Thursday, December 27, 2007
Lessons Learned From 2007 E-Commerce Misery
About 50 percent of all new businesses survive for at least five years, according to estimates by the Small Business Administration. On the flip side, that means that half of all new ventures fail in that time frame. While the e-commerce market has been growing at a rapid clip, a number of companies have not been able to take advantage of this trend and found themselves in precarious positions for a variety of reasons this year. The ripple effect from problems in the home mortgage market which saw more than 200 companies go out business in 2007, impacting several online suppliers.
Meanwhile, a few firms jumped into the arms of willing buyers; changing regulations about offshore betting caused problems for companies in that market; and other firms misunderstood market directions and invested in areas that delivered little to no returns.
In November, E*Trade felt the impact of the mortgage industry meltdown. The online brokerage lost more than half its market value after it forecast a decline in fourth-quarter earnings, and some analysts even predicted that the company would eventually go bankrupt. The problems arose when chief executive Mitchell Caplan's strategy of building E*Trade's bank by tripling loans outstanding backfired as borrowers fell behind on their payments and U.S. home prices declined.
To shore up its position, the financial services company announced a cash infusion of US$2.5 billion, led by affiliates of Citadel Investment Group. The firm designed the investment to fortify E*Trade's balance sheet, allow the company to focus on its core retail business and provide additional capital to manage credit risks.
E*Trade also shook up its management team, with R. Jarrett Lilien succeeding Mitchell Caplan as chief executive officer. Lilien has served as director, president and chief operating officer for the e-commerce supplier. The company is conducting an executive search for the CEO position, and will considering Lilien and external candidates.
Pay By Touch, which supplies biometric authentication systems to retailers, is another company that made a misstep in 2007. "The company thought that businesses could use its products for business-to-business exchanges, but there was not as much interest in that capability as they expected," Russ Jones, an analyst with Glenbrook Partners said.
Meanwhile, as the e-commerce market has been expanding, size has become a more important factor in a company's success or failure. Consequently, a number of companies that at the beginning of the year were competing became teammates by the end of the year. GSI Commerce built its business by buying distressed online retailers such as Fogdog.com and Ashford.com and running the operations more efficiently than the retailers could themselves. The company did so well that it ended up acquiring Accretive Commerce for $97.5 million in cash. "The acquisition was a good move for GSI, which found a way to get rid of one of its big competitors," Gene Alvarez, research vice president at Gartner said.
ChannelAdvisor also acquired a competing e-commerce services company Marketworks. Although both ChannelAdvisor and Marketworks offer similar e-commerce channel/marketplace products and services, they serve different customers. ChannelAdvisor mainly services larger merchants while Marketworks specializes in selling products and services for small to medium-sized merchants.
Online gambling was an e-commerce area that took a major hit in 2007, and Neteller was in the news quite a bit. Stephen Lawrence, a director of the UK-based online payments firm, entered a guilty plea to a charge of conspiracy in connection with his role in the company's handling of financial transactions among gambling customers in the U.S. and offshore Internet gambling businesses. Another director of the company, John Lefebvre, admitted to allegations of misappropriating funds that required him to forfeit more than $100 million.
In addition, the U.S. government stepped up its efforts to regulate these sites. Internet gambling is essentially illegal in the U.S. under decades-old laws, and President Bush signed a bill in late 2006 that made it a crime for banks and credit card companies to make payments to online gambling sites. In this effort, the government wanted to curtail Internet gambling, which critics say is rife for abuse and can be easily accessed by minors who would not be able to place bets in other settings.
Under the new law, major gambling companies faced significant problems since a significant portion of their revenue -- estimates are up to 60 percent -- and profits came from U.S. gamblers. Armed with the new rules, prosecutors set their sights on several Internet gambling sites. During the year, former BetOnSports CEO David Carruthers was arrested and later, Sportingbet Chairman Peter Dicks was detained when he flew to New York. Meanwhile, PartyPoker.com and 888 Casino-on-Net --a few of the largest and most successful online gambling sites in the world -- withdrew from the U.S. market, and Sportingbet and Leisure and Gambling sold their U.S. operations for $1 in moves that were seen limiting their exposure to legal risk.
The social networking phenomenon was another area where e-commerce vendors missed the boat. "Social networks help companies build awareness about their brands, but vendors have not been able to leverage them to generate more e-commerce sales," said Rachel Happe, research manager at IDC. E-commerce vendors spent a lot of money advertising on social networking sites, but these investments did not generate much of a return. "It does not make a lot of sense to promote your products to a MyFace Web site focused on a person's dog. After all, the dog is not going to buy any products," Gartner's Alvarez said.
Site Credibility Pays, Join Guardian eCommerce.
Meanwhile, a few firms jumped into the arms of willing buyers; changing regulations about offshore betting caused problems for companies in that market; and other firms misunderstood market directions and invested in areas that delivered little to no returns.
In November, E*Trade felt the impact of the mortgage industry meltdown. The online brokerage lost more than half its market value after it forecast a decline in fourth-quarter earnings, and some analysts even predicted that the company would eventually go bankrupt. The problems arose when chief executive Mitchell Caplan's strategy of building E*Trade's bank by tripling loans outstanding backfired as borrowers fell behind on their payments and U.S. home prices declined.
To shore up its position, the financial services company announced a cash infusion of US$2.5 billion, led by affiliates of Citadel Investment Group. The firm designed the investment to fortify E*Trade's balance sheet, allow the company to focus on its core retail business and provide additional capital to manage credit risks.
E*Trade also shook up its management team, with R. Jarrett Lilien succeeding Mitchell Caplan as chief executive officer. Lilien has served as director, president and chief operating officer for the e-commerce supplier. The company is conducting an executive search for the CEO position, and will considering Lilien and external candidates.
Pay By Touch, which supplies biometric authentication systems to retailers, is another company that made a misstep in 2007. "The company thought that businesses could use its products for business-to-business exchanges, but there was not as much interest in that capability as they expected," Russ Jones, an analyst with Glenbrook Partners said.
Meanwhile, as the e-commerce market has been expanding, size has become a more important factor in a company's success or failure. Consequently, a number of companies that at the beginning of the year were competing became teammates by the end of the year. GSI Commerce built its business by buying distressed online retailers such as Fogdog.com and Ashford.com and running the operations more efficiently than the retailers could themselves. The company did so well that it ended up acquiring Accretive Commerce for $97.5 million in cash. "The acquisition was a good move for GSI, which found a way to get rid of one of its big competitors," Gene Alvarez, research vice president at Gartner said.
ChannelAdvisor also acquired a competing e-commerce services company Marketworks. Although both ChannelAdvisor and Marketworks offer similar e-commerce channel/marketplace products and services, they serve different customers. ChannelAdvisor mainly services larger merchants while Marketworks specializes in selling products and services for small to medium-sized merchants.
Online gambling was an e-commerce area that took a major hit in 2007, and Neteller was in the news quite a bit. Stephen Lawrence, a director of the UK-based online payments firm, entered a guilty plea to a charge of conspiracy in connection with his role in the company's handling of financial transactions among gambling customers in the U.S. and offshore Internet gambling businesses. Another director of the company, John Lefebvre, admitted to allegations of misappropriating funds that required him to forfeit more than $100 million.
In addition, the U.S. government stepped up its efforts to regulate these sites. Internet gambling is essentially illegal in the U.S. under decades-old laws, and President Bush signed a bill in late 2006 that made it a crime for banks and credit card companies to make payments to online gambling sites. In this effort, the government wanted to curtail Internet gambling, which critics say is rife for abuse and can be easily accessed by minors who would not be able to place bets in other settings.
Under the new law, major gambling companies faced significant problems since a significant portion of their revenue -- estimates are up to 60 percent -- and profits came from U.S. gamblers. Armed with the new rules, prosecutors set their sights on several Internet gambling sites. During the year, former BetOnSports CEO David Carruthers was arrested and later, Sportingbet Chairman Peter Dicks was detained when he flew to New York. Meanwhile, PartyPoker.com and 888 Casino-on-Net --a few of the largest and most successful online gambling sites in the world -- withdrew from the U.S. market, and Sportingbet and Leisure and Gambling sold their U.S. operations for $1 in moves that were seen limiting their exposure to legal risk.
The social networking phenomenon was another area where e-commerce vendors missed the boat. "Social networks help companies build awareness about their brands, but vendors have not been able to leverage them to generate more e-commerce sales," said Rachel Happe, research manager at IDC. E-commerce vendors spent a lot of money advertising on social networking sites, but these investments did not generate much of a return. "It does not make a lot of sense to promote your products to a MyFace Web site focused on a person's dog. After all, the dog is not going to buy any products," Gartner's Alvarez said.
Site Credibility Pays, Join Guardian eCommerce.
Can Your Internet Business Be Trusted?
It's a fact - your site visitors will ask the same question almost every single time they visit your Website, 'How do I know I can trust this Website?' The greatest fear facing online consumers today is who they can trust on the Web. Many online consumers are still uncomfortable with the online transaction process. A great majority of online consumers are especially concerned about whether or not they can trust any one of the billions of sites on the Web today, for their fear is that the one they decide to trust... may prove to be a fraudulent one.
In a recent survey conducted in the summer of 2007 by Guardian eCommerce, 92% of online consumers surveyed would prefer transacting with an Internet business that is clearly trustworthy and verified as one that is committed to online consumer safety and privacy protection. Online consumers want to click with confidence!
Many online consumers yearn for the ability to spend their money in the comfort of their own home and on the Web, but in a manner where the online transactions they conduct are safe, secure, and private. The survey basically concluded an already known truth. Verified site credibility and trust was the obvious key requirement for online consumers to achieve the confidence and assurance they needed to transact online with an Internet business!
In that very same survey, 86% of those online consumers surveyed confirmed the importance site credibility and trust verified by a trusted and proven third party authority in site verification. Simply put, these online consumers concluded they would NOT transact or conduct business online with a Website that failed to be approved by a known third party site verification authority... for site credibility and trust.
Clearly, the greater Internet community is fully aware that there are a large number of Websites functioning strictly for malicious gain. Such sites prey on the innocent for financial gain. It's impossible to identify every Website engaged in fraud.
At the same time, countless millions of online consumers worldwide rely on the Internet for many goods and services, and the number of online consumers engaged in online transactions are growing at an astronomical rate. Who is capitalizing on this fact? Which Internet business stands to gain from this truth? Is your Internet business missing the proverbial boat and failing to capture sales from those online consumers that want to spend their money -- but are unsure of your Website?
Certainly, there are those minority Internet business owners who have spent many hard years building their Internet business based on good reputation and word of mouth. They have established legit and trustworthy Websites, which in turn has resulted in sustained online success. In such cases of online success, online consumer assurance has been achieved through the years... and is easily maintained.
But not all Internet business owners fall into that category above. So then there is another category of those majority Websites or Internet business owners smart enough to gain site credibility and trust simply by being verified by a widely accepted non-objective third party site verification program. Both ways, these 'credible' Websites are on the road to online success. It's a simple concept - increase online sales... because site credibility pays.
But there are still many online consumers that feel threatened by the evolving dangers of engaging in e-commerce and online transactions today. Consumer online privacy and safety needs are growing rapidly! What steps can you take to increase online sales instead of being plagued by wrongful skepticism tainting online consumers? Get certified by an acknowledged and proven third party site verification entity like Guardian eCommerce, or even BBB.
Site certification or third party site verification is an important and affordable Internet business solution essential to help increase online sales. Online customers will buy often from an Internet business they can trust. Third party site verification helps build that bond of trust between Internet business owners and their online customers.
It's clearly proven - site credibility does pay. Third party site verification authorities like BBB or Guardian eCommerce have spent years protecting online consumers while providing an Internet business solution that exposes your trustworthy Website or Internet business.
Whether it’s a third party privacy seal, or trust mark seal of approval, or even a trustseal - online consumers need an assurance that your Website is a trustworthy one. Some even want insurance in case of an unresolved conflict with your Website. Some third party site verification programs like Guardian eCommerce provide a consumer protection warranty in the rare case of an unresolved dispute against a member Website. Guardian eCommerce provides this UNMATCHED consumer protection warranty which literally gives online consumers piece of mind protection 24/7. It's the kind of online assurance consumers want... and Internet business owners should always provide!
Don't be a foolish Internet business owner, and deny your customers online assurance... provide your potential clients with piece of mind. Increase site trust and online sales because site credibility does indeed pay! Denying online consumer assurance is probably the biggest mistake you can make and this will surely minimize the online sales potential of your Internet business. For a mere few dollars, you can get site certified and it's worth it!
Increase Site Trust, Increase Online Sales. Join Guardian eCommerce.
In a recent survey conducted in the summer of 2007 by Guardian eCommerce, 92% of online consumers surveyed would prefer transacting with an Internet business that is clearly trustworthy and verified as one that is committed to online consumer safety and privacy protection. Online consumers want to click with confidence!
Many online consumers yearn for the ability to spend their money in the comfort of their own home and on the Web, but in a manner where the online transactions they conduct are safe, secure, and private. The survey basically concluded an already known truth. Verified site credibility and trust was the obvious key requirement for online consumers to achieve the confidence and assurance they needed to transact online with an Internet business!
In that very same survey, 86% of those online consumers surveyed confirmed the importance site credibility and trust verified by a trusted and proven third party authority in site verification. Simply put, these online consumers concluded they would NOT transact or conduct business online with a Website that failed to be approved by a known third party site verification authority... for site credibility and trust.
Clearly, the greater Internet community is fully aware that there are a large number of Websites functioning strictly for malicious gain. Such sites prey on the innocent for financial gain. It's impossible to identify every Website engaged in fraud.
At the same time, countless millions of online consumers worldwide rely on the Internet for many goods and services, and the number of online consumers engaged in online transactions are growing at an astronomical rate. Who is capitalizing on this fact? Which Internet business stands to gain from this truth? Is your Internet business missing the proverbial boat and failing to capture sales from those online consumers that want to spend their money -- but are unsure of your Website?
Certainly, there are those minority Internet business owners who have spent many hard years building their Internet business based on good reputation and word of mouth. They have established legit and trustworthy Websites, which in turn has resulted in sustained online success. In such cases of online success, online consumer assurance has been achieved through the years... and is easily maintained.
But not all Internet business owners fall into that category above. So then there is another category of those majority Websites or Internet business owners smart enough to gain site credibility and trust simply by being verified by a widely accepted non-objective third party site verification program. Both ways, these 'credible' Websites are on the road to online success. It's a simple concept - increase online sales... because site credibility pays.
But there are still many online consumers that feel threatened by the evolving dangers of engaging in e-commerce and online transactions today. Consumer online privacy and safety needs are growing rapidly! What steps can you take to increase online sales instead of being plagued by wrongful skepticism tainting online consumers? Get certified by an acknowledged and proven third party site verification entity like Guardian eCommerce, or even BBB.
Site certification or third party site verification is an important and affordable Internet business solution essential to help increase online sales. Online customers will buy often from an Internet business they can trust. Third party site verification helps build that bond of trust between Internet business owners and their online customers.
It's clearly proven - site credibility does pay. Third party site verification authorities like BBB or Guardian eCommerce have spent years protecting online consumers while providing an Internet business solution that exposes your trustworthy Website or Internet business.
Whether it’s a third party privacy seal, or trust mark seal of approval, or even a trustseal - online consumers need an assurance that your Website is a trustworthy one. Some even want insurance in case of an unresolved conflict with your Website. Some third party site verification programs like Guardian eCommerce provide a consumer protection warranty in the rare case of an unresolved dispute against a member Website. Guardian eCommerce provides this UNMATCHED consumer protection warranty which literally gives online consumers piece of mind protection 24/7. It's the kind of online assurance consumers want... and Internet business owners should always provide!
Don't be a foolish Internet business owner, and deny your customers online assurance... provide your potential clients with piece of mind. Increase site trust and online sales because site credibility does indeed pay! Denying online consumer assurance is probably the biggest mistake you can make and this will surely minimize the online sales potential of your Internet business. For a mere few dollars, you can get site certified and it's worth it!
Increase Site Trust, Increase Online Sales. Join Guardian eCommerce.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Online Scammers Bait Phishing Rods For Holiday Shoppers
Online shopping scams could become a major security threat in the weeks leading up to Christmas as consumers eagerly type in credit card numbers, click on discount coupons and participate in online promotions, security experts worry. Instead of money-saving deals, e-mailed coupons could lead recipients into "phishing" schemes where the consumer is redirected to a copycat site, whose real purpose is to siphon the user's credit card information, passwords and other financial data, IBM security executive Christopher Rouland warned.
It's phish food! "That 50-percent-off, one-use coupon could go to a compromised computer in Kazakhstan," said Rouland, chief technology officer for Internet security systems at Big Blue, which controls more than 1 million "phish trap" e-mail addresses that discovered 867,000 scams in the third quarter. "The quality of malware is very high." IBM is urging online shoppers not to click on links within e-mails that appear to come from an online retailer.
Guardian eCommerce warns all online consumers worldwide to do the same, since the quality of fraudulent emails have improved to the point they can fool almost anybody. "Do not click on links from perceived online retailers and numerous other online entities. Almost 9 out of every 10 emails these days are linked to some form of online scam: from lottery winnings, to an inheritance gained, to land titles found, to eBay claims, to retailer coupons & special offers, to PayPal notices, to other official bank notices, and more. We caution everybody to stay away from the phishing scams running wild on the innocent" warned Dawn Devereaux from Guardian eCommerce. In this case, do not click on coupons or offers from suspect retailer emails. Instead, open a new Web browser, go to the retailer's site, navigate to special coupons or promotions and see if it's there.
Brian Trombley, a product manager for computer security firm McAfee , said holiday phishing scams are shaping up to be an "extraordinary problem" this season. No single giant retailer has been a particular target of holiday attacks; eBay's PayPal unit is still an overwhelming target of scammers. "The scammers are getting more and more sophisticated," Trombley said. "They're using better English, they're getting better at copying real sites and making their site look like the real thing."
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
It's phish food! "That 50-percent-off, one-use coupon could go to a compromised computer in Kazakhstan," said Rouland, chief technology officer for Internet security systems at Big Blue, which controls more than 1 million "phish trap" e-mail addresses that discovered 867,000 scams in the third quarter. "The quality of malware is very high." IBM is urging online shoppers not to click on links within e-mails that appear to come from an online retailer.
Guardian eCommerce warns all online consumers worldwide to do the same, since the quality of fraudulent emails have improved to the point they can fool almost anybody. "Do not click on links from perceived online retailers and numerous other online entities. Almost 9 out of every 10 emails these days are linked to some form of online scam: from lottery winnings, to an inheritance gained, to land titles found, to eBay claims, to retailer coupons & special offers, to PayPal notices, to other official bank notices, and more. We caution everybody to stay away from the phishing scams running wild on the innocent" warned Dawn Devereaux from Guardian eCommerce. In this case, do not click on coupons or offers from suspect retailer emails. Instead, open a new Web browser, go to the retailer's site, navigate to special coupons or promotions and see if it's there.
Brian Trombley, a product manager for computer security firm McAfee , said holiday phishing scams are shaping up to be an "extraordinary problem" this season. No single giant retailer has been a particular target of holiday attacks; eBay's PayPal unit is still an overwhelming target of scammers. "The scammers are getting more and more sophisticated," Trombley said. "They're using better English, they're getting better at copying real sites and making their site look like the real thing."
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
Get SEO Savvy: Five Tips For Keyword Choice
By now, the majority of Web site owners should be aware that good content is a critical ingredient to site success. Before creating the content of a site, however, one must overcome the sometimes daunting task of choosing keywords.
These keywords are an integral part of any site and serve as the foundation of your targeted content. When picking keywords, many factors should be thoroughly contemplated, such as the Web site's theme, ultimate goal, target audience , etc. While there are many considerations to address when choosing keywords, here are some that continue to be the most relevant to the search engine algorithms:
No. 1: Web Site Theme
The chosen theme of your Web site should be the most obvious indicator of your site content. For instance, a Web site dedicated to automotive insurance should encompass keywords pertaining to the auto insurance industry. For best results, your chosen keywords need to be cohesive with reference to your site theme and include supporting content.
After all, the search engine algorithms are designed to identify and rank sites that encompass keyword and/or site continuity. Additionally, nothing frustrates users more than clicking on a site link and finding unrelated content.
No. 2: Ultimate Goal
The goal of the site is also important when choosing targeted keywords. Site goals can range from shopping conversions to increasing brand awareness, and the keywords you choose should be based on the goals of your particular site. For example, while an e-commerce site may wish to focus on keywords pertaining to conversions or purchases, a resource site should have keywords that are more informational in nature.
Understanding and selecting keywords based on this distinction is significant because prospective buyers will use very different search terms than, for example, students searching for research topics. In any case, it is vital to keep your goal in mind when building out your site.
No. 3: Target Audience
Effectively reaching your target audience, is another motivating force behind meticulous keyword research. Ultimately, your keywords draw people to your site and, with careful keyword selection, you can make a huge difference in the type of visitors you attract. For example, a B2B (business-to-business) site may use industry jargon to appeal to other businesses in the industry. Likewise, a B2C (business-to-consumer) company may be best served utilizing layman's terms when referring to its products or services.
The physical location of your audience may change your selection as well. A great example is how different areas of the country refer to soft drinks. Some of the populace refers to carbonated drinks as "pop" or "soda pop," while others call them "coke" or "soda." Also remember that a popular phrase in one language will not necessarily translate smoothly in another. Therefore, you should always be sure to research the cultural verbiage of your target audience before choosing your keywords.
No. 4: Broadness
Now that you've established the theme, goal and audience of your site -- focus on avoiding broad terms. It is crucial to choose keywords that are the most targeted to a specific page of the site. More exact key phrases can help you to reduce competition and increase visitor quality.
For example, an extremely well-optimized page targeting the keyword "event" would still have problems appearing in the first few pages of the SERPs (search engine results pages) -- competing with the millions of other sites targeting some type of "events." However, being more precise with your keywords, such as "event planning" or even "Atlanta event planning" will help you rank better and target a more relevant, niche audience.
In addition to avoiding keywords that are too competitive, it is beneficial to use keywords and phrases without multiple associations or meanings. For example, "Windows for Sale" can refer to car windows, building windows and even Microsoft Windows! By qualifying your key phrase to specify what type of windows you offer, e.g., "car windows for sale," you don't risk competing in unrelated industries with larger companies and you drive more quality visitors to your site.
No. 5: Traffic Volume
Contrary to popular belief, traffic volume should not be your primary reason for choosing keywords. Rather, traffic volume of a keyword or phrase should only be considered after the previous factors have been examined. Search volume can be used to compare the keywords that have been chosen based on the preceding recommendations. Also try to avoid using keywords that generate no traffic. After all, it is of limited value for a site to be number one in the SERPs for keywords which are never searched.
Although these five considerations are important for choosing keywords, there is no "standard formula" for making effective keyword choices. Instead, keyword selection should be a compilation of these factors that gives you the most edge within the search engines. Web sites that target unique keywords for each page, supported by unduplicated, relevant and themed content throughout the site, will experience the greatest results
Site Credibility Does Pay. Get The Site Approval Seal!
These keywords are an integral part of any site and serve as the foundation of your targeted content. When picking keywords, many factors should be thoroughly contemplated, such as the Web site's theme, ultimate goal, target audience , etc. While there are many considerations to address when choosing keywords, here are some that continue to be the most relevant to the search engine algorithms:
No. 1: Web Site Theme
The chosen theme of your Web site should be the most obvious indicator of your site content. For instance, a Web site dedicated to automotive insurance should encompass keywords pertaining to the auto insurance industry. For best results, your chosen keywords need to be cohesive with reference to your site theme and include supporting content.
After all, the search engine algorithms are designed to identify and rank sites that encompass keyword and/or site continuity. Additionally, nothing frustrates users more than clicking on a site link and finding unrelated content.
No. 2: Ultimate Goal
The goal of the site is also important when choosing targeted keywords. Site goals can range from shopping conversions to increasing brand awareness, and the keywords you choose should be based on the goals of your particular site. For example, while an e-commerce site may wish to focus on keywords pertaining to conversions or purchases, a resource site should have keywords that are more informational in nature.
Understanding and selecting keywords based on this distinction is significant because prospective buyers will use very different search terms than, for example, students searching for research topics. In any case, it is vital to keep your goal in mind when building out your site.
No. 3: Target Audience
Effectively reaching your target audience, is another motivating force behind meticulous keyword research. Ultimately, your keywords draw people to your site and, with careful keyword selection, you can make a huge difference in the type of visitors you attract. For example, a B2B (business-to-business) site may use industry jargon to appeal to other businesses in the industry. Likewise, a B2C (business-to-consumer) company may be best served utilizing layman's terms when referring to its products or services.
The physical location of your audience may change your selection as well. A great example is how different areas of the country refer to soft drinks. Some of the populace refers to carbonated drinks as "pop" or "soda pop," while others call them "coke" or "soda." Also remember that a popular phrase in one language will not necessarily translate smoothly in another. Therefore, you should always be sure to research the cultural verbiage of your target audience before choosing your keywords.
No. 4: Broadness
Now that you've established the theme, goal and audience of your site -- focus on avoiding broad terms. It is crucial to choose keywords that are the most targeted to a specific page of the site. More exact key phrases can help you to reduce competition and increase visitor quality.
For example, an extremely well-optimized page targeting the keyword "event" would still have problems appearing in the first few pages of the SERPs (search engine results pages) -- competing with the millions of other sites targeting some type of "events." However, being more precise with your keywords, such as "event planning" or even "Atlanta event planning" will help you rank better and target a more relevant, niche audience.
In addition to avoiding keywords that are too competitive, it is beneficial to use keywords and phrases without multiple associations or meanings. For example, "Windows for Sale" can refer to car windows, building windows and even Microsoft Windows! By qualifying your key phrase to specify what type of windows you offer, e.g., "car windows for sale," you don't risk competing in unrelated industries with larger companies and you drive more quality visitors to your site.
No. 5: Traffic Volume
Contrary to popular belief, traffic volume should not be your primary reason for choosing keywords. Rather, traffic volume of a keyword or phrase should only be considered after the previous factors have been examined. Search volume can be used to compare the keywords that have been chosen based on the preceding recommendations. Also try to avoid using keywords that generate no traffic. After all, it is of limited value for a site to be number one in the SERPs for keywords which are never searched.
Although these five considerations are important for choosing keywords, there is no "standard formula" for making effective keyword choices. Instead, keyword selection should be a compilation of these factors that gives you the most edge within the search engines. Web sites that target unique keywords for each page, supported by unduplicated, relevant and themed content throughout the site, will experience the greatest results
Site Credibility Does Pay. Get The Site Approval Seal!
Online Holiday Sales On A Tear!
Though the date didn't garner the advance hype of Cyber Monday, the first Thursday in December actually set the pace for the holiday shopping season so far, with consumers spending a record US$800 million in virtual stores, according to a report released Monday by comScore. Thursday, Dec. 6, marked the busiest online shopping day in the history of e-commerce based on sales totals, comScore said, exceeding the $733 million that was spent on Cyber Monday -- the first Monday after Thanksgiving and the date that has taken on added significance for Web merchants as the formal kickoff to the holiday stretch run. The $800 million in sales is a 28 percent increase when compared with the same date in 2006.
Shoppers may yet outdo even their Dec. 6 spending levels, with Monday expected to be another busy day. Sales are expected to begin to taper off in coming days as shipping deadlines approach. "December got off to a strong start," said comScore Chairman Gian Gulgoni, adding that sales for the first week of the month were up 20 percent when compared with a year ago.
"We expect the upcoming week to be the heaviest online spending week of the holiday season as the procrastinators and late-season deal-seekers come out in earnest," Gulgoni added. Since the beginning of November -- which comScore considers the start of an approximately eight-week holiday shopping season -- sales have totaled $18 million, the firm said, an 18 percent increase when compared with 2006 spending levels. The firm is now forecasting total sales by year's end to be up as much as 21 percent.
Not surprisingly, the top holiday-related searches tracked by comScore include what are being billed as the year's hottest technology gift items. More than 30 million searches were conducted for the Nintendo Wii gaming console during November, nearly 25 million people searched for Apple's iPod and another 11 million sought out Microsoft's Xbox 360 , the firm said.
"Gaming consoles and accessories represent the strongest-growing product category this holiday season," Fulgoni said, with sales more than doubling based on the firm's estimates. "While iPods and iPhones are predictably popular, we're also seeing that consumers are actively searching for information on GPS (Global Positioning System) products. This is a category that can be expected to grow strongly during the next few years."
Online retailers are eager to continue the early momentum from Cyber Monday and the days afterwards. Both Monday, Dec. 3, and Monday, Dec. 10, were on pace to be busier days, with traffic to the shopping portal on the first Monday of the month up 50 percent over the same day last year, according to data from Yahoo Shopping.
"Online merchants are becoming increasingly savvy about using the right mix of promotions and discounts to get shoppers to their sites early and to get them to come back later in the shopping season," Fiona Lake Waslander, the director of Yahoo Shopping said.
This year's season is difficult to compare with last year, since an early Thanksgiving created an additional week of shopping before Christmas. At the same time, shoppers are likely more confident than ever that even purchases made in mid-December will arrive in time for the holiday, Waslander added.
Yahoo continues to see apparel as the most popular shopping category, outpacing electronics even though the Wii remains the top product -- with the Xbox closing in on its rival. While forecasters widely agree that sales will be up in the 20-percent range, a question that will linger into the new year will be how much of the sales increase is attributable to sharp discounting or promotional programs such as free shipping, noted JupiterResearch analyst Patti Freeman Evans.
"The results seems to emphasize that heavy promotions work," she told the E-Commerce Times. "The question is what's happening with order size and whether it's all worth it at the end of the season."
Go Guardian eCommerce Abd Get Online Success. Site Credibility Pays!
Shoppers may yet outdo even their Dec. 6 spending levels, with Monday expected to be another busy day. Sales are expected to begin to taper off in coming days as shipping deadlines approach. "December got off to a strong start," said comScore Chairman Gian Gulgoni, adding that sales for the first week of the month were up 20 percent when compared with a year ago.
"We expect the upcoming week to be the heaviest online spending week of the holiday season as the procrastinators and late-season deal-seekers come out in earnest," Gulgoni added. Since the beginning of November -- which comScore considers the start of an approximately eight-week holiday shopping season -- sales have totaled $18 million, the firm said, an 18 percent increase when compared with 2006 spending levels. The firm is now forecasting total sales by year's end to be up as much as 21 percent.
Not surprisingly, the top holiday-related searches tracked by comScore include what are being billed as the year's hottest technology gift items. More than 30 million searches were conducted for the Nintendo Wii gaming console during November, nearly 25 million people searched for Apple's iPod and another 11 million sought out Microsoft's Xbox 360 , the firm said.
"Gaming consoles and accessories represent the strongest-growing product category this holiday season," Fulgoni said, with sales more than doubling based on the firm's estimates. "While iPods and iPhones are predictably popular, we're also seeing that consumers are actively searching for information on GPS (Global Positioning System) products. This is a category that can be expected to grow strongly during the next few years."
Online retailers are eager to continue the early momentum from Cyber Monday and the days afterwards. Both Monday, Dec. 3, and Monday, Dec. 10, were on pace to be busier days, with traffic to the shopping portal on the first Monday of the month up 50 percent over the same day last year, according to data from Yahoo Shopping.
"Online merchants are becoming increasingly savvy about using the right mix of promotions and discounts to get shoppers to their sites early and to get them to come back later in the shopping season," Fiona Lake Waslander, the director of Yahoo Shopping said.
This year's season is difficult to compare with last year, since an early Thanksgiving created an additional week of shopping before Christmas. At the same time, shoppers are likely more confident than ever that even purchases made in mid-December will arrive in time for the holiday, Waslander added.
Yahoo continues to see apparel as the most popular shopping category, outpacing electronics even though the Wii remains the top product -- with the Xbox closing in on its rival. While forecasters widely agree that sales will be up in the 20-percent range, a question that will linger into the new year will be how much of the sales increase is attributable to sharp discounting or promotional programs such as free shipping, noted JupiterResearch analyst Patti Freeman Evans.
"The results seems to emphasize that heavy promotions work," she told the E-Commerce Times. "The question is what's happening with order size and whether it's all worth it at the end of the season."
Go Guardian eCommerce Abd Get Online Success. Site Credibility Pays!
Searchandise Your Way To Online Success
With thousands of companies selling products online to both businesses and consumers, it takes more than nice site design and a shopping cart to be competitive and make money. We know that effective search and navigation leads to more people finding what they're looking for and, therefore, higher conversion rates.
However, online merchants are now realizing it takes expert merchandising strategies -- and easy execution of those strategies -- to keep shoppers engaged, not only to achieve higher conversion rates, but bigger orders as well.
This is accomplished by implementing classic merchandising techniques online -- powered by strong site search and navigation technologies to create what we refer to as "searchandising."
Searchandising is an effective online merchandising strategy that is not only about product "findability," but is best characterized as active-selling based on the tenet that every shopper query is a retailer's selling opportunity. If you think about a brick-and-mortar sales associate responding to a shopper's request, that associate must make a quick merchandising decision that will determine whether a sale is made or not. The same goes for your e-commerce site. Bottom line: searchandising is about leveraging site search and navigation technology in a way that is quite unique to e-commerce.
Let's look at a few components of searchandising:
-E-tailers can sell more items by making sure their customers can easily find what they're looking for. Research tells us that roughly 50 percent of people prefer to use the search box while 50 percent prefer to navigate through a site. Anecdotally, we know that many shoppers like to combine these product-finding modes to select the best product.
-Online businesses require site search that is expressly developed for e-commerce merchandising. This is not just about retrieving so-called relevant results from the Web or from within a corporate intranet. Search that sells -- searchandising -- provides a shopper experience in which it's easy to seek, browse, find, compare, select and ultimately buy the perfect product. Searchandising matches products to shoppers.
-In e-commerce, each shopper's search is the beginning of a dialogue -- and a retailer's opportunity to engage the shopper. In order to convert search to sales, the search box needs to present the right search results with minimized noise or irrelevant results. This includes smart linguistics capabilities that correct misspellings and use synonyms to ensure that searches are successful regardless of spelling errors or terminology.
-Retailers also can achieve fluency in shopper terminology by taking advantage of industry-specific domain dictionaries or thesauri such as electronics, apparel, health and beauty, colors, and housewares. This eliminates the need for business managers to spend a lot of time creating a customized list of synonyms to match customer terminology to the products in the online catalog.
-Often, online shoppers don't know where to start looking on a site for what they want, or how to ask for it with a search box. Dynamic navigation refinements essentially guide them through the virtual aisles, dramatically increasing conversion rates. Retailers tell us they achieve higher conversion rates on pages with navigation refinements than they do with static category pages.
-Take the example of a customer looking for diving watches. He doesn't know that's what they're called, so he just searches for "watches." In addition to a result list of watches, the search returns general attributes such as brand, price and gender, along with refinements specific to watches, such as waterproof, warranty or strap type.
-By clicking on waterproof, he finds the diver's watches he was looking for. Similarly, a search for "blenders" shows refinements or features that would help a shopper make a purchase decision about a blender (such as capacity and speed along with brand and price). Allowing shoppers to narrow their search by attributes helps them find products that fit their buying criteria and make buying decisions quickly.
-Successful site search is dependent on optimized catalog content. Clean product data with attributes extracted, normalized and categorized is required to deliver optimized and consistent search and browse results.
-It sounds obvious, but this is where many e-commerce merchandising strategies fall short. Take the example of three different clothing brands that represent a color three different ways: black, BL and BLK. You need a way to not only normalize all three to "black" -- if you determine "black" is indeed the best way to describe this attribute -- but also to automate this data-cleansing process. This can dramatically reduce the time needed to get new and offline products online and deliver the superior search online shoppers have now come to expect.
-In traditional retailing, one of the most powerful merchandising techniques is up-selling customers with higher margin and best-selling items. Similarly, salespeople are often awarded incentives to down-sell to sale-priced items in order to clear out end-of season or discontinued items.
-E-commerce sites can do this as well. An essential element is the presentation of items hand-selected by a merchandiser or driven by back-end metrics such as price, inventory levels and date. A retailer could also push popular items with high conversion rates as well as to promote "new arrival" or "best value" product offerings.
-Customers will often go to different stores or sites to buy different products, despite the fact that all the items they need may be available at the first e-commerce site they visited. Or they may purchase a product that requires certain accessories in order to work. A very real example -- one experienced by many -- is the printer that requires a particular USB (universal serial bus) cable.
-It's very frustrating when you purchase a product but can't use it right away because you weren't "sold" an item needed to make it work. Whether a pair of matching socks or a computer accessory, if you haven't tried to sell it, you've probably left money on the table.
In a brick-and-mortar retail environment, merchandisers have been able to create special displays to market hot and seasonal products. Through the use of dynamic landing pages, online searchandising can provide a similar capability.
Dynamic landing pages are specially merchandised category or product pages that enable merchandisers to deliver a customized shopping experience focused on brand, category, product type, season, promotional campaign or customer segment. For example, when someone searches for watches, a dynamic landing page could be implemented to promote Invicta watches if they happen to be your top-selling brand.
In addition, dynamic landing pages can dramatically increase the conversion rate of e-mail marketing campaigns. A promotional e-mail linking to a specific landing page that spotlights a certain brand or model drives shoppers directly to what the marketing manager wants them to purchase. The research tells us retailers have eight seconds to engage a shopper when they hit one of your landing pages -- you'd better take great advantage of those eight seconds.
As you can see, there are many ways you can improve your overall sales conversions and size of individual sales. It is not enough to just drive lots of customers to your site -- you need to sell them, merchandise them and searchandise them.
By implementing effective online searchandising strategies and techniques, merchandisers can essentially now implement and replicate the classic brick-and-mortar product presentation techniques that previously were too time-consuming and labor-intensive to execute online.
Site Credibility Pays. Increase Online Success. Get The SSL Privacy Seal!
However, online merchants are now realizing it takes expert merchandising strategies -- and easy execution of those strategies -- to keep shoppers engaged, not only to achieve higher conversion rates, but bigger orders as well.
This is accomplished by implementing classic merchandising techniques online -- powered by strong site search and navigation technologies to create what we refer to as "searchandising."
Searchandising is an effective online merchandising strategy that is not only about product "findability," but is best characterized as active-selling based on the tenet that every shopper query is a retailer's selling opportunity. If you think about a brick-and-mortar sales associate responding to a shopper's request, that associate must make a quick merchandising decision that will determine whether a sale is made or not. The same goes for your e-commerce site. Bottom line: searchandising is about leveraging site search and navigation technology in a way that is quite unique to e-commerce.
Let's look at a few components of searchandising:
-E-tailers can sell more items by making sure their customers can easily find what they're looking for. Research tells us that roughly 50 percent of people prefer to use the search box while 50 percent prefer to navigate through a site. Anecdotally, we know that many shoppers like to combine these product-finding modes to select the best product.
-Online businesses require site search that is expressly developed for e-commerce merchandising. This is not just about retrieving so-called relevant results from the Web or from within a corporate intranet. Search that sells -- searchandising -- provides a shopper experience in which it's easy to seek, browse, find, compare, select and ultimately buy the perfect product. Searchandising matches products to shoppers.
-In e-commerce, each shopper's search is the beginning of a dialogue -- and a retailer's opportunity to engage the shopper. In order to convert search to sales, the search box needs to present the right search results with minimized noise or irrelevant results. This includes smart linguistics capabilities that correct misspellings and use synonyms to ensure that searches are successful regardless of spelling errors or terminology.
-Retailers also can achieve fluency in shopper terminology by taking advantage of industry-specific domain dictionaries or thesauri such as electronics, apparel, health and beauty, colors, and housewares. This eliminates the need for business managers to spend a lot of time creating a customized list of synonyms to match customer terminology to the products in the online catalog.
-Often, online shoppers don't know where to start looking on a site for what they want, or how to ask for it with a search box. Dynamic navigation refinements essentially guide them through the virtual aisles, dramatically increasing conversion rates. Retailers tell us they achieve higher conversion rates on pages with navigation refinements than they do with static category pages.
-Take the example of a customer looking for diving watches. He doesn't know that's what they're called, so he just searches for "watches." In addition to a result list of watches, the search returns general attributes such as brand, price and gender, along with refinements specific to watches, such as waterproof, warranty or strap type.
-By clicking on waterproof, he finds the diver's watches he was looking for. Similarly, a search for "blenders" shows refinements or features that would help a shopper make a purchase decision about a blender (such as capacity and speed along with brand and price). Allowing shoppers to narrow their search by attributes helps them find products that fit their buying criteria and make buying decisions quickly.
-Successful site search is dependent on optimized catalog content. Clean product data with attributes extracted, normalized and categorized is required to deliver optimized and consistent search and browse results.
-It sounds obvious, but this is where many e-commerce merchandising strategies fall short. Take the example of three different clothing brands that represent a color three different ways: black, BL and BLK. You need a way to not only normalize all three to "black" -- if you determine "black" is indeed the best way to describe this attribute -- but also to automate this data-cleansing process. This can dramatically reduce the time needed to get new and offline products online and deliver the superior search online shoppers have now come to expect.
-In traditional retailing, one of the most powerful merchandising techniques is up-selling customers with higher margin and best-selling items. Similarly, salespeople are often awarded incentives to down-sell to sale-priced items in order to clear out end-of season or discontinued items.
-E-commerce sites can do this as well. An essential element is the presentation of items hand-selected by a merchandiser or driven by back-end metrics such as price, inventory levels and date. A retailer could also push popular items with high conversion rates as well as to promote "new arrival" or "best value" product offerings.
-Customers will often go to different stores or sites to buy different products, despite the fact that all the items they need may be available at the first e-commerce site they visited. Or they may purchase a product that requires certain accessories in order to work. A very real example -- one experienced by many -- is the printer that requires a particular USB (universal serial bus) cable.
-It's very frustrating when you purchase a product but can't use it right away because you weren't "sold" an item needed to make it work. Whether a pair of matching socks or a computer accessory, if you haven't tried to sell it, you've probably left money on the table.
In a brick-and-mortar retail environment, merchandisers have been able to create special displays to market hot and seasonal products. Through the use of dynamic landing pages, online searchandising can provide a similar capability.
Dynamic landing pages are specially merchandised category or product pages that enable merchandisers to deliver a customized shopping experience focused on brand, category, product type, season, promotional campaign or customer segment. For example, when someone searches for watches, a dynamic landing page could be implemented to promote Invicta watches if they happen to be your top-selling brand.
In addition, dynamic landing pages can dramatically increase the conversion rate of e-mail marketing campaigns. A promotional e-mail linking to a specific landing page that spotlights a certain brand or model drives shoppers directly to what the marketing manager wants them to purchase. The research tells us retailers have eight seconds to engage a shopper when they hit one of your landing pages -- you'd better take great advantage of those eight seconds.
As you can see, there are many ways you can improve your overall sales conversions and size of individual sales. It is not enough to just drive lots of customers to your site -- you need to sell them, merchandise them and searchandise them.
By implementing effective online searchandising strategies and techniques, merchandisers can essentially now implement and replicate the classic brick-and-mortar product presentation techniques that previously were too time-consuming and labor-intensive to execute online.
Site Credibility Pays. Increase Online Success. Get The SSL Privacy Seal!
