In the world of book publishing, a title can make or break a book. Think about it. When you visit a bookstore, what gets you to pick up a particular book? No doubt the cover art and the title.

Page titles are important to websites as well, as you already know. But what do you know about page title competition?

Understanding Page Title Competition
I recently took an SEO seminar with Jill Whalen of High Rankings. Jill is one of the premier SEOs in the business (and she’s a really nice person to boot). One of the best tips I learned from her seminar was this: focus on page title competition rather than web page competition. Since search engines, like Google, put such a heavy emphasis in their algorithms on page titles, it makes sense to see how well your keyword phrases compete with other existing page titles. (more…)

Don’t Describe–Sell!

I’ve never liked the name for the meta description tag, mainly because describing what’s on a web page isn’t necessarily going to get someone to click on the link on the search engine results page (SERP).

Describing is Passive. Selling is Active.

The act of describing is a passive process. It doesn’t involve thinking; it involves observation and parroting back what you see. If you’re selling a house, you may start by describing what it looks like: the style, the square feet, the color, etc. Basically, you’re identifying the features, and as we talked about in this blog post, features alone don’t sell. Benefits do. The same is true for the meta description tag–simply describing what’s on the page is not going to compel someone to click on the URL. You need to write a clear, crisp, and compelling piece of marketing copy that focuses on (or at lease alludes to) a benefit–in about 20 to 25 words. Not an easy task.

And yes, not all search engines use the meta description tag (Google sometimes does and sometimes doesn’t). But it’s worth putting the effort into each description. (more…)

What’s the most important page of your website? Depends on what you’re trying to do. If your main objective is to increase branding, advertise your retail store, or drive traffic to affiliate sites, the home page should probably be your main point of focus. But if you’re like a vast majority of product-related sites, your fundamental goal is to sell, sell, and sell some more — and that can’t happen without a product page that does what it’s supposed to do.

The home page, category pages, and even your paid search placements can be considered online appetizers—they should look good, be easily digestible, and whet appetites for the more substantive stuff to come. It’s the product page that’s the real meat and potatoes of your site — it’s the place where the most important of all consumer decisions is made, the place where your product or service really needs to shine. Once the shopper clicks that crucial “Add to Cart” button, the odds of them ultimately converting the sale dramatically increase. (more…)

Stop selling your products! Yeah, that may sound weird coming from a company that builds e-commerce sites. But my point is that you have to stop thinking that you’re simply selling tangible products that are x-size and x-color and that these are the reasons people buy your products. People aren’t really buying a tangible product; they’re buying its “essence.” What you’re really selling might be peace of mind (e.g. alarm systems, long-term care insurance), longevity (e.g. vitamins, supplements), an improved relationship (e.g. “Re-connect with your sweetheart by booking our Jamaica Romance Package!”), treasured memories (e.g. personalized photo gifts).

So how do you figure out the essence of what you’re selling? First, you need to understand the difference between your product’s features and benefits. (more…)