Increase Site Visibility
It's no use having a website if customers and prospects can't find it. The articles in this section discuss marketing strategies you can use to drive traffic to your site and increase the visibility of your business.
To help you make sense of it all, here's a guide to the four hottest Web-based trends and how to capitalize on them for online success in the coming year.
Take On New Product Categories:
Now is a great time to expand
your product categories. While off-line retail sales continue to struggle, Forrester® predicts online retail will grow at a steady 19 percent year-over-year growth rate, from just under $96 billion
in 2003 to nearly $230 billion in 2008.
Nearly 5 million new U.S. households will shop online in each year, totaling 63 million U.S. online shopping households in 2008. As online retail continues to grow, consumers will be looking to the Web for more of their day-to-day purchases.
Be sure you also create an optimal shopping experience for customers. Your pages should be quick to load, your site easy to browse, and provide enhanced services, such as an optional Spanish version or online customer service.
CeJay Associates, LLC is a leader in the industry, for providing websites that offer graphics, navigation, and content that present your products with maximum advertising impact.
Capture and Hold Online Searchers:
With the huge percentage of Americans researching products online prior to purchase, it is necessary for Web experts to understand the considerable influence
over off-line shopping as well.
In fact, Dieringer® found that Internet-influenced offline spending is 50 percent greater than online spending; for every $1 spent online, the Internet influences $1.50 in brick-and-mortar sales. What's more, 60 percent of those who spend at least $500 dollars per year both online and off-line after seeking product information online said their brand opinions changed as a result of online information.
This data has several far-reaching implications:
- First, it's clear that search engine marketing is vital for every small business.
- Second, since online shoppers are looking for in-depth information, it's vital to provide lots of product or service background, information about your company, and tools (such as size charts or maps) to induce customers to make purchases on your site rather than go elsewhere.
Look Beyond Immediate Click-Through:
Online ads can have an impact on buyers' purchasing decisions long after they are viewed, research shows.
- approximately 10 percent of all conversions (the desired action taken on an ad) occurred within three hours of the impression
- 97 percent of conversions happened after the first hour
- approximately one-third of the conversions happened on the same day that the impression was served, although the first 3 hours after an ad was served were the most productive
- up to 85 percent of conversions occurred days after a user saw an ad
This study makes it clear that, as you plan your marketing campaign, it's important to look beyond immediate per-click or per-action results.
It points to the lasting effects of an advertising impression and highlights the long-term branding impact of online advertising. Measure performance in the longest timeframe possible before assessing the effectiveness of your online advertising.
Send Permission-Based E-mails to In-House Lists:
Spam is not standing in the way of legitimate permission-based e-mail. That is good news according to studies by DoubleClick® and others.
Over a one-year period, click-through rates on permission-based e-mail increased more than 10 percent, demonstrating that customers differentiate between permission-based e-mails and spam.
B2B e-mail fared best. One study showed that in-house newsletters targeting business professionals received a 71 percent open rate. Just don't mail too often. (Studies show that nearly 70 percent of e-mail users are turned off by messages that come too frequently.)
E-mail to permission-based lists is a proven performer that should continue to serve you well. Make your messages relevant, whether sending newsletters or e-mail solicitations, and avoid burning out your customer list with too-frequent mailings.
By the way , if you're sending unsolicited marketing e-mail, it is no longer lawful to include a subject-line such as, "Here's the information you requested."
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