Top 10 Digital Advertising Tips to Maximize Q4 Revenue

Top 10 Digital Advertising Tips to Maximize Q4 Revenue

Digital advertising during the 4th quarter can provide some of the most rewarding returns of the whole year, especially for eCommerce companies. With rising conversion rates and increased revenue opportunity, the competition within the digital advertising space also heats up. 

The main portion of the sale season including Black Friday through Cyber Week has become one long sale for many companies. Recent trends have shown that more people are enjoying Thanksgiving again with a decline in Black Friday brick-n-mortar stores, however, they’re more-likely shopping from the couch on a phone. 

Each of the renowned shopping days increased YoY in 2018, with Cyber Monday becoming the biggest revenue eCommerce day in history. Amazon even mentioned, without providing data, that Cyber Monday beat out their Prime Day.

The stakes are rising annually and preparing to earn traffic to your website is just as valuable as converting the visitors.

Winning the 4th quarter takes a complete team effort. Any small competitive advantage over the competition is enhanced during this time of the year. We’ve compiled a list of our Top 10 digital advertising tips for maximizing your revenue in Q4. Let’s get to it!

#1 Synced Holiday-Specific Ad Copy

There are plenty of clicks to be earned simply by having more-relevant ad copy than your competition. At minimum, the Headline 2 and the Description 1 & 2 within Google Ads should echo the messaging of the site. 

For example, during a “Black Friday Starts Now” sale period, your ads should include that in the copy! Matching the messaging that will be placed in site-wide messages and banners will create a seamless transition for searchers.

This is an excellent strategy especially if the advertising budget is smaller than the competition. Focusing on click-through rate (CTR) with hyper-focused and timely ad copy will earn your company more traffic and revenue.

#2 Labels & Automation

Complementing the #1 tip, a labeling system to automate many of the ad copy changes will save the team time. For example, if your marketing team lands on specific days to run messaging for Black Friday Starts Now, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Cyber Week – all of these ads can be built ahead of time and labeled. 

Using labels for each set of ads will make ad copy changes much easier to automate. Rather than ad copy changes at midnight from Black Friday copy to Cyber Monday, use a Google Ads script to do the work for you!

#3 Understand Bid Strategy Weaknesses & Overcome

If your account is taking advantage of some of the machine-learning automation bid strategies, you’ll want to understand how they can be a disadvantage in Q4. Will the AI learn quickly enough to adjust bids with your competition? Processes need to be in-place to adjust campaign bid strategies so that competitors don’t earn your revenue.

#4 Establish Must-Win Campaigns

Some segments of the business contribute more to the bottom line than others. Ensure the digital marketing team understands which categories or products or search terms need to be monitored heavily.

In large accounts, many changes can be made in bulk, however specific attention needs to be spent in a must-win scenario. Account for this extra time when planning out the tasks needed to win Q4.

#5 Evaluate & Increase Bid Mods

Not all traffic is the same and your conversion rates will vary depending on where/who the traffic is coming from. Bid modifiers allow you to pick out the most important visitors and bid on them differently. Conversely, you can bid down on those who have shown a lower propensity to purchase.

Bid modifiers include device, gender, location, time of day, and more. Additionally, you can select specific audiences to place bid modifications on like shoppers who abandon cart, visitors within the last 3 days, or visitors that have spent double the average time on site.

Your competition is preparing for Q4 too, so make sure your most valuable audiences bid mods are increased. Paying attention to the trends can also play a key role here. You can leave a large amount of revenue on the table if your digital team and website aren’t ready for mobile.

Online shopping on mobile devices for the entire five-day period(Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday) showed a significant increase over last year, representing 54.3 percent of site visits (46.6 percent smartphones, 7.7 percent tablets), up 18.9 percent over 2017. Mobile devices collectively accounted for 35.9 percent of revenue, an 18.3 percent year-over-year increase.

Marcia Kaplan

Practical Ecommerce

#6 Countdown Ads

Running countdown ads are a great way to dynamically create urgency for searchers and beat out competitors for clicks. Within Google Ads (and Bing), you’re able to set an end date for ads which fits perfectly into our prior example of the Q4 holiday periods.

The Headline 1 could say “Black Friday Shoe Sale Ends in 8 Hours” or something similar. The countdown ad will dynamically change the ad text from weeks to days to hours to minutes. Imagine someone search for your category at 11:50PM and your ad reads “Black Friday Shoes Sale Ends in 10 Minutes.” That sets an urgent mindset before the user even visits your site, likely increasing conversion rate.

#7 Understand the Enemy

Your competitors have a huge impact on your Q4 earnings, especially when conversion rates are peaking. Monitor your competitor’s strategy and set-up a plan for how your team will react in an emergency scenario.

If your team doesn’t have the advantage of years of experience, you can begin by using existing data. Using last year’s data, start with the Auction Insights tool within Google Ads. At varying levels of depth (search terms, ad groups, campaigns) within the account, you’ll be able to understand how competitors bid up or down during specific times –  assuming your account is structured properly to evaluate and retrieve this good data.

Once you have good notes on the competition, it’s a good idea to divvy out responsibilities to team members for campaigns or search terms to monitor during key days like Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

 

#8 Holiday Extensions

Google and Bing typically offer promotion extensions or holiday-specific extensions.

Extensions are additional information that you’re able to add to a search ad. They’re excellent for communicating specific information that improves your click-through rate and take up more search real estate. Coupon codes can be used as well as specific percentages off of a product or dollar amount.

 

 

#9 Start Late Q3 or Sooner

Account sizes vary greatly, so you’ll want to timeline the tasks out and give yourself ample time to complete the work before Q4 begins. It’s rare that marketing plans aren’t changed on the fly in small-to-medium companies and with the bulk of the work done, it will be easier to adapt to changes.

 

#10 Monitor Progress

The digital marketing team should always be monitoring the business’ progress and how the competition is responding. Eat healthy and take breaks throughout the day on what will likely be late nights for the team.

 

More tactics and tricks can be used depending on the industry data and how your competition executes their plan. Every account is unique! We’ll help tailor a plan to maximize your desires for Q4. Contact us for a free digital advertising audit today!

 

Let Us Help!

We’re passionate about digital advertising and would love the opportunity to help your team dominate Q4! Our years of experience in Google/Bing, search ads, shopping ads, and display will provide a competitive advantage. We also offer free Digital Advertising audits.

Strategies for Product Page Optimization

Strategies for Product Page Optimization

Product Page SEO

Optimizing your product pages with well-researched and thoughtful content that speaks to your target customer can have a big impact in terms of visibility and sales. Fortunately, there are a variety of tips and tricks your eCommerce business can employ to make your products stand out in a world of similarity. Begin this process by trying to understand your customer as much as possible, and then try the tips we’ve listed below to effectively optimize product pages.

Do Your Research

Don’t make the mistake of targeting completely generic keywords associated with your products – you’ll be missing out on an abundance of terms that may assist with organic traffic. Instead, research how your customers search for solutions to problems or products that you offer. Start by Googling phrases and don’t hit enter – review what Google suggestions appear in the search box or interview your customer service staff (or customers directly) to better understand their journey in finding your products. Answer the Public is also one of our favorite search insight tools to help generate content ideas for the next steps in optimizing product pages.

Embrace SEO Best Practices

Once you’ve established which phrases customers search for in relation to your products, incorporate them into your product page and surrounding content. Aside from the required product details, all content on the product page, including images and video, should explain how and why that product solves problems and improves the lives of customers. Highlight features and benefits, lifestyle improvements and how-to style content with whatever media your demographic best consumes.

Title Tags and Meta Descriptions  

Typically your page title and meta descriptions are the first messages customers see when your product appears directly within a search results page. Understand that often times customers arrive to your products via different avenues, but fine tuning the messages that customers see will help you stand out from the proverbial meta tag templates that have grown in popularity for the sake of automation. If it’s worth putting on your site, it’s worth doing right.

For more SEO tips and tricks, check out 3 Ways Merchants Can Improve SEO.

Rich Snippets  

Rich Snippets are typically set up within your template and forgotten about, but recently we’ve seen module updates or lack of attention result in broken snippets. Google is also making use of more markup as the search landscape evolves, especially in the travel and food industry in recent months. We recommend auditing your markup every few months to ensure the basic product schema (SKU, title, price) as well as additional snippets, such as reviews and ratings, are identified properly.

Internal Linking

This is more about providing multiple pathways to your products than optimizing the actual product page, but it’s important to note that the more links you include to specific products across your site increases the importance of said products to both customers and search engines. Don’t go crazy, but link to specific products from relevant content within your blog, cross-link between similar or complementary products, highlight popular or new products from your homepage, categories, or custom landing pages. The key here is relevancy – create journeys to your products from multiple touchpoints in an effort to lead customers to the ultimate answer to their questions or problems.

Supporting Content

In addition to the on-page product descriptions and content, more popular or profitable products are worthy of additional content in the form of blog articles, press releases, case studies, testimonials, influencer reviews, or additional how-to and review videos. This shareable content should all link directly back to the product page and, again, target specific answers to questions or problems that the product helps to solve. This kind of supporting content will educate your audience about your products and brand, as well as provide links back to the product page.

Implementing SEO best practices and making sure you have the SEO basics in place will also help you succeed in other marketing initiatives.  If your website is not accessible and your content is not relevant or, if your page doesn’t display well on mobile, you will be penalized. Fortunately, InteractOne is skilled and experienced at SEO implementation for eCommerce. For more details on SEO and how we can help get you going, please contact us today.

3 Ways Merchants can Improve SEO for eCommerce

3 Ways Merchants can Improve SEO for eCommerce

Organic rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs) can make or break any website but is particularly important for eCommerce merchants. eCommerce websites rely heavily on the ability to attract, convert, and retain customers organically. In order to attract new customers and stay competitive, merchants need to utilize search engine optimization (SEO) best practices to stay on page one for major search terms.

In fact, according to Marketing Land, websites that rank on page one of Google achieve an average click-through rate (CTR) of 71%. In addition, research shows that sites ranking on pages two and three of Google experience an average CTR of around 6%. Notably, where businesses rank within the first page matters also. Businesses who rank in the first spot on Google receive more than twice as many clicks as the second spot. Further, the first spot receives about six times more clicks than the fifth spot!

Unfortunately, there isn’t a specific checklist on what the search engines look for in top ranking pages. However, Google has said that in addition to relying on their RankBrain technology, content and links are the other major factors. With this information and what we already know as Magento developers, we’ve put together three ways merchants can improve SEO for eCommerce. They are: content optimization, on-site optimization, and content promotion.

1. Content Optimization

With our experience in eCommerce, there are several areas we’ve optimized for clients and have seen positive results:

Homepage: Focus on creating a simple design and navigation that requires a minimal amount of clicks to get to product pages. In addition, utilize keywords for the home page based on relevancy, search volume, and ranking difficulty.

Friendly Company Pages: Customers research companies in some industries to a greater degree than others, but it’s important to communicate your basic company information, culture and core values. Don’t overlook the importance of the About Us and Contact pages. They can help forge a connection with your customers.

Product Pages: Page errors, duplicate content, redirects, missing tags, and other issues negatively affect SEO. Use a utility tool to crawl links, images, CSS, script, and apps to detect errors. In addition, utilize product titles that are similar to how customers refer to your products within your industry.

Metadata: Often the first information customers see on Google, title tags and meta descriptions should capture the attention of users, and entice them to visit your site. In addition, meta descriptions should be specific for each page on your site and never the same as another. Well-written title tags and meta descriptions will boost the chances of getting more clicks and conversions.

Product descriptions: Cutting and pasting the manufacturer’s description can show up as duplicate content and hurt SEO rankings. Write unique product descriptions that not only entice users but helps them to make a decision to buy. Ensure you are using accurate product data and descriptions to show customers you know the products well and would serve as a reputable resource for education and support.

Category Pages: Catalog pages are often the most popular landing pages on eCommerce sites, so it’s a great area for potential content. In addition to the general category descriptions, use these pages for recommended products, new products, and any input or insights your company can add into an otherwise boring category page.

Blogs: For some merchants, a blog is an ideal way to add content and improve their SEO strategy. There are ways of integrating a blog into the Magento platform. Blog posts create a unique opportunity to solve specific queries and reduce conversion-friction for a category or product. With the right keyword research and execution, blog posts will boost conversions.

2. On-site Optimization

In addition to creating great content, there are a lot of ways to improve search engine rankings by making some on-site updates. We will focus on two such areas here: technical SEO and user experience. Technical SEO is making sure your website is crawlable with no errors or duplicate content. This basic to SEO. User experience, or conversion rate optimization, is improving the shopping experience customers have on your site. Is the site navigation easy to use? Does the site load quickly? Are the images loading properly? Does the page display well on mobile devices? Can users get to the information they need without scrolling very far? These questions help determine a quality score and once improved can improve SEO rankings.

Schema Markup: In contrast to metadata, microdata tells search engines what the data actually means, not just what it says. Schema markup defines the different elements that make up a web page or products on your site, such as product name, price, availability, image and different types of descriptions. Identifying the different elements of a page helps search engines populate SERPs with more relevant information based on the intent of the search.

Resolve Site Crawl Issues: There are plenty of tools available that will crawl websites and find errors. Once the crawl is complete, pay close attention to issues related to broken links, navigation, and server errors. Any issues preventing your site from being crawled or triggering errors can cause frustration for users and search engines alike.

URL Optimization and Redirects: Put your primary keyword in the URL. This is another way that helps customers and SERPs know what’s on the pages. If you’re building a new website, avoid any platform that puts database IDs in front of the search engine friendly piece of the URL.

Image Optimization: Add compelling images and videos, and tag them with relevant metadata so they’ll rank high in image searches. Don’t forget to check that they load properly across all devices.

Page load speed: Slow page loading not only drives away potential customers, but it also hurts SEO. Optimize page loading times by compressing product images, implementing lazy loading, and cleaning up coding issues. We always recommend utilizing a cache technology, CDN and optimizing JS/CSS files to keep your page load times as low as possible.

Mobile Optimization: Do all pages on your website display properly on mobile? Implementing a responsive or mobile-friendly site design is a must!

3. Content Promotion

As noted by Google, internal and external links can have a major impact on rankings. Notably, the more authoritative the link, the better. Here are some ways merchants can build their link game.

Setup Social Channels: Social media channels are a great way to build and share links because they indicate authority and relevance to search engines. Make it easy for customers to find and share your content by adding share and follow Call To Action (CTA) buttons such as Buy Now and Add to Cart across your product pages.

Video: If you have the capacity to develop your own videos, create a company YouTube channel and be sure to link to a relevant page on your site from the video description. Videos keep visitors on your website for longer durations, and increased engagement with a website typically leads to increased conversions.

Business Listing (NAP): Ensure that your business listing including name, address, and phone number (NAP) is accurate. This is particularly relevant for businesses looking to rank high in local listings. Google uses a geo-targeted method when showing local listings so verify that your NAP is correct. Keep your Google MyBusiness information up to date.

PR, Partnerships, Events, Sponsorships: Hosting or partnering to host an industry event, sending products to digital influencers, donating products or time to charitable causes, working with brands you sell online, and PR are all great ways to build authority, recognition and quality links back to your site.

Final Thoughts on How to Improve SEO for eCommerce

Implementing SEO best practices and making sure you have the SEO basics in place will also help you succeed in other marketing initiatives.  If your website is not accessible and your content is not relevant or, if your page doesn’t display well on mobile, you will be penalized. Fortunately, InteractOne is skilled and experienced at SEO implementation for eCommerce. For more details on SEO and how we can help get you going, please contact us today.

How Mobile Use Has Affected SEO

How Mobile Use Has Affected SEO

Mobile Use SEO

Search engine optimization is the key to getting potential customers to see your brand when they search online. In the old days you just had to include a few keywords, but the rise of mobile devices has made it so people don’t search as much on desktop computers as they do on the phones they carry around. In fact, 3 out of every 5 searches happen on mobile, so mobile far outpaces desktop as the number one method of searching. Though it may not seem like a huge difference, mobile search results are actually quite different from desktop search results.

People Don’t Click Like They Used To

Jumpshot Digital Intelligence recently gathered data on how many Google searches included organic clicks, ad clicks, and no clicks at all. Those statistics were then compared between mobile searches and desktop searches. When you look at the two sets of data side by side, there is a huge difference in the number of organic clicks on desktop vs on mobile devices. For desktop users, the change from 2016 to 2018 was nominal. However, mobile searches showed a much larger change, with an increase in no clicks (56.1 to 61.4 percent) and ad clicks (3.9 to 8.9 percent) while organic clicks showed a significant decrease (40.1 to 29.7 percent).

So the question is: why? When users search something related to shopping or a product, the first several results will be ads and possibly a carousel at the top with the products they’re looking for. Chances are users won’t scroll past that to see any of the natural search listings.

The other problem is with informational searches, which often get filled with Google’s own answer box for direct questions as well as ads and embedded YouTube videos related to the question asked. On a desktop monitor with a larger screen, you may be able to see past the layer of ads and answer boxes, but users on mobile devices are commonly looking for instant answers, so the first few results commonly grab their attention first. So, how can you get around that to ensure you’re properly targeting searchers?

Step Up Your Game

Though it may seem intimidating to be competing with paid ads, there will always be value in optimizing content and technology to target searchers. There are a few ways to improve your search rankings that don’t include spending money on Google Ads.

Win the Answer Box

Getting into the answer box guarantees that you’re the first thing that users will see in their search results, and also ensures that you will be the first thing they hear if using voice search.

Get Cracking on Informational Content

Most searches on mobile devices are informational. Additionally, as seen above, most mobile search-result clicks go to an ad, or garner no clicks at all. Therefore, adding informational content to your site will result in more visits to your site.  

Establish Authority

The same informational content that gets you more clicks also boosts your authority. Quality content will sometimes be shared, and that improves your chances of being featured in someone else’s blog or social media posts.The authority obtained from these actions is critical to winning the coveted and necessary first organic listings, which are now commonly in the middle of the page (immediately following the ads and answer boxes).

Mobile Optimization is Crucial

If you can get people to come to your site, you don’t want them immediately leaving due to poor layout or slow load times. Ensure that your site has been tested on mobile devices and so that you are in the best position possible to shrink the mobile visit-to-conversion gap.

Be in the Top 3

In the end, you should at least be aiming to be in the top three positions on search results. Once users find what they’re looking for, they’re not going to search anymore, so you have to be the search result that gives them what they’re looking for. If you’re looking for more information or need assistance with SEO, contact us today.

What Are Successful Auto eCommerce Merchants Doing to Stay on Top?

What Are Successful Auto eCommerce Merchants Doing to Stay on Top?

auto eCommerce

2018 marked massive growth of Automotive eCommerce and merchants, as they are now selling everything from parts, to accessories, to services for both B2B and B2C buyers. Automotive eCommerce is no longer a niche segment, it’s a rising standard.

As we enter 2019 and automotive eCommerce revenue continues to grow at an exponential rate, more and more merchants want to reap the benefits by launching their own websites. Expectations for these sites are high as competitors are improving their sites every day.

So how can new automotive sites compete with already established merchants? Following some of these basic rules is a great start.

Product Listings must be Clear, Visible, and Detailed

Automotive eCommerce shoppers tend to be passionate and well-informed. They know what they are looking for and if they can’t find it on your site, they will move to the next where they can. This is why proper SEO techniques and rich product content is crucial. This tactic will increase product visibility across browsers and marketplaces, improving a brand’s presence as well as offering a competitive edge.

To ensure visibility, be sure to include searchable keywords in the title, such as the manufacturer name, type of part, and the reference number. Craft detailed product descriptions and feature reviews beneath product to establish credibility and build trust. Also, be sure to include crystal clear, high-resolution images that allow for zooming in and enlarging (check out our Automotive Images Guide for more helpful tips).

Mobile Friendliness and Adaptability is Top Priority

In the modern world of eCommerce, a mobile-first strategy is required. Customers are shopping via iPhones, Tablets, Androids, Macs, and the list continues. When building a new eCommerce website, this type of functionality is imperative for success. Analyze how your site looks on all types of devices, and note any discrepancies or disabled functionalities.

Consider Offering Free Shipping

Though shipping can present an issue for automotive merchants (due to the size and weight of the products), many successful automotive merchants have found ways to offer free shipping. Whether that be after a minimum order threshold has been met, or as part of a promotional offer, it is something merchants should consider when analyzing their checkout process. High shipping costs are commonly the cause of abandoned carts – so if you can offer free shipping, even for a portion of your catalogue, you should.

Provide Value Through Kits and Bundles

Bundling allows merchants to sell more product while also satisfying customers. You can test out what products sell best with others, or offer a Buy One Get One (BOGO) promotion on certain products. Some merchants are including features such as “recommended products” or “related products” that appear beneath a product listing, to keep the customer enticed and buying more. The more buying options that are available to the customer, the faster they can make a purchase that is right for them.

Navigation Must Follow the Customer Experience

Navigation is crucial to automotive eCommerce because inventories tend to be extensive and associated with the make and model of certain vehicles. More often than not, site visitors won’t waste their time trying to encrypt confusing menus or unclear navigation. This presents a dilemma for merchants: how should your site be organized? Our main message is this: data should fit the customer experience— not the other way around. Consider how a customer actually shops, then construct a process that follows those steps. For more information on navigation for automotive eCommerce, check out this blog.

Allow Customers to Create Accounts

Encouraging customers to create accounts is a great way to improve the overall customer experience. It streamlines the checkout process because customers can save their billing information or quickly reorder something they previously purchased.

Additionally, because automotive eCommerce shoppers tend to be enthusiasts, allow them to gain points for their purchases or enroll them in some sort of reward system. It will build loyalty to your brand and provide an incentive for customers to continue shopping there.

Our Automotive eCommerce Experience

Our experience in the automotive eCommerce industry has given us insights into the challenges merchants face as well as the successful trends many are utilizing. If you need assistance with your automotive-focused eCommerce site or require help with marketing, contact us today.

2019’s 5 Biggest eCommerce Trends

2019’s 5 Biggest eCommerce Trends

eCommerce Trends

As technology continues to get better, so does the eCommerce shopping experience. Below are a few trends in the world of eCommerce that we are tracking in 2019:

1. Smaller Merchants Moving to SaaS Platforms

Just a few years ago, some Software as a Service (SaaS) eCommerce platforms were around but generally lacked the necessary tools and functionality to be full-featured and reliable enough for many eCommerce merchants to consider. Now, technology has evolved enough that SaaS is slowly becoming the new standard.

This year, more smaller eCommerce merchants are likely to make the switch to SaaS platforms for a variety of reasons. For one, this model makes for a much simpler process for small businesses to manage—merchants can access the entire platform via the web. SaaS platforms provide other benefits too, including faster (and typically automatic) site upgrades that are included in the monthly fee and the need for less in-house tech support since the provider managers the underlying platform. Additionally, some merchants who originally chose an open-source platform such as Magento years ago may decide to move over to a SaaS solution, rather than upgrade to Magento 2

2. Competitor Analysis, Redefined

Over the years, defining exactly what and who a competitor is has become more complex. There are: traditional product line (category) competitors, organic SEO competitors, paid listing and advertising competitors, market share competitors (think Amazon), and disruptive competitors that sell only the cutting-edge products that will potentially replace what are being sold today.

This means that when considering tactics on how to compete with other merchants, it is important to benchmark against them from that same tactical space. In 2019, the competitive landscape has shifted, and we have admittedly seen many retailers that haven’t been able to keep up. Often times this is due to having an incomplete or inaccurate picture of who a given merchant’s competition really is.

It’s even possible that the merchants stealing your market share aren’t the ones selling the same stuff as you but are actually in the same boat!

3. A Greater Focus on Capturing Channel & Third-Party Customers

From a trends point-of-view, Amazon, Google, and other third-party sellers are a double-edged sword for online retailers. Having products on Amazon can generate high-volume sales, but can also expose merchants to competitive scrutiny like price undercutting and extreme profit margin pressure.

To counteract this, merchants are now looking for ways to get customers to buy directly from them instead of through the third-party channel. This allows merchants to circumvent the extremely tight restrictions on package inclusions that third-party channels often enforce. Additionally, merchants are offering products and formats like bulk pricing on their site that aren’t offered elsewhere. This leads to better SEO and greater visibility while reducing dependence on third-party channels, both of which will make this a growing trend throughout 2019.

4. Emphasizing Delivery & Fulfillment Marketing

Thanks in large part to Amazon, the new delivery standard customers have come to expect is 2-day shipping. This has forced eCommerce merchants large and small to rethink their delivery and fulfillment strategies in order to compete. But don’t worry—there’s still a variety of ways to do so other than lightning-fast delivery.

Look for many companies to put a greater emphasis on their packaging styles this year. Instead of opting to send customers their product in typical brown-box packaging, eCommerce merchants are getting a leg up on the competition with more colorful, exciting designs. This trend allows merchants to further customize their customer’s experience as well as to differentiate themselves and stand out from other businesses.

eCommerce Trends

Additionally, more merchants have started including printed promo inclusions inside the packages they are sending. This promo can be anything from 20% off a customer’s next order to a free sample of another product. These inclusions can help assuage the low satisfaction a customer may feel in a delivery experience that takes longer than expected or can be used as just another way to keep customers satisfied.

5. Rethinking Page Layout

In an effort to simplify the customer path-to-purchase and overall user experience, many merchants have begun to completely rethink how their webstore is laid out. In a market as saturated as it is today, merchants know that they need better product photography, more unique product descriptions, and better filter options for customers to be happy on their website. 

Put simply, merchants are making the move to a simpler purchasing experience for their customers (which can be harder than you might think). Businesses that learn to make the purchase process simple will see greater conversions and greater customer satisfaction with the order experience.

2019: The Year to Try Something New

2019 is poised to be an exciting year with big changes in the world of eCommerce. These trends are currently helping shape the strategies of merchants both of a large and small scale. Want to talk about applying some of these techniques to your eCommerce business? Contact our team of experts today.

The Automotive eCommerce Guide to Navigation and Images

The Automotive eCommerce Guide to Navigation and Images

automotive eCommerce
In order to construct a visually appealing Automotive eCommerce site that promotes a fluid customer experience, there are two important things to keep in mind: know your customer and keep it simple.

Those statements may seem obvious. Certainly you must identify your customer base, and of course, you shouldn’t over-complicate your site. As obvious as it may sound, many Automotive eCommerce sites get it wrong. Whether that is due to the considerable amount of data on the topic or simply the nature of the industry, here are some tips to help keep you above par.

The best converting Auto eCommerce sites are the ones that are easy to navigate. First, identify your niche. Then, cater your navigation to your specific customer. The biggest challenge is always the data.

Data Should Fit the Customer Experience – Not the Other Way Around

Data is arguably one of the most difficult aspects of Automotive eCommerce because it is extensive, complex, and ever-changing. Recent trends in the Automotive industry point to the year, make, model, and engine-filtered navigation. We have seen Auto eCommerce companies spend so much time, money, and effort simply integrating this functionality that they gloss over the issue of how a customer actually shops. The best automotive eCommerce sites are the ones that are extremely simple and easy to navigate with the ability to land customers on a very relevant and specific landing page. That’s very hard to do with the year, make, and model lookup. Our favorite (and the best converting) sites are the ones that utilize categorized navigation effectively, such as runningboardwarehouse.com and bumpersuperstore.com.


Running Board Warehouse separates their navigation into vehicle, category, and brand.


Bumper Superstore has multiple categories (including best selling, front and rear, style, vehicle, and all) that allow the customer to shop in a way that best suits their needs.

Make the user experience cater to how the customer shops – don’t try to cater the customer experience to the data. Because of data difficulties, merchants should start by identifying their niche (accessories, reused parts, etc.). Once they do, basing your site navigation and user experience around that specific niche will make fitting your data in that much easier.

Images Can Make or Break a Conversion

Automotive parts sites are often notorious for having either poor quality or catch-all representative images. Merchants that successfully convert prospects to customers generally take their own photos. Some do better than others, but having images that are detailed, bright, enlargeable, and vehicle-specific are more likely to resonate with customers. Nobody with a Dodge Ram wants to look at a Ford F-150 when shopping for aftermarket accessories – they want to know what the product is going to look like on their vehicle. Even though its a different industry, our work with Watson’s is very similar to what we’re discussing here.

Often times images are pushed to the back of the to-do list. But, if you’re selling online, you need actual photos of every individual part. When people are searching for a specific product online, they use their eyes to verify that they are purchasing the right thing. If there are basic filler images and customers receive a product that’s not right, they won’t trust you again. They need to be able to look at the picture and description and know that’s what they need.

Consistency is key, but lifestyle images should be incorporated into your site as well. If someone is searching for a tonneau cover, they want to see how to use it. They want inspiration – so inspire them to buy your products by showing them how to use the product and its various features. This can be done with images and video – don’t limit your team to just a photographer. Investing in video will pay off and help you inspire ideas and trust with customers. Incorporate videos onto your site with product demonstrations, installation how-to, Q&A, and customer testimonials.

Build a Community

Keep in mind that your customers are enthusiasts. Build a community around your brand with good content, social and email outreach/remarketing, or even some sort of rewards program. These days, when things are increasingly competitive in the auto industry, it’s a necessity to do more to engage your customers after their initial purchase. For additional help in building a strong customer following, check out one of our previous blogs on the topic. 

If you need assistance with your automotive eCommerce site, feel free to contact us today.

How User Intent Can Impact Website Traffic

How User Intent Can Impact Website Traffic

user intent

Getting visitors to a website requires work, and that’s only half the battle. No matter how  good your SEO strategy and tactics, visitors won’t stay around long if they don’t easily find what they’re looking for. A successful site anticipates user intent—the reasons behind the search—and provides content that will satisfy it.

Types of Searches

When a user goes online to conduct a search, sometimes they are looking for general information on a topic. Other times they want something specific. These specific searches are most valuable because they are more likely to turn into business transactions. In order to understand why visitors are coming to your website, try classifying the searches they conduct that ultimately lead them there.

Most internet searches can be classified into 3 different forms of intent:

  • Topical: Searches for information about a topic may be general or specific. If the searcher is looking for an answer to a particular question and finds it on a site, that can lead to bookmarking the site and coming back again.
  • Website-specific: Searches aimed at finding a particular website are very specific and demonstrate prior interest. These will often lead to a business transaction.
  • Transactional: Searches aimed at a transaction, such as a purchase or subscription, are specific and promise a quick conversion—if the site handles them properly.

How Intent Affects Content

As the internet has developed and evolved, search engines have become much better at understanding intent. As a result, strategies to increase website traffic have changed too. For example, crude SEO tactics like keyword stuffing haven’t been effective for some time (in fact, they will often result in lowering your SEO ranking). This is why matching content to what the user wants and expects to see produces better results than trying to game the system. And when a user sees what they were looking for on your website, the opportunity to do business with them is that much greater.

To achieve the best results, website creators should design each page with a clear knowledge of its end purpose. Is it to provide a general introduction to the business, to answer questions about it, or to sell a product? Creators need to put themselves into the user’s shoes. What are people going to search for, and what kind of content will satisfy them?

Pages designed specifically to optimize SEO can fail when it comes to giving the user the information they are actually searching for. For example, a business could lose potential customers if their website visitors have to look extensively for the address of a nearby store but find only testimonials about how great the company is. Instead, website creators should provide a store locator with a conspicuous link to it on the homepage. This same strategy comes to play when searchers are looking for a certain product, only to land on a page that displays it but doesn’t even say if it is available for purchase or not. Product searches should yield product-specific results.

The bottom line is that sales will be much harder to make if the user can’t get to where they want to go and fast. A page should make it clear from a quick glance that it has the information relevant to the searcher’s intent. If the information is buried too deep within the page, chances are it won’t be very effective.

How to Understand Intent

Several techniques will help you understand what the intent is of your website visitors.

Searching social media and forums for mentions of the site will provide valuable information about what people want to know. Your site can also add an FAQ page directed at answering common questions and facilitating sales.

One of the best ways to understand user intent is by trying out search terms and looking at the list of related searches. For example, a search for “socket wrench” on Google reveals that related searches include “socket wrench sizes” and “ratchet socket wrench.” This simple example search reveals that most people searching for these keywords need information on the size and types of wrenches available. Use this technique to tailor your website’s content to make sure people can find the information they need.

Online tools such as KeywordTool.io give lists of words and phrases related to a given keyword. They help provide clues about what people are searching for, as well as unrelated intents that offer no value. People searching for “a wrenching experience” probably aren’t immediately interested in buying socket wrenches.

To get the most out of every visit, a website needs to have content that mirrors the intent of its visitors. Research and planning are the keys to accomplishing this. If you’d like help, please contact us.

How to Re-Engage Dormant Email Subscribers

How to Re-Engage Dormant Email Subscribers

dormant subscribers

Dormant subscribers are among the biggest challenges an email marketer must face.

In the modern digital world, email subscribers are a significant part of your success. These are people who are interested in your newsletters, excited by seasonal deals, and more likely to come back as repeat buyers time and time again. But what happens when one (or more) of your subscribers stop opening emails or clicking on links?

It’s incredibly difficult to understand exactly why a subscriber has chosen to stop opening your emails. Perhaps they are bored with what they may view as repetitive offers, assuming they already know what’s inside the message. Or their email service started sorting your messages into the spam folder. Or they have just been super-busy, so have been skipping lots of emails, including yours. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to effectively re-engage your dormant subscribers or determine if they’re out for good.

Change Up Your Subject Lines

The first and easiest step to re-engage subscribers is simply to change the way you write subject lines. Over time, subscribers may begin to skim over your emails, noting that they have seen that subject line previously and assume they already know what’s inside. To break that pattern, step out of your rigid subject structure and try something new.

If you regularly focus your subject lines on discount percent (ex: “September 20% discount opportunities!”), try focusing on seasonal specials (ex: Our famous holiday desserts are on the menu!”) or even speaking to the subscribers directly (“Your favorite ice cream is on sale this week at LocalStore!”). The key is to significantly change the way you address your subscribers. Surprise them, or better yet, offer them something new. Inspire them to take a second look at your content.

Send ‘From’ a Different Email Address

Although it often goes unnoticed, the “from” address is an important aspect of subscriber response. The ‘from’ line of an email is how we judge who is sending us a message. Is it a robot or a person? A stranger or someone we already know? Especially on mobile, the “from” address is big and bold – and when scrolling through dozens of emails, it’s easy to filter through content based on the sender. By changing “who” your email appears to be from, you can inspire subscribers to subtly or even completely re-think how they look at your emails.

Additionally, certain “from” fields can trigger automatic spam filtration – which is detrimental to open rates. If a subscriber has stopped reading your emails because they always land in the spam bin, a new source email and ‘from’ address can get you back in the main inbox.

Incentivizing the Click

Incentivizing the click is all about offering something new. Make a big splash with a significant or personal offer. Or offer content that isn’t sale or discount focused, but that simply helps lift your brand or makes a connection with or provides value to your subscribers. Make sure it is out-of-sync with your normal marketing schedule and offers something your subscribers aren’t expecting to see. This one-time out-of-the-ordinary communication and more surprises like it in the future may be enough to re-engage customers who just haven’t felt like engaging lately.

Reviewing Your Contact Data

Take a closer look at the data available about your dormant subscribers. Before investing too much in re-engagement, it’s important to know what you’re working with. For example, someone may have changed jobs and no longer uses that particular email address at all. Or maybe they moved away from your physical store location and, therefore, have stopped looking for local deals.

A little bit of research and certain industry tools can help you identify some clear reasons why someone no longer reads your content. Some of the reasons may indicate a subscriber who is recoverable, while others may lead you to let them go permanently.

Remove Truly Unengaged Subscribers

This last tip brings us to our final point: if a subscriber is genuinely no longer interested or if all engagement strategies fail, cut them loose. You don’t need inactive names cluttering your mailing lists and reducing your email “engagement scores”, when there are real, engaged customers to work with. You can significantly improve your overall results by knowing when it’s time to scratch a name off your list. Not only is this good for your efficiency, but it will increase open rate percentage and decreases your chance of being flagged as a spam IP.

Address the Problem Quickly

If you have a mailing list that is starting to wane, don’t let the problem continue as-is. Do everything you can to re-engage interest with your subscribers by following these tips and attempting something new. If you need assistance, feel free to contact us today.

The Factors Impacting Email Deliverability

The Factors Impacting Email Deliverability

Email Deliverability

Email marketing is a great tool for establishing relationships with potential customers, current customers, and even past customers because it gives you the opportunity to reach out to them directly through their inbox. But in order for email marketing to be to be an effective tool of communication, the email must get to the mailbox and must be read. Service providers and end users filter aggressively against spam, and you need to make sure your messages don’t get caught by those spam filters.

There are four main factors which affect deliverability; three of them are directly under your control, while the other is a matter of user behavior (which is still a directly connected to what you send).

Subject Lines and Content

An obvious factor affecting email deliverability is the subject line and actual content of the messages. Using “spam words” can get a message blocked, even if they serve legitimate business purposes. Avoid overusing expressions like “free,” “must respond today,” and “urgent.” This is especially crucial when crafting a subject line. Anything that looks too good to be true is likely to be flagged – a straightforward description is more likely to get through.

Also, don’t overload the message with images. Having a message that consists of one big image may look great when you compose it, but the odds of it being flagged as spam are high. A good rule of thumb: email content should contain around 40% images and 60%  text.

Additionally, here are a couple of content tips that affect deliverability:

  • Be careful with your links. A link to a website with a bad reputation will land your messages in a black hole.
  • Always include a clear unsubscribe link and the sender’s physical mailing address.
  • Do not use excessive capitalization or punctuation.

Domain Usage

Your sending domain or Email Service Provider (ESP) carries a reputation that affects deliverability. If your domain has a good reputation, your chances of successful delivery are good. If you are blacklisted because you made a mistake or someone started a campaign of malicious complaints, make fixing your reputation a priority.

The “From” address should always use a domain which your business controls. Using Hotmail or Gmail addresses for business mail looks unprofessional and is likely to get your messages blocked. Further, periodically run your domains through a blacklist checker, like MX Toolbox. That way you know if you’ve been flagged for spam or other complaints that could lead to blacklisting.

Additional tip: Consider having different domains for marketing emails vs transactional, that way if one becomes compromised or receives complaints, you can continue sending from the other.

IP Addresses

The Internet Protocol address is a numerical identifier of the sender’s server. All devices connected to a computer network have an IP address and thus every email is sent from one. As long as you keep it secure, no one else can send mail from it.

An IP address reflects the reputation of the sender, which is based on several factors.

  • Send volume: the number of emails sent.
  • Send frequency: the number of campaigns that are deployed per week or month.
  • User interaction: individuals who open and click — and complain or unsubscribe.
  • Quality: percentages of bounces or undeliverable emails.

IP reputation affects how an Internet Service provider will treat an email. Many companies utilize an ESP to send marketing emails. There are two types of IP addresses that ESP’s use:

  • Shared: More than one company or brand is sending from one IP address
  • Dedicated: The company or brand has one unique IP address

Some service providers issue a pool of IP addresses that all their customers share. If your sending volumes are small and you can benefit from the pooling volume (with other senders), make sure you educate yourself on their best practices and look into their efforts on ensuring a good IP reputation.

If your sending volume grows and you need to use a dedicated IP address, remember that it has no previous history – meaning that its reputation, good or bad, is up to you. Start small and gradually increase the number of emails you are sending. Begin by sending to your most engaged audience – this sends good signals to the mailbox regarding your reputation. As mailboxes begin to regard you as a responsible sender, you can increase the number of emails you are sending.

Recipient Behavior

The way recipients treat your messages can affect the likelihood that they’ll receive your future ones. If they delete your messages without reading them, then smart filters will take that into account. If they do it consistently, the filters will start marking everything you send as spam. If they file reports, their providers will take note. Enough complaints will result in your mail being blocked.

So how do you avoid this? Be strategic with your content. Follow an opt-in policy, make it easy to unsubscribe, and keep the amount of mail within reasonable bounds. The quality of your mail, not the quantity, is what will get engagement.

Follow good email practices, and you’ll get people reading it. Be sure to keep your content fresh and interesting, and analyze data to understand what readers want to read, and what they commonly ignore.

If you need help with your email marketing or want to get started with an ongoing email marketing program, contact us today.