(You know we mean it because we have a nice shiny "contact us" button)
Last month, Adam Smith, our brilliant and talented creative director at Advent Creative, did a really neat thing with a new website design for one of our clients. The client, eyeQ by Infinite Mind, makes speed reading software and brain enhancement technology for individuals, schools and businesses. To most effectively reach their target audience, they needed a straightforward e-commerce setup without a lot of fancy, but ultimately ineffective, flair.
Instead of just putting out a cookie cutter site, Adam came up with a subtle and surprisingly pleasing innovation for the menu design. Are you ready? It curves.
Yeah, I know, that was a little anticlimactic. But look at the image on this post, or click on it to go to the site, and you’ll see what I’m talking about. I’ve been trying to nail down why I like it so much and I’ve come up with a couple of reasons:
1. Balance and function
It balances out the strong straight lines of a normal website, which can at times be like an oppressive grid, with an elegant curved line right at the top. It does this without losing any function or order. The sections of the page are immediately identifiable to a first-time user.
2. Something new
I’ve never seen a menu like this before. I’m sure somebody else must have done something like it, but I’ve never seen it. Most menus are in grids with either a vertical or a horizontal orientation. When web designers do attempt to mix it up, they usually go to the extreme and have something completely wild. That can be good, but it can also be confusing to users. For an e-commerce site, it’s a terrible idea.
3. Ergonomic
More than anything, I like the way the menu makes me feel. It looks less like a website and more like a console or control panel. The curve provides a depth to the page that makes it more tactile. Reinforcing the look is the way it actually feels to navigate. If you drag your cursor in a straight line across the whole screen, you will have to adjust at least once or move your entire body. That’s just the way human wrists work. With Adam’s menu, you can plant your arm on the desk and move the cursor over the menu with an ergonomic flick of the wrist. It’s a small thing, but it’s surprisingly enjoyable. Go ahead, try it.
OK, I think I’ve embarrassed Adam enough at this point. If you like it, get on Twitter and tell him. He’s @atsmith. I’ll let you know if he blushes.
Social media, Internet marketing, search engine optimization, and conversion rate optimization should all have the same end goal: to create a cohesive and effective online community for your company or group.
It’s important to recognize that end goal so you don’t get stuck thinking that you’ve arrived at the Promised Land when you’re only half way there. I highly recommend that people use Twitter in appropriate ways to promote their businesses, but if that’s all they do, then they’re missing the bigger picture. All SEO and online marketing should be focused on creating what we call an online branded community.
If done correctly, an online branded community can bring in an amazing return on investment. Powered, a great social media company, recently did a study that found online communities have a 60:1 return on investment where traditional mass media advertising gets a 2:1 return on investment.
Building an online community takes a holistic approach using social media, online marketing, pay-per-click advertising, public relations, link building, blogging, tweeting, social bookmarking, etc. The problem is, that with such a huge effort it’s often hard to see how it’s all coming together. The following is a method I’ve created for mapping out an online community.
Community Analogy
This uses an extended analogy, which is cheesy at times, but helpful in the end. In this analogy, a branded online community has three main parts:
Teasing out the Data
You can’t just look at raw traffic or raw referrals to map out your online community. Instead, you need to identify the visitors who frequent your site and who in some way identify themselves with your product or service. At this point, we’re obviously dealing with estimates, but it’s still helpful.
To do this, you will need Google Analytics or some other form of analytics. You will also need to choose a time frame. There may be an important event to consider, like a new website launch, but in general try to look at your site’s entire history. Use all the available data. Here’s how I do it:
Since some visitors may have come back to your site 100 or more times during the time frame, this number doesn’t represent anything real on its own. It’s just a number that lets us visualize the comparative size of the online community.
Remember, this is a snapshot of your community. It doesn’t take into account potential for new traffic. It only shows you the contours of the online community as it is right now.
Conclusion
At this point, the accompanying image on this post should make a lot of sense. It helps people to visualize how their online marketing strategy is working and where they can improve. It also shows the relationship between social media marketing and search engine optimization. If your community is small and has no suburbs, then why would you need a bullet train full of people coming in every day? On the other hand, if your rail lines are down (your SEO is all messed up), then your community is going to suffer as a whole. Mapping out your online community will help you chart your progress, identify problem areas and visualize your online efforts as a whole.
Allow me to take a quick break from our normally all-business blog to announce that Advent Creative has officially moved. If you’re in Logan, Utah and you want to stop by and see us, don’t go to our old location. We won’t be there.
While everyone else was packing and unpacking and herniating their discs moving our conference room table, I decided to look busy on my computer by making a list of reasons for the move. Here it goes:
1. We merged with Digital Slant and now we’re too big for our britches
This month, we merged with our biggest and most respected competitor, Digital Slant, also from Logan, Utah. Now we’re like a super-Voltron brand communications firm that has just powered up and is unleashing sweet kung fu moves on a giant monster bent on destroying the city. OK, it’s maybe not that dramatic, but we’re still pretty excited about it.
2. Basement vs. Third Floor
In our old place, we occupied the entire basement floor of an office building. What little light trickled in through the window wells couldn’t stop it from feeling like a deep, dark cave. Seriously, I kept thinking that we were going to find Bin Laden down there..
Our new place, however, is on the top floor of one of Logan’s historic downtown buildings. Glorious beams of sunlight stream through large windows hitting our computer screens and causing some annoying glare, but we don’t care because we’re too busy getting high on the vitamin D.
3. Unfortunate Address
The address to our old place was:
666 North Main
Suite 301
Logan, Utah
So, the first problem here is the “666,” which, if you didn’t know, is the mark of the beast according to Revelations, the scariest book in the Bible. Here’s how conversations went with potential clients:
CLIENT: So where are you located?
ME: In Logan, Utah.
CLIENT: Right, but what’s your address?
ME: Oh, right, the address. Um, OK … it’s 666 North Main.
CLIENT: I’m sorry, what?
ME: 666 North Main
CLIENT: Really?
ME: Yeah … it’s a little strange, but it’s easy to remember. Heh heh heh (nervous laugh)
CLIENT: Yeah, I guess it is easy to remember. (no laughing)
We made the best of it and put up signs that said we did “hellaciously” cool work in our mark-of-the-beast dungeon/cave, but it was getting a little old.
The other problem with our address was the “Suite 301.” Most people assumed that 301 would be on the third floor and not in the basement. Despite huge Advent Creative signs that had “Go Downstairs” in bold Helvetica, people still went upstairs. Perhaps we should have just had signs that read, “Advent Creative, Go to hell.”
4. Opportunity for hi-jinks
With everyone packing up their desks and office items, the opportunity for practical jokes increased exponentially. During the confusion, our developers swiped the Streamline Stapler off the desk of our creative director, Adam. They returned it to him today ensconced in an Advent-green Jell-O mold. It was a great homage to The Office as well as to Office Space - two hilarious productions about offices.
5. It was time for a change
“A foolish consistency is the hogoblin of little minds.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson. Enough said.
Most of our national and international clients won’t ever notice the move occurred, but if you’re ever in the northern Utah area, stop by and say hello. We’re now located in the Emporium across from the Coppermill Restaurant on Center and Main. If you stop by in the next day or two, you can even see Adam’s Jell-O stapler.
As we’ve discussed in a previous blog, you can’t treat your website like an appliance that you buy once and then forget about. You need to be constantly evaluating it and improving it to be successful. To help you do that, we’ve put together a checklist for a quarterly review of your website. It should give you a good idea of what you need to do keep your site vital and effective.
Function
Most people get a website for their business without ever considering exactly what they want the website to do. Don’t fall into that trap. Websites can create leads, make sales, be a customer service tool, educate your target audience and create a community for your brand. Websites should be more than online brochures. You can use a real brochure for your brochure. Before judging your site’s function, identify exactly what it is you want it to do for you.
1. Conversion Rate
The amount of people who convert (i.e. do what you want them to do) divided by the amount of people who visit your site. It will show you how effective your site is once people get find it. (For more information, see our previous post on simple website metrics).
2. Cost per Conversion
Take the total cost to run your website for a month and divide that number by your conversions. This will give you a clear idea of how efficient your site is and what your return on investment is.
Design and Brand Development
Unlike conversion rate and cost per conversion, brand development is an intangible that you’re going to have judge conceptually. Brand development is very important, especially over the long-term, so make sure your site is functioning property in this regard. Consider these factors:
3. Look and feel
Does your site still look fresh and exciting? Does it communicate the right message about your brand? Or does it look cute when it should look cutting-edge? Have web trends changed and left your site looking out-of-date?
4. User feedback
Do customers like the site? Have you received any complaints or compliments about it? Do you even have a way to get feedback?
5. Neglected sections
Are there parts of your site that are neglected or rarely updated? Ask yourself if you still need them. Check your analytics to see which pages are being visited the most and what that might mean about the user experience.
6. Multimedia
Do you have any multimedia elements on your site? If not, was it intentional? If you do, have they become dated or is the material no longer appropriate for what you’re trying to accomplish? Is your load time slow on multimedia pages?
Traffic
Raw traffic is not as important as conversion rate and cost per conversion, but it is an important thing to measure. If you have enough raw traffic coming in, you can start to tweak things for conversion rate optimization. But if you don’t have some baseline traffic, it will be like trying to irrigate a field with a dry canal. Consider the following questions about traffic:
7. What are the sources of your traffic?
Using your analytics, explore the primary sources of your traffic. Do they come from where you would expect them to come? If not, you may be trying to target the wrong audience. Does your traffic come mainly from organic search, pay-per-click advertising, referral sites, or directly? Knowing how people get to your site will help you know how to promote your site properly.
8. Where are your visitors located?
Google Analytics has a great feature that lets you see an estimated geographic region for each visitor. Take a good look at where your traffic is coming from. If you have a regional business, but your traffic is coming mainly from the other side of the country, you will need to rethink your strategy.
Keywords
Keywords are a set of words and phrases that you use to keep the content of your site focused and for which you want to rank in the search engines. To be effective, you should constantly be evaluating and adjusting your keywords. Consider these questions:
9. How well do you rank for your keywords?
You can use keyword tools like SeoBook’s Rank Checker to see how you’re doing on the major search engines. If you find that your rank poorly, or that you’re slipping, then it’s time to make a change. If you’re doing well, try to pinpoint what’s making that happen.
10. What keywords are working the best for you?
Using your analytics, see which keywords are attracting the most traffic to your site. You will also want to see how each keyword is converting. Put yourself in the place of a potential customer who is trying to find your site. Do your keywords make sense to him? If not, then it’s time for an update.
Security
Security is a major issue with keeping your site up to date. If you have your site on an open source platform like WordPress, Joomla or Droopal, you will want to check regularly on its security. Ask yourself these questions:
11. Has my site been hacked?
If the answer is yes, ask yourself what you’ve done differently since then for security. If you’ve just changed your passwords, then you probably need to do a more in-depth security upgrade. Having a hacked site can be dangerous to your users and it can destroy your credibility.
12. Do have the latest version of WordPress, Joomla, Droopal, or any other open source content management system you might be using?
Keep your open source platforms updated regularly to ensure that they have all the latest patches and security processes.
13. Are you PCI compliant?
If you are a larger merchant and need to be PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliant, make sure you look ahead for any future problems that might make you fail a PCI compliance scan. If your servers or your security aren’t going to be up to muster, update your site as soon as possible. Waiting for the last minute on PCI compliance can be a nightmare.
Conclusion
If you find that your site is outdated or under-performing in function, design, traffic, keywords and security, then it’s definitely time for an update. Pay careful attention to function and design. If your site is really doing poorly in those areas then you may even want to consider a complete site redesign. I know that may sound daunting, but the redesign will go faster and easier when you keep in mind all that you’ve learned from your old site and as you consider the principles in this checklist. Of course you need to work within you budget, but if you have a choice, it’s better to re-do your site sooner than later. In the most egregious cases, your website might actually be hurting your brand and your sales. If that’s the situation, get it redesigned as soon as possible. Even after you’ve updated or redesigned, keep checking back about once a quarter to see how your site is performing. By constantly evaluating and updating your site, you can make it an effective advertising, sales and customer service tool.
Even if you’re new to social media, you should be at least familiar with YouTube, the world’s second largest search engine. Because of YouTube’s ubiquity, most businesses should at least have a presence there. But when I talk about YouTube, I sometimes feel like King Arthur in Monty Python’s Holy Grail talking about Camelot: “On second thought, let’s not go to Camelot. It is a silly place.”
I still insist, however, that YouTube is important and relevant. Television was equally silly until people like Edward R. Murrow started championing serious, newsworthy content. The same is true today. The purpose of this post is to help you get up to speed on what could be called YouTube culture. It will help you sound glib when discussing social media around the office, and it will help you as you start to upload your own high-quality content.
The following are five major principles of YouTube accompanied by representative videos. It’s not a complete list, but thanks to @lozzola, @alternativemom, @NakaimaOh, and @kayce_m, it’s a good start. (Warning: some of these videos might be disturbing and hard to watch, but this is YouTube, warts and all.)
1. Voyeurism
You can see people, but they can’t see you.
Star Wars Kid
This poor high school kid used a school camera to record himself doing his best Jedi moves. Apparently he forgot to remove the tape and other kids at school got a hold of it. And so it was that an Internet legend was born. He eventually had to switch schools and sue for harassment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Kid
I’ve watched it several times, and I’m ashamed to say that I’ve laughed. The thing is, I would never make fun of this kid in real life, but with YouTube there is an aspect of voyeurism that makes it seem OK. You might think, 10 million people have already watched this video, so what difference does it make if I do, too? And he doesn’t know that in a different time zone, I’m anonymously watching him make a fool of himself. In other words, it feels like a victimless crime. Of course, it isn’t, but that’s the way it feels on YouTube.
Leave Brittney Alone!
Speaking of voyeurism, do you want to see a dude in make up completely lose it about people being mean to Britney Spears? In real life, this would be the most awkward and uncomfortable conversation I can imagine. But, it’s not real life, it’s YouTube, and it’s a total voyeuristic trip. Enjoy.
2. Super Powers
Stupid human tricks
The Evolution of Dance
I don’t know who this guy is, but he must have a patient roommate. When I think of the amount of practice and time that must have gone into this extensive historical review of dance crazes, it inspires me to do something equally worthless, like bake all night until I’ve recreated every stage in the evolution of the cup cake.
Many other videos that exhibit extraordinary human behavior can be found among the most popular on YouTube. Check out this guy playing Pachelbel’s Canon on a guitar.
3. Epic Fails
Schadenfreude: Just be happy this wasn’t you.
Miss South Carolina
In the history of beauty pageants I’m sure some awful answers have emerged in response to judges’ questions. Remember, Sarah Palin was once a beauty pageant contestant. But that was all before the advent of YouTube. Now gut-wrenchingly painful moments can be captured, shared and obsessed over like never before. The next time you’re nervous about public speaking just imagine that everyone in the audience is Miss Teen South Carolina. You’ll have total confidence knowing that there is no way you could ever fail as epically as she did.
One sub category of Epic Fails would be Ow, My Balls! This includes all the people being severely injured while everyone watches from the comfort of their homes. From a failed back flip to a firecracker in the crotch, this is one YouTube meme that will be around for a long time. Mike Judge, who brought us Office Space and King of the Hill, imagined a future of low I.Q.s where people sat around watching the hit TV show, “Ow, My Balls!.” We’re not too far off.
4. Sing-a-long
This ain’t no summer camp sing-a-long
Chocolate Rain
Tay Zonday, perhaps the king of YouTube, took the world by storm with his quirky antics and mesmerizing original song. He looks like he’s 10 years old, but he’s actually an adult. It’s a good thing too, because now he can cash in on his Chocolate Rain fame. Check out this shameless commercial from Dr. Pepper.
Numa Numa
This is a guy having fun while listening to some weird European dance music. This could also fall into the voyeuristic section. Some people are laughing at the guy, some are inspired by his lack of inhibitions, and some people are wondering if he knew his webcam was on.
OK Go
In this long list of YouTube videos, this is the only one that I consider as productive and worthwhile. I love them all, but this one is something special. I was a fan of OK Go from the beginning, but this launched them into the national spotlight. I could have also categorized this under Super Powers for the amazing choreography and innovative treadmill use.
5. Straight-up WTF
Somethings defy explanation
Charlie the Unicorn
In this cartoon, the protagonist, Charlie, is lured to the magical cave where his annoying female companions harvest his organs. Oh, yeah, I forgot, spoiler alert. The makers of this fine piece of original YouTube content followed it up with Charlie the Unicorn II and Charlie the Unicorn III. The sequels answer the questions left after the original episode, mainly, What The Freak did I just watch?
Fred Figglehorn
I’m not going to pretend to understand what this is about. When I watch these videos, I feel like an old man complaining about the kids and their loud music. I don’t get it, but Fred does. Thanks to sponsorships and ad revenue, Lucas Cruikshank, the creator of Fred, has reportedly earned more than $100,000. That is straight up WTF.
Conclusion
This was a brief survey of major YouTube themes. As you can see, in many respects it is a silly place. However, as more and more people are beginning to use YouTube and upload quality content, the landscape will soon change. As the second biggest search engine, YouTube will either be used for good or for evil or for something absolutely stupid. By participating in this new mass medium, you can help decide which way it goes.
Pork and Beans Bonus Round
In the meantime, enjoy this amazing Weezer video that incorporates nearly all the major YouTube videos. Leave a comment identifying as many YouTube videos as possible. Whoever has the most will win a year’s subscription to our new automated SEO subscription site, SEOgro.com (a $240 value). Happy hunting.
UPDATE:
Thanks to @metatxt, I realized that I should have also mentioned a sixth category: Cute. When I think of cute YouTube videos, and there are many, my mind always goes to Charlie Bit My Finger. Enjoy.
And here is perhaps the cutest video I’ve ever seen from @redwoodr. So cute, in fact, I can’t even describe it.
If you’re not measuring the effectiveness of your e-commerce website, then you will never be able to properly manage it. The first step is to get some form of analytics on your site that will give you a breakdown of your traffic. We suggest Google Analytics for two reasons: one, it does everything you need it to do, and two, it’s absolutely free. If you don’t have it, you can get it here.
Once you’re tracking your website’s numbers, you may still need to do some metrics on your own to get a good idea of how it’s performing. The following are four basic metrics that are extremely helpful for e-commerce:
1. Conversion Rate
A “conversion” is when somebody visits your site and then does something that you want. That could be making a purchase, giving contact information, leaving a comment, or asking for more information.
You can identify goal pages in Google Analytics to easily track your total conversions. For instance, a goal could be the “thank you” page that comes up after someone makes an order.
Now you need to divide your total conversions by the number of people who visit your site. There are several ways to look at your total traffic. Pageviews is normally going to be your highest number and least accurate since one person will often view several different pages in one visit. The next number you can consult for total traffic is Visits, which describes how many people come to your site including those who make return visits. There is also Absolute Unique Visitors, which is exactly what it sounds like. With Absolute Unique Visitors, returning visitors are not counted again.
For conversion rate, I suggest using Visits. It’s a more conservative and accurate measure for this metric. Imagine somebody visits your site, makes a purchase, and then comes back later that day and does the same thing. You want to be able to account for that in your conversion rate. No matter which one you use, make sure to be consistent.
Here is the basic formula for conversion rate:
Conversion Rate = Total Conversions/Visits
Example:
Total Conversion = 50
Total Visits = 2,000
50/2,000 = 2.5%
2. Cost per Conversion
Just because you’re converting at a high percentage rate doesn’t necessarily mean you’re being successful. A more accurate judge of success is the Cost per Conversion. To get this, divide your monthly website expenses by your total conversions.
Cost per Conversion = Monthly Website Expenses/Total Conversions
Make sure to consider all the costs of your website. Here’s a break down of how this might look:
Web design and development: $10,000 spread over 5 years = $167 a month
Search Engine Optimization and online marketing: $1,000 a month
Blog writing: $250 a month
Pay-per-click advertising: $300 a month
Hosting, etc.: $100 a month
Total = $1,817 a month
Conversions a month = 50
Cost per conversion = ($1,817/50) = $36.34
If you make more than $36.34 on every conversion, then you’re moving in the right direction. If you don’t, then it’s time to change some things.
3. Average Profit per Conversion
Knowing your average profit (or loss) on a conversion can help you budget and plan for the future. It will also help you set online sales goals. Here’s the formula:
(Gross Revenue from Website – Total Costs)/Total Conversions = Average Profit per Conversion
Make sure to include all of your costs and not just your web costs. For instance, you will need to consider shipping, payroll and other general overhead. It may look something like this:
Gross Revenue From Website = $15,000 a month
Total Costs = $8,817 (includes $1,817 for monthly web costs)
Conversions = 50
($15,000 - $8,817)/50 = $123.66
4. Abandonment Rate
This metric describes how many people started to convert on your website, but then dropped out. A high abandonment rate might signal an inefficiency or a barrier in your check out or conversion process. Use this formula to calculate abandonment rate.
(Number of Visits to the Conversion Page – Number of Visits to the Goal Page)/Number of Visits to the Conversion Page
It might look like this:
Number of Visits to the Conversion Page = 30,000
Number of Visits to the Goal Page = 20,000
(30,000 – 20,000)/30,000 = 33% abandonment rate
Wanna be friends?