Hear from our CEO about trends for lawsuits affecting websites in regards to ADA compliance. Retail businesses were hit the hardest in specific states. See if yours is listed!
Think phone calls aren’t a large part of your lead generation? Think again. FZA Digital CEO Ed Barton discusses how impactful your phone line could be.
CEO Ed Barton talks about how to not only generate new visitors to your website, but also to have them spend more time and retain more information by utilizing videos.
For your e-commerce store to thrive, you need to get visitors to your site. Successful companies generally draw this traffic from social media, PPC ads, or organic search (SEO).
If you’ve already perfected the art of attracting visitors from Facebook and regularly run effective Google Ads campaigns, there is just one world left to conquer – SEO.
Optimizing your site for search can attract a consistent stream of users to your store each week. These visitors won’t be there just to browse, either. Adobe research indicates e-commerce shoppers will convert into a paying customer around 3 percent of the time – with an average order value of $159.
What do you need to do to drive these kinds of results? You can get started by taking these four steps:
1. Carefully Select Your Keywords
If you want shoppers to find your store in their Google search results, effective keyword research can help. Without a strong keyword strategy, you run the risk of:
- Targeting keywords that are too competitive and difficult to rank for, or
- Ranking for keywords that don’t receive a great deal of search traffic
The three best techniques you can use to figure out the best keywords for your e-commerce store are:
- Social Media Research: Twitter, Reddit, and Quora are excellent places to find people talking about products like yours. Review how they communicate to help you select effective keywords. In other words, “speak their language.”
- Amazon Research: Amazon is the largest and most successful e-commerce store in the world. However, it isn’t just your competitor. It can also be a great place to find keywords that work for items like yours.
- Competitor Research: Do your competitors regularly appear at the top of Google’s search results? If so, don’t be afraid to visit their website to see what keywords they use.
Keyword phrases that are at least four words long (“rustic wood bed frame”) tend to convert more often than shorter keywords (“bed frame”) – since buyers who search for long phrases typically know what they need and are ready to make a purchase.
2. Improve Your Loading Speeds
According to Google, as a website’s loading speed goes from one second to ten seconds, the likelihood of users bouncing (leaving the page without converting) increases by 123 percent.
If your site has a high bounce rate, Google will lower your search rankings and reduce the number of shoppers that see your products. To avoid this, you should take steps to improve your loading speeds, like:
- Optimizing and compressing your images
- Upgrading your hosting from “shared” to “dedicated”
- Enabling browser caching on your website
- Prioritizing your site’s above-the-fold content
Taking these steps will help you generate more organic traffic and make sure your customers have a positive experience on your website.
3. Build Inbound Links to Your Website
Link building has long been a highly effective way to increase your store’s search engine rankings.
When Google’s algorithm sees other websites linking to yours, it begins to consider you relevant and authoritative. As a result of your site’s improved reputation, the search engine giant feels increasingly comfortable sending users in your direction.
Building inbound links is not an easy task. However, you can accomplish it by:
- Asking influencers to review your products and link to your site
- Writing guest posts for high-authority sites and linking to your store
- Using the broken link building technique
- Writing informative and authoritative blogs
When building links, it is vital to remember that Google values quality over quantity. Its algorithm prefers to see a few links from well-respected sites rather than a plethora of links from shady or untrustworthy websites.
4. List Your Products on Google Shopping
Did you know that 45 percent of shoppers use Google to look for the best products for their needs? The most efficient way to get your merchandise in front of those users is to list them with Google Shopping in 6 simple steps:
- Create a Google Merchant Center account
- Click the “Products” tab
- Select the “Feeds” button
- Input your product information
- Select high-quality images
- Hit the “Save” button
When a user clicks on your Google Shopping listings, they may go straight to your store. Once there, they can purchase the item they needed or take a few minutes to browse through your catalog.
Need Some Pointers? Contact FZA Digital Today
Optimizing your e-commerce store for organic search can drive customers to your website and dollars to your bank account.
Finding the time to run through these steps can be challenging when your primary focus is on sales. Fortunately, the SEO experts at FZA Digital are always available to provide you with astute guidance and assistance.
To discuss your website’s needs with a member of our team, give us a call at (424) 229-2923 or contact us online.
Have you been struggling to convert your visitors into clients?
If so, your site’s bounce rate may be too high.
What is a Website’s Bounce Rate?
A site’s bounce rate is the percentage of its visitors that enter a page and leave without taking any further action. Visitors who bounce do not click on any links, select a menu item, or engage with the website in any other way.
A high bounce rate is a clear signal that there is an issue with the site.
Those issues could be:
- Site’s design is confusing
- The link to the page is misleading or incorrectly labeled
- Your page’s information is not useful
For most sites, a bounce rate above 70% should be looked into.
How Can You Improve Your Website’s Bounce Rate?
Once you have identified that your website has a bounce rate problem, it is vital that you take swift action to address it. You can do so in the following ways:
Improving Your Site’s Loading Times
When users search for information on Google or Bing and click through to your website, they expect to find the answers they need quickly. They do not expect to spend an inordinate length of time waiting for the page to load.
If you keep them waiting, they will quickly leave and head to your competitor’s site instead.
So, how quickly should web pages load? Research has found that around half of all consumers expect pages to load in less than two seconds.
If users consistently wait more than three seconds to view your site, you may wish to take some of the following steps to speed things up a little:
- Reduce or eliminate redirects
- Optimize your images
- Enable browser caching
- Boost your server response time
Once you take these speed-boosting steps, it won’t be long before you notice an improvement in your bounce rate as well.
Improving the Readability of Your Content
If a user visits your website and immediately sees a massive wall of text, they will probably leave. Nobody wants to spend time scouring through dozens of compacted lines of content to find the information they need.
To encourage your visitors to stick around, you should try to focus on making your content as easy-to-read as possible. You can do so by:
- Using relevant headings
- Using plenty of subheadings
- Keeping paragraphs short
- Using bullet points and numbered lists
- Including relevant images
If your users enjoy reading your content, they are much more likely to click through to another page. As a result, your bounce rate will drop.
Setting External Links to Open in New Tabs
Your website is almost certainly filled with external links. They are an excellent way to show your users that your content is thoroughly researched.
There is one problem, though. When one of your visitors clicks on an external link, they are directed away from your website. This fact can cause your bounce rate to skyrocket.
Fortunately, there is an easy solution: Setting all of your external links to open in new tabs.
In taking this action, you retain the benefits of external linking without driving users away from your site. As soon as they have finished finding the information they need on the external web page, they can exit the tab and immediately return to your site to continue browsing.
Your visitors will most likely enjoy the usability of not having to hit the back button to reload the page.
Perfecting Your Call to Action
When striving to improve your bounce rate, it is vital that you have a compelling call to action (CTA) on just about every page. No matter how readable your content is or how quickly your site loads, your visitors may still leave if you do not encourage them to take another step.
At FZA Digital, we recommend following these easy tips to create a highly effective call to action:
- Use Strong Command Verbs: Consider starting your CTA with words like “buy,” “subscribe”, or “order” to encourage visitors to take immediate action.
- Give Users a Reason to Act: The best way to convince your visitors to click through to a new page is to offer them a discount, free item, or another incentive.
- Use Numbers Where Possible: A CTA that reads, “Order today to get $50 off!” is likely to perform far better than one that says, “Order today to save money!”
- Make it Obvious: Your CTA should stand out from the rest of your content. Consider using a different color or putting it in a box to draw the user’s eye.
Before long, you will have a CTA that your visitors won’t be able to resist and your bounce rate will be massively improved.
Need a Little Help?
The team here at FZA Digital has been helping businesses optimize their web presence for many years. As such, we understand what it takes to create an effective and user-friendly website.
If you need some assistance implementing any of the bounce rate-reducing strategies outlined above, please do not hesitate to give us a call at (424) 229-2923 or contact us online.
Working from home may sound like a dream come true, but for many, this new lifestyle may come with a few challenges. Newly remote workers in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic may find it disorienting to be taking calls from their dining room or have kids present for a meeting.
Rather than focusing on what you don’t have, which may be foot traffic and a retail location, we’re encouraging you to work with what you do: the internet. There are more potential buyers online than ever before, and if you’ve never made a sale online, now’s your chance.
Keep reading to learn our digital tips for remote workers that can help you work efficiently with team members, collaborate on projects, and boost your revenue.
Do What You Would Do at Work
Treat your home office like you are traveling to work. Creating a schedule (and sticking to it) will help you set clear expectations of when you should be in the zone – and when to log off. Get dressed every day. Sure, wearing sweatpants may be fine the first day, but putting on work clothes will help distinguish weekdays from weekends.
A great tip that many moguls tout is to do the thing which you are putting off first. That could be the most complicated tasks, that one phone call you’re dreading, or the most tedious job. This will give you a productivity boost and set a positive outlook for the day.
Stay connected to employees, co-workers, and customers by leveraging video chats, phone calls, text, email, and messaging apps. You should also aim to move often and take your lunch break: eating and moving are important to keeping you sharp.
Audit Your Online Presence
If you feel restless, we recommend performing an audit of your online presence. Web traffic is soaring, with noticeable increases in mobile traffic. Make sure that your website can be viewed easily on mobile and tablets. Click around and pretend that you’re a customer. If something feels off then it most likely is to your customers.
You should also review your directory information. Customers during the COVID-19 pandemic are reaching out more to businesses to confirm hours of operation and ask questions. Be sure to check if your information is current on all the major platforms.
You can also use this time to leverage your SEO strategy and gain the digital advantage. If you do not have an agency or have been doing it on your own and need a bit of help, FZA Digital offers SEO services. We can perform the audits for you and identify where your website needs the most help.
Teams, Collaborate Digitally
During this time, it’s a good idea to communicate more than usual. Schedule brief video chats for your team to connect. Keep them short (around 15 minutes) and to the point. Check-in one-on-one with staff to see how they’re adjusting to the change of routine.
You’d be surprised how many tasks can now be completed effectively online using free or nominally priced service software. Yes, everyone and their mom is on Zoom, but do you know about other tools for project management and storage?
Some options we recommend are:
- Chatting and Messaging – Slack
- For Video Conferencing/Training – Zoom
- Project Management and Productivity – Evernote
- Time Management Tools – Toggl
- File Storage – Google Drive
- Password Manager – Dashlane
- Focus – Krisp
As every business has different needs, we recommend signing up for a few options and asking your team what you can offer to make their day easier.
A Positive Attitude is Key
Finally, it’s important to keep a positive attitude. This doesn’t mean walking around with blind to the situation. But it’s important to recognize and accept some things that are out of your control and focus on what you can change.
Taking time off may seem counter intuitive. However, In the grand scheme of your well-being, how much more productive you can be once you return will outweigh your short break.
Here are some other simple but fun ways you can break up your day:
- Goat 2 Meeting – For a modest donation, Sweet Farm will video conference a goat from their farm to your next Zoom meeting.
- Audible (temporarily free) – One of the world’s largest suppliers of audiobooks is offering a huge selection of free audiobooks as long as the world is at home.
- Netflix Party – A Chrome extension that allows you to watch Netflix while also video chatting with your friends and family.
We at FZA Digital hope you are staying safe and keeping busy! If you’re ready to dominate online, we’re ready to take your call at 424-229-2923.
Google is getting better and better at guessing what searchers are looking for when they type in their – sometimes cryptic – search terms. As such, search intent is becoming more and more important.
If you think search terms are obvious and will come to you as “I want to buy a new car,” think again. Or better yet, ask to read someone’s search history results and you may be surprised to discover everyone has their own search style.
The good news is once you understand why someone is searching for your product or service with a little bit of investigatory work, you can begin to predict their behavior and serve them content to meet their needs.
Here’s how searcher intent can boost your SEO ranking:
What is Searcher Intent?
Search intent is basically the reason someone is browsing the internet. This line of inquiry can start for any number of reasons, including boredom, but fundamentally searcher intent shows a desire to engage with content online. You may think this is your “in.”
Many people focus on SEO with the hopes of locking in sales and overlook the “why.” Searcher intent is the foundation of why someone decides to take action, so understanding why is going to shape your whole strategy.
Few people type in words into Google, land on a website and buy. It may take 5-8 visits, and an extended amount of time learning to trust you before a customer reaches out. However, don’t be put off. Organic traffic is one of the most valuable sources for sales once you get dialed in.
Searcher intent can be broken down into 4 cornerstones:
- Navigational: these are often overlooked, but searching in the toolbar itself, (simply typing “Facebook”) to land on a specific website is extremely popular, and shows strong intent.
- Informational: these are the high volume search terms for information such as the weather, news, or that invite people into your funnel via your blog where they can find specific answers.
- Commercial/transactional: the highly competitive keywords your business wants; these are usually specific service terms like “best car dealer near me,” which show a customer has an intention to purchase, but you don’t know when.
- Ambiguous: Not all searches are obvious and it’s unclear what the result should be; are they looking for a definition, a service, a tutorial?
Once you determine which one belongs to your website visitor, you can prescribe content for their unique needs. This tailored approach builds brand awareness, trust, and can lead to more sales than simply spewing out content online.
Searcher Intent Can Boost SEO Results
Now that you can identify intentional keywords, it’s time to test them. To get the most objective idea of the search results for a query, make sure you use a private browser window.
A local SERP-checker, such as https://whatsmyserp.com/serp-check can help you get even more objective results, and find out what the results look like in neighboring cities.
Seek to create content that provides a mixture of value, information, service, and products for a well-rounded SEO solution, and be sure to include geo-locational keywords as you go so people in your area can find you first.
Call today to see how we can boost your SEO rankings and help more customers find you at 424-229-2923 or visit us online at www.fzadigital.com/seo/.
Conversational marketing may sound ambiguous, but 79% of customers now use messaging apps to interact with customer service, and 82% reported that an “immediate response” was the most crucial factor in their overall satisfaction.
If your business is one of the 36% online currently using conversational marketing, by leveraging the power of live chat, then you can skip this one. For everyone else, click here to see why live conversation services help forge genuine conversations and increase conversions.
Here are three quick ways conversational marketing will dominate this year:
#1 – Natural Language Search
Robotic phrases are in. Conversational search is in (and yes, that includes trending voice search results too). Google is literally listening to how people ask for digital data and paying close attention to the brands that serve back humanized information.
Search Engine Watch explains:
“Natural language search is search carried out in everyday language, phrasing questions as you would ask them if you were talking to someone. These queries can be typed into a search engine, spoken aloud with voice search, or posed as a question to a digital assistant like Siri or Cortana.”
Tip: Make it easy for customers to say yes by researching the keywords they use to find your brand and become popularized by Google.
#2 – AI Vs. Human Chatbots
Humans crave connection; AI chatbots have lost their appeal as humans report being frustrated by the mere prospect of talking to a robot.
Connect live chat enables small businesses to utilize real people to create genuine connections and leverages authentic conversations to boost customer service and increase conversions.
Tip: Customers who visit your website have an intent to purchase. Make it easy for them to say yes by welcoming them as they arrive and opening up a dialogue.
#3 – Social Media Support
Messaging apps help customers reach you from the platforms they feel most comfortable with and cover a range of avenues, including social media, third-party apps, and SMS.
While email marketing still offers great potential, the truth is consumer attention is now on apps, not inboxes. Placing your message where customers will see and engage with it is a no-brainer and a surefire way to see significantly higher open rates and engagement.
Tip: Help customers say yes by troubleshooting customer service on live chat and social media platforms to reduce friction and appear more present (see how we can help!).
What Does Your Service Say About You?
Customers are vocal in their desires to support brands that are backed by real people and who forge genuine connections with their audience. And while it may feel daunting, change can be a welcome and refreshing change of pace for you and your consumers.
It’s no longer enough to check off blogs, SEO and emails from your marketing efforts; customers want you to step up to the plate and craft conversational responses. It’s never been easier or more affordable to provide your customers with a premium customer service experience.
Whatever conversation you decide to spark, Connect 24/7 live chat offers real conversation with real leads, in real time.
Request your free demo to see how Connect 24/7 live chat can meet the demands of your small business today by visiting https://www.fzadigital.com/connect-live-chat/.
Sources
https://searchenginewatch.com/2016/04/12/everything-you-need-to-know-about-natural-language-search-2/
https://www.business2community.com/marketing/does-your-2020-marketing-strategy-include-conversational-marketing-02257726
When it comes to lead generation, it’s normal to jump the gun and assume it’s all for quick and instant sales, but a truly successful lead generation campaign is a carefully coiffed system that can vet, converse, and finesse your audience into becoming lifelong buyers.
Social media offers small business owners countless opportunities to put themselves in front of a highly engaged and active audience. In fact, small businesses that use social media see, on average, an increase of 24% in total sales just from simply being active on the platform.
Lead gen can, for the most part, become highly-targeted and highly-automated, once you go through these quick tips. And could in the long-run, save your business an average of 45% on traditional marketing dollars (with the right agency) thanks to its set-it-and-forget-it success.
So, if you don’t have a social media strategy, or you’re not using lead gen to incentivize people to your offer, it’s time to buckle up.
Did you know FZA Digital has over 1,000 proven accounts that get more leads every single day? Click here to request a free consultation today.
#1 – Host a Giveaway
As a rule of thumb: run regular or repeat giveaways if you have an offer, service, or product that is low-cost and easy to fulfill (there are FDA regulated stipulations that if you run a contest, you must adhere to the terms and conditions). Run one-time, high-value giveaways when you want to make a statement and gain traction.
The higher the value offered in a giveaway, the more you can ask from your audience. This is also a great time to partner with different brands or clients who have a similar demographic, so you can double or triple your reach.
#2 – Offer a Gated Lead Gen
Popular choices include a short eBook, a one-pager that provides information, value, or a free consultation. The results come from adding a gateway. This requires your audience to give you some personal information, such as their email or an SMS, to get access to the information.
When publishing a lead gen on social media, you’ll want to consider how people get to their destination as not all platforms want the audience to leave. Customization on social media is key, especially when it comes to the link and call to action!
#3 – Boost View with Live Webinars
Unlike traditional webinars, “going live” on social media is open to everyone and free. Live webinars are super effective for high-ticket offers as you can build trust immediately and answer buyer objections live (or invite them to your email funnel).
Social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram actively promote and notify followers when you go live to increase views. This is the creme of the crop for social content so if you are able to go live, even to do a Q&A, you can gain a lot of views quickly.
- Bonus – The Follow Up
At the end of the day, even the best lead-gen magnet is only as powerful as the time you take to follow up. Many people forget to read or listen to the information they’ve been given, no matter how incredible or compelling that information was at the moment of interest.
Opening up a doorway into a new conversation with a lead is how relationships begin and much like dating, thoughtful and frequent communication that benefits your prospect, will see them turn from a lead to a loyal and buying customer for life.
FZA Digital helps brands dominate online and can help you generate more leads. Click here to request a free consultation today.
- Sources
- (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.cloudways.com/blog/social-media-lead-generation/
AI, or Artificial Intelligence, may seem like a dream for the far-off future, but the technology has been available for decades, and chatbots are now communicating all around us.
In 2016, messaging Apps knocked social media off the top spot with an engaged audience of 4 billion users. Facebook Messenger boasts over 1.3 billion users and is growing in use and functionality at an astonishing rate.
Chatbots are software that can “read” for keywords and provide predetermined responses, but they cannot problem-solve or give an independent answer (that’s AI for you). If you have ever been robocalled, you’ll know within a few seconds of chatting to a bot.
For those seeking to offer superior customer service, request a free demo now to experience Connect; a 24/7 live chat feature that can scale to your business’s demand.
The Purpose of Chatbots
Chatbots enable you to automate some of the monotonous, or high-frequency demands in your business to support a stellar customer service experience.
Each type of chatbot usually has a specific role, and a small business may use one or more to provide a variety of customer service, such as:
- Simple (Scripted) Chatbots: These offer a cut and paste back and forth with your customer and no room for adjustment.
- Intelligent AI Chatbots: These chatbots are taking AI to the next level; ordered a pizza lately or reserved a hotel room? You may be surprised to learn you were dealing with an AI and not a human.
Many businesses feel the pressure to offset the cost of customer service by installing bots; but what if you could have the best of both worlds?
There is a third option:
3. Human Chatbots: This chatbot platform with human interaction; this middle-ground has a lot to offer. Humans can problem solve and find answers that untrained AI cannot, with the timing and automation of computers.
FZA Digital is leading the online conversation with Connect, a proprietary online chat technology that enables small business owners to reap the many benefits of chatbots with the transparency that only real humans can provide.
Like any technology, bugs and glitches do happen, and in those cases, if you rely on AI, you’re going to be without customer support. This might seem ok at first, but wait until the moment during a high-paid Ad campaign like the Superbowl, and you’re SOL.
How to Provide the Best Customer Experience
You may be surprised to learn that 24/7 live chat (operated by real humans, in real time) is not as costly to install as you might think, and the expenses can often offset itself via the increase in sales and reduced friction-time in “teaching and training” one or more robots.
24/7 live chat raises the bar for how humans and AI can perform together and combines the timing and targeting that makes AI great, with the irreplaceable human touch. If you want more leads, more sales, and more raving reviews, 24/7 live chat is the way to go.
#1 – Leverage Waiting Times
Just as no one wants to be pounced on immediately upon arrival, a short delay can put your website visitors at ease and allow them to prepare for the conversation while browsing.
It’s common for an on-page prompt to be time-delayed appropriately with the time that a customer may have questions or be considering leaving the website, to retain their attention and pull them into the conversation.
#2 – Split Test
The truth is there’s no way for you to know for sure if a chatbot or a human is the right choice until you try it out. Split testing enables you to see how customers respond to specific changes like adding a live chat feature and enables you to measure any reactions.
Once installed, continue to test. You can try different automated flows, different responses and see what works for your customers. Pretty soon, you’ll see what works and be able to duplicate those efforts more widely across the board.
#3 – Finding Balance in Your Business
Depending 100% on AI is never a great idea. While it may seem trendy, you run the risk of being left out in the cold if there be a technical error, and your customers may feel they aren’t getting the attention they deserve if things go sour.
Thankfully, finding the sweet spot has never been easier thanks to Connect 24/7 live chat, which enables small business owners to find the right tone for their customer service; best of all, it’s quick and easy to use, can be installed on any website, and won’t slow you down.
For more information on Connect’s 24/7 live chat features, or to schedule a free demo, please visit https://www.fzadigital.com/connect-live-chat/.
Sources
- (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics
- (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.comm100.com/resources/report/chatbot-statistics/
