Google Analytics--New and Improved!

Wow. I hate to seem like such a slavish admirer of Google, but they just do great work. Google Analytics has just been given a major redesign/upgrade, and it is smoking! Much easier to read and interpret, it is even more focused on the needs of marketers and business owners. Is it as powerful as Omniture or HBX? No, but it's far easier for the average person to get actionable data from than either of those applications. Did I mention it's free?

If you've been wasting time pulling data out of the old version of GA to present it to a business owner or client in more "user-friendly" form, stop. Remind them how to sign into their GA account and have them take the tour, and then let them use it themselves. It's so intuitive and non-threatening, anybody can use it. Use that time you now spend moving numbers around in Excel to make some more money.

How Can I Tell Which Change Was an Improvement?

If your conversion rate has been falling, and new keywords and creative aren't moving the needle, you probably need to improve your landing pages. Landing pages are the pages your prospects land on when they click on one of your ads online.

Unfortunately, most people don't put much effort into landing page optimization. One of the reasons is that without the right tools, doing meaningful A/B comparisons between 2 versions of a page has been impossible for all but the biggest companies.

For those willing to spend a bit of time at it, Google has now put a real-time testing tool into our hands, free of charge. It's called Google Optimizer, and you should give it a try.

A colleague sent me a great article this morning, and it raises some very interesting possibilities. I struggle to help smaller etailers understand the difficulty of establishing a meaningful presence in organic (free) search engine results on Google, Yahoo, MSN and the like. You can do everything right with your site and still not make much headway because of the importance that search engines place on inbound links from "authority" sites. In other words, if you don't have popular, quality information sites linking to your site, customers won't find you in search engine results pages (SERPs).

It's very difficult for a small to medium size business to get inbound links from legitimate authority sites.

Here's what Jason Prescott says in Is Google Killing SEO?

Paid search listings could become more relevant than organic listings because of the emphasis on inbound links in search algorithms

He goes on to say:

Google's paid search algorithm acts almost like a rating system. Google will discover the most popular sites based on user preferences, allowing it to serve highly relevant results based on paid search landing pages. As a result, search engines will likely start serving more sponsored links, and the organic links will start to fade away.

Does this mean even small businesses must run large paid search campaigns with thousands of keywords to get found online? Not yet. The answer for many businesses may be to find a quality vertical search site for their industry. If your customer base is in a tight enough niche, this may be the best way to get quality traffic. If the vertical search site is also rich in quality information related to your business, then guess what--you've found the ultimate authority site to boost your organic search rankings.

Google PPA and the End of Affiliates

The industry is abuzz with Google's 3/20 announcement of the limited launch of its "Pay Per Action" ads and what impact it will have. They allow the advertiser to designate any action as the conversion event they are willing to pay for.

In theory, instead of paying for $20,000 for hundreds of thousands of clicks every month, an advertiser would only pay for the clicks that resulted in a sale. If you're thinking that means you'll be able to get the same sales and only spend $1,000 with Google next month, think again.

It's still going to be an auction marketplace, and the cost per action will be a function of what the major players feel a conversion is worth to them. So instead of paying 50 cents for a click, you may be paying $50 for a sale. Or $500. If your bid is too low, your ad simply won't appear.

PPA ads will only be available in Google's AdSense network, not in search engine results pages. Here are some of the most likely impacts:

• Affiliate marketing companies like Commission Junction are going to get hit hard, because this puts them in direct competition with Google.
• Publishers will have to choose to place these ads, which shift some financial risk away from advertisers to publishers. This means that advertiser demand will drive adoption.
• Google will continue its Borg-like advance towards eventual global advertising domination.

On the whole, this is good news for everyone who benefits from transparency in the advertising transaction. Traditional agencies and publishers focused on flat rate or CPM advertising will need to wrap their brains around this soon. Ignorant advertisers may mean bliss for now, but it won't last. If those advertisers figure it out without help from their agency or media companies, guess where they'll go with their advertising dollars?

Why Are You Redesigning Your Site?

Most etailers begin thinking about a redesign when sales flatten and they run out of things they feel they can change on their site to boost conversion. The first thing most will think about is how they will update their site's appearance with a slicker, more professional look. Some get seduced by sexy Flash elements that move and make cool sounds as you mouse over them. Will making your site sexy increase conversions? Not likely.

The sexiness priority usually means that an owner's ego getting in the way of his or her good business sense. Let me say this again: Your website belongs to your customers, not you. It HAS to be about them, giving them what THEY, not you, deem most important.

Unfortunately, those pesky customers seem to want difficult things, like detailed, complete and well-written descriptions, or great photography. It's a lot easier to write a check for that cool Flash navigation.

I was thinking about the topic of best practices for writing online this morning (yes, I AM a geek), and decided to go look at what noted usability guru Jakob Nielsen had to say on the subject. Lo and behold, there is a column that is stunningly relevant to me and many etailers right now, titled "10 High-Profit Redesign Priorities". Jakob often says unpopular things, but the truth of his research has stood the test of time. Read this column.

Is Your Site Killing In-Store Sales?

Here's something to give multichannel (web/online) merchants pause:

Year-over-year there's been nearly a 50% increase in consumers who report that a frustrating online experience would make them less likely to shop at that retailer's physical store.

The source for this is The 2006 Holiday Shopping: Online Customer Experience Survey, conducted by a company called Allurent. The survey also uncovered some wished-for site features:

1. The ability to click on an item to create a popup window with more details about the product including price, size, colors, inventory availability, etc. (74%)
2. The ability to click on an item and add it to your cart without leaving the page you're on (70%)
3. The ability to "feel" merchandise through better imagery, more product descriptions and details (68%)
4. The ability to enter all data related to your purchase on one page, rather than go through several checkout pages (64%)
5. The ability to mix/match product images on one page to determine whether they look good together (47%)

Looks like pretty basic stuff. Get it right, or frustrated shoppers may decide not to shop at your webstore or your physical store.

Stop Advertising, Start Marketing

It's pretty common for retailers to think of advertising as "everything we do to get customers in the door". So, newspaper FSIs, direct mail, radio ads, paid search marketing, banner ads on websites, it's all "ADV", right?

Yes, but you need to expand your view of ways to get people in the door. Why? People ignore traditional advertising. Companies spend millions trying to create an impact with advertising (during the Super Bowl, for example), and what's the result? All too often, you remember the ad but not the advertiser. You might as well light your next TV ad by burning stacks of hundred dollar bills.

Even small companies now have the tools available to them to make an impact using new media, to generate awareness and the "viral" effect that happens when consumers pass your message along to other consumers. The most visible medium for this is video, posted somewhere like YouTube, but it could be a podcast, a blog, or a microsite. You can do it without a fancy ad agency or a 7-figure marketing budget.

Don't believe me? OK, take a look at this. Yes, it's hilarious, but you'll remember the store's USP and location after watching it.

The End of One Page For All

Big news in SEO circles over the past week or so has been Google's launch of personalized search. For users who elect to sign into their Google account before they conduct a search, Google will provide personalized results.

SEO firms are wringing their hands because it is now officially impossible to make the claim that a client is "#1 on Google". Of course, the majority of those claims have always been distortions at best, and outright lies at worst. Now, however, it's literally impossible to say that any given site will appear for all users, because more and more users will in fact see something unique to themselves.

What to do? Two things. First, continue to provide excellent, useful content to your customers. Second, get serious about participating in the emerging world of "social media" through blogs, social networks and social search (take a look at chacha.com for example). Relevance in organic search will increasingly fall to those who make the effort to participate in the social internet.

Google Ad Quality Scoring to Change

By the end of February, Google plans to change the way that it scores ad quality while making that scoring easier for advertisers to understand and react to. Google is adding a new quality score column to the advertiser's AdWords account interface to make it easier to prepare for the update. Advertisers will be allowed to activate the new column on their accounts this week so they can begin making plans for the new algorithm.

If some of your ads have been deactivated by Google previously, this update may re-activate those ads. Of course, if you responded to deactivation by raising your maximum bid level, this won't affect you.

Selecting an SEM Agency

Many smaller ecommerce retailers struggle with whether to hire a full-time marketer to manage their pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, or hire an SEM agency to do it for them. There are arguments on both sides. Of course cost is a consideration. If you can hire quality staff for less than an agency will charge, building in-house expertise may be the way to go. If you decide to hire an agency, how do you find the right one?

Create a short list by combing through SEM-focused publications and associations. I like ClickZ, Multichannel Merchant, and Internet Retailer, and there are many more. SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization) membership indicates some seriousness of purpose and focus, but you can find great agencies who aren't members.

Once you have a list, look at each website. What do they say about their approach? Is there a focus on what they do for their clients, as opposed to how fast they are growing? What does their client list look like? Are they helping companies like yours? If not, are they willing to learn the idiosyncracies of your company and industry?

If these look good (and there really is no excuse for an SEM agency to have a poor website), then give them a call. After you've been impressed by their senior account exec (aka "the closer), ask to speak with the person who will actually be doing the work on your account. If that person doesn't listen and ask you good questions on the phone, then you need to keep looking.

Most SEM's offer some kind of whiz-bang tools to better manage an array of PPC campaigns more efficiently. Don't be sucked in by how cool their tools are, because using those tools effectively means someone on your staff needs to be a pretty fair search marketer themselves.

If the pitch is about how their technology gives them an inherent advantage in delivering higher conversion and lower cost over time, you still need to grill the people on your account. Ask them how many clients they manage. Will they be able to focus enough time on you? If you're getting a team of people, make sure you talk to the whole team. Technology alone is not enough. Smart people who care about your success are always going to be the key to a profitable relationship with an SEM agency.

5 Power Writing Tips

Today we have a "guest post" by Daphne Gray-Grant, who produces the "Power Writing" newsletter that I recommend. If you're serious about improving your writing as a way to grow revenues, you need to read this.

Tip #52 – Five best lessons from 52 weeks of power writing

Today marks one year or 52 issues of Power Writing. I was going to say 'Happy birthday to me,' but a newsletter is pretty pointless without readers, so really, it's happy birthday to you -- my loyal, interesting and opinionated subscribers!

It's often said that you don't really learn something until you teach it (the standard advice for medical students is: see one, do one, teach one) and I've found that bit of practical wisdom applies to writing as well. Herewith, the five best lessons I've learned over the last 52 weeks. If you write, these lessons should apply to you, too:

1. Write every day

Writing is like exercise -- it depends on repetition. Just as you don't get to be an athlete by lying on your couch and eating Krispy Kremes, you don't get to be a writer by talking about it. You actually have to do it. That said, I'm not going to instruct you to write for hours every day; I know you don't have the time. In fact, I've become convinced that setting aside huge chunks of time for writing is the vampire's kiss of death. Writing tends to work best when you let the words accumulate gradually over time, the way snow collects on the ground. I used to write this newsletter all in one go. Now I do a little bit every day, writing or editing for a few minutes here or there, often between phone calls. The rhythm feels much more natural. It's easier and more fun, too.

2. Focus on stories and metaphors not information

How many email newsletters do you file away without reading? How many stories in your daily newspaper do you ignore? If you're like most people, you read only a small fraction of the words put in front of you. And I'm willing to bet that the articles you're most interested in are the ones that tell stories or take complicated ideas and show how they apply to you. Too many writers focus on facts. But we're all drowning in information. What we need is meaning. What we want is something interesting. If you aspire to be read, tell stories and use metaphors. Give your readers context -- don't just dump information.

3. Employ the power of mindmapping

I discovered mindmapping late in my writing life and I'm now like a reformed couch potato who's suddenly discovered the gym. I feel so good, I want you exercising too. And here's the really great news: with mindmapping you never have to break into a sweat! Mindmapping is a super-easy technique that will help you tap into the creative, imaginative, fun part of your brain. It makes writing ever so much easier. If you're a subscriber to this newsletter you should have received a fr'ee e-book on mindmapping when you signed up. If you somehow missed out, shoot me a quick email and I'll send it to you.

4. Don't be afraid to take a stand

I've given up predicting which columns I write will resonate with the most people. Ones I really like barely draw a peep, while columns I think are mediocre bring in a flood of ecstatic email. I've also noticed that the columns that draw the biggest, most enthusiastic response also tend to result in the most unsubscribes. I think this is because strong opinions will make some people dislike you. But they will also bring out the people who loooooove you. As mom always said: "You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs." Never fear breaking eggs.

5. Count on the kindness of strangers

This newsletter has given me the chance to connect with hundreds of fascinating people from around the world. I've received charming and heartbreaking emails and benefited from much support when I suffered from hackers, hard drive failures and even health problems. Writing is about connecting. I feel honoured to be able to do that with you.

Now did I hear someone ask about birthday presents? Well, I'd love a new iMac, of course, but if you'd really like to give me a meaningful gift, I'd be thrilled if you'd drop a quick email to two or three friends who want to write better, faster. Let them know about Power Writing and suggest they consider subscribing. They'll thank you, and so will I.

Reprinted with the permission of Daphne Gray-Grant, the Publication Coach. If you need to write better, faster, subscribe to her fr’ee weekly newsletter, Power Writing, at: www.publicationcoach.com and you will receive a short tip each week.

It's Time for Video

The cover story of this month's issue of Internet Retailer is "Blending Video and Ecommerce". They quote some very encouraging stats, but the article could be half as long and still be just as valuable. And why doesn't a magazine like Internet Retailer have a better website?

Enough carping. I've said this before, and Bill Siwicki clearly agrees, that it's time for ecommerce retailers to start experimenting with video. For the furniture industry, it seems like a complete no-brainer.

Typical close rates in a brick and mortar furniture store are 25% to 30%. Furniture websites without national brands are fortunate to achieve close rates (conversion) of 1% to 2%. Certainly some of that difference is the effect of a salesperson demonstrating the product to the customer. Video allows retailers to deliver much of that experience to their online customers. What are you waiting for?