Shopping almost entirely social experience

This article was originally posted on 29 September, 2011

This probably won’t come as any major surprise, but it’s been reported that consumers are far more likely to trust their friends and family than retailers, when it comes to deciding what to buy, according to research we’ve read recently.  This got us thinking about how important it is therefore to ramp up reviews and the visibility of ‘social shopping’ on your e-commerce website.

While 70 per cent of shoppers rate friends’ recommendations as important, just 28 per cent value recommendations from a shop assistant.  Nearly two-thirds value consumer reviews, and 35 per cent the media, the survey of 1,200 people found.

Social commerce and the use of mobile technology play an increasingly important part of the decision-making process for shoppers, with 39 per cent making a journey to Facebook when researching a purchase decision and 38 per cent reaching for their smartphone while browsing in a high street store.

Nearly 90 per cent look at consumer reviews before making a purchase, and more than two thirds said they had more confidence in those reviews when they could see bad as well as good reviews.  The value of independent feedback becomes even more important when shoppers are considering buying from small, or lesser known online sellers.

This latest research paints a fascinating picture of the buying process that is almost entirely based on social interaction.  It’s more likely therefore that someone making a purchase will trust the opinions of those closest to them.  As established social channels become ever more sophisticated, and new channels materialise, one trend that is emerging is the importance of influencing, rather than controlling the purchase process.  It’s not uncommon to see sales increases of more than 20 per cent where social content is put into practice in a useful way.  The responsibility is very much on the retailer to offer service that we want to tell our friends about.

Overcoming the challenges of SEO in e-commerce

This article was originally posted on 15 September, 2011

If you run an eCommerce store, then you will be aware of the challenges this type of website represent for SEO.  One reason for this is copy plays such a vital role in the optimisation process.  Because e-commerce sites typically have significantly less content than many other types of websites, they can face obstacles brochureware sites, for example, do not.  Add to that the fact that the content may be supplied by the product manufacturer and used verbatim across many hundreds of websites, it's a difficult issue to overcome.

There are a few elements that can put into practice that will boost your ability to get ranked highly.  However, you’ll need to start from the ground up.  Keep in mind that words on any part of the page or coding count as content.

Compiling the right keywords
The basis of any optimised website is the keyword list, because the search terms you choose to focus on will be used in every area of development from the navigational structure all the way through to the copy itself.
As you look through your choices, think of the structure of your site.  When you create a list of terms to use on each page, start broad and work your way to the more specific keywords.  For example, if your site sells soft drinks, you’ll want phrases such as [discount soft drinks], [soft drinks online] or [buy soft drinks] for your home page.

As you move through the different sections, select search terms that reflect what’s available on those specific pages.  It might be helpful to create a chart and on it list which terms will go where.  It makes keyword usage much easier to keep up with as you move through your site.

Do not use the same exact keyphrases on every single page of your site.  Equally, it is not good practice to cram as many keyphrases as you can onto every page of your site, as your site can be penalised for doing this, as many sites have found to their cost as a result of Google’s ‘Panda’ update in April 2011.  Each page gives you a unique opportunity to rank with the engines because each page stands on its own.  Select search terms specifically for the individual pages.

Site navigation and links
As you’re setting up site navigation, keep your keyphrases in mind.  You’ll want to create category and page names using keyphrases whenever possible.  Of course, length is always a consideration for navigation names.

When possible, also use keywords in your individual URL page links.  While this practice carries little if any weight with the search engines, Google recommend using keyphrases with dashes in URLs.

Breadcrumb trail
This is a very important SEO and usability feature to add to your site.  Breadcrumb trails look like this: Home > Fizzy Drinks > Cola.

It helps visitors see where they’ve been and where they are now.  It’s also creating long-tail keyphrases of sorts, something the web crawlers as well as customers can follow easily.

Alt tags and image attributes
Another often overlooked area to include keyphrases in, is the text used in both alt tags and image attribute fields counts the same as anchor text used in your copy.  Remember that the keyword-rich descriptions you include in alt text and image attributes apply to the image they’re related to.

Compelling copy
Good copy is vital for many reasons.  Yes, it helps you with search engine rankings, but it also helps get your message across to your site visitors.

The biggest mistake ecommerce site owners often make is not using copy to engage with visitors.  They look at copy as the enemy: something they have to include for the sake of the engines.  But well-written, optimised copy can quickly convert browsers into buyers.  As you write copy for each page, include keyphrases in your headlines.  Google and other engines give particular importance to headlines and header tags (e.g. H1) so include search terms if at all possible.  In addition, work keyphrases naturally into your category page copy as well as individual product descriptions, using specific search terms.

It takes time and planning to build an ecommerce site with content that’s truly engineered to rank highly.  However, if you adhere to the steps above, you’ll find success comes much easier.

Time to believe the F-commerce hype

This article was originally posted on 6 October, 2011

We read recently that Facebook commerce, or ‘F-commerce’ could reach a value of £30bn by 2015.  We know that estimated figures should always be viewed with caution, but however you look at it, F-commerce represents a massive opportunity for organisations wanting to grasp the nettle.

Facebook has more than 30 million users in the UK (that’s half the British population), and we’re already starting to see the social network turning into a mini-internet in its own right.  Your potential customer can get everything they need without ever having to leave the platform where they are spending their leisure time.

While there is a school of thought that suggests businesses should concentrate on driving interested customers to their own websites, to ignore F-commerce as merely a fad would be foolish.  As an e-commerce platform it’s far more than a distraction from selling, but rather should be seen as something that complements your standard e-commerce site.

Facebook also offers businesses the chance to get close to consumers who are passionate about their products.  After all, if a consumer “likes” your brand’s page or store, they are far more likely to buy something from you.  We’ve seen both sides of the “the value of a like” argument, but the way we see it is that you are selling to people who want what you have to offer.

F-commerce is and will continue to be a powerful tool in a retailer’s arsenal, as imperative as an e-commerce solution is today.  It is certainly important to do it for the right reasons, but F-commerce certainly isn’t just hype.

M-commerce satisfaction rates on the rise

This article was originally posted on 13 October, 2011

We’ve all heard the noise being made about mobile, more specifically, mobile commerce or m-commerce.  What’s more encouraging is that shoppers using mobile technology to make purchases are starting the see the same features as those they see on full-blown e-commerce solutions, which is all great news as it’s helping boost satisfaction rates.

The companies that are at the forefront of developments of mobile technology are the ones that are seeing the greatest returns.  We’re not saying for a moment that everyone who currently offers a mobile solution for their e-commerce business is doing it right, but satisfaction levels across the mobile journey are beginning to more closely echo those of e-retail websites, especially when it comes to site search and navigation.

Where mobile e-commerce sites are falling down is during the basket and checkout processes.  Again, this isn’t the case for every company offering a mobile optimised website (not at least for the ones we’ve used) but what this highlights is when it comes to mobile e-commerce design, companies need to start thinking about the entire buying process, from initial browsing right through to purchase.

A huge number of shoppers have flocked to mobile-optimised websites in the last year, with a range of figures between 30% – 50% of shoppers accessing retailer’s websites via their smartphones.  UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) recently suggested that UK retailer’s mobile-optimised sites lead the world in download speeds.

Coinciding with the huge uptake of smartphone handsets in recent years, we’ve seen encouraging developments in the entire end to end customer journey on mobile sites and quite rightly, shoppers are less forgiving on bad mobile experiences as a result.  They expect the same level of functionality as can be found on a retailer’s standard e-commerce website, but they want it to be optimised for their mobile handset.