International eCommerce AdWords Campaigns – Part 1

Posted by Paul Goldston on Apr 28, 2010 in Web Strategy | 2 comments

So you’re looking to expand your e-commerce website into an International market?

Your domestic traffic is through the roof and your conversion rates have remained reliable and stable for a prolonged period of time.

But how are you going to move forward?

There are two integral questions you need to ask yourself when attempting to solve the Online International Market Puzzle (OIMP!):

1. How am I going to convert International traffic? and
2. How am I going to generate International traffic to my website?

Sounds simple… doesn’t it?

Let’s start with the first part of the OIMP equation – converting International traffic.

For most domestic e-commerce websites, some simple conversion optimisation and usability changes need to be considered before any International marketing begins in order to accommodate foreign visitors. There are a number of points to consider when upgrading to an International e-commerce website.

There’s no place like home page

First impressions count. Have you ever heard the term ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’?  Well forget that. On the web, your home page or landing page generally only have 8 seconds to capture your audience’s interest before they decide whether or not they have landed in the right spot. It is therefore imperative that you customise your home page or landing pages for International markets. Some ways to do this are to:

• Recognise your user’s IP address and display content based on their geographic location. This might include a custom welcome message for French visitors or a special shipping sale for German customers etc.
• Maintain country recognition throughout visit. Remember to make sure that, if you have a customer from Germany on your website, you should always display currency in Euros, have an option for German language/site translation and only include information relevant to German visitors.
• Buy a domain name from the user’s country of origin in order to reduce proximity dissonance.

Make them feel safe

One method to gaining your customer’s trust within the first 8 seconds of their visit is to make them feel like they are in safe hands upon arrival. Although a custom, geo-targeted greeting may help the customer feel welcome, there are some other ways to help make the consumer feel safe on your site.

• Mention the security credentials of your site.
• Use a number of well known payment methods and options.
• Make sure your visitors know and understand that you have shipped to their country before and that you can guarantee quick, safe, and reliable delivery of your product or service.
• Mention your local shipping partner for that country. If you can secure well known local shipping partners, this will help to establish trust between you and your international audiences.
• Let your customers know about any additional fees or taxes that may not be included in the price of your product or service (for example VAT fees, shipping insurance and import/export taxes).
• Be sure to include all of these extra fees in your overall total price so there are no surprises for the users down the track.

Check out your Checkout

One of the biggest conversion barriers in international markets is your checkout. Here are some questions you should ask yourself when implementing a checkout system for international customers.

• Would you feel safe or comfortable using this checkout if you were an international buyer at an American store?
• Have you provided international assurances during the checkout process? Once again, you need to let your audience know that you’ve done this before! Assure them that they will always be able to contact you and that they will also be able to get a quick response from your company.
• Have you included a package tracking option?
• Have you sent a confirmation e-mail receipt when your customers order is purchased and dispatched?
• Have you added all shipping costs to the order total?

Where in the world?

• It might go without saying, but if you are targeting a non-english speaking country, it would be preferable if you could have your site translated into your target countries language!
• Even in countries that do natively speak English, ensure that local terminology and spelling is used. (eg: don’t use American spelling if you’re selling to the UK)
• You should also make sure you have altered your checkout fields to suit the country you are targeting. (e.g. Hong Kong has no post code so this field should not be mandatory in a Hong Kong checkout form)

Leave Your Boat Ashore!

• Don’t revert to your country of origin’s domain or pages after the user clicks off your home page. Stay in the country you are targeting.
• It is important to maintain a smooth, customised and personalised browsing experience for each international customer in order to generate optimum results.
• Remember to leave out information which is Australian centric information which is not relevant to your international customers.

Now that you’ve got your website converting, the next step is to send quality traffic. Coming soon will be part 2, how to design an AdWords campaign for International markets.

Popularity: 15%

SEO Checklist

Posted by Andrew Knight on Apr 9, 2010 in Search Engine Optimisation | 35 comments

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is required for any website wanting to rank well in search engines such as Google, without it you may be potentially turning away thousands of new customers every year, even more depending on which industry your business or company represents.

Therefore, employing the services of a trusted and ethical SEO Company is recommended. However there are certain steps which can be initiated before SEO takes place to help make your website SEO ready.

• Website Content: A common and critical issue of today is lack of content (information) on websites. As content enables the creation of authority or “juice”, it helps search engines define what your website is about and ensures correct placement within their indexes. Just as a person will read to learn more, a search engine crawls to gather more information. However, please bear in mind when adding content to your website that it’s unique (not duplicated anywhere else online) and relevant, if not your website may be penalised or removed from the search engine’s index completely. For further information on content and how to maximise its return, please read my previous article on Building Authority.
• Website Pages: A website is generally created to offer a message, to sell products or offer services; therefore it becomes important to structure your website correctly. Nobody wants to read a giant page with information, nor do search engines. Just as we would turn the page of a book or a document, a search engine will crawl a website and its pages and categorise accordingly. Adding additional pages to your website with unique and relevant content will help further improve your chances of ranking higher when SEO is implemented.
• External References: An important factor search engines take into consideration are inbound links to a website, i.e. websites which link to a website. Without these external references, competing for keywords which yield high return is not possible. SEO itself involves extensive link building to help make a website relevant to its target keywords; however there is a line in the sand between quality and quantity. Therefore, contacting other websites which relate to your industry and requesting a link can potentially benefit you, however keep in mind when requesting a link the website is related. For example, if Bobs Tyre Company specialises in selling tyres for vehicles, his industry would be automotive. If Bob requested a link from Jane’s Beauty Parlour, Google may find that to be irrelevant, therefore the quality of that link will be low. However, if Bob requested a link from Smith’s Vehicle Parts, the same industry as Bob, Google will find that to be relevant and the quality will be much higher. For further information, please read my previous article on Link Building.

With these above points in mind and initiated before you enlist the services of an SEO Company, it will most likely save you both time and money whilst increasing the possibility of ranking higher in Google and other search engines faster.

Popularity: 35%

Domain Age and SEO

Posted by Llew Jury on Mar 25, 2010 in Search Engine Optimisation | 0 comments

Domain names have been around for a while. Decades in fact. But how important in 2010 is domain age to SEO and your website ranking results?

At Reload Media we believe it’s very important to Google and your search engine rankings.

If you combine domain age with URL matches and good on-page optimisation, you are setting yourself up to have some great results.

Many businesses such as Digital Point are selling people (and spammers) older domains than what they can buy brand new on say Go Daddy.

At Reload, what we prefer to do is work with clients that have existing domain age and a good website, and therefore relevancy in the Google search algorithm.

That way, you aren’t artificially creating a result with a domain you don’t personally know or control and one that might have been in ‘blacklisting’ trouble in the past.

If you buy a business in the future it’s worth considering the value of the domain. With many baby boomers selling up in the next few years there are going to be many domains out there that aren’t valued properly if domain age isn’t factored in.

Popularity: 22%

Integrate Your Digital Strategy: The IDS Approach

Posted by Amanda Dawson on Mar 12, 2010 in Web Strategy | 4 comments

If you haven’t heard already, there’s a new buzzword in town. Integrated Digital Strategy or IDS. At the centre of this theory, is the idea that your business’ digital and online marketing elements need to be fully integrated into your complete marketing approach.

“Googling it” has become a common form of follow up action after hearing a radio ad or viewing an ad on TV. This means that there is no clear cut segmentation between online consumers and offline consumers.

The benefits of creating an integrated digital strategy are numerous. In short, however, one of the best outcomes of implementing an IDS is that just about everything can be tracked.

For example, different website URLs can be referenced in offline advertisements which can then be tracked using code like Google Analytics. This means that you can track the actual advertising sources that your users are coming from.

But what does it mean for your digital marketing strategies? We’ve included a quick check list below to help you check the health of your digital strategy.

1. Do you have Google Analytics installed on your website?   YES / NO
2. Do you have code installed in all your links on your website to track which link has been clicked?   YES / NO
3. Are you ranking in the search engines for slogans and tag lines that are used in your offline advertisements?   YES / NO
4. Are you using promotional codes or unique URLs in your offline advertising so that you can track where your website visitors are coming from?   YES / NO
5. Are your digital offers available offline as well, in-store or over the phone?   YES / NO

If you answered no to any of the above questions, your digital strategy may not be fully integrated. Contact Reload today to discuss how we can help your business get the most out of your marketing strategies.

Popularity: 23%

Google Eyes World Domination

Posted by Kara Richards on Mar 11, 2010 in Google | 19 comments

There’s no doubt that Google has changed the way the world’s online information is gathered and stored. Google state that their mission is to make the web’s aggregated information “universally accessible and useful.”

It would appear that this is quite a simple mission statement for a company that already dominates over 85% of the planet’s search market share and has 620 million daily visitors to Google.com.

But Google are taking the ‘usefulness’ and functionality of online information so much further.

Google owns mobile phone software that works like a computer, communication platforms that allow you to contact everyone you do (or don’t yet) know and apps that can answer every question or situation you may face.

Here’s a sugarcoated overview of Google’s most impressive acquisitions and projects:

Google Chrome – OS

Google Chrome is an open source Operating System that has been designed to work exclusively with web applications. Google Chrome integrates application and standard web pages into a single tab and “is aimed at users that spend most of their computer time on the internet.” Google’s Chrome OS has an expected release for the second half of 2010 and is free to the public.

Google Chrome – Web Browser

Google Chrome has been designed to work with Web Applications and aims to improve ‘security, speed and stability’ when surfing the net, through its Application performance and JavaScript processing speed. Google Chrome currently holds 5.61% of the web browser market share, a big feat since its release in September 2009.

Google Wave – Personal Communication Software

Google Wave will be the new Facebook. Big call, I know but this web-based service creates a unified personal communication platform via voice, text, photos, videos, maps, and other digital tools. The aim is for multiple users to set up a collaborative environment known as a “wave” and then edit the content and add replies, just like a wiki.

Android – Mobile Software

Bought by Google in 2005 and announced in November 2007, Android is a open-source mobile phone operating system that will have enough apps to run your life, nearly. There are over 20,000 android phone applications available and over 60,000 new android phones are shipped daily.

Google Goggles – Android App

Google Goggles is an android application that allows phone users to search Google via pictures they take on their mobile phones. Google use various image recognition back ends such as object recognition then returns relevant search results. See the following video:

YouTube – Video Sharing

Google bought YouTube in October 2006 for $1.65 billion; not a bad deal for a garage project! If you didn’t already know how massive YouTube is, this video sharing platform dominates nearly 40% of the online video market share in the USA. With 20 hours of video uploaded every minute, YouTube will have no problems broadcasting the Indian Premier League this month.

So how did Lord Google gain its Googlopoly? They simplified accessing the web, built trust with users’ and managed to release technologies at the right pace for the market and society. Not to mention that most Google products are free; a surefire way to increase popularity.

With 45% of Google’s products still in Beta, I’m pretty sure that Google’s world domination is just getting started. Just Google it.

Popularity: 30%