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    Temperature Control: Saving You Some Money
    Managing temperature control effectively will save you quite a bit of money. There is no doubt that you can save money through the use of devices that will help you to regulate the temperature in any building or room. In this day and age of high fuel costs, it makes good sense to invest some time in learning the right way to go about temperature control. And, it makes sense to think wisely every time you head to change that thermostat’s settings once again. Temperature control is something that every person at the location needs to play a part in.Temperature control in the business or commercial setting is important. You don’t want your guests to run because it is too hot or too cold in your establishment. Nor do you want to provide your employees with less than perfectly comfortable conditions for them to work in. But, there is a fine line between what is okay and what is excessive as well. Finding the happy medium, while hard, is necessary for the sanity of everyone in the location.Temperature control is something that should be controlled in several ways. First, the establishment of the ‘right’ temperatures must be met. Common uses in colder temperature of above 68 will cost you considerably in the long run. If 68 is not warm enough, then consider a little higher but not much more as some individuals will find this too hot and hard to work in. Likewise, in the summer months, the temperature to aim for is 72. You wil
    11-16% (we’re talking about online retailers like Amazon, Ebay and QVC)

    The sectors which have always done the best are the catalogue companies and the average figure suggests a 6.1% conversion rate. In our experience this seems about right. I have worked up conversion to those levels with a number of catalogue companies that were hitting lower than 6% before and some have come to us with slightly higher conversion rates than 6% initially.

    The underperformers seem to me to be sport/outdoor retailers or fashion and apparel. They really should be hitting much higher levels than the average level 1.4-2.2%.

    Creating web pages is a balancing act between the needs of the business and the needs of the user. Factor in the needs of the search engines and that’s quite a challenge. Where should your priorities lie?

    The needs of the user are the most important. The business need in most cases is simply to make or save money. Businesses should achieve both their own business objective while catering for the user so that she can accomplish her goals. The more that the she accomplishes the better it should be for your business. Search engine marketing is important but you should never sacrifice copy or content simply to rank highly on Google. The search optimization should and can be implemented, but it should still persuade the person reading the copy that your solution is for them. Yes it is a balancing act but if you prioritize with the users in all

    Why Choose An Online Florist?
    It’s a question that many people would ask them selves, why choose an online florist rather than just go into a store? Because the chances are there is already a flower shop in your neighborhood already, right? Well here are a few good reasons why you may choose an online florist. To begin with ordering of flowers online can be done from the comfort of your very own home or work and unlike stores shopping can be done any day at any time because the internet does not close, especially during the holiday season when almost every store is crowded and packed you can avoid all of that hustle and bustle because there is never a crowd at an online shop.An online florist would also be a big time saver, you no long have to drive over to a store you can now have the convenience of shopping from your home, work, library or any where that has a computer with internet access. And finding what you want can’t possibly be any simpler, all you do is just type in the name of the flower you want and there it is right on your screen not like in a store where you would have to wait on one of the clerks for assistance.Especially when there is an occasion like say “Mother’s Day” for example and lots of people want to get flowers for their mother, but as usual most of them wait for the last minute, so when you do get to the florist you find that you and about two dozen other later shoppers are trying to buy flowers. The clerks are busy because of the over
    What are the most important factors that influence conversion rates?

    A joint of roast beef is sizzling over an open fire on a glorious summer day. The aroma fills the air as you cut the juicy meat into generous slices and stack them on a plate to pass around your friends. Your pet dog, driven crazy by the smell starts begging, whining and running around excitedly, hoping for a piece of the delicious steak.

    “Speak to the dog, about what matters to the dog in the language of the dog” Jeff Eisenberg – Call to action

    What Jeff doesn’t mean is start barking at people.

    What he means is write for your target audience, about what it is they want, in a simple and attractive way. I’m sure that you’re now thinking about roast beef. That’s what you need to do when writing for your website, try to put a picture in your prospects head. The most important factors influencing conversion rates are your copy and content, your copy attracts, persuades and provides momentum, while your content answers all your prospects questions. Design, usability, measurement and testing should all be taken into account but they come after you figure out what it is you want to say and to whom you want to say it.

    Where do you normally start when working with a new client? Is there a set process you follow?

    Yes. We start by asking lots of questions. Initially we get the basic business information so we can ascertain how deeply the client has thought about their website as a business. You’d be surprised how many companies don’t know what their cost per visit is or their profit per website visitor. So we develop a business objective so that we can say, ‘this is where you are now’.

    Next we’ll do an analysis of how far we think we can take them, based on their own limitations and budget. Then we can say what service they might need to take them to the next level. Not all businesses need the same things, some need tweaks to marketing strategies, some need better copy and content so it’s hard to answer. But the process we use is the same to find out what the client really needs.

    How important is it to use web analytics tools to find on-site problems?

    You can’t prove whether anything works on a website without web analytics tools. I advise every client I’ve ever worked with to get web analytics. I won’t work with an enterprise level company if they haven’t got web analytics. The tools allow you to do 2 things very well, pinpoint problems and measure your tests. Without this capability you’re pretty much guessing.

    Can you suggest some generic KPIs that e-commerce teams should be monitoring?

    There are lots and you should decide upon metrics which you can act upon. However here are some you might want to think about adopting;

    · Site-wide conversion rate
    · Product conversion rates
    · Percentage of new and returning visitors
    · Sales per visitor
    · Average order value
    · Average number of items purchased
    · Shopping cart abandonment rate (step conversions
    · Revenue and Profit per product
    · Repeat order rate, to help calculate long term value
    · Cost per visit
    · Profit per website visit

    Also don’t forget to set trip wires like page views per visit. I’ve explained it better about in this article; How Web Analytics Found A Million Dollar Hole

    Is Google Analytics going to be good or bad for the industry?

    Basically yes I believe it is going to be good for the industry. I’m delighted about it. Rather than write another 1000 words on the subject though; Read this article

    Too many paid-search and affiliate programmes do not create campaign-specific landing pages. What are the key elements that should be found on a landing page?

    Compelling copy and content. Complimentary design, a graphic should help people to see the text or reinforce the message not just be there for the sake of it. One link from the landing page – the call to action, IE the buy now button. A landing page should already attract the audience who want what you have so you needn’t persuade them to go elsewhere by giving them any other links or options. Nick Usborne wrote a nice article about this;

    How To Write A Landing Page

    Do you have any metrics to share about landing pages, eg before / after conversion rates?

    On average e-commerce landing pages get about 2-2.5% conversions. After we’ve worked on changes we tend to improve things by 40-50%. So usually 2.8-3.3% convert after the changes to a single call to action landing page. Of course it depends on the type of business and the traffic source. Banner ads are always lower than PPC ads for instance.

    You’re a big fan of A/B testing. How can web teams implement these tests and what should they be testing?

    The basic principle is that you write two test pages, direct equal traffic to each and see which works better. It’s possible to write your own traffic splitter code if you are only testing a few things at a time and you have in house programmers. Or you could outsource the testing to something like Offermatica which handles the test pages and the traffic splitting.

    Things you might want to test using an A/B split are headlines, copy blocks, graphical images, banner ads, PPC ads, button colours, in fact anything where you have the potential to improve the response and be able to measure the improvements.

    Do you have an idea of conversion metrics by sector? Which sectors are leading the way in terms of conversion rates? Which ones are underperforming?

    We’ve compiled a list of averages by sector from a variety of different sources (including e-consultancy.com) which you can see here;

    What Is An Average Conversion rate?

    No-one is really sure how accurate these figures are. They seem reasonable based on the top e-tailers who hit global conversion rates of between 11-16% (we’re talking about online retailers like Amazon, Ebay and QVC)

    The sectors which have always done the best are the catalogue companies and the average figure suggests a 6.1% conversion rate. In our experience this seems about right. I have worked up conversion to those levels with a number of catalogue companies that were hitting lower than 6% before and some have come to us with slightly higher conversion rates than 6% initially.

    The underperformers seem to me to be sport/outdoor retailers or fashion and apparel. They really should be hitting much higher levels than the average level 1.4-2.2%.

    Creating web pages is a balancing act between the needs of the business and the needs of the user. Factor in the needs of the search engines and that’s quite a challenge. Where should your priorities lie?

    The needs of the user are the most important. The business need in most cases is simply to make or save money. Businesses should achieve both their own business objective while catering for the user so that she can accomplish her goals. The more that the she accomplishes the better it should be for your business. Search engine marketing is important but you should never sacrifice copy or content simply to rank highly on Google. The search optimization should and can be implemented, but it should still persuade the person reading the copy that your solution is for them. Yes it is a balancing act but if you prioritize with the users in all

    Risk Factors in Implementing Total Quality Management in Your Organization
    This TQM article is about Implementing Total Quality Management (TQM) in an organization. It is quite known to the business world that this is not an easy task. However, there is a systematic approach to assess its likelihood of success in implementing TQM provides an early sign for actions. Below are a set of questionnaires to assess 5 critical success factors for a Implementing Total Quality Management in an organization. It is a simple and direct questions asked to draw the readiness of an organization in its sate of preparedness. The questions should be answer in a skill of 0 to 10, being 0 is the lowest score and 10 is the highest score. when allocating score, the instantaneous answer in mind should be taken instead of think through too thoroughly. There are 2-3 questions to each of the Critical Success Factors.Strategic FocusTo what extent are team improvement objective focused on strategic organization goals?To what extent are team success related to the organization financial success?Management CommitmentTo what extent do senior managers review the progress of improvement teams?How often senior management involve in the team activities?How often are team improvement recommendations approved by senior managementLinks to the Line Organ
    website as a business. You’d be surprised how many companies don’t know what their cost per visit is or their profit per website visitor. So we develop a business objective so that we can say, ‘this is where you are now’.

    Next we’ll do an analysis of how far we think we can take them, based on their own limitations and budget. Then we can say what service they might need to take them to the next level. Not all businesses need the same things, some need tweaks to marketing strategies, some need better copy and content so it’s hard to answer. But the process we use is the same to find out what the client really needs.

    How important is it to use web analytics tools to find on-site problems?

    You can’t prove whether anything works on a website without web analytics tools. I advise every client I’ve ever worked with to get web analytics. I won’t work with an enterprise level company if they haven’t got web analytics. The tools allow you to do 2 things very well, pinpoint problems and measure your tests. Without this capability you’re pretty much guessing.

    Can you suggest some generic KPIs that e-commerce teams should be monitoring?

    There are lots and you should decide upon metrics which you can act upon. However here are some you might want to think about adopting;

    · Site-wide conversion rate
    · Product conversion rates
    · Percentage of new and returning visitors
    · Sales per visitor
    · Average order value
    · Average number of items purchased
    · Shopping cart abandonment rate (step conversions
    · Revenue and Profit per product
    · Repeat order rate, to help calculate long term value
    · Cost per visit
    · Profit per website visit

    Also don’t forget to set trip wires like page views per visit. I’ve explained it better about in this article; How Web Analytics Found A Million Dollar Hole

    Is Google Analytics going to be good or bad for the industry?

    Basically yes I believe it is going to be good for the industry. I’m delighted about it. Rather than write another 1000 words on the subject though; Read this article

    Too many paid-search and affiliate programmes do not create campaign-specific landing pages. What are the key elements that should be found on a landing page?

    Compelling copy and content. Complimentary design, a graphic should help people to see the text or reinforce the message not just be there for the sake of it. One link from the landing page – the call to action, IE the buy now button. A landing page should already attract the audience who want what you have so you needn’t persuade them to go elsewhere by giving them any other links or options. Nick Usborne wrote a nice article about this;

    How To Write A Landing Page

    Do you have any metrics to share about landing pages, eg before / after conversion rates?

    On average e-commerce landing pages get about 2-2.5% conversions. After we’ve worked on changes we tend to improve things by 40-50%. So usually 2.8-3.3% convert after the changes to a single call to action landing page. Of course it depends on the type of business and the traffic source. Banner ads are always lower than PPC ads for instance.

    You’re a big fan of A/B testing. How can web teams implement these tests and what should they be testing?

    The basic principle is that you write two test pages, direct equal traffic to each and see which works better. It’s possible to write your own traffic splitter code if you are only testing a few things at a time and you have in house programmers. Or you could outsource the testing to something like Offermatica which handles the test pages and the traffic splitting.

    Things you might want to test using an A/B split are headlines, copy blocks, graphical images, banner ads, PPC ads, button colours, in fact anything where you have the potential to improve the response and be able to measure the improvements.

    Do you have an idea of conversion metrics by sector? Which sectors are leading the way in terms of conversion rates? Which ones are underperforming?

    We’ve compiled a list of averages by sector from a variety of different sources (including e-consultancy.com) which you can see here;

    What Is An Average Conversion rate?

    No-one is really sure how accurate these figures are. They seem reasonable based on the top e-tailers who hit global conversion rates of between 11-16% (we’re talking about online retailers like Amazon, Ebay and QVC)

    The sectors which have always done the best are the catalogue companies and the average figure suggests a 6.1% conversion rate. In our experience this seems about right. I have worked up conversion to those levels with a number of catalogue companies that were hitting lower than 6% before and some have come to us with slightly higher conversion rates than 6% initially.

    The underperformers seem to me to be sport/outdoor retailers or fashion and apparel. They really should be hitting much higher levels than the average level 1.4-2.2%.

    Creating web pages is a balancing act between the needs of the business and the needs of the user. Factor in the needs of the search engines and that’s quite a challenge. Where should your priorities lie?

    The needs of the user are the most important. The business need in most cases is simply to make or save money. Businesses should achieve both their own business objective while catering for the user so that she can accomplish her goals. The more that the she accomplishes the better it should be for your business. Search engine marketing is important but you should never sacrifice copy or content simply to rank highly on Google. The search optimization should and can be implemented, but it should still persuade the person reading the copy that your solution is for them. Yes it is a balancing act but if you prioritize with the users in all

    Affiliate Marketing Traffic - Determining Your Affiliate Target
    One of the phases of affiliate marketing you will want to work on is determining who your targeted market will be. You will want to find out exactly who your consumers will be. Taking specifics into account such as age, demographics, level of interest will be important.Let’s say you are going to be selling retro sports jerseys. You are not going to be concentrating on middle aged women as your target group. Not that they won’t buy your product, but they won’t be your main area of concentration. You will probably want to appeal to male sports fans somewhere between the ages of 20 to 35.One of the ways you can target these customers is to build your affiliate website pages around your product. You might have one page for retro hockey jerseys, another for retro football jerseys, another for bowling shirts etc.Next you can begin submitting your articles to the directories. Any articles you write should correspond to what’s on your web pages. Place as many links as allowed from your articles to your affiliate web pages.As you start to get traffic to your site put opt in forms on your pages to capture names and email addresses. You could put a squeeze page on your site. This is a page where visitors only have one choice. They can give you their name and email or leave. If they do give you the desired information, it will be because they are interested in what you are selling and therefore they’ll be very targeted.B
    · Average number of items purchased
    · Shopping cart abandonment rate (step conversions
    · Revenue and Profit per product
    · Repeat order rate, to help calculate long term value
    · Cost per visit
    · Profit per website visit

    Also don’t forget to set trip wires like page views per visit. I’ve explained it better about in this article; How Web Analytics Found A Million Dollar Hole

    Is Google Analytics going to be good or bad for the industry?

    Basically yes I believe it is going to be good for the industry. I’m delighted about it. Rather than write another 1000 words on the subject though; Read this article

    Too many paid-search and affiliate programmes do not create campaign-specific landing pages. What are the key elements that should be found on a landing page?

    Compelling copy and content. Complimentary design, a graphic should help people to see the text or reinforce the message not just be there for the sake of it. One link from the landing page – the call to action, IE the buy now button. A landing page should already attract the audience who want what you have so you needn’t persuade them to go elsewhere by giving them any other links or options. Nick Usborne wrote a nice article about this;

    How To Write A Landing Page

    Do you have any metrics to share about landing pages, eg before / after conversion rates?

    On average e-commerce landing pages get about 2-2.5% conversions. After we’ve worked on changes we tend to improve things by 40-50%. So usually 2.8-3.3% convert after the changes to a single call to action landing page. Of course it depends on the type of business and the traffic source. Banner ads are always lower than PPC ads for instance.

    You’re a big fan of A/B testing. How can web teams implement these tests and what should they be testing?

    The basic principle is that you write two test pages, direct equal traffic to each and see which works better. It’s possible to write your own traffic splitter code if you are only testing a few things at a time and you have in house programmers. Or you could outsource the testing to something like Offermatica which handles the test pages and the traffic splitting.

    Things you might want to test using an A/B split are headlines, copy blocks, graphical images, banner ads, PPC ads, button colours, in fact anything where you have the potential to improve the response and be able to measure the improvements.

    Do you have an idea of conversion metrics by sector? Which sectors are leading the way in terms of conversion rates? Which ones are underperforming?

    We’ve compiled a list of averages by sector from a variety of different sources (including e-consultancy.com) which you can see here;

    What Is An Average Conversion rate?

    No-one is really sure how accurate these figures are. They seem reasonable based on the top e-tailers who hit global conversion rates of between 11-16% (we’re talking about online retailers like Amazon, Ebay and QVC)

    The sectors which have always done the best are the catalogue companies and the average figure suggests a 6.1% conversion rate. In our experience this seems about right. I have worked up conversion to those levels with a number of catalogue companies that were hitting lower than 6% before and some have come to us with slightly higher conversion rates than 6% initially.

    The underperformers seem to me to be sport/outdoor retailers or fashion and apparel. They really should be hitting much higher levels than the average level 1.4-2.2%.

    Creating web pages is a balancing act between the needs of the business and the needs of the user. Factor in the needs of the search engines and that’s quite a challenge. Where should your priorities lie?

    The needs of the user are the most important. The business need in most cases is simply to make or save money. Businesses should achieve both their own business objective while catering for the user so that she can accomplish her goals. The more that the she accomplishes the better it should be for your business. Search engine marketing is important but you should never sacrifice copy or content simply to rank highly on Google. The search optimization should and can be implemented, but it should still persuade the person reading the copy that your solution is for them. Yes it is a balancing act but if you prioritize with the users in all

    Are You an Ostrich or Angry?
    In the 1974 multiple Oscar winning movie “Network,” the character Howard Beale, a network news anchor played by Peter Finch loses his mind on live TV after learning that he will be fired. He states that he is “madder than hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” He exhorts his TV audience to think about the awful, unfair things they are tolerating in their lives and “go to your window, open it, and shout it over and over” until pretty soon, seemingly everyone in Manhattan is standing at their open windows shouting it out at the top of their voices!I was reminded about that scene recently when a businessperson told me about some of the frustrations he was having at work and the difficulty he is having with them. When he is in one of these situations he acts like an ostrich pretending it doesn’t exist or go at it like a linebacker on a NFL football team and hit it full force. Perhaps, I suggested, there are alternatives to these polar opposites, as each can have disastrous consequences to the people involved and to the company.Putting one’s head in the sand, the classic response of the ostrich, just denies the problem which, unfortunately, will not go away by itself and will probably get worse. Attacking the problem with great ferocity usually breeds anger, resentment, and may elevate the situation to the point of outright hostility (think “going postal?”). There has to be, and often is, a better way.The better way is
    rked on changes we tend to improve things by 40-50%. So usually 2.8-3.3% convert after the changes to a single call to action landing page. Of course it depends on the type of business and the traffic source. Banner ads are always lower than PPC ads for instance.

    You’re a big fan of A/B testing. How can web teams implement these tests and what should they be testing?

    The basic principle is that you write two test pages, direct equal traffic to each and see which works better. It’s possible to write your own traffic splitter code if you are only testing a few things at a time and you have in house programmers. Or you could outsource the testing to something like Offermatica which handles the test pages and the traffic splitting.

    Things you might want to test using an A/B split are headlines, copy blocks, graphical images, banner ads, PPC ads, button colours, in fact anything where you have the potential to improve the response and be able to measure the improvements.

    Do you have an idea of conversion metrics by sector? Which sectors are leading the way in terms of conversion rates? Which ones are underperforming?

    We’ve compiled a list of averages by sector from a variety of different sources (including e-consultancy.com) which you can see here;

    What Is An Average Conversion rate?

    No-one is really sure how accurate these figures are. They seem reasonable based on the top e-tailers who hit global conversion rates of between 11-16% (we’re talking about online retailers like Amazon, Ebay and QVC)

    The sectors which have always done the best are the catalogue companies and the average figure suggests a 6.1% conversion rate. In our experience this seems about right. I have worked up conversion to those levels with a number of catalogue companies that were hitting lower than 6% before and some have come to us with slightly higher conversion rates than 6% initially.

    The underperformers seem to me to be sport/outdoor retailers or fashion and apparel. They really should be hitting much higher levels than the average level 1.4-2.2%.

    Creating web pages is a balancing act between the needs of the business and the needs of the user. Factor in the needs of the search engines and that’s quite a challenge. Where should your priorities lie?

    The needs of the user are the most important. The business need in most cases is simply to make or save money. Businesses should achieve both their own business objective while catering for the user so that she can accomplish her goals. The more that the she accomplishes the better it should be for your business. Search engine marketing is important but you should never sacrifice copy or content simply to rank highly on Google. The search optimization should and can be implemented, but it should still persuade the person reading the copy that your solution is for them. Yes it is a balancing act but if you prioritize with the users in all

    Business Development Tips For Ghost Writer Business
    Ghostwriting has become a popular and practical solution for people with great ideas but poor writing skills. They hire a ghostwriter to convert their ideas and concepts into a cohesive publishable manuscript. Ghostwriting is a great career for a motivated writer who is willing to write for good money but no recognition or credit.Who is a Ghost Writer? A ghostwriter is someone who writes a book, speech, and article or editorial that is published under someone else’s name. Some people have great ideas, recognizable names and business but either do not have the time or cannot write well. They supply their ideas, notes, and drafts to a good writer. This ghostwriter will write, research, interview, edit the manuscript and take the book up to the publication stage. The book will then be published under the name of the celebrity. Their name and photo will grace the cover and win all the laurels and praise. A ghostwriter, depending on contract, may earn anywhere from $100 per page to a split in royalties.Qualities of a Ghost Writer: 1. Strong writing skills. Dazzle the contact trade magazines or publication with superb writing and editing skills. Write interesting, grammatically correct and knowledgeable articles in prestigious publications to draw notice towards your work. 2. Maintain confidentiality. Ghostwriters should keep their connection with their work confidential. They should be willing to work around the client’s sche
    11-16% (we’re talking about online retailers like Amazon, Ebay and QVC)

    The sectors which have always done the best are the catalogue companies and the average figure suggests a 6.1% conversion rate. In our experience this seems about right. I have worked up conversion to those levels with a number of catalogue companies that were hitting lower than 6% before and some have come to us with slightly higher conversion rates than 6% initially.

    The underperformers seem to me to be sport/outdoor retailers or fashion and apparel. They really should be hitting much higher levels than the average level 1.4-2.2%.

    Creating web pages is a balancing act between the needs of the business and the needs of the user. Factor in the needs of the search engines and that’s quite a challenge. Where should your priorities lie?

    The needs of the user are the most important. The business need in most cases is simply to make or save money. Businesses should achieve both their own business objective while catering for the user so that she can accomplish her goals. The more that the she accomplishes the better it should be for your business. Search engine marketing is important but you should never sacrifice copy or content simply to rank highly on Google. The search optimization should and can be implemented, but it should still persuade the person reading the copy that your solution is for them. Yes it is a balancing act but if you prioritize with the users in all cases then you’re on the right track.

    How can accessibility and usability play a part in increasing conversion rates?

    Usability is necessary. You should follow all the best practices regards navigation, colours and layout. Accessibility is becoming increasingly important. We’ve seen our own visitors ask us to change font sizes (make them bigger) for instance. We now have a function on our own site which allows you to adjust the text through the browser to any size you like.

    Which online retailers do you most admire for their shopping cart processes? And which ones are a ‘dropout from basket’ waiting to happen?

    Amazon and Cafepress.com have very friendly and simple interfaces. The interesting thing about these two sites is that while they do take your details and record them so it’s easier for you the next time you visit, they do not ask you to “open an account” or “create account” because the wording itself puts many people off. How many times have you bought something from Amazon because they “suggested” something based on your interests? Amazon really understands about building a site around what the user wants (or might want based on their preferences).

    The sites which are a drop-out waiting to happen are the ones which have common problems, like requiring registration before a purchase, long checkout processes (I’ve seen ten steps to purchase before), no shipping information displayed, no privacy policies, no security (SSL encryption), lack of guarantees and return policies, the list is endless.

    Copywriting is an increasingly essential art form for many e-commerce teams. But the challenges for large websites can be immense, if authoring occurs at a local level. How can you manage authors so that they stick to the conversion-focused rules?

    Firstly we figure out what their limitations are. The content management systems or technical backend may mean that we need to adapt our methods to their systems. Then we hold them by the hand for a number of their most popular products showing them how we’ve come to the copy and content we’ve developed. Then we design a custom template with rules to follow so that the content managers can work to a specification. The content managers are then responsible for their own testing to improve the site copy and this is done in conjunction with A/B split testing and or web analytics. We either handle that ourselves or train the managers to do it themselves. Ownership of the site is key, by getting the content managers to own and develop their content based on what works, gradually the conversion improves.

    Do you have any insight into how the demographics and conversion rates differ between Google, Yahoo and MSN users?

    The demographics are important and can mean a whole change of strategy for some businesses. This observation of the Nielsen//Netratings figures by Danny Sullivan is particularly good and current; http://searchenginewatch.com/reports/article.php/2156451

    As for conversion rates from different engines, we have yet to do a study of that and I don’t know anyone who has. We tend to work on a client by client basis and work out the best sources of traffic for each, based on their own particular product ranges.

    (Obligatory end of year question alert…) What do you think will be the top trends for webmasters in 2006?

    I’d like to think that the focus will shift from traffic acquisition via search engines to traffic conversion but I think it’s still a little bit too early for that in Europe. It’s beginning now in the US and I think it will take another year before the UK and later Europe really start to focus on it. I do feel that this year because of Google Analytics more focus will shift toward web analytics, which in my view is as important for the industry as when PPC was introduced. It means businesses will be able to use a quality tool without paying a fortune and see for themselves how a good tool can affect the bottom line. This can only be a good thing as the trend will shift towards measurement rather than best guessing which has been going on for far too long.

    This article is a transcript of my answers to questions posed by Chris Lake of e-consultancy.com from December 2005. Hopefully you will find the grilling I got useful!

    HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
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