created Bitemark.

And yes, we can get your website to number one in Google too ;-)!

Contact us on 1300 248 362 for a free conversion rate review of your website.

Yellow Pages® is an Australian registered trade mark of Telstra Corporation Ltd. This company has requested and has been granted permission from Telstra Corporation Ltd to use the Yellow Pages® trade mark. This company is not otherwise associated with Telstra Corporation or any of it’s subsidiaries.

 A number of our clients have noticed that their websites have completely dropped out of Microsoft’s Live Search Engine recently. It was first brought to my attention by Gavin Hodges from Flexitank in early October 2007.

Whilst the Flexitank websites receive a lot of traffic from Google searches like “4wd tanks“, “pillow tanks” and “marker buoys,” they have practically disappeared from Microsoft Live Search.

We notified Microsoft’s Live Search support team and the response was that there wasn’t a problem with our site.  They reassured us that the problem would be looked at - no guarantees of course. It appeared to go no further.  

Digging deeper, we found that Microsoft have been radically overhauling their Live Search algorithms and spiders. A new blog, a forum and tools for webmasters were launched which would initially seem like a good move.

Unfortunately for Microsoft and, more importantly, website owners it appears that there are some serious problems at Microsoft Live Search…

Many of the hundreds of posts on the Microsoft Live Search Webmasters forum relate to websites that have recently disappeared from Live Search. The responses by the Microsoft reps to the pleas for help are canned and monotonous. It’s certainly not a reassuring read.

It’s not that the forum administrators don’t want to help, it genuinely appears that they’re being silenced or kept in the dark.

The forum admins are dutifully feeding lines such as:

• Your site has disappeared from Live Search because it doesn’t have good enough backlinks
• You should join an association or start a blog / participate in a blog to get better backlinks
• Our index isn’t big enough to fit everything in, so we left your site out because it wasn’t good enough . . . because of the backlinks.

Not big enough… 

The size issue is something I find particularly strange. It raises a number of questions for me:

• Isn’t the index actually shrinking from disposing of all those good sites that don’t have enough good backlinks?
• Is Microsoft’s technology not big enough for the task that Brin and Page performed with Linux and Pizza Boxes?
• Are the technicians at Live Search feeling Google index envy?

Google have a much better way of dealing with this, called the supplemental index.  Google know that just because a site does not have many good backlinks does not mean that it has no value. Supplemental results are returned in search results by Google all day every day.

It appears that Microsoft are taking a “head in the sand” attitude to this problem. They’re not acknowledging it or addressing it (at least publicly). Instead they’re blaming their problems on webmasters.

That’s not going to help them to gain, or even hold their dwindling market share. Instead of having a shiny new algorithm to brag about, it’s looking more and more like a bomb that’s just not up to the job.

According to Hitwise, in December 2007 Live Search carried less than 6% of the world’s searches. Compare that to the 65% stake that Google is growing.

From the author: As a web programmer I have been involved in developing several content management systems. I was hands on in developing our own content management suite called eComMetrix®.

What I know from working on hundreds of lead generation and eCommerce websites over 11 years is that there is something far more important in creating a website than the system that you use. It’s your conversion rates and it’s a measure of how effectively the content of your website engages with your website visitors.

We know that to achieve high conversion rates and sales from your website you need a team that includes seasoned marketers, web designers, web programmers, copywriters, editors, bloggers and search engine gurus. That’s why we created Bitemark™.

And yes, we can get your website to number one in Google too ;-)!

Contact us on 1300 248 362to find out how you could boost the conversion rates of your website.

We’ve been working with the translators at Meaningful Exchange, helping with their email marketing for a little over a year now. We recently launched a new website targeting companies that are needing translation of their company documents and marketing material.

What we’ve learned is that translation is not as simple as it seems. Whilst Moore’s law has made machine translation a welcome reality, it should never be relied upon for communicating an important message.

Machines translators run in to trouble with things like:

• Cultural differences
• Idioms and Expressions
• Intended meaning
• Words with more than one meaning

That’s where a human translator can help. A professionally trained translator can do more than translate. A good translator will also localise the translation for the intended audience.

Meaningful Exchange offer the translation in the following languages:

• Arabic Translation
• Chinese (Simplified) Translation
• Chinese (Traditional) Translation
• Dutch Translation
• French Translation
• German Translation
• Greek Translation
• Indonesian Translation
• Italian Translation
• Japanese Translation
• Korean Translation
• Portuguese Translation
• Russian Translation
• Spanish Translation
• Turkish Translation
• Vietnamese Translation

If you’re looking to market your company from Australia into other countries or ethnic groups, we can highly recommend the translators at Meaningful Exchange.

From the author: How effective is your email marketing? The answer lies in your conversion rates.

We know that to achieve high conversion rates and sales from your email marketing you need a combination of the best email marketing tools and a team that includes experienced web marketers, email designers, web programmers, copywriters and editors. That’s why we created Bitemark.

Contact us on 03 9012 6600 for a free conversion rate review of your email marketing.

I was meeting with William MacLean from McLean Finance today and we found that his website is on page one in Google for the term “Development Loans.” He’s been getting a number of leads through his site for Development Loans and it’s an area that he specialises in.

So the question is, “How can we get more leads for development loans?”

So I thought I’d outline the basics of our strategy.

Step One - Website Traffic

By reviewing the Google Analytics stats for the site, we found that a number of people were finding the site by searching on Google for Development Loans.

We knew that the site was ranked number eight on the front page of Google. We know from experience that being number one in Google is likely to bring in far more traffic than being number eight. At a minimum, we would expect the numbers to go up by a factor of four, but it could be much higher than that.

So the strategy to get the site up to number one in Google for development loans is:

1. Check that the pages are optimised correctly
2. Get links to the site from other websites from pages that are relevant and use the keyword “development loans”.

Fortunately, William has a blog so he can write about the topic and link back to his site. He’ll also ask his business associates to link to him from their websites too, preferably using the keyword “development loans.”

Another good link would be from a directory that allows you write up a description of your business and link from the description to your website.

Step Two - Conversion Rates

The next step is to look at the content of the web page that is on the site to target development loans. Now we’re already getting a reasonable conversion rate for this page at around 6%. It could be higher, though, so I asked William about the types of people that have been enquiring about this product.

He tells me that there has been a range of people enquiring, from “Mom & Pop” investors through to property developers. So a basic way to improve the conversion rates would be to tailor a web page to each group of people that you want to attract. The page needs to:

1. Raise their specific needs
2. Use their language
3. Tell them how you can solve or address their needs
4. Show real pictures that relate to them and topic
5. Make it easy for them to take action
6. Show testimonials from similar people.

By implementing these basic strategies, not only will MacLean Finance get more traffic to their site, but they’ll also get more leads from that traffic.

From the author: If you regularly advertise for leads in the Yellow Pages®, in the newspaper or on the radio, then there’s a good chance that your website could be generating more leads for you than it is. The key is in your website’s conversion rates.

We know that to achieve high conversion rates and sales from your web marketing you need a team that includes seasoned marketers, web designers, web programmers, copywriters, editors, bloggers and search engine gurus. That’s why we created Bitemark.

And yes, we can get your website to number one in Google too ;-)!

Contact us on 1300 248 362 for a free conversion rate review of your website.

Yellow Pages® is an Australian registered trade mark of Telstra Corporation Ltd. This company has requested and has been granted permission from Telstra Corporation Ltd to use the Yellow Pages® trade mark. This company is not otherwise associated with Telstra Corporation or any of it’s subsidiaries.

What every company needs to know about their domain name… 

Imagine that you are moving into a new office today. Your furniture is moved in, the phones are being connected, offices setup.

You’re all set, but for one detail. The landlord has decided that he’s going to keep the only set of keys. Does that sound crazy?

Well, you might be suprised to know who is holding the keys to your virtual office front door - your domain name.

We find that many web designers and IT geeks have a strange habit of not handing over the keys. Too many business people aren’t even aware that there are any keys, let alone how important they are.

What could be done with your domain name keys? Let me give you an idea. A person could: 

1. Shutdown your website
2. Intercept your email
3. Hold your company to ransom.

Sadly, we’ve actually seen it happen.

Fortunately, there’s a way you can find out who has the keys. It’s called WHOIS. 

If you don’t know who has the keys to your domain name (commonly known as the domain name password) then you need to go and check right now.

• For Australian .au domains go here: http://www.mywebname.com.au (WHOIS tool from the Australian domain name authority AusRegistry)  
• For other domains go here: http://www.whois.net/

What you will see when you search on your domain name is three sections: registrant, administrative contact and technical contact. Here’s a rundown on each of these records:

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Registrant 

This tells you who owns the domain name. If someone else’s company name and address is not listed here, hit the big red panic button.

Administrative Contact

This should be you, or a trusted person within your organisation. If the administrative contact listed does not work for your company, you should get this changed ASAP.

Think about using a generic or group address within your company to ensure access to this part of the record. Ensure that this is kept up to date at all times.

Technical Contact 

It can be helpful to have your web designer, programmer or IT assistant people here.  This will be the backup contact for your domain.

---

You’ll only be able to retrieve the password to your domain name if the information in these contacts is right. If your company is not listed in the contacts for your domain name and you don’t have the password, then you have a few choices to fix the situation:

1. Contact the company or contact that is listed on the WHOIS and politely request that they change the contacts to yours (I really hope you’re on good terms with them).
2. Contact the domain name registrar and apply to have the details changed. They usually have a policy to deal with these situations, particularly where the contact listed on the domain is no longer current and can’t be contacted.
3. Go through a dispute resolution process with the domain name authority. This can be long, drawn out and difficult. Not a good option.

It’s a shame that I have to say that 6 out of every 10 domain names that we deal with are not registered correctly, leaving the company at risk.

We have a strict policy within our organisation to never register clients’ domain names using our own contact details. Check to ensure that your web company has the same policy.

From the author: If you run an eCommerce website then you might wonder, “How do I know if I’m getting as many orders as I could be through my website?” The answer to that question is in your website’s conversion rates.

We know that to achieve high conversion rates and sales from your eCommerce website you need a team that includes seasoned marketers, web designers, web programmers, copywriters, editors, bloggers and search engine gurus. That’s why we created Bitemark.

And yes, we can get your website to number one in Google too ;-)!

Contact us on 1300 248 362 to find out how you could boost the conversion rates of your eCommerce website.

One of my personal goals for 2008 is to get a new acoustic guitar. I’ve been playing guitar for about 3 years now and I love it. Now that I can hear the difference, I’ve decided that it’s time to get a new, more refined acoustic guitar.

I’ve had many different experiences in Music shops. I’ve encountered shopkeepers and sales people who treat you with indifference or even disdain, like you’re a shoplifter. I’ve also had the hard sell. So it was with a little apprehension that I stepped into the Acoustic Centre in Park Street, South Melbourne.

I went upstairs and entered a shop that was wall to wall with acoustic guitars. I was thinking to myself, “Where do I start?”

The first thing that the guy behind the counter (Michael) did was ask me a few questions. What style to you like to play? What are you looking for? What do you like?

Now these guys are a cut above most shops already because they started by showing personal interest. Those few simple questions established that this was about me, the customer. I said that I like to play finger-style, and I mentioned that my friend has a nice Maton. What followed next sealed the deal for me.

Michael started to arrange a series of guitar stands around the central couch in the Maton room. He disappeared for a few seconds at a time and resurfaced with an acoustic guitar each time to place on the stands in front of me.

He spoke a bit about the styles, differences and benefits of each guitar and then said to me, “Have a play with each of these, see what you like.”

I took good time and played to my wife Donna in the store. We both decided that the guitar for me was the Maton EBG808C Michael Fix Custom. What an awesome guitar… I’m still excited about it, even though I haven’t bought it yet!

Michael came back to me with an awesome price that was much less than the RRP. No pressure. Do you think I’m going to bother to shop around now?

The thing is, what this guy was doing wouldn’t be considered “selling” by most people, probably even him. In fact, this was selling at the highest professional level because professionals are genuine. They never make you feel like you’re being sold to.

The professional service that the Acoustic Centre offered included:

1. Showing personal interest and genuine intention to help
2. Knowing their products extremely well and communicating on the customer’s level
3. Offering a selection of products (solutions) that would be likely to suit me and my budget 
4. Allowing hands-on time so that the customer can make their own choice 
5. Offering a great deal.

The question is, how you can apply each of these professional service qualities to your website? You can apply each of them.

From the author: If you regularly advertise for leads in the Yellow Pages®, in the newspaper or on the radio, then there’s a good chance that your website could be generating more leads for you than it is. The key is in your website’s conversion rates.

We know that to achieve high conversion rates and sales from your web marketing you need a team that includes seasoned marketers, web designers, web programmers, copywriters, editors, bloggers and search engine gurus. That’s why we created Bitemark.

And yes, we can get your website to number one in Google too ;-)!

Contact us on 1300 248 362 for a free conversion rate review of your website.

Yellow Pages®is an Australian registered trade mark of Telstra Corporation Ltd. This company has requested and has been granted permission from Telstra Corporation Ltd to use the Yellow Pages® trade mark. This company is not otherwise associated with Telstra Corporation or any of it’s subsidiaries.

I wrote a post about the new Google Maps “Street View” feature after seeing this funny image recently. The Street View feature was introduced on Google Maps last year in the US, but the peering eye of Google was spotted here in Melbourne Australia today.

Google has a car driving around the main city streets with a special camera fitted to the roof that continually takes photos of the view at street level from many angles. The “Google van” on the right was captured this evening on Melbourne’s South Eastern Freeway.

Google Maps Street View images won’t be live in Australia until later this year. In the meantime, I have hopefully fulfilled my long term (3 week) dream of getting into the Google Maps Street View pictures. When the images arrive, look for me in a blue car on the side of the road around about here.

The Street View idea has caused a range of reactions from fascination to concern to paranoia. On the positive side, it’s quite interesting to virtually visit cities like Los Angeles and New York from the comfort of your blog station (formerly know as PC). It’s also handy to be able to see what your destination looks like before you get there.

On the controversial side, there have been some quite funny and intriguing pictures captured. The privacy implications have also caused some concern… 

From the author: If you regularly advertise for leads in the Yellow Pages®, in the newspaper or on the radio, then there’s a good chance that your website could be generating more leads for you than it is. The key is in your website’s conversion rates.

We know that to achieve high conversion rates and sales from your web marketing you need a team that includes seasoned marketers, web designers, web programmers, copywriters, editors, bloggers and search engine gurus. That’s why we created Bitemark.

And yes, we can get your website to number one in Google too ;-)!

Contact us on 1300 248 362 for a free conversion rate review of your website.

Yellow Pages®is an Australian registered trade mark of Telstra Corporation Ltd. This company has requested and has been granted permission from Telstra Corporation Ltd to use the Yellow Pages® trade mark. This company is not otherwise associated with Telstra Corporation or any of it’s subsidiaries.

You’re working on a new web design and you’re fussing over the home page. You’ve got very limited space.  Just 1024 x 768 pixels to play (minus toolbars and scroll-bars). Every pixel matters. Doesn’t it?

In our experience, the majority of time in web design projects is spent sweating over every pixel of the home page. Often it’s based on the belief that the home page will make or break the deal. If you consider the time it takes for visitors to leave your website, it could be true.

Because of the scarce space, many home pages end up looking like they have ADHD. They’re blinking, flashing, distracting and competing for your attention.

So here are some guidelines for designing a great home page for your website:

1. Prioritise the elements that are most important to your business
2. Don’t let your home page compete against itself for attention
3. Make sure that everything is clear and readable at all costs
4. Don’t expect your home page to deliver every single important message that you have
5. Use your home page as a signpost to your website content (useful information).

The reality is, every pixel is important. One of the best ways to make every pixel count in your web design is to use the battleship grid described by Robert Gorell at Future Now: Revenge of the Pixels: The Battle for Screen Real Estate

From the author: If you regularly advertise for leads in the Yellow Pages®, in the newspaper or on the radio, then there’s a good chance that your website could be generating more leads for you than it is. The key is in your website’s conversion rates.

We know that to achieve high conversion rates and sales from your web marketing you need a team that includes seasoned marketers, web designers, web programmers, copywriters, editors, bloggers and search engine gurus. That’s why we created Bitemark.

And yes, we can get your website to number one in Google too ;-)!

Contact us on 1300 248 362 for a free conversion rate review of your website.

Yellow Pages®is an Australian registered trade mark of Telstra Corporation Ltd. This company has requested and has been granted permission from Telstra Corporation Ltd to use the Yellow Pages® trade mark. This company is not otherwise associated with Telstra Corporation or any of it’s subsidiaries.