Posts Tagged ‘SEO’

Strong Online Search Strategy Essential for Aussie Retailers

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

A recent study has shown that Australian retailers need a strong online search strategy in order to maintain or boost in-store footfall. Outrider recently released a research report stating that up to 82% of online users are utilizing search as a medium to find products before they go into the store to complete the purchase. Australian retailers have been slow in adopting the online space as a viable medium to generate sales; however, reports such as this prove that the internet is now a much more integral part of the consumer journey and should therefore be an essential inclusion within the overall marketing strategy. The study also showed that 63% of people changed the store that they were originally going to purchase a product from after conducting their research online which further highlights the need for companies to be visible and highly competitive within the online marketing space. As the online channel becomes more and more influential as a viable marketing channel, it presents a great opportunity for companies to develop a strong online marketing strategy and leverage themselves in front of the competition.

Firstly, ensure your website has online shopping or at least product browsing capabilities. This will enable consumers to find exactly what they are looking for and if shopping facilities are available it presents another avenue for driving sales and increasing revenue. Secondly, it is essential to create a solid search marketing strategy to ensure consumers can find your online store and products quickly and easily. This involves implementing a long-term Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy to support high organic rankings and maximum visibility. In addition, Paid Search listings via Google AdWords complement your SEO strategy by providing a highly dynamic, flexible & immediate medium for driving traffic.

In order to keep up with the dynamic online market it is essential to consider the benefits of enabling ecommerce on your site. Consumers love convenience and as our lives become more fast-paced and time-stretched the ease of purchasing items online will entice more and more people to embrace this medium.

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Is the Printed Yellow Pages Still Worth it for Your Business?

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Printed Yellow Pages & Online MarketingFor years, businesses have been paying thousands of dollars to be listed in the Yellow Pages – the printed version, that is. Did you know that you can get listed in the online version of the Yellow Pages for free? How much benefit does paying for a listing in the printed Yellow Pages really bring to businesses?

Over 1000 Australians were surveyed in May 2009 and one third of people under 29 years of age claimed that they never used the printed version of the Yellow Pages. In addition, 78% of those who took the survey stated that they want to be asked if they even want the Yellow Pages delivered and 58% of Australians said that they would stop having the printed Yellow Pages delivered if they had the choice. Not only have many people simply stopped using the book, but the majority of respondents believe that having the printed Yellow Pages delivered has a negative impact on the environment.

Craig Phillips, the head of market intelligence at CoreData, said the survey showed that two million Yellow Pages were thrown into the recycling bin each year.

Whether or not being listed in the printed Yellow Pages is still worth it depends on the benefit you’re actually seeing your business get from the printed listing. If a business is getting regular customers through the printed Yellow Pages, no survey is going to justify pulling the plug.

However, the new-found data shows that the printed version of the Yellow Pages is not being used by as many consumers as potentially previously thought. Whether you choose to keep investing in printed Yellow Pages ads or not, consider listing your business in the Yellow Pages online directory for free. Businesses and online marketers have been seeing a trend toward using the internet to find local businesses and an online Yellow Pages listing could only help to increase a business’s visibility to potential customers. The number of people using the internet in Australia each year is growing exponentially. In 2000, internet users accounted for 33.8% of the population. In 2009, this number was 79.6% 1.

In addition to listing your business on the Yellow Pages online, consider asking your online marketing company about other reputable business directories in which you can list your business details. The more exposure your business can get online through business listings, SEO, and/or Google AdWords, the more opportunity you have to attract new leads and customers.

1 Internet World Stats – Usage and Population Statistics

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Things to Consider Before Choosing an SEO Company for Your Business

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

Choosing an SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) company can seem like a long and tedious process, but taking time to research different companies and choose the best for your business is essential to get the most out of your online marketing campaign.

SEO is a specialised field that has been around for some time, yet to most executives and business owners, what SEO is, what work actually takes place and choosing an SEO company that you can trust can be a costly and daunting process. We’ve put together a list of things to consider in choosing your SEO provider to make you more informed and hopefully save you time and money. Unfortunately there are cowboys in this industry and “SEO” companies that can pull the wool over unsuspecting business owners eyes, so this check list will help set the good guys apart from the cowboys.

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Keeping SEO in Mind Before Hiring a Web Developer Will Reap Big Results

Friday, May 15th, 2009

Many businesses hire a web development firm to build their website and then, after finding that no one can find their website on the search engines, hire an online marketing company to optimise the new website for search engines. It would be prudent for business owners to keep Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) in mind before jumping head first into web design and development. Building your web site before starting to put an online marketing plan into action can hinder the SEO Company you hire from implementing essential optimisation techniques.

To optimise a website for search engines to its fullest potential, online marketing specialists need the ability to modify several key parts of the site. Ideally the ability to make these changes would be implemented by the web development company into the Content Management System they use (if there is one), but even making sure that the code itself allows for these modifications is a great step up in terms of SEO implementation for businesses.

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