The Picture Behind the Algorithms! Should You Care?
The image above is from Wikipedia and the article is not for the faint of heart. It’s all about PageRank. And no…I don’t recommend you read it. Especially now that Google has removed PageRank from its toolbar. They don’t want you to pay attention and yet many still think they must! And what about Search Engine Optimization or SEO?
Do you wonder about SEO? Is your website Search Engine Optimized? Should it be? And just how can you tell if it is or isn’t? What the heck is this SEO stuff really?
Can someone improve your SEO? Should you hire that nerdy guy that sent you an email out of the blue promising to raise your sites rankings and optimize you in search engines?
Maybe you should take that online course and learn how to do SEO yourself? What does a higher SERP (search engine results page) ranking do to improve SEO? And what’s all this stuff about meta-tags, keywords, and canonical URLS? What do YOU need to know? What will matter to you and your business and to your sales? Breathe.
Cart Before The Horse?
I recently was approached to be part of a team with a rather large project for a not yet published site. The idea was that I would do the blogging and some other basic marketing work and the conversation quickly turned to SEO. It’s a subject that I won’t pretend for a moment that I have any deep knowledge about, but I often know more than the majority of my clients.
The new site owner is transforming an older and outdated site and adding e-commerce. “I will be bringing all the old blog posts over and I want you to revamp them and get more keywords in them so we get higher SEO.”
The owner knew the buzz words, that’s for sure! That’s when my mind went to canonical URLs. I started to discuss this “tool” – canonical URLs – and stopped in mid-sentence. The owner started up again about SEO then, at that point, I just backed off the conversation. I said I had some information that might help and then sent a few Google specific articles written by “The Google Team” itself. Here’s a link to what I sent. It is about SEO specifically. BUT – just relax and read the rest of this blog for now.
Cart before the horse? SEO for a site that's missing email capture is wasted effort! Click To Tweet
Instead, let’s look at a checklist of things you need in place before you bother yourself with PageRanks and SEO stuff. For my avid fans who read my blogs, this will be a familar list. But it’s worth revisiting.
Your Own Website:
- Your own website with your own domain so you can be more easily found in a search
- A solid modern website that works on all devices
- A site that is easy to understand (test your site with PEEK for free) and to navigate (which helps with SEO BTW!)
- A strong underlying message and tone on your website that creates trust, minimizes unanswered questions, and funnels interested people into a buying mood
Shopping Cart:
- A shopping cart – I still love my free online shopping cart that comes as part of my SquareUP.com account
- Excellent photos and straight talking descriptions that entice purchases
- Full contact information for added trustworthiness
Email Sign-ups:
- An email sign-up form on every single page (use the footer or header areas)
- A dedicated email signup form page where you can make them an offer they can’t refuse
- Maybe even a (subtle) pop-up to gather emails (see this article)
- And put that sign-up link onto your shopping cart page also. They might land directly on your shopping cart from a search
- Offer an incentive to signup: “xx% off your first order when you join my list.”
Blog – yes… it’s important:
- Once a month can make a big difference
- It gives you a built-in excuse to connect with your email subscribers
- It’s an opportunity to be more conversational and personal with your audience
- It REALLY helps your SEO. It naturally “refreshes” your site’s content and gives you more visibility with “The Google”.
And… okay… you want to use Social Media, of course. But please…wait before you spend money on ads and hear this Loud and Clear: It’s all about pay to play to get results. Don’t pay if it won’t pay off! And, if your ideal buyer is not likely to be on Snapchat or Twitter, why would you go out of your way to post on those channels? Follow the direct path to where they likely hang-out.
First Things First
Email is actually first, of course. Staying in touch using a professional program like Constant Contact (my fav) while you are building the other components or fixing your website is very important. When I am helping someone re-group and get a new website created, we use this adventure as part of the “content” we create in the emails. “There will be some great news in about 2 weeks. Please stay tuned for my totally new website.”
It can be fun to use the changes as part of your outreach – even give a sneak peek to pique their interest. (Say that three times fast!) And don’t worry if you are just starting out. Just start, right? Send emails to friends and family and do whatever you can to start building your list.
SEO doesn’t help if you aren’t ready to seal the deal
So while it’s great to do all the things that will help you with your site’s visibility, it’s really important that once they land on your website, you are prepared to take advantage of increasing traffic to your site. You must be ready get their email and hopefully get them to purchase, too.
Your website can be retro-fitted to increase SEO anytime. Meanwhile, emails will have that more personal connection. Emails are all about getting people to continue to think about you and your services or products. If you are sending an email at least once a month, you will be likely to have someone looking at your offer or heading to your website to get more information because you are in the right place (their inbox!) and it’s the right time for them to be considering your service or product.
Every exposure they have to you and your business is a moment of deepening their connection to you. Out-of-sight is out-of-mind. And that’s never been truer than today with our frenetic online distractions.
Close That Loop!
Get your email system up and running so you don’t have to depend on someone randomly finding you through a Google Search to begin with. Then, when you are randomly discovered by a search, and your email system is in place, you can capture that person’s email and you have closed the loop. When you have ALL three elements in place, you can make sales online. YOU. CAN. MAKE. SALES. ONLINE.
Eventually, you can turn your attention to increasing your SEO, purchasing Social Media Ads, and even hire people like me to optimize your website’s words and replace them with “MY Golden Words” and increase your sales even further.
I can be worth my weight in gold, but not if you don’t have the full Golden Triangle of Success in place. If you want a quick review of where you stand today and want to do a little brainstorming, put your comments below and be sure to include your website I will contact you later with a 5-minute video review of your current site for free.
This OFFER IS ONLY GOOD for first five commenters. If you don’t have a website (or don’t want to share it publicly ‘cus you are feeling shy) and still want my help, let’s chat soon. icanhelp@mygoldenwords.com
Don’t be afraid to take Mckenna up on this offer for a website review. I did, and her suggestions gave me the help I needed to get my new website up and running. And no, Mckenna did not ask me to make this comment. 🙂
Your website was so much fun, Susan! Thanks for this unsolicited testimonial!
Wow! Thanks McKenna! I’ll take you up on your website review offer!
I’ve checked in with a few arts organizations on Oahu to see if we can fly you over to give our members one of your marketing talks. I know I’ve learned from them over the years.
Mahalo,
Patrice A Federspiel
http://www.artofaloha.com
Thanks for the kind words! I am coming to Oahu, Patrice, but that is by invitation and planned for mid to late March. I would love to come before that – the holidays and high season are right around the corner. Let’s chat soon.
MEANWHILE: I can’t wait to put your site under my scope and will have that completed today, too.
Just revamped my site, added e-commerce and reached out to everyone in my address book who bought or commissioned artwork from me. It almost doubled my newsletter list. I have used Peek and tweaked the site some more.
The real challenge for me is that I really don’t like to blog. It is a chore that takes me away from creating art to sell. I don’t have anything to say besides “buy my art” and that’s just not bright.
So, I would love to take you up on your offer. If I have things under control to the blogging part, I will make the time to do it. Thanks much.
Nice! You are really taking all the steps to be successful, Melissa. I will try to get your video done today, too!
Blogging… oh my…. So it’s something that many people think must be A when in fact it can be Z.
I am adding a bonus for your video: I will add my thoughts about your blogging in addition to your overall site and give you some specific tips. One thing you understand and it’s crucial: you can’t just say “buy my art”.
Don’t you love Peek? Now you get a marketing guru and artists point of view from me, too.
Thanks for all the golden words…I am going to try out Peek on my website for oil paintings!
I still have a few openings for MY personal review, too, Kylie. But you will love Peek, too!
A year ago I transferred to a new host, and have been retooling and tweaking my website ever since. I wanted a more traditional look and feel that would serve both as an e-commerce venue, and as a portfolio that would appeal to prospective galleries and shops, as well as individual retail buyers. From the start, and while doing any modifications to the site, I’ve kept one key thing in mind: Website visitors are like water, they want to take the fastest, most direct route – NEVER make them work for anything. Hence, I’ve tried to make it pretty straightforward (no animation, music, or cutesy chat) and easy to navigate (in my opinion). But that doesn’t mean it actually is for other users/visitors.
When printing or publishing any writing or releasing new art to the market, I’ve always tried to get an “outside” opinion or reaction. (One way I do that with my art is to post new work on my Farcebook, um, Facebook Page, and groups.) So, if I’m not too late, I’d be interested in what you think about it.
Thanks
I love this part of your statement, James: Website visitors are like water, they want to take the fastest, most direct route – NEVER make them work for anything.
THAT is spot on! And it makes me all the more excited to add you to my “video” review. I have a few deadlines at the moment, but I might get to it before the sun goes down here in Maui.
This is the soundest advice I have received in the longest time, just as I was getting SEO-Obsessive. I have just started working on selling online and looking forward to my very first sale. Now I know that I need to work on the golden triangle. I. CAN. MAKE. SALES. ONLINE. Thank you so much, Mckenna.
I am THRILLED for you, Bena! Let me know if I can be helpful in any way in the future! All the best to you.
Hi McKenna,
Thank you so much for all of your resources. I have literally stumbled my way through errors, mistakes and LOTS of confusion with creating my site. I have learned a great deal though too and feel positive in that regard. I’m not sure if you are still giving out your opinions on websites, but if you are I would love if you could take a gander at mine! http://www.paperfigments.com
Thank you for all that you share with us – very very valuable information and I appreciate that you’ve done most of the leg work for us already 😉
I hit my quota… but… what the heck! Your flattery worked. LOL. We have TWO hurricanes racing directly to our islands, so if I still have power in the morning, I will get to this bright and early.
Thanks again for all your kind words, Shelby.
Hi McKenna, I appreciate your contributions and insights on marketing and promoting art. I would love a review/critique of my site and online presence. The enthusiasm to my art is gratifying, but the results with online marketing have been disappointing and my confidence in presentation and my tech savvy promotion is shaky and primitive. You have helped me before. Thank you. More support and next step guidance would be welcome. Davidfriedmanart.com
Thanks for the kind words! I have completed my quota, but I will take a look, David. As I recall, you tend to have a lot of information packed into every page, but let’s see where you are at these days! You will get a video report a little later.