Then I see the pricing structure...
And besides which, leaving cash on the bedside dresser on the way out sounds sooooooo tacky!
Keeping your small business or SME afloat is a tricky proposition. Lucky for you, SEO North Sydney is here to help keep the sharks at bay!
So I'm looking into extending my SEO company's reach, using non-traditional channels, when I come across an article on the always erudite website: Forbes.com. An article from a (US) SEO company that is obviously using the platform to pimp their SEO-ride. So I get to thinking...how do I get articles on Forbes? My writing ability and SEO knowledge married with the reach of Forbes? That's got to be a union made in Heaven! Then I see the pricing structure... Needless to say I have decided it's better for both parties if we go our separate ways. Because if a fella has to pay US$100,000 a month for a roll in the hay with Forbes, then I'm pretty sure she's not going to be doing it because she loves me for me...
And besides which, leaving cash on the bedside dresser on the way out sounds sooooooo tacky!
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I just had a phone call from the daughter of a good mate of mine, Steve Congerton, saying that he had passed away, on August 2nd. They didn't have my number for some reason, and so in the chaos of the funeral arrangements I wasn't informed, and so didn't get to go to the funeral to pay my respects. Which I would've very much liked to have done. But the family just received the Christmas card Kristi and I sent to Congo and his family, so his daughter Amy instantly called me to tell me the belated news that he had passed away. Congo (as he was affectionately known by everyone who knew him) was one of the good guys. Okay, sure, he was a Sp*rs fan, so he wasn't perfect. And as a London ‘geeza’, when he spoke he sounded like he was auditioning for a remake of Minder. But his football allegiances and cockney patter aside, he was an absolute gent. A salesman born, rather than forged, Congo was - as I've often described him - the GREATEST SALESMAN I HAVE EVER MET. And I'm not saying this because he's passed away. I'm not saying it just to speak well about the dead. I'm saying this from a position of strength and knowledge. If selling was cricket, Congo would be remembered as Don Bradman. HE WAS THAT GOOD. And you have to remember that I am demonstrably a damn fine salesman myself so I know of what I speak. And no, that's not ego talking either, that's just the cold hard facts of my CV staring back at me. I've sold most everything at one time or another, and have managed sales teams of up to 200 people. But if Congo was a Don Bradman, then at best I'm a David Gower or Ian Botham. Sure I'm talented and a potential match winner (on my day). But Gower and Botham didn't possess a fraction of the innate ability of the Don when all’s said and done. And so I'm here to tell you that despite everything I know, everything I've done, everything I've sold, down through the years: I am not worthy of lacing up Congo's shoes. Congo and I met in 1999 when I was hired by AiC Worldwide as National Events Manager to run a huge technology trade show at Darling Harbour. Part of my remit being that I had to sell sponsorship and exhibition stands for half the show. Congo was responsible for sponsorship and exhibition stand sales for the other half. Now this was a HUGE show remember. The biggest Broadcast and Digital Media trade show Australia had ever had. The sort of show with north of 100,000 people coming through the gates during the 3 days the event was on, and national TV and radio coverage. So this event was a big deal for everyone involved. Congo was the greatest Salesman AiC Worldwide (later, Terrapin) had on their books (quite probably the greatest salesman they had ever had on their books), and I came in and outsold him that year, winning 'Salesman of the Year' in the process. Now let me reiterate that, as good as I am at sales, I AM NOT WORTHY OF LACING UP CONGO'S SHOES. When it comes to this sort of thing, I am like the perfect storm. High intensity, maximum damage. And then I get bored and move on to destinations unknown. I happened onto this Broadcast and Digital Media World event at the right time in history (when the dot com boom was a-booming), and the market was ready for it (digital television was officially launched in Australia at the show by Senator Alston for example, and I also did the first ever live streaming of an Australian event at this show, which was the prelude to me launching IndieFilmWeb.com). So let’s just say the stars aligned, and I was motivated by cashing some big a*sed commission cheques to beat Congo at what he did best: selling. When I told his daughter, Amy, this story on the phone today, she laughed and said, 'Oh, dad would've hated you for that! He didn’t let anyone beat him!'. But I said, 'No, actually, he didn't. He RESPECTED me for it’. To the point he hired me as National Advertising Manager for Australia's largest Government magazine (Government News) when he was publisher, several years later. And to the point that we talked many times over the years about forming a company together (which regrettably never happened.) But me outselling Congo was a one-off, make no mistake about that. Had I stayed at AiC Worldwide (I left to launch IndieFilmWeb.com just after the show), and had Congo and I gone head-to-head on another 10 shows. Another 100 shows. Chances are Congo would've soundly kicked my a*se on all of them, with daylight coming in second. But sales isn't a sport. And so nobody remembers the great ones when they go. But Congo, me ol' mucka, I'll always remember you. I remember you co-founded Euromoney. I remember you co-founded Business Review Weekly with Robert Gottliebsen (who attended Congo’s funeral). I remember you as a mentor in person, and a force of nature while on the phone. God threw away the mould when he made you, mate. And the world is a much sadder place without you in it. Congo was a man who owned every room he ever walked into. Who could speak underwater with a mouth full of marbles. Who could sell ice to an Eskimo. And like many a great salesman, he was a guy with a heart of gold. There are many anecdotes about Congo I could pen here, but I’ll end on this one, because it’s forever in front of me: Congo was working as publisher on Government News when he hired me to come in and work under him as National Advertising Manager. Trouble was, four months after I started, the parent company who owned Government News, was sold to the Intermedia Group, and we all, from the CEO to the cleaners (Congo included) lost our jobs. Congo was naturally mortified that this had happened, as I’d left a good paying job to come work there. But sometimes sh*t just happens, so you have to roll with the punches. Anyway, on our last day of work at Government News, while all the computers, and chairs and servers and printers et al were being packed up, to be shipped to the new owners head office in Surry Hills (we were in Frenchs Forrest), Congo walked in holding a big, expensive framed print that had hung in the CEO’s office, and that I had often commented on (I’m a big fan of lighthouses, and there was something about the print that spoke to me). “Here,” he said with a wicked grin on his cherub like face. “Go put this in your car.” “But…” stammered I, “Hasn’t everything been itemised and catalogued already by the new owners?’ To which Congo just winked at me and shrugged. “Guess it must’ve got lost in transit…” And to this day, that print is proudly positioned above my couch in my home. Which is just another reason why I’m not forgetting you anytime soon, Congo. Rest In Peace, mate. God knows you of all people have earned it. Ooops! The internet is a big place and we all get lost from time to time. Still, maybe you'd best click HOME to ensure it's not a totally wasted journey. Wizardry and wonder awaits :)
Ooops! The internet is a big place and we all get lost from time to time. Still, maybe you'd best click HOME to ensure it's not a totally wasted journey. Wizardry and wonder awaits :)If you own, operate or market a business website, you're no doubt well aware of the fact that the conversion rate is a very important parameter governing how profitable your website actually is. Traffic is all well and good, but if nobody buys the widgets you're selling, or picks up the phone as a result of what they've read, then what's the point? You're running a business after all, not a lending library. As I always say about my own business: I'd rather have 10 people come to my website and 9 sign up, than 10,000 people coming to my website and only 8 sign up! What is the Conversion Rate for a Website?In simple internet marketing terms, the conversion rate for a website is defined as the number of conversions per visitor reaching the site, shown as a percentage. Conversions can be any actions that you as the website owner consider to be beneficial. For instance for an eCommerce website, a sale can be treated as a conversion (obviously), while for an informational site offering email newsletter subscriptions, a visitor subscribing to the newsletter can be a conversion. What is Conversion Rate Optimisation?Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) is a method of increasing the percentage of visitors reaching a website who either buy something from the site or take some other action that is considered to be beneficial to the site owner. Just like Search Engine Optimisation may be thought of as part art and part science, so to with Conversion Rate Optimisation. Which, when done well, will significantly improve a website's turnover. What are the Benefits of CRO?While the benefits of CRO should be fairly obvious to any entrepreneur or small business owner, let me quantify them in more detail to help put things in the correct perspective. Generally speaking, the cost of operating a website should remain more or less constant regardless of the conversion rate it achieves. So far as traffic is concerned, a website is likely to receive:
Traffic that is referred from another website can be free (someone links from their website to yours because they like your content) or it can come at a price (paid advertising on someone else's site that incorrectly comes into your Google analytics as referred traffic, even though it's technically paid traffic). Traffic generated via paid advertising obviously costs money (because you're paying per click or impression) and getting organic search traffic in any volume requires an over-arching SEO strategy driving it (which naturally costs money too, as you need to hire a SEO Company to get the first page results you require). So for this example, let's assume that a website selling products online spends $1,000 per month on paid advertising and $1,000 per month on SEO services. And let's further imagine (for easy math) that it averages about 1,000 unique visitors per day. Next, let us assume that the average transaction value for the website is $50. And finally, let's say that it has a conversion rate of 1% (i.e. one out of every 100 visitors buys from the site). Given the above scenario, the site would average 10 sales per day. And with the average transaction value of $50, it would gross $500 per day or $15,000 per month in sales (on a 30 day month). Now let's see what would happen if the conversion rate of the site gets increased from 1% to 1.5%. When this happens the gross monthly income generated by the website would jump from $15,000 to $22,500 straight away, with the exact same operating cost of $2,000. So that's a $7,500 per month or a $90,000 per year increase in annual turnover - WITHOUT GETTING A SINGLE ADDITIONAL PERSON TO YOUR SITE PER MONTH. How to Optimise Conversion RatesAs mentioned earlier, CRO is part art and part science, and there are many different ways in which it can be implemented and practiced. Unlike SEO (where the same general principles would largely work across different sites), the process of CRO depends more heavily upon factors like the nature of the site, the demographics of the target audience it caters to, what is the preferred action or the conversion measurement criteria for the site etc. However there are some CRO factors that can generally work across a broad spectrum of websites, with a reasonable assurance of positive, beneficial results. Some of these commonly applicable CRO factors are covered below: Craft Your Copy to ConvertPersuasive and professional copywriting is a panacea for increasing your conversion optimisation, and has been tested and proven time and again to significantly increase conversions. If your website copy connects with your target audience and offers them a solution to their needs, more of them will convert. Move Your Website to HTTPSAlthough more and more internet users are growing comfortable using their credit card online, the security of such information still continues to remain a strong deterrent for a significant percentage of internet users when it comes to online shopping. Assuring website visitors that it is safe to buy via your website by converting it from HTTP to HTTTS is not only a ranking factor in Google, it is a great way of assuring your clients that any financial and personal information they provide via your website is 100% secure. Which has a positive impact on your website's conversion rates. Put the Human Back in the LoopNo matter how trustworthy a site has been designed to be, there will still be a percentage of visitors (especially older visitors) who just won't put in their card or bank information online. People as the old saying goes, like buying from people. So put a human back in the loop by providing an option (like 'live chat' for example), as this is a great way to increase conversion rates. A live chat service on a site will often help walk people through to the checkout and thus boost the site's conversion rate. Increase Your Website's Loading SpeedPeople are busy and easily distracted, and a slow loading website or web page is often the hidden factor that's killing your site's SEO. Google recommends that each page load in less than 2 seconds. So test your site's load speed, and if it isn't up to snuff, you can expect to lose people across your entire website. From the home page to the checkout the rule of thumb is: the longer the page takes to load, the less people remain on that page. Redesign Your WebsiteIf your website is outdated or difficult to navigate, or if the UX (User Experience) is frustrating because the visitor just can't find what they're looking for, then you need to bite the bullet and get yourself a new website designed. Because a professionally designed small business website does wonders to your conversion rates. Think of it like two sales guys walk into your store, and one is clean shaven and dressed in a $10,000 Tom Ford Suit, and one has a five o'clock shadow and wears ripped shorts and a sweaty singlet. Which do you think you're most likely to buy from? As that time honoured old saying goes: 'You only get one chance to make a first impression'. What impression is YOUR website giving your brand? The Ecommerce Bermuda TriangleFor an eCommerce website, the checkout page is the final step between success and failure, between a completed sale and a lost sale. It's into this 'Bermuda Triangle' that many a potential buyer goes...and is never seen or heard of again. It has been proven time and again that if you provide visitors – or buyers – with too many ways to navigate away from the checkout page, a percentage of them will do exactly that – navigate away. Which results in lost sales. So keep the checkout page distraction free and help your customers remain 'on-point', will significantly boost conversions Conversion Rate Optimisation - Hire a Professional and do it RightThese are but a few ways in which effective CRO can be implemented. As mentioned above, there exist scores of other CRO methods and techniques, each one of which can contribute towards an increase in a website's conversion rate to varying extents. A truly knowledgeable and competent web marketing / SEO professional can help you to increase your website's Conversion Rate Optimisation.
It's 5.30 am and I am awake. My eyelids heavy, my heart likewise. Beyond my window the rain is relentless, the sky an insipid grey, the light wan, the tone depressive. There is no wind today. Just the rain and the biting cold. Beyond my home, the trees bear witness to the endless clockwork of time that stretches out before them. Willow Bottlebrush and Banksia, Paperbark and Oak, they are all of them statues on a Caravaggio canvas of earth and bark.
Against this backdrop, a discordant child's voice - like a memory rising from the depths of my mind - murmours, 'Oranges and lemons says the bells of St. Clement's. You owe me five farthings, say the bells of St. Martin's. When will you pay me, say the bells of Old Bailey. When I grow rich, say the bells of Shoreditch. When will that be, say the bells of Stepney. I do not know, says the great bell of Bow. Here comes a candle to light you to bed. And here comes a chopper to chop off your head!' It's a young girl's voice, best I can make out, maybe 7 or 8; her lament at once shrill, breathy, harshly off-key. I drag myself out of bed and walk outside to the balcony to see where the voice is coming from, but find nothing save the trees and the rain. As I stand there, the macabre nursery rhyme grows fainter, as if the girl is moving away from me, retreating backwards in time. And I am suddenly reminded of an old Black & White horror film I saw growing up in the UK, many moons ago. The only detail of which I remember being that of a family - circa 1946 perhaps - pulling into the long curved driveway of a stately English country manor, the rain falling heavily about them. This is their new home, one presumes, and as they alight from their sleek black Austin 16, they are greeted by a servant of the house standing in the driveway who proffers an apologetic smile and a black umbrella. Together they move towards the expansive front door of the manor house, while the camera cranes up and away to reveal several ghostly children, all aged ten or under, sitting high in the branches of the trees; their tattered clothes centuries out of date, their mouths moving in unison to the tune of a long forgotten nursery rhyme. The son and daughter of the new lord of the manor, both under ten themselves, hear the nursery rhyme and turn and stare behind them, their eyes wide, the hackles rising on the backs of their necks. But there is nothing to be seen, save the rain, and the trees that bear witness to the endless clockwork of time that stretches out before them. "Here comes a candle to light you to bed. And here comes a chopper to chop off your head.'' Copyright 2016 - Brian M Logan Click here to read more CREATIVE WRITING EXAMPLES. Website Design MelbourneSEO North Sydney are extremely happy to launch a new web design in Melbourne, Victoria, for shippingcontainersmelbourne, a local container company that specialises in the sales and hire of shipping containers across Victoria. A clean, measured design was the order of the day for this web build, blending the client's light blue logo with a lot of white space in order to offer visitors an effortless experience where website navigation and usability are prioritised above the more flashy websites favoured by some of their competitors. SEO Copywriting Melbourne | SEO MelbourneSEO North Sydney built the website, wrote all copy therein, and were hire to run the client's local Melbourne SEO campaign.
Web Design BrisbaneSEO North Sydney are proud to announce the launch of a new website in Brisbane for ShippingContainersBrisbane.com.au, a respected local Brisbane shipping container company! A slick and stylish design, utilising a dark colour pallet to emphasise their stylish branding, this new website delivers on both functionality and style. SEO Copywriting Brisbane | SEO BrisbaneSEO North Sydney not only designed the site, but were hired to write every single word of copy on the site and run the client's on-going local Brisbane SEO campaign.
Keywords - More is Better, Right?'Keywords'. Even seeing that written down evokes the art of search engine optimisation in your mind, doesn't it? Come on now, admit it. Despite the murmurings in the Force you've heard to the contrary; deep down you still think keywords are where the action’s at. Oh sure you're nothing if not a diligent small business owner, so you've done some research on the subject of search engine optimisation. And yes, okay, you've heard about that thing called 'Panda'. You've read about that 'Hummingbird' algo-whatsit. And you're vaguely aware that a 'Penguin' is apparently one of the scariest animals in the Google zoo. But really, when it boils down to it, that's all just smoke and mirrors isn't it? A recherché selection of technobabble that is needlessly esoteric and deliberately designed to obfuscate the subject matter from nerdling neophytes. Right? “Wrong, wrong, absolutely brimming over with wrongability.” Arnold J. Rimmer, RED DWARF Search Engine Optimisation – How to Make it a Fair FightIf we were having this discussion in 1996 - or heck, even 2006 - I'd hold up my hands and agree with you that keywords are ubur important to ranking your website. In fact I’d likely buy you the first round at the pub, for bringing the subject up. But we're not in the mid-90s or the mid-naughties, we're in 2016. And in 2016 focusing your SEO strategy purely on keywords, is like using strong language to win a fight against a guy who’s carrying a M16A4 assault rifle whilst standing on the deck of the USS Iowa. Not exactly a fair fight now is it? The SEO Industry’s Biggest GriftNaturally I don’t blame the small business owners who call SEO North Sydney for bringing up the subject of keywords. Because the vast majority of them have been (unbeknownst to them) on the receiving end of the SEO industry’s most popular scam: charging per keyword. “This SEO package comes with 10 keywords!”, says the shady SEO sales guy. “And this SEO package comes with 25 keywords! So which package do you think is a better fit with your website’s needs?” “Err…um…well,” mumbles the small business owner by way of reply. “I guess more keywords sound better?” “Of course they do! More keywords means more phone calls. And more phone calls means more money for you, Mr. Small Business Owner!” “Well then, um. Okay. Yeah, sure. That makes sense. I guess. So I’ll go for the SEO package with the more keywords then. Is that okay?” “Of course it’s okay! It’s better than okay, actually. It’s perfect, because it’ll cost you twice the price…” *KER-CHING, KER-CHING* And so the scam goes. With yet another small business owner getting suckered by the well-oiled sales-patter of an online mountebank. Keywords Drive Strategy – Not ResultsGoogle search has evolved well beyond the primitive keyword stuffing strategies of yore. SEO types know this all too well. But they don’t want you to know it. Much better for them to up-sell you based on the ‘more must be better’ logic of search engine shenanigans. Luckily for you though, that’s not the way SEO North Sydney operates. Because at SEO North Sydney, all clients, be they large or small, get UNLIMITED KEYWORDS. Because keywords are a component of the content of a particular page, not the other way around. Think of it this way: Imagine you have a page on your website with one headline, one picture and 50 words of text. Now insert 25 keywords into that page. If you did this, it would naturally be B.A.D on so many levels. Human beings reading it would cringe, and click away (as it would be so obviously ‘written for Google’ as to put them off). And Google’s all important Panda algorithm would penalise the page due to the quality (or lack thereof) of the content therein. However if you have a page on your website with one headline, one picture and 5,000 words of text, how would 25 keywords look on that page? Would they look ‘forced’ or ‘out of place’? Or rather would they just effortlessly blend into the pastiche of the narrative? The Numbers Don’t LieFour out of every five calls SEO North Sydney receive are from small business owners who dwell on the subject of keywords because they’ve been ‘shaped’ by previous SEO companies to ask questions that the SEO companies know how to answer. But much like Pavlov’s dog continues to salivate, even though no food is on offer, so too SEO companies continue to sound the ‘Keywords’ bell, while offering little in the way of demonstrable returns on investment for the privilege.
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AuthorBrian M Logan is an on-line marketing, SEO and copywriting expert with over 15 years' experience in the web and over 20 years' experience with the written word. Archives
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