With Google releasing what they called, "Guidance on building high-quality sites," we now know what we need to be looking for
on
our own websites.
In our last newsletter we discussed 5 ways to avoid
the Google Slap. Today, Shawna looks at 1 Choice 4 Quilting, the
Now What Project
store, and shows how she answers these important questions.
1.
What are you
doing on your website to show customers they can trust the information you are
providing and that you are a creditable source?
First, we
build relationships using our blog, Facebook, and Twitter.
This helped us to start getting orders. Once we had the orders, we worked
very hard on making sure that all orders went out on time and with hand-written
thank you cards. Each order receives a small gift or two as a special thank you
as well. We have used quilt themed emery boards, quilting needles, small sewing
kits, etc.
Second, the
above steps helped us to quickly build our testimonials page. Using text and
screenshots we were able to show that we were a company that could be trusted on
our testimonials page.
Third, we
share our passion for quilting and the fabrics that we love. We share this
passion with pictures, ideas, and the content we are writing.
2. How are you making
customers comfortable giving your credit card information to your site?
Customers
coming in from Google, Yahoo, and Bing -
The first step was a beautiful design
that would draw them into the website. You have to draw their attention and
avoid the "I came, I puked, I left" factor.
The second step was building a
website that was easy to navigate. This helped to make people feel comfortable
staying.
The third step was making sure we had contact information HIGHLY
visible. Toll free number, live chat, questions page, and click to call helped
them to see they could reach us any time.
The fourth step was reassuring them
that our cart is 100% secure using the Yahoo Shopping Cart. Yahoo is a well
known name - use it to your advantage.
The fifth step was making sure that when
they added an item to their cart, everything looked the same. We finally have
them adding something to their cart. Now is not the time to scare them.
The
sixth step was making sure to reassure them while they are in the cart. BuySafe
was added to the site to show that we will protect their information and they
will have a price guarantee.
The seventh step was a graphic was placed in the cart letting them know
we have fast shipping and reminding them of our low price flat rate and free
shipping offer.
The eighth step was creating custom graphics for the entire check out
process.
The final step was making sure the check-out process was simple
and easy. We didn't want any distractions getting in their way.
When customers visit from
social media websites, we use our testimonials page to showing their friends are
purchasing from us and what they are saying about their orders.
3. How are you showing your content is being written by an expert
or enthusiast who knows the topic well?
We work hard on sharing our love
for quilting with everything we say and do. We are taking new pictures of
fabric, sharing stories from magazines, sharing stories from books, sharing
ideas, sharing links to other wonderful websites, and being genuine about our
love of fabric.
If you think back through my working history, I have always loved design and
color. In my early 20's I worked as a cosmetologist, in my early 30's I kicked
up my graphic design skills, and today I am talking about fabric design and
color. This is a pure love that is transparent and customers DO see that in
everything that we do.
4. Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant
articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword
variations?
New products
are coming out every month which makes things easy and hard. However, you can
make sure you are doing things correctly by doing keyword research for 30 main
keyword phrases. Find all the keywords you can for these phrases. Mark each
phrase with a number 1 through 30. On each day of the month, look for the
corresponding number and write a post on your own blog using your keyword phrase list.
5. Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers of the
site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank
well in search engines?
We are
constantly listening to what customers are telling us. We are listening on our
blog, Facebook, Twitter, emails, and reading their blogs too. Their blogs
provide a lot of great information on what they are looking for. Look for forums
where your customers hang out, they will tell you what they are looking for.
Using the keyword research and our listening skills, we can create great content
using our voice and personality.
When we write
content, we talk about the fabric as if we are describing it to our best friend.
6. How does the page provide substantial value when compared to
other pages in search results?
We noticed right away that many
of the other websites wanted to talk about sales sales sales. We don't have to -
our prices will speak for themselves. We needed to focus on relationships. These
customers want more information on how to do things better, faster, and easier.
These customers are looking for inspiration. So when we added our content, we
made sure to add the content they would want to find. For instance, our product
pages list short and simple tutorials they can do using the fabric they are
looking for. If you educate the customer on how to use the product, they will
realize how much they need the product.
You make your
site an authority with content. The best kind of content is education. Create
blogs, create videos, and most importantly... create relationships. These all
come together perfectly and allow other people to link to your website naturally
from relevant websites. You gain links from Twitter and Facebook. Are the direct
links going to help you from these social media websites? No. But when you put
out something that is so amazing that 100 people have to spread the word about
it on Twitter, Facebook, their blog, etc... Google notices.
We have
customers posting on Twitter, and Facebook with a link to our website. They are
also linking to us from their blogs. These links are natural relevant links from
other quilting websites. This helps Google know that we are a creditable source.
7. Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a
friend, or recommend?
Yes, we put
little tutorials or patterns on the item pages so they know what to do with the product. So they print or bookmark
and come back. Instead of just talking about the product, we try adding value on
how you can use the product to create something. Even after they purchase the
product, they are bookmarking your website so they can come back and create what
you have taught them.
8. Does this site have an excessive amount of ads that distract
from or interfere with the main content?
Adding Google Adwords WAS
a great way to get Google to index your website. After all, Google wants to show
relevant ads. Now - get rid of them. Focus on your own content and making your
site valuable.
9. Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large
number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that
individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
Since we get products in all the time, we have set up custom programming that will put content into each "type" of product. This allows us to add product to the site quickly. Then we go back and add more content that is unique for that product.
For instance, a yardage might explain what is included and a layer cake might explain what a layer cake is, how you use it, and what you can create. Instead of writing this content EVERY time, we use custom programming to do the work for us.
We can also use this custom programming to change multiple pages on a weekly basis. This allows us to keep our content as fresh as possible for customers and Google.
10. Was the article
edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
Hell no!!! Google is not the only one reading our content,
customers are too. Write for them. It does us no good to get visitors to our
website if they aren’t going to convert into our customer.
Your Turn
Now it is your turn. Head over to your website and ask the same 10 questions. Look for ways you can improve.
Need help? Give us a call today and we can help you with your store. We’ve seen small changes make huge differences so if you have some time to spend with us, call or email today to schedule your review. Call Toll Free 888-312-7839
Shawna Seigel (Formally Shawna Fennell but, I got married on the Fourth of
July!)
Click To See Pictures
Recently Completed
New Services
We have
the New Life Book Club where we are reading the Yahoo! Style Guide that shows you
how to write content for the web. It will show you how to write better
newsletters, blogs, and everything else.
We have a
Mastermind Group that
works together on weekly projects and to do lists.
We have the
Now What
Project that shows you a brand new website, shows you all the mistakes, fixes
the mistakes, and then shows you the increased conversions. Learn from these
mistakes!!
We have a brand new
1 Choice 4 Your Store Facebook Page. Have questions you want
to ask? Just want to say hi? Come on over! We would love to have you :)
Finally, you can always give us a call to help you as well.
Pick up the phone and dial 888-312-7839.
This is an awesome rebroadcast from the New Life Event that I think you will enjoy. Learn how the Now What Project got started and much much more!
Recent Blog Tips
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RSS feed or get email updates. If you use Twitter, you can get to know me
and get updates on new blog posts too.
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Recently Interviewed
1 Choice 4 Your Store is proud and honored to host Ecom Experts on
WebmasterRadio.fm
We have had the privilege of interviewing some of the most amazing guests
and hope you enjoy listening to the interviews as much as we enjoyed doing them!
If you have missed any of our shows, you can click on the links below.
Yahoo Store Updates; Facebook Likes Are Good For Sites
Rene takes us through Yahoo Store Updates, Paypal Maintenance and a Danny Sullivan Search Engine Land post entitled By The Numbers: How Facebook Says Likes and Social Plugins Help Websites
Ecommerce Q and A: Time Management, Creativity, Credit Card Processing
Time Management, Creativity, credit card processing, starting new sites, are some of the questions answered in this ecommerce Q and A. We also hear from Kat Simpson of KatsKloset.com about how one of her products she pushes on her shopping site benefitted from some TV exposure.
Google released a new blog post on their Webmaster Central blog with some guidance on how to build a high quality website and Shawna and Rene discuss how you can apply these guidelines to your online store.
Shawna updates us on the Now What Project, which to date has had over $12,000 in sales in just 3 months, increasing sales from March to April by over 150 percent.
Shawna and Rene take us inside the changes on the Now What Project website, which is only 2 and 1/2 months old, has resulted in 64 sales in the past 17 days.
Shawna gives us the 10 Most Important Questions About Blogging with Paul O’ Brien . They discuss if a blog really help you be found online? Is blogging considered social media, what the heck do you blog about, what platform should you be using and what are the 3 best SEO practices for your blog?
Shawna and Rene takes us through their Now What Project store, since they opened less than 8 weeks ago have seen sales go up 268 percent . and page views up over 900 percent. They detail how you can make it happen to your store too.
Shawna has a conversation with Melinda Emerson, The Small Business Woman at SucceedAsYourOwnBoss.com about the ups and downs of starting a small business. What relationships should be built, and what to look out for when you start up.
Google Farmer Update and 5 Ways to Avoid Google Slap Downs
Shawna discusses the Google Farmer Update and she asks the question Is the Farmer Update a BIG Deal? and she also offers 5 Ways to Avoid Google Slap Downs.
Shawna offers up a pre-party to get ready for 30 webinars lined up for the upcoming New Life Event. We hear from presenting speakers Kat Simpson, John Lawson and Phedra Stockstill.
Unfortunately the cold heart truth is that many Ecommerce businesses will fail. So how do we avoid it? Chris Malta shares with us: What is the failure rate for Ecommerce business compared to bricks and mortar stores? Number one reason so many Ecommerce sites fail?
Why do so many EBiz hopefuls just give up? What do you need to do to avoid this kind of failure?
Shawna discusses the Biggest SEO Mistakes Online Retailers Make With small business owner, online retailer, search marketing / e-commerce consultant, and Yahoo! Store developer Rob Snell.
Google Makes BIG Changes in its Focus on Content Farms in 2011, by launching two major algorithmic changes focused on content farms and low-quality sites or spammy sites that are noticed in Google search results.
Online Store Owners, Worried About Tax Time? Start the New Year right and learn what you need to know for your Ecommerce store now, that will make next years year end taxes a breeze!
Ecommerce Q and A involves Optimizing for Holiday Shopping and Cyber Monday as Shawna and Rene look at online stores including a handmade Christmas decorations site.
Social Ecommerce and Last Minute Holiday Conversion Tips
Social Ecommerce and Last Minute Holiday Conversion Tips as Shawna and guest Fredrick Nijm from Addoway.com feature tips you can implement today to start seeing results tomorrow.
Importance of Setting Proper KPIs and Goals as Yahoo! Web Analytics Dennis R. Mortensen gives his strong opinions about the importance of setting proper KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and applying appropriate subsequent optimization goals.
Ecommerce Trends and an Awesome Special From VeriSign
Air Date: November 1, 2020
Podcast: Play in new window
| Download
Ecommerce Evangelist Bob Angus from VeriSign discusses How Symantec and VeriSign monitor traffic on ecommerce websites? What should ecommerce sites be doing to keep themselves and their customers safe? Plus…Learn how you can receive the VeriSign Trust Seal for only a dollar.
Book Promotion, Quilting Ideas and Medical Supplies
Book Promotion, Quilting Ideas and Tips, Medical Supplies and more as Shawna and Rene offer site reviews and analysis in their end of month Ecommerce Q and A.
Book Promotion, Quilting Ideas and Medical Supplies
Book Promotion, Quilting Ideas and Tips, Medical Supplies and more as Shawna and Rene offer site reviews and analysis in their end of month Ecommerce Q and A.
Are Your Products Ready For Group Buying? Group buying websites have become the big web trend in 2010 and with good reason. Jeremy Kugel, CEO of Jasmere.com, tells us about group buying and how it can help your business grow.
How Your Local Directory Listings Can Rank Better in Google?
Shawna speaks with Matt Siltala, Co-Founder of Dream Systems Media, about Viral Marketing. Matt explains the concept, ROI opportunities, industry benefits, marketing methods and some successful examples.
Ecommerce Q and A: Exotic Fruits and Sterling Silver Jewelry
Shawna and Rene present their end of month Ecommerce Q and A. They review different ecom sites this month showcasing Exotic Fruits, Sterling Silver Jewelry, Thin Wallets, and medical tests.
How Does Google Instant Affect Your Traffic and Sales?
Dave Davies, CEO of Beanstalk Search Engine Optimization Inc, discusses How Does Google Instant Affect Your Traffic and Sales. We also learn how it will affect PageRank, traffic and sales.
Greg Jameson, President of WebStores Ltd. tells us why video such a hot topic for store owners.
We also learn what it take to create a YouTube Channel including formulating topics, length and adding videos to your website. We also go into the production process, from editing to lighting to even green screens.
Mike Ober from Yahoo Small Business stops by to discuss the new features released earlier this month from Yahoo, as well as, best practices for Customer Registration. He also participates on the monthly site reviews.
Studies show that its less expensive to bring existing customers back than to attract new ones. So how can you take your existing customers and bring them back into your store to purchase again? Shawna welcomes the always popular Kat from Kats Kloset! Kat was recently named one of the top 6 Social Media Sellers by eBays blogger, Richard Brewer Hayes and is keeping busy trying to live up to that image.
1 Choice 4 Your Store is an authorized Yahoo Store Partner. However, its products are not
associated with or endorsed by Yahoo! Inc. Yahoo!, and Yahoo! Store are registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc. Click here for more copyright information.
Level 1 - Overnight Success
Make sure you are subscribed to our blog! Over the next few weeks we are going to expand on each aspect we discussed above in more detail. We have lots of choices to keep up with our blog. You can subscribe to our
RSS feed or get email updates. If you use Twitter, you can get to know me
and get updates on new blog posts too.
