Is Your e-Store Prepared for Summer Shoppers?

My Web Writers

Are you marketing and merchandising your website for this summer’s sales potential? According to Internet Retailer, the U.S. Commerce Department said that U.S. online sales totaled $225.5 billion in 2012, up 15.8% from $194.7 billion in 2011.  With the exception of sales in categories not commonly bought online—

Internet Retailer estimates that e-commerce accounted for 7.6% of total retail sales during the year, up from 6.8% a year earlier. Commerce Department estimates are based on a quarterly survey of more than 11,000 U.S. merchants.

It’s no wonder that such a large marketing emphasis is placed on preparing shopping web sites for each new season and sale.  Every effort counts.   As the weather finally heats up for the summer, many e-stores have rolled out their new merchandise and revamped their web sites. All businesses, regardless of size or industry, can learn from other creative and competitive websites. Let’s take a look at three examples of big name brands and how they’re poised to sell more this summer:

 

1.  Target.com

Target is known for its chic and trendy styles and its unique in-store shopping experience. Target pays special attention to creating this same vibe in its e-store. The web site design is simple, clean and incorporates the signature Target red color to promote brand recognition. Though this main design remains the same year-round, the homepage content is customized to the upcoming holidays and season. Going on right now is a sale on patio furniture and family swimwear.  Aside from the featured sales, Target has changed the photos to represent each of its main shopping categories to be summer-themed. For example the “Women’s” category shows a summery dress and the “Sports and Outdoors” category is represented with an above ground pool. These images, though subtle, entice shoppers to click and browse in areas they may have had no original interest in shopping.

What you can learn: The takeaway from Target’s summer-poised marketing is that images are powerful. If you are trying to sell seasonal items, then every image should be carefully chosen to remind shoppers of all the things they enjoy about that season. Even if they weren’t originally in the market for a pool, customers will be intrigued to click on images that pique their interests.

Target.com’s weakness is its lack of content.  It’s missing tips or suggestions to help customers visualize how to use its products.

Target.com is ready to go for the summer, though the “d” in “deals” should be capitalized and the exclamation point should be dropped. Oops. Can you spot the other capitalization errors?

2. Petsmart.com

Petsmart’s images are ready for summer.  The web site’s main sliding banner greets customers with various pictures of dogs running outside on sunny days. The other still images on the homepage are also of animals in outdoor settings. Moving beyond the homepage, the main items featured are geared toward use in the summer. For example, the dog section has leashes, harnesses and bike trailers aimed at outdoor lovers on the go.

What you can learn: While it’s only April, Petsmart has already positioned its web site with the most summer-related items first.   Like end-caps in physical stores, identify your store’s most desirable and in-demand products and place them at the forefront of the e-store.

Petsmart needs to add seasonal content.  Currently, its homepage bottom content is duplicated on several category pages, which isn’t great for search or for customers.  Petsmart.com could address pet owners’ most frequently asked questions about each category in those spaces.  It’s missing opportunities to educate new animal owners about the pros and cons of buying fencing, habitat accessories, and other pet supplies.

 

Even though it’s a cold spring in many parts of the United States, Petsmart.com helps consumers visualize summer outside with Fifi and Fido.

3. Gap.com

Gap is a brand that adapts to every new season. The colors and styles of their clothes act as decorations for the web site and can change the whole tone from summer to winter.  Clothing stores start advertising their new lines nearly a season in advance. Today, Gap.com is vibrant, bright and cheery with summer apparel.  Even the background graphic on the web site has been changed to read “Be Bright” in art-deco style lettering. From shorts and capri’s to sundresses and tank tops, one would think it’s already August at Gap.com.

Gap.com employs a clever trick with some images. Notice the blue highlight of “uniform shorts.” This phrase looks like a hyperlink. It’s not, but when clicked, the image is linked to the corresponding shorts store. Also, on this page, Gap transitions from spring to summer through use of a jacket with shorts and words that close out spring, while promoting summer.

What you can learn: Not all e-stores and web sites can be as adaptable to changing for each season as Gap, but if you are – utilize it! Tailor your font, graphics, background and colors to represent each season. Summer products seem to “pop” so much more when accompanied by other summer colors on the site and when your products look good, they sell.

However, the Gap is content light.  Sentences are placed over images like memes; but, there are very few words in text above or below page folds.  The Gap performs fairly well in search, but it’s likely that online conversions would improve with carefully-crafted content that adds value to the customers’ shopping experiences.

Overall, the common theme among these e-stores is to move your seasonal and most desirable products to the front. Incorporate the colors of the seasons, but stay true to your brand.  Place seasonal items on your homepage and tailor your images and content toward creating vibes that put shoppers in the mood for summer.

Don’t forget those whose experiences are enhanced beyond the layout, art, and images by the words they read.  Store content should educate the consumer, complement images, and describe the feel of the season.

Is your e-store prepared for summer shoppers?

~Stephanie & Jean

Other MWW Articles:

National Websites without Physical Stores Struggle to Rank

Guidelines for Writing E-Tail Category Content

Five Ways to Prepare Your E-Store for the Holidays

Nab These Call-to-Action Verbs

Avenues for Learning SEO

by My web Writers

Image courtesy of imagerymajestic/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Search Engine Optimization. If you’re a content writer, those three words make all the difference in what you do.  Search results drive your content, make it stand out, and is what makes good content writers fabulous content writers. But how do you learn SEO?

Brick Marketing out of Boston, defines SEO as…

“the process of improving the quality and volume of web traffic to a website by employing a series of proven SEO techniques that help a website achieve a higher ranking with the major search engines when certain keywords and phrases are put in the search field.”

That’s a mouthful, and proof that learning SEO is no simple task that can be understood and applied overnight.

Here are some of the best ways for content writers to learn SEO:

Follow the Right Blogs

SEO is always changing, and blogs can be the best way to stay up-to-date. As with all research, make sure your information is coming from a credible source.  Follow the marketing and SEO main stays like Search Engine Land or SEO Moz, but also check out these hidden gems.

Hit the Books

Books haven’t disappeared yet, and they are filled with knowledge even on topics as modern as SEO. One of our favorites is “The Art of SEO.”  It’s jam-packed with strategy, concepts and tactics from people who know the business. This is a good book for a beginning content writer and an advanced content writer. It’s hundreds of pages will help you learn the basic in’s and out’s of SEO.

Take a Class or Conference

While signing up for a college course can be time-consuming and expensive, there are other ways to take classes on SEO. Some seminars travel around the country teaching SEO and other content writing skills, and there is a huge variety of classes that can be taken online. Get on the email lists for some popular marketing speakers and businesses, and they may even have free webinars you can attend.  Receive training and then take the Inbound Marketing Certification exam after you attend 18 presentations through Hub Spot.

Network, Network, Network

One of the best ways to learn SEO is through people who eat, sleep and breathe it on a daily basis. What you will find is that most professionals in the field are more than happy to lend a helping hand, to answer questions, and to explain what you don’t understand. If someone isn’t helpful, find someone else. The field is growing quickly, and there are many pros out there willing to help you learn.

Never Stop Learning

You learn to ride a bicycle and hopefully never have to be taught again. The world of SEO is not the same. You absolutely have to keep learning about the latest trends and rules of SEO. Stay up on your reading of blogs and articles about content writing and don’t fall behind.  What you learn one month may be totally irrelevant the next.

Don’t be afraid of learning SEO. Approach it with a positive attitude and know that it will take your content writing to the next level. Employers will be impressed with your knowledge of SEO if you have a firm grasp on it. Do your research and never stop learning.

~Natalie

Party Crashers App Embraces Digital Marketing and the American Dream

By My Web Writers

The Great Gatsby was always one of my favorite novels.  Do you remember the theme – about the disillusionment of the American Dream? Gatsby had such a sensational, idealistic heart, but he loved the girl who was married to old money.  He hosted party after party hoping that one day she’d happen upon his scene and be impressed with his self-made fortune.  Maybe, just maybe, his fortune would buy her love.

If only Gatsby had an iPhone with the Party Crashers app.  The rewrite would give F. Scott Fitzgerald goose bumps.  Modern day Gatsby wants to meet the girl, but how?  He downloads the Party Crashers app and connects with facebook friends.  He knows the girl hangs out with some of his friends, so he indicates that he’s hosting a party at his West Egg mansion and – it’s crashable.  Daisy sees that Tom, Jordan, and her other friends are going and bringing bathing suits, so she requests to “crash the party”.  Gatsby accepts and asks for her drink and music preferences.

Besides creating amazing story lines, the Party Crashers app hopes to stand out among the 696,054 other active Apple apps available for download today.  My Web Writers caught up with Keith Bansemer, who helped to manage Party Crashers’ development, and asked him to answer a few questions about the app’s purpose, development, and marketing:

1. What is the Party Crashers App?

Party Crashers gives party hosts the option of creating events that are either private or public.  Those invited to attend are asked to hype the party in advance by sharing a rating about their excitement for the party to start.  Party goers flip through party details to see which of their friends are attending, what their favorite drinks are, what to wear, what kind of music will be played, activities at the party, and more. Party hosts are able to manage their RSVPs and review the party profiles of their guests.

For those not invited to a party listed as crashable, a Party Crasher app user can send a personal message to the party host and request an invite to crash the party.  If the crash request is accepted, directions and a map to the party will be made available.  A positive response is an open invitation to join the fun as a party crasher and meet new friends.

By applying gold “Celebrity Spotting” stars in the app, attendees alert others when celebrities make appearances at parties.

Details of what is happening at a party can be shared on other social platforms including Facebook and Twitter.

Party Crashers displays five main menu options including My Parties, Plan Party, Find Party, Account, and fellow Party Crashers’ Alerts.  When the party is over, attendees rate each party and provide feedback through the Morning After Report noting what happened at the party.

2. Who came up with Party Crashers and why do you think it’ll be successful?

Shep Moyle, who owns the party supplies store, Shindigz, is Party Crashers’ idea guy.  He co-founded Party Crashers with his children – Madison, Chase, Max, (who are all under 21 years old) and his wife, Wendy Moyle.  Shep’s driven to make life more fun for others.  He loves the concept of friends moving beyond texting into actual, face-to-face interactions.

Party Crashers will be successful because it provides a way for people to discover, interact during, and rate parties in real time.

3.  Tell us about the process involved in developing an app. 

The app took almost a year to plan.  The concept moved from an outline of app actions, wireframes, design mockups, navigation flowcharts, to FINALLY coding.  After coding for Apple iOS, we move to Android, which uses different code.  In the end, both platforms perform like twins.

4.  How is Party Crashers using digital marketing?

Parties are social and the spreading the word about this app will be largely grassroots – just like Facebook started at one college and spread rapidly.  We have college teams in place to spread the word about the app.  Our enthusiastic twenty-something’s are planted on many US college campuses, right now.

Everyone in business holds a personal computer – their mobile device – with access to all the data in the world.  Today, we live two lives, the one with the people we are physically with and the virtual life with people we are connected to anywhere on the planet.  Party Crashers helps to take information about parties, including which ones are best, seeking Crashers, and have celebs, and invites people to gather.  In the end, digital brings us back together to find good times, meet new people, celebrate, and create lasting memories.

We’ve done it with company meetings already.  The employees have gathered at a “work party” like a training meeting and used the app to rate that gathering.

 5.  What makes content successful when marketing an app?

What’s nice about this app is that the users generate the content.  They load the parties, spot the celebs, spread the news, and rate the parties. This content is valuable in real time for all looking for a party to crash.

6.  Is Party Crashers marketing through other media?

We are using all social media channels.  We’re also utilizing flyers, t-shirts, newspaper articles, interviews, and soon – some radio.

7.  When will you know the app is successful?

When it becomes a “New & Noteworthy” app listed by Apple or a household name – the next Pinterest!

8.  What advice would you give to those in charge of promoting an app?

Social media is key.  Add links to your apps via all of the social media channels.  Spread the word one-by-one.  Seek the exponential tipping point where the number of app downloads hit the top of “trending” charts.

Party Crashers Lives the Dream

Somewhere there’s a rewrite of the American Dream or at least, the way the world parties, waiting to happen.  The Moyle family is patiently waiting for Party Crashers to be discovered.  Will the public love their app?  Party Crashers could build a few, white picket fences.

Coincidentally, a new version of The Great Gatsby movie does come out May 2013, however if you have an iPhone, you can download the Party Crashers app today to create your own Gatsby/ Party Crashers moment this weekend.

~Jean

Our List of the Best SEO Companies in the Midwest

By My Web Writers

When you begin your search for an SEO company to help pull traffic to your website, you’ll want to ask one important question: what qualities are important in an SEO company?  Look for a few specific qualities that will ensure you have a good company to help you generate traffic on your site.  These qualities include:

• Competency:  You will want to make sure the SEO company you’re considering has example to show you they are capable of producing quality content that will result in an increase in traffic for your website.
• Reputation: A company’s reputation says everything.  The service provider should have built a good reputation with their clients as well as among their colleagues.  Look for an SEO company with proper business ethics as well as proper techniques for bringing traffic to your website.
• Client Relations: The SEO company you’re looking at should always be ready to help their clients.  They should be (ready and) able to demonstrate that time is of the utmost importance and they should show that they understand how valuable your time is.

After you’ve narrowed down what qualities you’re looking for in an SEO company, you can begin researching specific companies.  After doing some research for you, we’ve put together a list of some top SEO companies in the Midwest.

•  Cirrus ABS: designs websites and offers SEO consulting services.  As one of the original, SEO companies in the Fort Wayne, IN  area, its veteran management team is active in both local and online communities.
• Kuno Creative: turned its attention to inbound marketing in the last couple years through Hub Spot.  With a skilled team based in Cleveland, OH, Kuno’s inbound marketing starter packages begin at $6000/ mo. for 6 months.
• Now Marketing Group: focuses on your brand’s message through their social media marketing efforts.  Pop into their Lima, OH office and in no time, a team of very hip and tech-savvy marketers will connect your Twitter and Facebook pages and videos to your SEO and brand messaging efforts.
• Midwest Marketing Masters: resides in the Schaumburg, IL area and provides both local and national SEO services.  They focus on finding the best keywords for your product that will bring your company’s website more traffic and, ultimately, higher profits.
• Midwest New Media: is an SEO company based in the Cincinnati area, Midwest New Media can help you track the number of people who visit your site and how they find you.  You’ll receive feedback on what pages your customers visit and how long they remain on a given page.
• My Web Writers: is a boutique, SEO content provider in Indiana. We work directly with e-commerce businesses and we provide white label content services to other SEO companies.  My Web Writers researches keywords, organize your site’s navigation, and coordinates with your designers and programmers.  My Web Writers provides timely content for blogs, press releases, videos, category and product pages, and various social media platforms.
• Slingshot SEO: is based in Indianapolis, IN and offers customers full service, SEO consulting and digital management services. It focuses on customers who are able to “bring both human and financial resources to bear to achieve their objectives. ” Slingshot SEO is well known throughout the SEO industry and Indy area.

During your search for the best SEO company for your website look at the group’s reputation, competency, and client relations.  Once you find a company with high marks in those areas, you can look at examples and decide which SEO company is right for you.

Do you know of a great, SEO company in the Midwestern United States that we missed?  In the below comments section, tell us about them and where they’re located.

~Holly

Free Photography Websites for Writers

By My Web Writers

It’s tough to tell which images you can use as a writer and which you can’t. Copyright laws make it difficult for many web writers to find images to place with their content, without paying for them.

These sites offer free images:

Freepixels

Freepixels has thousands of images available for download for free. The license agreement is fairly lengthy, but fully explains what expected for the use of each photograph. There tends to be a lot of advertising on this site, especially for other photography sites that charge for the use of their photos.

Stock.xchng

This site has thousands of images available for use in practically way possible. The photos are royalty free, and can be downloaded for use on blogs, websites, flyers, catalogs, and more. This site is also linked to istockphoto.com, so there are a few advertisements and even search results that come from that site, which you must pay for. Still, Stock.xchng has a lot of great photos for free.

Everystockphoto.com

Combining many free photo websites, this site searches multiple places for photos. Each photo may have a different license agreement with it. Some have required attribution, and others have different stipulations. Make sure you follow the agreement for each free photo you use.

 MorgueFile.com

MorgueFile does a nice job of spelling out its user agreement in simple language, without searching through a huge license agreement. What’s different about this site is the ability to filter results by size, date, category, rating, color and even geotag.

Shutterstock.com

Besides being able to search for images on shutterstock.com, it is also divided into categories like animals, graphics, industrial, objects, seasonal and textures.

ImageAfter.com

Image*after definitely has a different look that the sites mentioned above. A lot of the photos tend to be taken by amateurs and have a non-professional look, but with some digging you can find some good-quality photographs to pair with your writing.

Some other sites to consider:

freephotosweb.com

openphoto.net

Photo Rack

Freerangestock.com

Make sure that whatever site you’re on, you read the license agreement and follow its instructions. Some photos require attribution, some require none at all. There are many people out there who don’t take pictures for money, but instead want to see their work shared around the world. Browse these sites and see what you can find that will work for you, and do it for free!

~Natalie