New figures from a leading retail consultancy have found the Brits spent a record amount with online retailers in 2011. 16 per cent more was spent online in 2011 than in 2010 as increased numbers of shoppers bought goods and services on the web.
So, can you afford not to sell your goods and services online?
Online sales expected to increase by 13% in 2012
According to the research by Capgemini, a record £68 billion was spent online in 2011, up 16 per cent on the previous year with online shopping now accounting for 17 per cent of the British retail market.
The Guardian reports that ‘growing numbers of retailers are launching or expanding online businesses, leading Capgemini to predict that total online retail sales will jump by 13 per cent in 2012 to reach £77 billion.’
One analyst said: “Online is such an integral part of the shopping experience now that it generally plays at least some role in most purchases, whether through research and comparison or social media and product reviews.”
Increasingly important to market yourself online
Nick Marr “It seems that only the very rich do not need to sell online , its a low cost method to maximising your returns. Those who who can get free search engine traffic are making huge returns on investment”
If you want to ensure your business is a success it is becoming increasingly important that you market yourself online. This may be through your own website although portals which allow shoppers to access a wide number of independent sellers on one website are becoming increasingly popular.
Sites such as Etsy and Not on the High Street now offer a range of handmade gifts and goods from thousands of sellers in one place whilst you can buy services from professional websites such as Elance and People per Hour.
Another excellent place for you to market your services is on Five Quid Expert. This new site offers a unique service where you can market anything from IT help to translation services to buyers at a price of £5. Five Quid Expert is a ‘one stop shop’ for buyers looking for inexpensive goods and services and offers you a great opportunity to be part of the online shopping boom.
So you have a great real estate website or do you? One of the mistakes that many real estate agents and developers make is thinking that a great looking website will equal lots of sales. Some web designers are still ignorant of how best to create an effective website from a search engine point of view.
A website is like a brochure that will only be picked up if seen and there lies the problem. Millions of websites are all competing for attentioan and great search engine placement. Implementing SEO services is not really an option its essential.
Search engine optimisation is a long term strategy taking time to see results. It can take months to see results and to see increase in Google Page Rank. However SEO has certain advantages over other types of online marketing.
Its cheaper form than purely Pay-for-performance programs like Google AdWords. .
It can create brand awareness – a property website that has a high rank among search engine listings means that more people will see the company’s name and become more and more familiar with the products as well as the company although they still haven’t made one single purchase.
A recent survey clearly shows that consumers are twice as likely to recognize businesses that are ranked high ( top three ) in the search engine listings in comparison to those that are appearing in the regular banner ads.
SEO services will bring paying customers right to your door step. These customers that we are talking about have entered your websites keywords or phrases into the search engines and the results showed your business.
The SEO services will help you transform regular visitors into real buyers by analyzing their behavior once they locate your site. By utilizing the content of your website you will learn how to transform these visitors into buyers in the most effective and efficient manner possible.
Too many adverts will lead to loss of search engine rankings
Beware! having too many adverts displayed above the fold could mean a stiff penalty as Google tweaks its algorithm. Is this move contradictory to its own recommendations? Will this move see loss of profits for Google as advertisers adjust how their ads and how they are displayed on a page.
We have yet another change in how Google selects which sites rise to the top in SERPS (search engine result pages) . Publishers who rely on search engine traffic to make money will have to stand up and take notice. Google calls the recent change a page layout algorithm improvement
The company wants to make sure that when searchers click on Google search results, they won’t be taken to a page where the content is hard to find. It appears this move is all about Googles determination to provide search engine users with the best sites.
I have always advised my clients that when creating a site or adding content you need to think like a search engine. Search engines think ” is this the best place to send my user? Search engines need to know its a quality page with lots of information this includes external links to more resources , video , images etc. The page payout algorithm will put into line those sites that use top heavy advertising before content read What makes great content
Google ad layout for adsense
Google May Lose Money!
I am wondering if this change will reduce the revenue of Google as publishers change how they display advertising? Google can afford to experiment but the cost to the company could end up being millions. Share holders must be nervous about the move , will the average website lose revenue from this? I am not sure it all remains to be seen.
At small screen resolutions, Google’s own search results page is one of the worst offenders when it comes to advertising clutter obscuring content. That seeming hypocrisy may leave some webmasters wondering what constitutes “a normal degree of ads” and how screen size affects what is defined as “normal.” Sticking simply with what Google has written about the change, copying Google’s search results page is probably not a good idea in this case.
The Change Means Ad Sensibly
Matt Cutts Google
Googles man Mr Matt Cutts said the algorithm tweak looks at the layout of a Web page and the amount of content a user sees on the page once they’ve clicked on a search result.
“If you click on a Website and the part of the Website you see first either doesn’t have a lot of visible content above-the-fold or dedicates a large fraction of the site’s initial screen real estate to ads, that’s not a very good user experience,”
“Such sites may not rank as highly going forward.”
Cutts was careful to note that Google recognizes ads placed above the fold perform well for Websites. Accordingly, Google isn’t punishing Websites that place ads at the top of Web pages “to a normal degree.”
Rather, he and his team are penalizing Websites that put what they deem an “excessive” amount of ads up top, or simply make it hard to find content on the page.
Is This A Big Change?
This algorithmic change noticeably affects less than 1% of searches globally. That means that in less than one in 100 searches, a typical user might notice a reordering of results on the search page.The algorithm analyzes adverts in fixed positions; the Pagerank for sites using pop-ups, pop-unders or overlays will not be affected. If you believe that your website has been affected by the page layout algorithm change, consider how your web pages use the area above-the-fold and whether the content on the page is obscured or otherwise hard for users to discern quickly.
Google Page Layout Video
I found this video which also explains the changes hope it helps
Managing a website that is found in the search engines for search terms that your potential customers use is the goal of most website owners after all search engine traffic is free!
One sure fire method to attract the attention of these types of potential buyers in by creating worthwhile content for your website. The more regularly you publish this content the more the search engines will visit and index your website
Content for websites is like the engine room of a website driving clients to your web pages. Content is king in web site promotion’ content needs to be unique and added regularly. Google loves fresh content and will send its spiders to index your content on a regular a basis importantly my advice is always write content for the reader not the search engine. This is not to say that you throw keywords out of the window these need to be considered and placed effectively if natuarly to the reader.
To Link or not to link that is the question
I am often asked whether content should link away to other websites, many business owners are fearful of this practice and feel its not good for business. My advice is a resounding YES! This practice of placing links to external resources maked the article more valuabl;e to a search engine and the reader and the content will rank better.
The first step to creating effective is content is understanding your audience and researching their needs. Your content should answer the questions they may ask. The next step is too attract your readers with some very catchy headlines so your articles stand out from the crowd here are some examples
Headlines for your articles:
If You Don’t [blank] Now, You’ll Hate Yourself Later.
We love to belong, but feeling excluded is something we do not desire. Whether it be a fantastic property development a financial opportunity or the social event of the year, we simply hate it when we get left out..
See How Easily You Can [desirable result].
We love quick and easy when it comes to learning something new or gaining some advantage.
See How Easily You Can Learn to Buy Investment property.
See How Easily You Can Own a Million Dollar Home.
See How Easily You Can Increase Traffic With Social Media.
You Don’t Have to Be [something challenging] to be [desired result].
People almost always have preconceived notions about things, and this can be a barrier to taking action. Remove the barrier that stands between them and the desired result with your headline, and people will flock to read what you have to say.
You Don’t Have to Be Rich to Retire on a Guaranteed Income for Life.
You Don’t Have to Be a Loaded to Be a Landlord.
You Don’t Have to Be an A-Lister to Own a Millionaire Home.
This is always a powerful attention grabber, since no one likes to make mistakes. If you’ve targeted your content well for your intended audience, helping people avoid common mistakes is a sure-fire winner with this type of headline.
Attractive content is just that, make it regularly and you will be on your way to creating a great place for the search engines to send you visitors.
Warning: Copy and pasting articles from other websites could mean you receive a penalty from the search engines who do not like duplicate content.
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