How to prepare for SEO 2.0

January 31, 2014 by Leave a Comment

It’s been more than four months now since the formal announcement of Google’s latest major change to its search engine algorithm. Dubbed Hummingbird, the change has attracted minimal attention in eCommerce circles, partly because the update hasn’t appeared to affect rankings substantially.

Nonetheless, it could just be one of the most important shifts Google has made to its search engine technology — and merchants would do well to begin adapting their search marketing strategies accordingly.

To understand what Hummingbird is all about, think — the much-hyped eyepiece from Google, still in developmental release, that gives wearers a constant and hands-free connection to search, social media, video and still image recording and more. The device relies on verbal commands and queries from users, which means that search input no longer takes the form of keyword strings, but is framed in natural language — questions such as “where’s the best place to rent skis?”

Lest this technology sound too futuristic to be of immediate relevance, merchants should consider that many smartphones now accept spoken search and other commands — and those features are gaining traction. As of 2012, fully 87% of iPhone users had accessed the Siri virtual assistant in the past month, and a third of them used it “almost daily,” according to a study published in the Wall Street Journal. With a new wave of “smart watches” hitting the market that eliminate the need to pull devices from pockets before issuing commands, the numbers can only rise.

Hummingbird caters to this evolving consumer behavior by attempting to interpret the intent of the search query — not just the individual words within it. For example, rather than parsing the question above into the keywords “place,” “rent,” “skis”, Hummingbird is intended to take into account consumers’ location, correctly equate “place” to “business”, and deliver search results that are local and relevant.

In short, Hummingbird marks a major step in the evolution of search toward individual context. Google’s switch to encrypted search data, which results in a “100% (not provided)” analytics cipher for keywords, was — perhaps not coincidentally — enacted around the same time as Hummingbird, further driving home the point.  While these changes may not herald the end of natural SEO we’ve predicted, they do mean merchants need to let go of keyword-obsessed “SEO 1.0” practices and focus instead on delivering contextually relevant content — “things not strings,” as one search expert has put it.

While the jury’s still out on the impact of Hummingbird, this shift may have positive implications for small- to mid-sized sellers. Rather than competing head-to-head with mass merchants using SEO 1.0’s blunt tools of keyword density and inbound link quality,  brands can take advantage of their niche expertise and unique product offering to provide nuanced content that proactively addresses consumers’ needs. Among the strategies to consider:

Build customer service into the content experience. Merchants should consider how they can incorporate sought-after customer service information throughout the shopping experience. By collecting frequently-asked questions from the call center, live chat, email and elsewhere across the organization and then creating compelling and attractive content in response, merchants can proactively address shoppers’ concerns and provide natural-search-friendly content to boot. Content types to consider:

  • Customer-driven Q and A content. “Question and answer” functionality gives shoppers the ability to seek information not included in brand-supplied product content or customer reviews; other customers as well as staff experts can respond to posted queries.

  • In-depth buyers’ guides and research tools.  In addition to providing buying guides attuned to the target audience, merchants should consider adding rich background information such as blog posts on the provenance of products, and tools such as product comparison to help guide purchase decisions.

MarketLive merchant Beachbody has created what are essentially microsites for its leading products, providing shoppers with a plethora of information about fitness programs. The P90X product page includes links to a FAQ about the program, answering questions on topics such as the equipment participants need and using nutritional supplements while following the program, as well as to product comparison tools and customer testimonials.

Content example from Beachbody

Develop a library of how-to videos. Product-specific customer service content, such as fit guides, installation instructions and usage ideas, make for compelling enhancements to product pages — especially in video form. As we’ve discussed previously, more than half of consumers say they consult videos on the product page, with video buying guides and product demonstration videos ranking as the most engaging, according to research from the E-Tailing Group.

Not only does practical video content increase relevance on the eCommerce site, but it can be syndicated to YouTube — which, as the Internet’s second-largest search engine, represents a significant opportunity to boost brand visibility..

Use schema markup. We’ve discussed before the benefits of using structured markup to help search engines intepret eCommerce content. While by no means a magic bullet, merchants who adopt structured markup are providing more context and specificity for their content — which is what Hummingbird aims to take into account in its search results.

Think local. Since Hummingbird is intended to factor location data into search queries, merchants with physical store outlets would do well to optimize their local listings and create location-specific content that extends far beyond a listing in the store locator. Dedicating pages to individual stores that provide local content about store events, display popular items in the region and feature local staff experts can help merchants gain visibility in local searches.

When they select a local store on the Guitar Center site, shoppers see a location-specific view that showcases in-store experts and events and enables local inventory search. More than a listing of store hours, the page is a viable entry point into the entire Guitar Center site.

Localization example from Guitar Center

How has Hummingbird affected your search visibility and/or SEO practices?

Filed under Client Innovations, Search Engine Marketing

The importance of instant gratification for mobile – and how to provide it

January 28, 2014 by Leave a Comment

The connection between mobile shopping and cross-channel buying is well-established. As we’ve written previously, mobile is now the default touchpoint for interacting with retail brands, and the vast majority of those shoppers go on to become buyers.

But the case for mobile is even more compelling — and, literally, urgent. Not only are mobile shoppers likely to make purchases, but they want to complete their transactions immediately, according to recent data from Google and Nielsen. , and 83% plan to buy products within the day.

This sense of immediacy requires merchants to do their utmost to provide the tools shoppers need to act on purchase decisions from within the mobile environment. While providing inventory lookup for local outlets might be beyond the scope of small- to mid-sized merchants, they should consider other tactics to smooth the path to purchase across touchpoints. Among them:

Integrate click-to-contact beyond the “800” number. Merchants should make it easy for mobile shoppers to get in touch with live customer service help in a variety of formats all along the path to purchase. Enabling click-to-call functionality for the “800” number in the global header is a good first step, but merchants should go further by promoting live assistance:

  • on product pages. Merchants should position live help options prominently on the mobile product page, so that researchers who locate the products they desire can act on impulse to complete their purchases, even if they don’t want to transact via their mobile devices. Helzberg Diamonds features a link to “schedule an appointment” on mobile product pages. Shoppers request email or phone help and select a store outlet, so that local representatives can facilitate sales one-on-one or, if need be, face-to-face.

Mobile appointment service from Helzberg

  • within the store locator, with local numbers. Mobile shoppers seeking hours or addresses of physical outlets are likely to want to reach staff at those locations, rather than contending with the automated customer service system at the “800” number. Merchants should enable this shortcut by activating click-to-call for the store numbers listed in the locator, as MarketLive merchant Party City does. In addition to accessing a map and store hours, shoppers can click to reach local store representatives to check local inventory and ask questions.

Store locator from Party City

Promote — and simplify — wish list creation. With 48% of mobile shoppers completing their purchases on desktop or laptop browsers, according to the Google/Nielsen data, it’s essential to provide ways for them to pick up where they left off on another device — and to promote that functionality with mobile in mind.

In our previous post, for example, we recommended cross-touchpoint functionality as a benefit of account registration. But for mobile researchers, the feature most likely to come in handy first is the wish list, which enables them to access products of interest across devices. So rather than encouraging mobile shoppers to “sign in” or “create account,” merchants should promote the wish list itself as a prominent feature of the mobile experience, as Toys “R” Us does on its mobile home page.

Toys R Us mobile page

Furthermore, when mobile shoppers click to create a wish list, the registration process itself should be streamlined to require only what’s needed for that function. While some kind of password creation is likely necessary so that shoppers can use the same login to access their lists from other devices, merchants needn’t collect billing and shipping addresses or phone numbers as part of the process; a simple email address and password should suffice — or merchants should consider tying mobile wish list creation to social login to further speed the process, as AE.com does by first offering an “add to favorites” option on the product page, then enabling social sign-in along with account registration.

AE mobile wishlistSocial login on mobile from AE

Streamline mobile checkout and promote it. Close to one in five mobile shoppers finish transactions on their devices, according to the MarketLive Performance Index. While that’s still a relatively small percentage, it’s growing fast, with tablet sales growing 39% and mobile phone sales growing 65% since 2012. Merchants should encourage researchers who find items that meet their needs to secure them on the spot by making the checkout process as frictionless as possible. Not only should they eliminate any unnecessary steps or fields, but they should adopt alternative payments and promote their availability before the shopping cart and checkout stage.

HSN.com promotes the availability of Paypal from product pages by including a “checkout with Paypal” link alongside “add to cart.”

Alternative payment promo on mobile from HSN

How are you enabling instant gratification for mobile shoppers?

Filed under Client Innovations, Connected Commerce, Mobile Commerce Tagged with Alternative Payments

Getting real about the benefits of account registration

January 17, 2014 by 1 Comment

Account creation — when a shopper signs up with a username and password to save information such as wish list picks — is perceived as a sign of heightened engagement, and a significant opportunity. After all, the activities of signed-in users can be more easily tracked and used to personalize products and offers for future visits; using a single login across devices enables a unified shopping experience; and social login has facilitated seamless sharing and instant insight into popular items.

But just how valuable is the user profile on which account creation is based — whether on the eCommerce site or via a social networking login? An array of recent data suggest that retailers shouldn’t put too much stock in the information shoppers offer up. For starts, four in five of the  98% of shoppers who say they’ve been targeted with irrelevant offers admit they play a part in these misfires by on Web sites, according to social technology provider Janrain. Similarly, more than a quarter of all U.S. Internet users admit to attempting to protect their privacy by , while close to one in five admitted to using a fake or untraceable username, and 13% said they gave false information about themselves.

Furthermore, regardless of the factual accuracy of account profile information, registration isn’t an indicator of enhanced brand loyalty. Fully 92% of consumers report having left a site where they’d previously registered when they forgot their login, rather than requesting a password reset or other assistance, the Janrain study found — and close to a third of consumers say they frequently abandon sites in such situations.

For merchants, then, site registration remains a tricky proposition. While social integration tools and the need for mobile-desktop cohesion make registration desirable, login shouldn’t present a barrier to consumers who seek a straightforward brand interaction. And when consumers do register, merchants should provide a heightened shopping experience that encourages a more meaningful brand commitment. Among the strategies to consider:

Guest checkout. We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: for most merchants, forced account registration is an unwise move. Merchants who require account creation prior to purchase often hope to collect shoppers’ email addresses and thereby salvage any transactions that are abandoned; but it’s a vicious cycle, as forced registration increases friction in the checkout process to such an extent that it increases the very abandonment it was meant to counteract. And considering that shoppers irked at being forced to create accounts are probably more likely to supply false information, the potential pitfalls outweigh the benefits.

In a heartening trend, merchants are increasingly apt to provide guest checkout that does not require account creation. When we revisited the 100 sites from the Internet Retailer Top 500 we surveyed in 2011, we found that a number of them had dropped the requirement, resulting in a 28% overall drop in the number of sites using forced registration.

Statistics on forced account creation

Cross-touchpoint flexibility as a registration benefit. Beyond basic tools such as saved address books, gift registries, order histories and the like, merchants should provide shoppers with additional reasons to take registration seriously, provide authentic profile information and login in again on future visits. Among the features to consider:

  • A global cart that enables logged-in shoppers to access their browsing, purchase and add-to-cart history across devices, whether via the mobile web or an app

  • Account registration that ties into existing loyalty or membership programs

  • In-store benefits to registered users, such as the ability to access exclusive coupons for scanning and redemption in-store, or priority access to in-store events

Target’s new Cartwheel program enables shoppers to sign in to save products and deals of interest, which are then accessible in-store via mobile app. While most merchants don’t have the resources to pull off a program so vast in scope, they should consider what individual elements they might implement — a personalized mobile alerts service keyed off past browsing and purchase history, for example.

Cartwheel app from Target

Social login with purpose. While on the surface, offering social login is a potential convenience booster for shoppers, it’s important for merchants not to assume adding a social login button will solve all their engagement and conversion woes. For starts, even with a fully-integrated social login, shoppers are still going to have to key in their shipping and billing address, payment information and possibly even phone number during the purchase process — so it behooves merchants to find reasons beyond efficiency to encourage usage. Among the ways to make social login work:

  • Use the social networking password as the registration password. Asking consumers to sign in using social media, then to create a separate site password, is counter-productive.

  • Collect only the information necessary for functionality. While it’s tempting to mine consumers’ social media profiles for friends’ information, birth dates, and other data, merchants should be realistic about what information they can actually use to enhance the shopping experience, and only ask for what they need. Adding a screen explaining how data will be used can help allay shoppers’ hesitation about sharing information.

  • Devise social shopping opportunities to sweeten the proposition. By offering shoppers an insight into what their friends are viewing, pinning, liking and buying, merchants can create an interactive experience that makes social login worthwhile.

Fab.com uses social data to show recently-favorited items, as well as the most popular picks, in addition to products specifically from shoppers’ friends.

Social integration on Fab.com

How are you making the most of account registration?

Filed under Acquire, Convert & Retain, Connected Commerce, Social Commerce

How to focus social media efforts for 2014

January 14, 2014 by Leave a Comment

For many merchants, social media continues to be a tricky proposition when it comes to achieving ROI. Direct sales from social networks amount to just 1-2% of all revenues, according to the MarketLive Performance Index, which means that merchants must dig deep to justify their investment. And that investment needs to be significant if merchants are to adequately staff social media for responsive service and innovative content — making the value proposition even more potentially lopsided.

For those reasons, many merchants are striving to focus social media efforts. With an ever-expanding array of social networks to consider, that task may seem impossible — but recent data suggests the opposite may be true. With more options than ever, consumers increasingly being selective and gravitating toward individual social networks that cater best to their needs, making it easier for brands to reach their intended audiences.

For merchants to successfully reach their target audience, they should:

Consider the demographics. from the Pew Internet & American Life project gives merchants insight into the leading social networks — both in terms of numbers of users by factors such as age and ethnicity as well as frequency of usage. This combined information can help merchants not only select appropriate social networks, but also throttle resource allocation. For example, while Pinterest has replaced Twitter as the third most popular social network, Twitter users log in far more frequently, with double the number of Twitter users reporting they check the site at least daily.

Data on social media from Pew Data on social media from Pew

Dig deeper into Facebook engagement for younger audiences. As the Pew report shows, Facebook dominates both in terms of frequency and popularity, with 71% of all Internet users reporting they use the site. But while 84% of 18-to-29-year-olds report using Facebook, and , survey responses suggest they consider the social network the purview of adults and assume their posts are monitored by parents and potential employers — prompting them to prefer other platforms for unfettered social interaction.  Research firm NextAdvisor found that Tumblr ranked highest among social networks, with 66% of teens reporting usage, while 9% fewer teens in 2013 versus 2012 named Facebook as the most important social site. In addition to Tumblr, the photo-sharing site Instagram ranked high in NextAdvisor’s survey, with SnapChat — which delivers photos, then deletes them after 10 seconds — becoming popular as a means of sharing images without the fear of leaving a permanent online record.

Data on social media

Incorporate mobile into social strategy. Regardless of demographic segment, merchants should assume their audience will access brand social outposts via mobile devices. Fully two in three smartphone owners say they use their devices to connect with social media, according to eMarketer — slightly higher than the 65% who visit social media sites on their laptop or desktop browser. More than half of tablet owners use them for social media.   All in all, eMarketer forecasts that more than one in three consumers will access social media via smartphone this year.

Data on mobile/social use from eMarketer

To adapt to this usage, merchants should design social strategies with mobile in mind, from posting links to mobile-friendly landing pages to featuring mobile-friendly content such as store locators within Facebook.

Go beyond the numbers. While demographics and industry-wide statistics can serve as a guide, ultimately merchants must rely on in-depth knowledge of their audience in order to develop effective social strategies. To understand the preference of their existing and potential customers, merchants should use:

  • Surveys. Ask existing customers about social media usage and what social content would be helpful.

  • Analytics. Study traffic logs to identify social sources — both mobile and desktop — of existing traffic.

  • Competitive data. Examine what social offerings exist for brands that cater to relevant audiences.

  • Product shares. Merchants can enable sharing of products from the eCommerce or mobile site even to those social networks where they haven’t established official brand profiles. Destinations where items are frequently shared merit further exploration.

  • Social “listening”. Monitoring social sites for brand mentions and unofficial pages or profiles enables merchants to both identify social opportunities and provide responsive customer service.

How are you fine-tuning and focusing social strategy for 2014?

Filed under Mobile Commerce, Social Commerce Tagged with Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, SnapChat, Tumblr, Twitter

Performance Index: Holiday season finishes strong

January 9, 2014 by Leave a Comment

The final results are in from the holiday season, and merchants in the MarketLive Performance Index fared very well indeed. Merchants achieved traffic and revenue gains of more than 15%, and average order size grew a substantial 6.1% — suggesting that deep discounting isn’t always the key to holiday sales growth.

Additionally, merchants in the Index outperformed the industry at large, which notched a 10% sales gain overall, according to measurement firm comScore. The results demonstrate that small- to mid-sized merchants held their own against the mass merchants whose revenues account for the majority of online sales overall.

Holiday sales data from MarketLive

The results also revealed potential areas of improvement for 2014. Both the add-to-cart rate and conversion rate ended the season a tenth of a percentage point lower than in 2013 after lagging in the final days before Christmas and in the first rush of post-season sales. To reverse the trend in 2014, merchants must do more to capitalize on increased traffic if they want to achieve even greater revenue growth. The 3% increase in cart abandonment further eroded the benefit of traffic gains, suggesting merchants must do more to compel shoppers to become brand customers, using whatever touchpoint they prefer.

In our upcoming 2014 trends report, we’ll examine the key initiatives that will help merchants achieve these goals. Among them:

From mobile presence to mobile competence. Our survey of eCommerce sites during the holidays revealed that many merchants have a long way to go when it comes to offering truly effective mobile touchpoints. While most brands have mobile offerings, many are rudimentary efforts that faintly echoed the marketing and merchandising campaigns of the desktop browser Web sites. Instead, regardless of the technical sophistication of their mobile offerings, merchants must customize content and products to take into account shoppers’ situational priorities and present relevant context. MarketLive merchant Armani Exchange presented mobile shoppers with a streamlined experience that included gift guides by price. Email signup was prominently integrated into the presentation so that mobile browsers could sign up to receive special holiday offers, while sharing tools enabled shoppers to post favorite items with ease.

Mobile example from Armani Exchange

Making it personal. Personalization as a concept has existed for years, but the tools now exist for merchants of all sizes to present shoppers with an experience tailored to their preferences and purchase histories and enhanced by individualized customer service. By delivering wholly unique brand interactions, merchants can set their offerings apart from mass discounters and create long-lasting customer relationships. During the holidays, brand manufacturer Carter’s followed up in-store purchases with an invitation to submit a customer review and enter to win a gift card. The message additionally gives shoppers further ways to connect with the brand via social media, and promotes gift card purchase — especially relevant for the holiday season — as well as including store information for the local outlet.

Personalized email example from Carter's

How did your holidays wrap up, and how are the results influencing your priorities for 2014?

Filed under Analytics, Client Innovations, Email Marketing, Mobile Commerce, Seasonal Selling Tagged with 2013 Holidays, MarketLive Performance Index

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