As a business owner and online marketer you are fussy about the web design, the features and navigation of your website. Well its time you lost sleep over your websites loading time too. Ideally consumers expect a loading time of under2 seconds (Yeah!) and the average loading time of websites stand at 5 seconds. See the infographic below from Search Engine Watch. Believe it or not biggies in the business were affected and how!

Having a website that loads fast is technically a challenge. However, Google is obsessed with speed. To improve web experience it has made it easier for a novice to see if the website speed is satisfactory or needs improvement. What’s more it even gives you an analysis of what needs to improve. Just Google “Google Labs Page Speed Online”!

It’s a fantastic tool and gives results for mobiles too. Check it out.

Ecommerce is a booming industry wherein people are buying and selling products online. Website ecommerce is a simple fundamental. Here people go online to a website where they see the products that they can buy. They can browse through categories, see features, compare prices, so on and so forth. Once they decide to buy something they can fill in their credit card details and make the purchase. Alternatively they can pay on delivery based on the company’s policy.

Ecommerce is booming for several reasons, the main reason being the simplicity of it all. It removes the middle man and allows you to make purchases from the comfort of your home. From a beginner’s perspective, website ecommerce may seem slightly difficult to understand, however the workings of it are not at all complex. Website design and maintenance plays a strong role in the ecommerce world. Websites need to be easy to use with simple yet attractive interfaces so that users can navigate quickly and conveniently.

Payment methods are also many. Payments need to be made in a secure manner when it comes to online transactions. A lot of sensitive data is transmitted back and forth and must not fall into the wrong hands or be misused. Products must also be delivered in a safe and timely manner. It is important to remember that when people use an ecommerce website, a lot of trust is involved. Not only do they trust the website to treat their personal data with great care, they are also handing over their money without having physically touched the product first. It becomes very important for ecommerce companies to deliver exactly what they promised.

If customers feel cheated, they will not return to use the website. What’s worse is that cheated customers are likely to voice their experiences on the internet thereby creating, almost irreversibly, a bad reputation for the company.

There are a lot of nitty-gritty details to be understood when it comes to ecommerce websites. Everything from privacy policies to consumer behavior needs to be looked at in great detail so as to successfully run an ecommerce business in today’s competitive world.

The CEO of Global Marketing Resources LLC thanks the Development & Maintenance team at Finesse Web Tech in Patna. At our request they created a widget for Akshaya Patra Foundation that feeds 153,000 hungry children all over India every day. They created the widget within a day by working extra hours at no additional cost! In short, they took corporate social responsibility to higher levels.

This is the widget designed by the team. The counter increases each time someone makes a contribution to the Foundation. The Foundation loved it.

The purpose of the widget is two fold. Firstly, to create awareness about the foundation and the work it does. The other is to create back links to the website so that they show up in organic searches.

One of the biggest defining moments for a website hinges on the decision to either engage in keyword research or to assume that keywords relevant to the site are self-evident. This decision drives the website down one of two paths for search engine optimization:

1. A research based campaign based on keywords with relatively light competition combined with solid traffic numbers. Using research to determine the keywords which are being used to search for the products and services being offered by the site can reveal the terms which are driving traffic and can be optimized quickly. The usual result of going after the low hanging fruit is a cost-effective gain in page rankings which in turn drives targeted traffic to the site. Keyword research can also determine long-tail keywords which may be totally neglected by the competition but can deliver targeted traffic with a higher likelihood for conversion.
2. An SEO campaign based essentially on guessing which keywords are going to work. These guesses typically go either too broad, too narrow, or too technical, all of which will result in dismal traffic numbers. Going too broad runs the likelihood of heavy competition which can translate into high cost, a long time frame for any results, and unqualified traffic. Going too narrow with either untested long-tail or technical keywords probably wont deliver any meaningful traffic numbers.

Considering the investment that goes into website design and search engine optimization, the relatively minor cost of preliminary keyword research is worth every penny in terms of efficiency and the speed of optimization results. Keyword research done prior to building a new website allows for the determination of which keywords should be optimized first and those which will be optimized later. This pecking order can then help to set the timeline for adding page content as the site is built.

For a website to operate at peak efficiency, keyword research should be done on an ongoing basis. The environment for search is dynamic and constantly evolving. Changes in the competitive landscape, search engine algorithms, and search tendencies can reduce the effectiveness of previously productive keywords and lead to the emergence of new terms which suddenly drive traffic. Staying abreast of these changes with research and analysis can keep a website ahead of the curve and the competition.

In general, usability and accessibility of a website is perceived as its integration with different elements of the website, and how easily a user can surf through it. However, website usability and accessibility are completely different things when we talk about an American website.

According to the legal obligations in the United States of America, a website must be usable and accessible. This simply means that as an owner of a website, you must mould it in such a way that a mass chunk of the population gets an opportunity to visit your website and receive maximum utilities out of it.

What is Accessibility and usability”

Accessibility of your website conveys the meaning that it is completely capable to operate well. As the owner of that business website, you must ensure that it is accessible from all the corners of the world. It must be created by using programs and designs that are specially used for creating websites, which require minimum efforts on the part of the visitors to view and go through it. For example, using JavaScript can pose some challenges and limitations in your website design because many users surf the internet with their JavaScript tags turned off. If this is the case, they will not be able to view the images or other elements that have been created by using JavaScript.

Should I Go for latest technologies in my website”

If you have tried to make your website audible by making use of music files and a flash player, it may become a challenge for your websites accessibility. Visitors with hearing problems may not be able to hear your websites audio content. In addition, if you have included flash player and some elements that run exclusively on it, the website may not be very much accessible to many people. This is because, a flash player is required to be installed prior to view or listen files that have been created using it. It is, therefore, necessary that your website convey all the relevant information in an easy and most commonly used way.

The growing popularity of mobile phones and many other devices that allow the user to access the internet also pose a threat to your websites accessibility and usability. Some features may not be fully functional if a visitor is viewing your website through a mobile device. It is important that your website is structured in a manner using special programs that easily run on such modern and handy devices too.

To put in simple terms, a website that is not well accessible is not usable too. This directly relates to a downward sloping sales graph. Your website should be clearly visible to the relevant segment of the internet users and accessible in least possible steps. Its usability affects your conversion rates because a user will quickly move on to another website if he does not find it usable enough.

Last post Part 1 of Interviewing Your Potential SEO Company covered the issues of experience of the prospective team and the process used by the SEO company to attain stated objectives. This weeks Part 2 covers the area of partnership between the prospective SEO company and your business. These questions are designed to help determine whether the company is going to take an active interest in the success of your business or just punch the clock and charge the monthly search engine optimization fees.

On the partnership:

• How often will we communicate” The specific schedule for briefings is’nt as important as determining that communications between parties is both open and encouraged. Reporting should be done monthly to monitor progress while other communications can take place as events warrant. The biggest warning sign here would be a Don’t call us, well call you type of response. If you get that, head for the door.
• What is our timeline and how will we define success” An SEO company with experience and integrity will be able to provide estimates on your timeline but will never guarantee a result. Should the company you’re interviewing respond with a front page guarantee within a certain time, they are simply telling you what you want hear in order to make the sale. Success can be defined in a number of ways including a ranking on the front page of the search engines for defined keywords. While this may be the most popular measure, there are other metrics for calculating success which may be more important such as a positive return on the investment for search engine optimization, regardless of page ranking.
• Can you help build my business beyond your SEO efforts” This is big one. Working with a company that can bring new ideas to the table for your business can make a huge difference in your bottom line. This ability and willingness of a company to provide advice and guidance is probably the biggest difference between a relationship with a vendor and one with a partner.

Search engine optimization is a process conducted in a competitive environment with an ever-changing landscape. The best SEO companies won’t be afraid to tell you that. Ask the questions listed above and last week and listen to the answers. The separation between the companies that can deliver and those that cant will become very clear.

Once the decision has been made to hire an SEO company, the next and most important step is to ensure that you’re hiring the right one. Once the search for an SEO company begins, it becomes quickly apparent that the general message from each company is very similar on three points:

1. Getting to page one on the search engines
2. How fast its going to happen
3. The cost of making it happen

To ensure that you are going to be working with an SEO company that can deliver the goods, its important to dive deeper into each companys level of experience, how their process works, and whether their process has been successful for other clients. The following questions, divided into Part 1 and next weeks Part 2, should provide some answers to help you clarify which company will be the best to suit your needs, drive targeted traffic to your site, and improve the conversion rates from your sites visitors.On experience and the process:

• How long have you been in business” Hiring a new company always carries its share of risks ranging from how well funded they are to their in-house skill sets. Don’t let a discounted price distract you from these key issues. Insist on multiple years in business with a broad client list.
• Tell me about your SEO process If the process doesn’t start with extensive research on keywords and the competitive environment, run away. A process that doesnt define its starting point through thorough research is not going to reach its objectives. A company that bases its SEO work on initial research will be able to define the fastest and most cost effective path to success.
• Can you show me some of your successes” Front page success with targeted traffic and conversions is what youre looking for and if the company has done it with others you’re on the right track. Take it one step further and see if you can talk to the companies which have had successful campaigns run for them.
• How many employees do you have” Avoid one or two man shops whenever possible. Regardless of the talent level, the risk here is that, should they get more work than they can handle or a larger client, your project will end up being outsourced or put on the back burner.
• Have you done search engine optimization for anyone else in my industry” Industry specific experience may not be critical as most SEO work follows similar paths. If they are working with other businesses in the same industry, determine whether there will be any conflict issues, especially if both businesses are competing in the same local area.

There are two old clichs which apply directly to SEO; You get what you pay for, and Actions speak louder than words. To be sure youre working with an SEO that will deliver, don’t be fooled by discounted prices and make sure that each companys actions have yielded success.

Once the decision is made to outsource your search engine optimization, the next move is to decide on which SEO company will deliver results, visitors, and conversions in the most cost effective manner. The issue which traps many website owners is that the most tangible aspect of this decision making process is the cost of the project. Under this perception, essential issues such as keyword research, analysis of the existing competition, and the development of a marketing strategy can take a back seat to the priority of writing the smallest check possible. Whether a website owner is shopping on price only or an SEO company is selling their services on the cheap, the end result is usually the same; money spent with nothing to show for it. Here are few SEO scenarios based on price first, results second:

1. The kid – While their intentions are probably entirely honorable, your friends suggestion that their son who is home for summer is the right man for the job at the right price isnt likely to work out well. Even if things do go well what happens when school starts in the fall”
2. The moonlighter He may work in the business or may just be great with computers but trusting an SEO campaign to someone whos going to do it as a side job is doomed to failure for one simple reason. Its highly unlikely that a moonlighter will have the necessary time to execute a successful SEO campaign even if he has the skill set for it.
3. Page one promises, low cost, no traffic There are page one listings on the search engines which generate tons of targeted traffic as a result of keyword research and the execution of the resulting marketing strategy. Then there are those which generate none. The difference is that the page one listings which generate nothing are typically based on long tail (7 to 9 word) key phrases which may have some relevance to the site but generate no searches. In this scenario, the SEO company puts up a front page listing, collects the money from the site owner, and delivers nothing.

All successful SEO campaigns start with extensive keyword and keyphrase research. This research then determines where opportunities exist to drive targeted traffic in the most expeditious and cost effective manner possible. What follows are time consuming (often 100+ hours per month) and labor-intensive activities such as link-building, article submissions, blog posting and a host of others. Over time, these activities play out resulting in larger numbers of targeted traffic which finds its way to your site through the search engines. While it may be tempting to shop on price assuming the end result will be a positive, there are no short cuts to this formula.

The promise of instant first page results on Google by some SEO companies may work for nine word, long-tail keyphrases but the reality for long term success in search engine optimization is something quite different. What works with SEO is when it becomes a habit, an ongoing process which starts with exhaustive research and then requires constant testing, man-hours, and analysis in order to provide the best results possible.

The countless moving parts of SEO also require monitoring on an ongoing basis. These changes may include algorithm changes at the search engines, changes in the competitive landscape, the introduction of a new product from your own company, or the addition of a new search engine such as Microsoft’s “Bing”. Whatever the circumstances may be, turning the following activities into habits will improve your SEO results and increase the numbers of targeted traffic to your site, which in turn can lead to higher conversion numbers:

• Research - Any SEO effort, in order to be successful, must begin with a deep dive into keyword and keyphrase research. This advance research can determine the keywords and phrases which are highly competitive versus those which may drive targeted traffic but are being ignored or utilized minimally by competitors. This allows for resources to be directed at winnable searches versus highly competitive ones, which typically proves to be more cost effective and result in a much higher return on investment. High rankings on search engine results pages, as a benefit of going after less competitive keywords, will also occur much faster.
• Analysis - Analyzing what is happening on your site must become a habit as well, and it doesn’t have to be expensive. Google provides a ton of free data and tools which provide information on several areas including what keywords you are ranking for, which keywords are driving traffic to your site and which ones aren’t, which pages have been indexed, where inbound links are coming from, and where the problems are on your site. The information allows for constant insight into what is working and what isn’t both on the site and for off-site efforts.
• Upgrading your site - Habitual site analysis will lead the ability to fix and improve the weak points on the website. For example, if a large percentage of visitors is leaving after visiting a specific page, it’s likely that there is some sort of issue there whether it’s a broken link, bad content, confusing navigation, or something else. Constantly looking for weaknesses, making adjustments, and making sure your site is maintained can make a huge difference in keeping visitors on your site, which in turn improves the chances for conversion.
• Testing and retesting - Test everything you do in your search engine optimization efforts. If changes are made, test those too. Keyword trends can change, content can get stale, and that new shopping cart may be confusing potential purchasers but you won’t know it unless you’re constantly testing and measuring the performance of your site.

Search engine optimization requires constant attention on multiple fronts to provide consistently superior results. Only by making SEO a habitual practice can a website owner maximize efforts, resources, and outcomes to keep traffic and conversions growing quarter to quarter. In many cases, the work required for habitual SEO can be too prohibitive to be done properly in-house. GMR Web Team specializes in all the areas of habitual search engine optimization, generating superior results on a consistent basis. For more information on running a successful SEO campaign visit www.gmrwebteam.com or call (714) 731 9000.