You Have Traffic

Worldwide search-engine marketing revenue is expected to increase from $1.4 billion in 2002 to nearly $7 billion by 2007 and is the third-largest money-making online industry behind only e-commerce and advertising.

Studies have indicated that more than 70% of Web traffic arrives directly from search engines and as a result, more and more vendors are offering solutions to improve a company’s search position. Every marketing executive knows the statistics — the top 10 search engines account for over 90% of all search traffic; 80% of search-site visitors will not click past the first page of search results; 50% of search-site visitors will click on the top 10 sites rather than scrolling further down a listing page. As a result, marketers take great steps — and pay significant money — to make sure their sites are highly ranked.

However, while these same marketers have invested significant resources in search-engine marketing and search-engine optimization, they are losing potential profits from a site that’s incapable of handling the traffic — and, more importantly, that can’t provide a call to action for visitors. While the emphasis has been on tactics to ensure strong placement in search engines, companies often fail at a key component of search-engine marketing — what to do once strong search results produce a flood of visitors to your company’s site.

Identify the User

As visitors come to your site, it’s vital to know what they want and why they are there. The SEM and SEO strategies have paid off and your potential prospect is reading through pages and pages of online content, but now what? Once a visitor is on your site, there is a small window of opportunity to gain as much information as possible.

• Analyze your Web logs

  Look to see which search engines users are coming from and the words that brought them to you. Keep track of phrases you see often. It’s important to understand how your users evolve.

• Demonstrate search-phrase reinforcement

  As you begin to see patterns or trends, use them as a guide to map keyword-rich content to specific pages. This will improve relevance and increase the length of their visit. Users are bombarded with your brand and product/service offerings only while you have them captive.

• Do demographic research

  Build profiles of your users and prioritize them so that you know who your content is speaking to, and avoid ignoring certain audiences. Some neglected users include partners, media, investors, analysts and prospective employees. Note that existing customers and prospects are the main target, so focus on them first.

Lure the User

Once you have an understanding of who’s visiting your site, you must offer the information they’re looking to receive. The key to this step is presenting that information in an easy-to-navigate way and creating a first impression that establishes credibility for your site and the content it contains. To achieve this, it’s important to:

• Create a brand

  Your site is going to be defined by the look and feel, not the actual content. Be sure your brand speaks for itself. Don’t try to become everything for everyone. One good qualified lead is better than five bad ones.

• Improve the relevance of targeted search phrases

  Be cautious; do it only if you have the content to support such targeting. Keep in mind that if you fake visitors out with promises you can’t keep, you’re likely to lose them for good. If it feels like you are “keyword spiking” your current content, you should take a step back and organize a content strategy. This plan may well include cross-linking opportunities, improved keyword density, a consistent voice, calls to action and common sense.

Demonstrate to the User

Don’t expect that your visitors know how to navigate your Web site. Especially if they’re coming from a search-engine link, chances are the visitor is going to be unfamiliar with the site.

A search engine can dump a user on any page, so make sure there’s a noticeable link to your site map, home page and the like on all pages. Take the following steps on each of your site’s pages, so no matter where users land, they should be able to easily navigate themselves through the site.

• Make it clear

  Tell the visitor what the site is and what information they should expect to find in its pages.

• Make it usable

  Are you providing the right information? Visitors are there because your firm’s site came up at the top of the search-engine list. When they click on that link to your site, you must be able to identify the content they’re looking for during the first moments they arrive.

• Provide valuable content

  Your content is what attracted the user to the site and it should be what keeps them there. Don’t fill your content with keywords just to be ranked high. If visitors can’t easily find the content that directed them to your site, they will leave almost immediately.

• Define functional and practical navigation

  Once a user has read the specific content he or she is looking for, offer a clear and consistent navigation that will enable them to move quickly and efficiently throughout the rest of your site’s content.

Educate the User

Whether you are an online retailer, news source, small local business or Fortune 500 firm, people are visiting Web sites to learn something. Content must provide an environment in which to learn.

Is your content downloadable? Is it developed in a way that makes reading online easier? It’s easy to publish content on the Web — the challenge is to engage the user, make your visitors feel comfortable and to trust you.

A few easy ways to build trust and credibility include:

• Brand reinforcement, which extends the importance of your company’s reputation.

• Consistent navigation, so users are comfortable with how easy it is to find information.

• Consistent and professional visual presentation.

• Seals of approval (for example, symbols or text that reinforces credibility, safety, testimonials and the like).

• Profiles of your management team, which allow users to connect with real people.

Convert the User

Depending on the site, converting the user could take on a number of definitions.

From shopper to subscriber to weekly visitor, converting the user is a goal on any site, but what steps do you take to convert visitors into prospects or customers?

The simplest method is to capture a small amount of information by giving the user an easy way to contact you. Whether through e-mail, a short form, live chat or a telephone number, users will be more willing to trade information about themselves for the additional information you are willing to provide.

If you want more than a name and e-mail address, you will need to provide a better offer, such as white papers, support updates, product updates, evaluation copies or demonstrations.

If you’re still having trouble converting the user, it’s time to offer more in trade. Freebies such as trinkets, coupons, samples and other promotional items will make the user will feel they are getting something tangible for their personal information.

Evaluate the User

The final step is to evaluate the user to understand how they used your Web site. The evaluation process can take on numerous aspects, such as a direct mail campaign, e-mail blast or some other traditional marketing initiative.

There are numerous methods to try, but whichever one you decide on, your outreach to these potential customers must be done in a manner that respects their rights, but still provides the information they were seeking when they visited your site in the first place.

Once you evaluate your visitor, you’ll quickly understand whether they received the information they requested or if you must re-evaluate your online presence. By constantly evaluating your visitors, you will not only be able to develop a site that handles the volume of visitors your SEM campaign creates, but you will more frequently be able to convert those visitors into paying customers.

Thomas Obrey is the co-founder of PixelMedia, an integrated Web, multimedia and IT firm in Portsmouth, NH.

Who Are They?

What you need to know about your site visitors

Thousands of users come to visit your firm’s Web site each day and they leave millions of impressions as they visit various pages. However, despite the volume of online traffic, very few companies truly know anything about these visitors. For an organization to get the most out of its online investment, it’s important to answer the following questions about site visitors.

• Who are they?
• Do they know where they are?
• Do they know where to go from there?
• Do you know why they are there?
• Do you know what they want?
• How are you encouraging them to stay, and how do you measure how successful each impression is?