Ecommerce merchants have many pages to write copy for. Home and landing pages, category pages, product descriptions, articles, and shopping messages are just a few. This article will describe five ways to improve your web copy, and the concepts here can be applied to all pages on your growing ecommerce website.

1. Establish a Tone That Matches Your Niche

As you write, imagine that you are speaking to your niche group in person. Set a tone with your copy and continue it throughout your online store. Good descriptions establish credibility by demonstrating that you actually know something about the product, other than what the manufacturer provides. Share your personal insights and manager’s notes, or add specific customer testimonials. You can even ask employees to choose their weekly picks.

Create relationships between products and categories with text links and not just with navigation buttons. Create text links using relevant keywords, phrases that link product and article pages. If your customers include multiple sub-niche groups, create a page that allows them to choose specific questions they want answered, rather than trying to answer everything for everyone on one page.

2. Differentiate Your Products and Your Store

Differentiating your online store from the hordes of competition is one of the most critical, profit-producing elements any ecommerce site can accomplish (competing on price alone will typically leave you paddling against a very strong tide). Become a successful and profitable online store by fitting your niche. Compare your site against your three nearest competitors, and make sure people know exactly why they should shop with you over them. Your website cannot replace human contact, but it can work 24 hours a day to show people exactly how your ecommerce store is the better solution for them.

Create charts or checklists to identify ways your product is unique. If the product is not unique, then demonstrate how your company or service is better than the competition. Use concrete examples and customer testimonials whenever possible. If you are relying on your expertise, create links to articles and how-to information on your site that back up your claims. Tout your great customer service by including a phone number, hours of operation, and a contact person on the site.

For those stores carrying unique handcrafted or individually made items, remember that unique in itself is not a clear selling point. Explain how receiving a handmade gift makes someone feel, or describe how your product(s) fill a need for individual expression.

3. Educate and Inform Customers

Educate and inform your customers by making product facts interesting. Tell a story, be specific, and give examples on how to use it, when to use it, and what not to do, if applicable. Use multiple image views or videos to show the product in use. Write product descriptions for both scanners and diggers. (Scanners want bullet points, comparisons and checklists. Diggers want specification sheets, more details, and extensive product descriptions.) You can even add a PDF download for the super diggers. Add multiple image views or a checklist of ways to use the product. Create articles that answer common questions in detail and link to them from product pages.

Copying and pasting the same information on each page is a huge mistake, and it creates massive duplicated content within your site. Instead, write articles to answer similar questions, and link to them. This allows you more room for explanations, and gives every page unique content. If you have multiple products with similar descriptions, try using short video clips with a simple voice over to show how each individual piece is different. Think of any question a customer might have and find a way to include an answer.

4. Create a Clear Buying Path and Help Customers Follow It

Customer confusion hurts e commerce sales because when a customer gets confused they rarely buy. People want to make sure they have the right information before they decide to buy. And, once they decide to make a purchase, customers want to know how to buy and how other factors, like shipping, availability, returns and cost, will affect the sale. Be sure to tell the customer exactly what you want him or her to do, and spell out what will happen next.

Give your customers multiple ways to purchase your products on the same page. Make the buying process simple, but don’t just rely on the “buy it now” button. You can also add text links and image links to lead people to your checkout page. If there is a step before checkout, such as choosing a color, include it in the text. Don’t make people register before they buy. This confuses some and annoys others, and very often you will lose the sale. Make it easy to trust you and even easier to buy.

5. Improve Search Engine Optimization

Use relevant, varied keyword phrases in page titles, headlines and descriptions. To the search engines, “coat hanger,” “coat hangers,” “coats hanger,” and “coats hangers” are separate keyword phrases. Most keyword topics have dozens of versions of search phrases for a particular topic. Parcel your keyword phrases across multiple product pages throughout a category. When you have similar multiple items, spread out the keyword phrases using one or two phrases per product.

Be creative – Don’t be afraid to jump out of the BOX

Look for creative ways to use strange-syntax keyword phrases. Many people search for non-grammatically correct phrases like “coat hanger wide wood” or “hanger clothes plastic.” Optimize your product descriptions for unusual phrases, and do your best to work them into sentences that makes sense. In the example “coat hanger wide wood” you could write “No coat is too big for this coat hanger, wide wood version that keeps even the largest heavy winter coats in shape.”

Summary

Your online store offers you the opportunity to connect with potential buyers and to differentiate your products while establishing credibility and trust. Make the most of this opportunity by diving into your website copy with a clear purpose in mind. Just like any first impression, it’s important to make it count.

Examples of Websites With Good Product Descriptions

These two web pages use creativity, multiple images and video to showcase products:

• Baghaus
• Nappastudio

References

• 5 Tips To Better Product Descriptions
• 73 Ways to Describe a Widget by Marcia Yudkin

Related Articles from Practical Ecommerce

• Ecommerce Know-How: Writing Product Descriptions that Sell
• Product Pages: 6 Tips to Transform Them Into “Sales Magnets”
• Ecommerce Know-How: Six Ways To Improve Your Online Stor

Originally published with Practical Ecommerce in 2009

Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta

Find out how a Website evaluation can make your business profitable online!

Here is a guest video with some great tips on how to mazimize your redesign efforts

Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta

Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta

The recent article by Marc Levitt  “9 steps to a successful site redesign” very simply and elegantly spells out 9 areas to evaluate when implementing a website redesign. If you are contemplating updating your website I beg you to read this article. It will save you time, energy, money and perhaps your business.

Preaching to the choir

What I loved about this article, besides the fact that he was strumming my pain with his fingers, is that he clearly explains how important it is to plan how you are going to communicate with your visitors.

The article sets the tone like this

Your website is the window to your company. The internet is becoming the most accessed form of media, and websites have become the most essential marketing tool for businesses. It’s no longer a question of whether or not you have a site — it’s all about having an effective one. One click from a customer is a valuable opportunity that can make all the difference. If created properly, a website should instinctively lead visitors where you want them to follow.

Without a plan-customers get lost

This is a great article, extremely well written and easy to understand. I encourage you to go read it. I have a similar article on my site called “It’s NOT the internet – it’s How you Use the tools!”

If they can't navigate your website, they will not buy

Website redesign for dummies

Its a simple concept really – if people do not connect with your website they will not interact with you, if they cannot navigate your site they will quit trying to interact with you and without this interaction  you cannot make sales.
Hmmmm A website redesign plan sounds pretty good right about now…

Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta

When you have a business online there are many marketing methods that you will need to use to promote your website. One of the first methods that you need to learn about and use is search engine optimization using keyword rich content. This is one of the most effective forms of marketing online and it is free to do. This article is going to give you some secrets about using keyword rich content for your SEO marketing.

Now, before you learn what the secrets are to search engine optimization, you need to know how important it is for you to educate yourself about this marketing method. Too many people try using this online marketing method without taking the time to learn about it. You can use SEO for marketing when you do this but if you want to have it work effectively for you then you need to take the time to educate yourself on it.

Now, here are the secrets to search engine optimization that you need to know.

Choose the right Keywords

1.  The key to using search engine optimization effectively is the keywords that you choose. You have to take time to research the keywords you are going to use. Come up with as many keywords or keyword phrases as you can because you will need a lot of them over time. It is important that you choose keywords that are relevant to your site. You want to use these keywords in the articles that you write for your site and for your sites marketing. You can also look for less competitive keywords that are more specific to buyers and target them ( read the article on targeting buyer behavior here)

Add Keyword phrases to your website content

2. Now, once you have the keywords you are going to use you need to decide how you are going to get the keyword rich content for your site and for your website promotion. The best thing you can do is to learn how to write the content or articles yourself. When you are a business owner this will be one of the best things you can learn because you will have to write a lot of different things for search engine optimization promotion. However, when you don’t want to learn how to write or you just can’t do it, you can always hire someone to do it for you.

Keep it Fresh

3. You have to make sure that you have fresh keyword rich content on your site at least once a week, twice a week is even better. You also need to have fresh keyword rich content that you can use once or twice a week just for promoting your site with article directories and other sites.

The secret is in the Phrase

These are the secrets to using keyword rich content for search engine optimization. They are not all of the secrets but they are the most important ones. The best thing you can do is to educate yourself on this before you use it, so that you know how to do it effectively.

Keywords are the language of the internet.

Without strategic keyword research and a keyword map, your online marketing efforts are doomed to languish. Keyword research is a dynamic event, and should be done at least once a year.

How Keyword research is like Jeopardy (and you’d better have the right question)

It’s important to remember that people use the search engines like they are the host of a big quiz show. When they type in “large dog beds” they are really asking “What is”:

What are the sizes of big dog beds?
Who has the best dog beds?
Who has a big selection of dog beds?
what do big dog beds cost?

You want YOUR website to become the right ANSWER to their question.

This is how you “show up” in the search engines. Search engine optimization, which is based on keywords, is the way that Google knows that is on each page of a specific website. If  you would like to get the most comprehensive and accurate Keyword research for your business web site give us a call LeadMastersUSA at 678 318 7515

You might also like:

Be unique or go home: 5 reasons to give your online store a unique selling proposition

A value proposition is often the last thing e business owners want to work on, mainly because they assume that their stores uniqueness is abundantly clear. Opening your own ecommerce store bring along with it a swarm of challenges; inventory, SEO, shipping, order fulfillment, getting traffic and site design to …

and

Successful Keyword Research Examines The Intent Behind The Search As Well As The Words

If you intend to develop your business website or e commerce store you will be targeting high traffic keywords – sometimes as many as a thousand. When it comes to keyword research there is a reason why we say successful keyword research examines the intent behind the search as well …

Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta

Publishing how-to articles on your growing ecommerce website can be an effective way to boost sales. How-to articles can attract traffic, improve your search position, engage visitors, increase time visitors spend on-site, and help to establish your brand and expertise.

Turn Visitors Into Customers

Writing effective how-to articles can be as simple as creating a series about your product line. People like to compare features before they buy, and they are often searching for timely information on installing, assembling, and using a product.

Some valuable how-to topics would include:

• What kind of product should I buy?
• How to choose between product A and product B.
• Which version is best for me?
• Why use product X versus other products?
• How to install and/or assemble product X.
• How to use product X.
• Five ways to use product X to create __.
• Ideas for using product X in your home office, school, and car.
• How not to use product X.
• Achieving a certain effect with product X.
• How to achieve _?
• Accessories guide for products.
• Reference and comparison charts for products.

Articles Boost Customer Confidence

Online shoppers are also looking for indications that your store will have the expertise and willingness to help them if there are any questions after the sale. How-to articles can boost consumer confidence because they demonstrate that you know real-world facts about your products.

Articles can also help reduce phone support expenses when you provide answers for the most commonly asked questions. A good article directory makes it easy for potential customers to surf your online store for answers, rather than clicking away in search of answers and into the arms of your competitor’s store.

Articles and Social Media

Social media is the newest ecommerce buzzword, and with all the talk about blogs, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, articles have lost some of their prominence in favor of newer content distribution methods. But, article publication should remain a large part of any social media and marketing plan because articles are still an effective way to attract targeted traffic and engage visitors once they arrive on your site. People still like to read articles, especially how-to articles that are designed to help them better understand your products.

Is your successful online store willing to let potential customers click away in order to find out “how to” do something?

Summary

The simple act of sharing relevant information in the form of a how-to does more than just present facts. It demonstrates that you are interested in your customers’ questions, even before they ask. It shows that you understand their needs and are willing to address them. It also gives you a chance to gently guide potential customers into buying the right product for their needs, leading to fewer returns and more happy customers. And, that is what we are all looking for.

Examples of Effective Article Use

• B & H Photo Video
• Photo.net
• Lowes
• Whirlpool Bathtub Store

Related Articles

• Link Article Marketing to Purchase-Related Keywords
• Ecommerce Know-How: Writing Product Descriptions that Sell
• 5 Ways to Improve Website Copy and Grow Sales

Originally published in Practical ecommerce Aug 09

Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta

Local Search Optimization could be the answer to your prayers

Wouldn’t you rather be found at the TOP of Google?

A recent survey by eScore (Feb 2009) found that local search – the practice of using online search tools like (Google, Yahoo, Bing and others) to find local businesses, products, or services reached an annual total of 15.7 billion searches in 2008. These numbers are expected to increase by 26% this year!
Yet only 40% of local businesses have taken the time to optimize their business for local search engine traffic This means that your business has NO CHANCE of  being “found” when someone searches for your product or service online.

“Search Engines Are Now the Primary Information Source for the Customer Next Door “

Local Search Means Business

”Consumers already conduct about 1 billion local searches per month and you know that at least some of them are looking for your exact product or service. For example: One common term in the home improvement industry gets over 6000 searches per month in the metro Atlanta Area alone”

Local Searchers are Likely to Take Action

Another recent survey found that a large number of local searchers take action and almost half make a purchase. This may come in the form of a phone call, an in-store visit or even an email. This highlights that local searchers are in the final stages of their purchase decision and are almost ready to make a purchase. This makes them the ideal prospect for sales or service businesses.

The message for local businesses is simple:
You need to be found on the internet.

You are using the internet right now … and so are your customers!

What are you waiting for?

Local online search growing everyday – will your customers find you or your competitors? Local businesses are desperately searching for marketing and advertising that brings customers to their doors. Local Search Optimization and Marketing is the answer! Now there are literally dozens of national and local places to promote your business – even if you don’t have a website!

Local Customers are Searching for YOUR Product or Service
but will they find YOU?

We know times are tough and the internet can be overwhelming. If you don’t know where to start to increase your local exposure, learn more about our Local Search Optimization service and find Free articles and tutorials at http://www.SEOconsutlingAtlanta.com or call us at 678 318 7515

Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta

Article marketing has been around since the beginning of the Internet, seemingly. It is practically free (if you write the articles yourself); it builds trust; and it attracts customers and influences people while they are in the process of making a buying decision.

The Proof is in the Numbers

According to Adfusion in a March 2009 report, “67% of people between the ages of 18 and 24, and 56% of those making at least $75,000 per year, say they are ‘very likely’ or ’somewhat likely’ to read and act upon article-based advertising.”

So, why don’t more ecommerce store owners use articles to promote the marketplace and influence buyers? I am not sure, but I suspect that many folks believe that it doesn’t really fit their business model. If you sell something concrete like motorcycle accessories, it might not occur to you how to use articles to increase online store sales. But, here is a method I have used successfully and it is fairly straightforward.

Step 1: Choose Your Keyword Phrases

Start with keyword research. Then write the articles and post on your website and submit to article directories, blogs and social media outlets. I will use “motorcycle accessories” as an example. Here are the results of a quick Google keyword tool search, noting the phrase and the number of times it was searched per month:

leather motorcycle bags 3,600 leather motorcycle gear 1,900 motorcycle rain gear 8,100 motorcycle tank bags 2,400 motorcycle saddle bags 9,900 women’s motorcycle gear 1,000 motorcycle windshield bags 720 motorcycle camping gear 1,300 motorcycle saddle bag 4,400

I start with extensive keyword research and identify trends that indicate a desire or need for more information. Don’t go for generic, highly-competitive terms; identify the type of specific information people look for when they are researching a purchase. Start with five phrases. As an example, the following five phrases received over 9,000 combined searches, according to Google’s keyword tool search.

women’s motorcycle gear
motorcycle windshield bags
motorcycle camping gear
motorcycle tank bags
motorcycle saddle bag

After researching keywords, create a keyword list for each article. These are keywords that need to be included in the article and in the meta data for the web page. Choose no more than three keywords and try to use plurals and similar terms as it makes it much easier to add them to the content naturally. Using the list of five phrases, above, here is an example of my keyword list to include in my articles:

women’s motorcycle gear, woman motorcycle clothing, women’s motorcycle apparel, motorcycle saddle bag, motorcycle saddle bags, motorcycle gear bags

Step 2: Create the Title and the Outline

After identifying the keywords to included in my articles, I craft article titles, creating two or three titles per keyword phrase. Make sure you use the exact phrase in order. Here are examples of three headlines for two separate keyword phrases:

Three Keyword Headlines, Example One

1. Women’s motorcycle gear gets a new look and more safety.
2. Preview new fashions in women’s motorcycle gear.
3. Motorcycle gear adds safety to fashion with new designs.

Three Keyword Headlines, Example Two

1. How to choose the best motorcycle saddle bag for long distance road trips.
2. Leather or plastic? Which motorcycle saddle bag is the best for road trips?
3. The right motorcycle saddle bag makes long road trips a breeze.

After crafting the article titles, I create three points I want to cover for each title, as follows.

Title: Women’s motorcycle gear gets a new look and more safety

1. New trends in women’s motorcycle apparel;
2. New materials mean more women’s motorcycle clothing is safer for riders;
3. Women riders demand motorcycle clothing that is both safe and stylish.

Make sure your exact keyword phrase is in the title, first paragraph and closing paragraph. This helps optimize the article and provides continuity. Remember that someone will be finding this article because they search for this specific phrase, so make it relevant and informational.

Step 3: Create Multiple Versions for Each Article

I repeat the step above for each title, using the same keyword list for each new article. This is because I want at least two versions of each article using a specific keyword phrase (three versions are even better).

At this point you can either write each article yourself or hire someone to write it for you. I have also written the first myself and then had the second two rewritten by someone else. However you do it, you will now have three versions of an article optimized for a specific keyword phrase.

Choose the best article and post it to your website. Link relevant product pages to it and add to your article directory of you have one. Optimize the page for your three keyword phrases including the main one in the title tag, description tag and meta tags.

Submit your articles to directories, such as Ezinearticles.com, Goarticles.com, Ideamarketers.com, and Amazines.com. Use the keywords in the tag or keywords area. Link back to your website in the author’s box. Normally you can use two links back to your website in this area. Make sure one of the text links is the original keyword phrase and have it point back to a relevant internal web page.

The third article can be used on your blog, social media sites or given to a joint venture partner for use on their website or newsletter, for example. It might sound like a lot of extra work to write three articles instead of one, but in reality, it makes it much easier. This way you have one article pulling traffic to your website, one giving you quality links back to an internal page and another to use socially, where it’s better to give than receive.

Remember that adding article to your online store will also boost your online store website optimization by allowing you more content and pages to specifically optimize.

Here is a video that demonstrated how effective articles can be for ecommerce and online retailers.

Originally published in Practical Ecommerce 2009

Local SEO Consultants, Local Search Optimization Consulting Firms – Find SEO Professionals

Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta

Here is a great article explaining how keywords work.

Search Engines : who they are and what they really do

Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask and all the other search engines currently don’t have the ability to look at images and tell what they are; (though it could be around the corner – who knows?).  No, they must rely on words – specifically keywords or keyword phrases.  Words, either individually, or strung-together are called ‘keywords’ and it’s these that the search engines are looking for.

“Keywords are the labeling system for every piece of information online. Without proper keyword ranking your website is doomed into oblivion” Jan Riley of  LeadmastersUSA.  SEO keyword services Atlanta GA

Long Tail Keywords are specific Search terms

For a good while, I really didn’t understand the difference between one-word keywords and what is now termed ‘long-tail keywords’, but now I do (at least I think I do!!).

Long tail simply means you have a string of words, probably up to about seven, and people typically type these into a search-box on their favorite search engine because they want to be as specific as possible.

Products, Services and Industry specific terms

Now, if you’re looking for a specific product, like my new Scooter which I just purchased (A Great Tank 250), then I could have found direct references to it by simply typing it’s model number OR ‘Scooter Tank 250″?.  What turns up in the SERPS (search engine results pages)?  Lots of results of companies either selling Scooters, or forums on popular Scooters (This is a great place to find out the specifics of each make and model).

General Searches mean Lots of Search results

If, however, I searched like this: ‘Best 250 scooter model’ then something very different shows up. Firstly, references to the words how, to, with and ‘a’ are all ignored, so the the only words that the search engines are interested in are scooter, best, model and 250.

The results are very different of course, bringing up millions of pages with ANY reference to any and all of these words.

Be Specific and Use singular and plural terms

To make your searches more targeted, you have to be specific.  The easiest way to do this is to simply put your search term (long tail keyword) in speech-marks ” “  This tells the search engines that you are ONLY interested in EXACTLY what you typed.  This often leads to NO RESULTS, but also you’ll often receive just a few VERY TARGETED results, and doing this will tell your search engine that you DO want to include the words ‘how, to, with and a’.If the results don’t get you what you wanted, you can simply rephrase your question and use similar words in place of your first ones.

“Search phrase keywords”  is how your customers are searching

Try to think about how OTHER people say things. For example,  do you often use the word “restaurant’?  If so, try using the word ‘dining’.  Do you use the word ‘house’?  Try using the word ‘home’.  You get the idea. People search in ways that don’t make grammatical sense, and they use terms they “think” might work , not necessarily industry correct terms.

A host  of Free Tools for Keyword Research

There’s a great new (ish) tool from the people who give you (also free) Trellian WebPage called Keyword Discovery. While there IS (of course) and upgraded version available at cost, this is a great alternative to the free Google Adwords suggestion tool.

Give it a try; I think it will add some good words that Google doesn’t have.

Thanks Luke at Money making online for this great tutorial on Keyword research.

VIDEO ALERT

Here is a funky but informative video on how to find and use low competition keywords.  His delivery and sets are unique, but the info is very good.

“Keywords are the labeling system for every piece of information online. Without proper keyword ranking your website is doomed into oblivion” Jan Riley of  LeadmastersUSA.  SEO keyword services Atlanta GA

Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta

What is SEO And Why Should The Average Business Owner Care?

Lots of people get online every day to start a business or to bring their existing business to the internet. There are so many different methods that you can use when you market your business online and most people don’t realize how many methods there are. The best way to market your business online is to start with one method at a time, then when that method is working to bring you traffic to your site you can add another method.

The best method to start with is SEO.

This will not only help your website get found, it will help your visitors connect with your content. Using words and phrases that people search for helps establish trust and credibility, so on site SEO can really help your website perform.

So, what is SEO and why should you as a business owner care?

SEO means search engine optimization. This is the process of optimizing your website so you can get natural search engine rankings. The natural search engine rankings are the ones that you see when you search for something on one of the search engines. The ads on the side of the search engines are the ones that people pay for. So the basic thing you need to know is that you get natural rankings for free using SEO.

Now, as to why you as a business owner should care about SEO, that is simple really, this marketing method can bring you a ton of traffic, which in turn means a lot more money for you. Getting natural search engine rankings is one of the most effective online marketing methods there is because when people get online to search for something, they usually start their search with one of the major search engines. So, you want to have your business website in a position in the search engines where they will see it, preferably on the front page of the listings they see.

Optimize your website for more qualified visitors

The best way to do this is to use SEO to optimize your website so customers searching for your product or service can find you. Yes, even local customers are checking out Google to find local business websites. You need to do comprehensive keyword research so you can find keywords that are relevant to your business. Then write fresh content on your website using at least two of the keywords. The keywords are how the search engines will pick up your site.

Learn FIRST & start small

Now, before you start trying to use SEO for your website you need to take the time to learn all you can about using this online marketing method. Otherwise, this method can become very confusing fast. So, learn all you can about it and then put what you learn into action. This is one mistake that so many people make. You have to take action with what you learned or you will never find success because people won’t be able to find your site.

Remember that each click could be your next customer.

Trying to navigate which internet marketing tactic to use and how often is time consuming, frustrating and expensive. An hour long telephone SEO consultation session is $300 and I guarantee you will walk away with concrete, specific internet marketing strategies that you can use right away. You can have proven and profitable marketing ideas for your business in less than an hour.

Book your appointment today. Call today 678 318- 7515 or email: Jan@LeadMastersUSA.com

Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta