Blogging is not just about telling your friends about your food habits, your daily routine or even perhaps showing off your skateboarding talents by posting some cool videos on it. NO, blogging has come a long way than just being an area of interest where we could write about anything and yet capture the minds of your online audience.
More individuals are now using blog as a handy tool to carve a niche market for themselves in the field that they are involved in. This is the best bet to make yourself known in the field you are in. Why of all the things – Blogging? Well, blogging since its inception has been a catalyst in boosting your SEO metrics. And the primary reason of this being the fact that blogs have been the all time favorites of human readers and of course the search engines.
You might just be wondering what has blogging got to do with SEO. Well … a lot actually. Here are a few things that blogs actually help boost your SEO.
Blogging speaks of current events or happenings
Search engines love content. Fresh content. What the search engine does is to ‘decipher or understand’ your content and simply start indexing it under a particular category. That's right. Your content is accepted and indexed right away such that search engines wants to present its readers the best and latest contents. Google, MSN, Yahoo are the prominent ones which does this.
Search engines are constantly updating the index. Its like a 24-hours call center. The blog owners are constantly updating their contents. Sometimes more than just once in a day. Human nature – hence you would find most blogs talking about the latest topic around the world. Which means fresh and relevant content. Sounds good eh?
Blogging is relevant and specific of the topic
Relevancy factor is most important feature while a search is conducted. It indicates the search engine that the most relevant search information is here while showing relevant search pages. Your contents give the search engine a chance to talk about what you have to say about the relevant search term. Blogging usually means pin-point concentration of relevant keywords about the subject or topic you are writing about. Let us say – you are talking about style sheets, then your blog would contain a lot of words like “style”, “cascading style sheets”, “CSS” and so on.
Search engine friendly navigation gives you an upper hand
The blog is structured in such a way that its very easy for the bots or crawlers to crawl through. The blog is well structured, such that you will find the menus sitting up nicely on to the left with your latest post on a section and an archive of your posts.
The best part is that the interlinking and links to other prominent websites or blogs are easily done. Due to the good interlinking policy that you follow crawling your blog become much easier.
Blog is a repository of rich information
Yes, a blog is considered an area of very rich information. This fact is reassured when your blog speaks about the niche you have to present. Not only would you want to get linked to many such related niche websites, but you will find them wanting to link back to you. Awesome, isn’t it? So, what follows next is that all search engines (that crawl your weblog) start to consider your blog as a niche (say rubber products, motor bikes and so on) for promoting your product or service and alleviate your position and rankings.
Linking to blogs is easily done
When you are linked from other websites its considered good for you. Usually you would find it difficult to link to websites as the trust factor is not so high. On the contrary, it is high amongst bloggers who love to link each other. Your SEO effort gets a boost this way!
Happy Blogging…what are you waiting for?
Thursday 13 November 2008
Monday 3 November 2008
How To Persuade A Buyer Online?
If you’d ask me how many scientists are needed to remove a nail – well the obvious answer is NONE. Jokes apart, if you really want it to happen then you can persuade the nail to come off the wall.
Do I sound crazy? Well, that’s exactly what it means to persuade somebody to buy something online – be it consumer goods, luxury items, offers, gifts or services of any kind. It’s not a hardcore scientific formula from the books of a physics book but the knack that many a marketers and scientists (read marketing purist) would tell you to do.
The best way to tackle this is to understand human nature, understand YOU as a buyer. What makes you tick and buy items that you may not even need? Well, it involves understanding the basic human nature which is often repetitive and works subconsciously the same way.
Here are some tips to ethically persuade people to buy.
1. Show Them The Trend – Show What Others Like To Do
The finicky mind often plays an important role while making a buy. People often tend to look at what others are doing. More the number of people doing the same mean more the comfort level they are in. The psychological phenomenon is called the ‘Social Proof’. This means often decisions are based on the reactions or doings of the mass. The feeling of the buyer is that his knowledge is bettered by knowing these conditions.
What can you showcase as ‘Social Proof’? Here are some ways to establish yourself.
• Most popular items
• ‘People who bought this also liked…’
• Top selling items
• Testifying the product or service
2. Online ‘User-Generated’ Reviews
Another best method of guaranteeing a buy is to have reviews and ratings for products or services on your website. User generated reviews have a great impact on the minds of the buyers. In the age of Web 2.0 and social media and networks like Facebook this is one of the most popular ways to promote your product or service.
It’s a good way to have reviews and ratings section on your website after all; it’s a FREE way to promote you, isn’t it? Reviews are considered reliable, as opined by most and if there is no review the potential customer tends to walk away from your website. There is no turning back.
Reviews on a website have to be open, clear and true. You must stand the truth – because reviews can be bad as well. But wait; don’t write it off, cause it’s easier to ‘catch’ an edited review. So face the truth!
3. Show That Products Are Scarce
If the products are scarce the demand for it goes up. The social psychology is such that it makes a person feel that ‘he needs it no matter what’ and a loss is ‘felt’ more than a gain. Simply put, if a person loses a chance to buy a certain product the feeling of not having got that is more than the feeling of having gotten the same.
Scarcity can be portrayed online by showing messages like
1. For 5 days only!
2. For the 1st 100 customers only
3. Sales end on December 30th
4. Offer valid until stock lasts
5. The offer will end in 4 days 2 hours 34 minutes 18 seconds (this could be a countdown timer on your website)
4. Seeing Is Believing – Entice Them With Pictures And Videos
Images play an important role in retention of information. It’s said that ‘A picture is worth 1000 words’. Images are good for luxury items and high value goods.
Just make sure the images you provide a good visual appeal, high quality images.
• Professional quality
• Different views of the same image
• Zoom for better viewing
Get innovative – maybe a short video (of 15 to 20 seconds) is good to show WHAT exactly you want to promote. Novel, isn’t it? Sure, because watching a video is less cumbersome than reading and digesting facts.
5. Cross And Up-Sell
I had once gone to McDonalds and ordered for a Mac Burger®. The maître d' asked me if I’d like to have some fries and coleslaw along with it. Well, could I refuse it? No.
Cool tactic eh? Once you have committed to purchasing / consuming any product it’s not that hard to persuade to buy more.
It’s a good idea to display related items / products near the product you want to sell like – French fries and coleslaw with burgers or sandwiches or a pair of neon laces along with your skating shoes. The craving to buy never stops!
6. Show Authority
We are easily overwhelmed by authority or influential icons. Let us take the example of basket ball. If Kobe Bryant would promote a certain brand of basketball shoes you would easily buy it, and not if you were recommended by your best friend Michael. Am I right?
RIGHT!
Websites that show authority are trusted more easily as they are considered experts in their field and this holds good for B2B websites.
• Show you are an expert
• Link to 3rd party websites and back up your facts
• Give reference to authoritative bodies
• Display symbol of authority like VERITAS, Veri Sign
7. Dispel The Fear In Them
Numerous questions like ‘Can I return the goods if I don’t like them?” or “Are there any additional costs that is not shown?” can arise while buying online.
Dispel such fear by providing an exhaustive FAQ which helps them clear up any cobwebs in their mind. It also generates a positive influence on you.
Persuasion in short helps the user get all the information he needs and changing his stubborn mind into one who is urged into buying from you. But remember, along with such persuasive tactics you need to also have a solid website to back it up with good service and usability.
Do I sound crazy? Well, that’s exactly what it means to persuade somebody to buy something online – be it consumer goods, luxury items, offers, gifts or services of any kind. It’s not a hardcore scientific formula from the books of a physics book but the knack that many a marketers and scientists (read marketing purist) would tell you to do.
The best way to tackle this is to understand human nature, understand YOU as a buyer. What makes you tick and buy items that you may not even need? Well, it involves understanding the basic human nature which is often repetitive and works subconsciously the same way.
Here are some tips to ethically persuade people to buy.
1. Show Them The Trend – Show What Others Like To Do
The finicky mind often plays an important role while making a buy. People often tend to look at what others are doing. More the number of people doing the same mean more the comfort level they are in. The psychological phenomenon is called the ‘Social Proof’. This means often decisions are based on the reactions or doings of the mass. The feeling of the buyer is that his knowledge is bettered by knowing these conditions.
What can you showcase as ‘Social Proof’? Here are some ways to establish yourself.
• Most popular items
• ‘People who bought this also liked…’
• Top selling items
• Testifying the product or service
2. Online ‘User-Generated’ Reviews
Another best method of guaranteeing a buy is to have reviews and ratings for products or services on your website. User generated reviews have a great impact on the minds of the buyers. In the age of Web 2.0 and social media and networks like Facebook this is one of the most popular ways to promote your product or service.
It’s a good way to have reviews and ratings section on your website after all; it’s a FREE way to promote you, isn’t it? Reviews are considered reliable, as opined by most and if there is no review the potential customer tends to walk away from your website. There is no turning back.
Reviews on a website have to be open, clear and true. You must stand the truth – because reviews can be bad as well. But wait; don’t write it off, cause it’s easier to ‘catch’ an edited review. So face the truth!
3. Show That Products Are Scarce
If the products are scarce the demand for it goes up. The social psychology is such that it makes a person feel that ‘he needs it no matter what’ and a loss is ‘felt’ more than a gain. Simply put, if a person loses a chance to buy a certain product the feeling of not having got that is more than the feeling of having gotten the same.
Scarcity can be portrayed online by showing messages like
1. For 5 days only!
2. For the 1st 100 customers only
3. Sales end on December 30th
4. Offer valid until stock lasts
5. The offer will end in 4 days 2 hours 34 minutes 18 seconds (this could be a countdown timer on your website)
4. Seeing Is Believing – Entice Them With Pictures And Videos
Images play an important role in retention of information. It’s said that ‘A picture is worth 1000 words’. Images are good for luxury items and high value goods.
Just make sure the images you provide a good visual appeal, high quality images.
• Professional quality
• Different views of the same image
• Zoom for better viewing
Get innovative – maybe a short video (of 15 to 20 seconds) is good to show WHAT exactly you want to promote. Novel, isn’t it? Sure, because watching a video is less cumbersome than reading and digesting facts.
5. Cross And Up-Sell
I had once gone to McDonalds and ordered for a Mac Burger®. The maître d' asked me if I’d like to have some fries and coleslaw along with it. Well, could I refuse it? No.
Cool tactic eh? Once you have committed to purchasing / consuming any product it’s not that hard to persuade to buy more.
It’s a good idea to display related items / products near the product you want to sell like – French fries and coleslaw with burgers or sandwiches or a pair of neon laces along with your skating shoes. The craving to buy never stops!
6. Show Authority
We are easily overwhelmed by authority or influential icons. Let us take the example of basket ball. If Kobe Bryant would promote a certain brand of basketball shoes you would easily buy it, and not if you were recommended by your best friend Michael. Am I right?
RIGHT!
Websites that show authority are trusted more easily as they are considered experts in their field and this holds good for B2B websites.
• Show you are an expert
• Link to 3rd party websites and back up your facts
• Give reference to authoritative bodies
• Display symbol of authority like VERITAS, Veri Sign
7. Dispel The Fear In Them
Numerous questions like ‘Can I return the goods if I don’t like them?” or “Are there any additional costs that is not shown?” can arise while buying online.
Dispel such fear by providing an exhaustive FAQ which helps them clear up any cobwebs in their mind. It also generates a positive influence on you.
Persuasion in short helps the user get all the information he needs and changing his stubborn mind into one who is urged into buying from you. But remember, along with such persuasive tactics you need to also have a solid website to back it up with good service and usability.
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