Search Engine Optimization

Well another Monday has gone, end of the month, so Google crawl if it hasn’t happened already is now due. Hold on to your stats, another shift in the wind. No I haven’t heard something you haven’t.  I’m just saying, when “The Google” updates the index, there is a chance that page results may get affected, could be good, could be bad.

I have been obsessed with statistics, SERP (Search Engine Result Pages and positions therein), and the infamous Google Crawl. All of the above means nothing, if you can’t convert the thousands of visitors you have pouring through your site every day. I say pouring through because if you are not converting your website traffic, then are they just leaving? Surely you have some information that a search engine believed was relevant to the search phrase.

A good place to start would be to eval the exit pages. If you know not about exit pages…please use your friendly neighborhood search engine, and get some knowledge. Websites with high traffic volumes and low conversion rates, definitely warrant a once over.

First let me define what I mean by conversions, and the rates thereof. A conversion can be defined as getting a website visitor to perform a desired action on your website. The desired action may vary between submitting their email address, to purchasing a product. The idea is that your position on page 1 of SERP’s is sending your website traffic that is interested in what you have to offer. If your visitors are not doing what you hope for, or are not following a particular path to the conversion page, then you may need to re-evaluate your website.

In my experience, the primary reason for lack of conversions, can be one or a combination of several reasons. The basic underlying root cause of a visitor not “converting” is the lack of confidence in the site. Customer confidence goes a long way on the web, especially in the realm of e-commerce. One practical solution is to get a totally objective party to review the website in question,  without knowledge that you are a part of it , and give you an evaluation as to why they would or would not perform the desired conversion.

As a developer, it is often difficult for me to review a project objectively. I often enlist the help of friends and family, to offer some feedback. There are some simple things to offer your customers to improve customer confidence. Make sure that all applicable policies are listed, a privacy policy seems to be helpful in most cases where you ask for an email address. Businesses should list their full street address whenever possible. Including a phone number is always a big plus. These items, in text, not a graphic, will also help to improve your relevancy in local search results.

Bottom line is that conversions is also a game of numbers. It is almost a rule of thumb, that 10% of website traffic will convert in some way. Increase your traffic to improve your rate of conversion, and keep the customers happy! Nothing like return business to keep the wheels turning…

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