Human Search Optimization

Archive for the 'Human Search Optimization' Category

How do your online coupon codes work?

Published
by
Michelle
on August 31, 2009
in Human Search Optimization and Product Marketing
. 0 Comments

Everyone wants a bargain, even me. And we have come to expect “instant gratification” when we are shopping online. One trend that has grown is coupon giving and coupon searching. If you don’t believe me just try typing “coupon <insert store here>” into Google and see the plethora of results.

There seem to be different goals from the retailers offering the coupons. My personal belief is very quid pro quo. On our personalized gifts website we offer an instant coupon code in exchange for an email address, and if the customer subscribes to our gift giver club, we give them a code back by email they can use on their purchase today - usually in moments. The customer gets to save 10% NOW and I have the ability to market to them until they choose to unsubscribe.

I want that sale NOW - not tomorrow. And in some instances our customers are saving $15 - $40 per order and are willing to wait a few minutes for email delivery. It’s worth it. And we hope that we make it worthwhile for them.

National chains that I have dealt with online don’t seem to have the same interest. You can get on their mailing list, but I have yet to see one that offers an instant savings. An example is an Dick’s Sporting Goods online store - they clearly have a place on their home page that says “Sign Up and Save 10% on your next order” well I am not the typical shopper, but often my next order is TODAY. So I signed up, followed the instructions and checked my email. NOTHING. And actually it took 36 hours for me to receive the discount coupon. What if my interest had been an “impulse” buy and not a quest to save on a specific object. The 10% could push a shopper to the “BUY NOW” button. But after 36 hours, I would say the thrill of the kill is gone. Sure I can save 10% now, but I have come to my senses and realize I don’t need one more Yoga Mat - even at 10% off.

Now don’t misunderstand, I am not saying my way is perfect. But when a customer is in the checkout funnel, each step along the way has a point where the customer can just bail. If they get to the coupon code box and go back and check the site for coupon code - I want them to get their code and finish checking out. 90% of something is WAYYY better that 100% of an abandoned shopping cart.

If you have a coupon program or some other offer to accelerate the shopping cart truly think about how you are delivering the savings. Are you trying to get their name, their first purchase, a life long customer. You can’t earn them on the first one if you don’t deliver on your promises, even if its a coupon code.

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Human Search Optimization

Published
by
Michelle
on June 20, 2008
in Human Search Optimization and SEO
. 2 Comments

I spent some time this week on a conference call explaining the concept of Human Search Optimization. The crowd was great, and very supportive of the idea. Human Search Optimization isn’t really that new of a concept, but defining it as a phrase is. After all marketers have been trying to appear where humans are searching for years. And search has been going on long before there were ever search engines, we just used to call it research (I wonder if that’s because we had to search, and search again to get the information we were seeking).

20 years ago when you wanted to find out something you had to do research. You would look at the paper, open a phone book, ask a friend, go to a library, ask your parents. Most of these things required human interaction - human research. And great marketers were where you could find them. Particularly in the form of Yellow Pages and Print Ads — it was so much easier to find customers then.

The Yellow Pages (which I now use for a monitor riser) have been neatly divided into distinct categories - Humans cannot get lost in there - as long that human knows the major category of the item they are searching for. Back to the 3 ft pool cue example from a prior post - if you know you need a pool stick, you just go to the yellow pages and look up pool. Oops that’s only swimming pool stuff, but there is a nice little note that says, Pool Tables - See Billiards. Easy enough, I would just flip over to the billiards section, and then if NONE of the ads say 3 foot pool cue, I would find the one closest to me by address, and pick up the phone and start calling different pool — ah Billiards Stores. And the Billiard Store that can answer the phone and answer my questions and is the closest to me, may just win my business. Not that hard right, but the Billiard Store that had the ad showing they were closest to me got my attention first, and that is Human Search Optimization. On my website Human Search Optimization.com I have defined it as

Human Search Optimization is understanding the independent thought processes of humans and implementing marketing methods to maximize the likelihood of being found when they search for what you offer.

Makes sense right? But now that Search Engines are a part of the RESEARCH methods, it is being sure that you are thinking like your customers you have to really get inside their head. Someone searching for a short pool cue may start with any of a number of searches.

Pool stick for small space
Home size pool cue
short pool stick
shooting pool in small spaces
3 foot pool stick
36″ pool stick

Some folks have called this idea Long Tail search, in some instances it is, in other instances it really is about cross-sectioning the brain of the human and understanding their needs and being there when they search. Developing your website to match the minds of the searcher. It would seem to be hard, but really it’s not that difficult.

Being where they can find you. Period. And still as of this writing, I have a top position for 3 foot pool cue in google.

So does that mean you have to write LOTS more copy for your website? Well maybe, or maybe not. It just means you have to think harder, work harder and be smarter than your competition. All 1,000,000 of them if you want a top placement.

You don’t think there’s a disconnect between what you offer and what folks are searching for? Then read this …

Case in point, a friend of mine recently called a deli to order some potato salad, the person answering the phone asked her - “how much do you want” … my friend replied “2 pounds” … and the reply from the deli was “we don’t sell it by the pound, we have a 8 ounce and 16 ounce containers. ” to which my friend replied, “I’ll take 2 - 16 ounce containers”, and was promptly reminded that would be 32 ounces. Sound funny right, to read that and think there was that much of a disconnect? But really look at your marketing material, your website, are you designing it for the masses, or to satisfy your own cravings?

Human Search Optimization is about them, it’s not about you. After all, aren’t you the one selling what they want?

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Search Engine Optimization is Silly

Published
by
Michelle
on June 15, 2008
in Human Search Optimization and Search Engine Optimization
. 2 Comments

Ok, instantly I know that I have you up in arms just a little, but just be patient, I have a point that I’ll eventually get to. According to the Wikipedia entry on the subject, and I quote

“According to industry analyst Danny Sullivan, the earliest known use of the phrase “search engine optimization” was a spam message posted on Usenet on July 26, 1997.”

And if that account is accurate, that is where the silliness began. We hem and haw and strategize about how to make search engines love us, you’ve seen the ads, “turn your site into a Google Magnet”, “Guaranteed 1st Page Listings” and all such nonsense. First, if any one or any company guarantees permanent first page placement for your organic search terms, beware. Remember, it’s only death and taxes are all we’ve been truly guaranteed.

But really what is the point of the Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing? Do we really care if Google loves us? Well actually, I think, no we don’t. However Google and other search engines are the primary means that drive traffic to many websites.

The point being is that we really want qualified traffic coming to our website, right? I remember being utterly amazed in 1998 when I was shopping for a new Honda, I put “honda prices” in the search engine and a BANNER AD appeared for guess what - HONDA. “Whoa! that’s way cool” That is a marketing strategy, right, and a paid one at that. Sure YAHOO made money for displaying the banner ad, but Honda did better by getting ultra qualified traffic to their website.

OOPS, traffic, here we go with another “buzzword”. Traffic is a fancy, over appreciated term, that means prospects, customers, competitors, researchers, employees, friends, neighbors, family, and don’t forget spiders and robots. What? Spiders and Robots? Sure, when you look at a traffic report, sometimes its a robot visitor or search engine spider that is driving your page views and visits up.

So back to the point at hand - why I think Search Engine Optimization is silly. Well, I think that the words Search Engine Optimization are silly because we are really optimizing our website to attract the most possible interested humans. But that’s not where the journey stops, that is only where the journey begins.

Time and time again as a professional web master in corporate land I fielded calls from agencies wanting to build me a website and guarantee my submissions to 1,000s of search engines. In fact they have had such an affect on companies, a prospect called me last week and wanted to know “are there some new search engines you can submit me to - we aren’t getting enough customers”. It’s a real disconnect. After looking at their site, it’s no wonder there’s not any business - and it’s not her fault - no one told her the secret ingredient: HUMANS … Everyone is thinking about pleasing the search engines — HELLO — we need to be pleasing the people.

It’s not enough to make the search engines come to us even though they are powerful, mighty, electronic creatures. Last time I checked search engines don’t have credit cards, and can’t fill in a lead generation form. (But we know that some robots can– even when the robots do, they are not there to buy). Search Engine Optimization is silly because it doesn’t drive sales, it only drives traffic. You can’t just get traffic (uh sorry) humans to your website and throw your hands up in the air, and say OOPS it didn’t work.

There are many on-site search engine optimization tactics that work and are effective. But none so effective as presenting content (a.k.a. product and service information) that is good for your qualified humans. You see, it is the human that type words in the search engines. Somehow there continues to be a disconnect about that. Search engines are not typing keywords into their own search box - they are machines — waiting to serve humans results.

I especially love it when “alogorithms” change and everyone thinks that Google is out to get them. I once believed that too, but then I was reminded that the search engines, Google, Yahoo, MSN, Live, AOL, and all the others… have but one job: to maintain their brand. So what is their brand? Quality Results ! If you type in “3 ft pool cue” you expect to receive web pages about a 3 ft pool cue. If you search time and again and the search engine doesn’t give you relevant results, you are going to stop using that search engine. When you stop using that “free” search engine - the Search Engine Company loses sales. (I will expound on the subject of free services generating revenue on another cloudless day.) But it gets better as humans we blame the search engines when they don’t bring us what we want, when in fact, the search engines generally (yes there are some exceptions) bring us the best they have. It’s the best they have because companies are busy optimizing for the search engine, and not for the humans.

Humans don’t care if its a paid listing or an organic listing, they just want to find what they are looking for, and when search engines don’t deliver, the brand believability is reduced. To keep up with their customers Search Engines have to continue to revise their formula (aka algorithm) to deliver the best results to their customers.

A specific example is my 3 foot pool cue. Well, if you sell 3 foot pool cues, you are missing out on some web traffic. I don’t know how many folks type in 3 foot pool cue, or if it’s even a search term worth considering, but I can tell you, I got cruddy results (at the time of this writing). Click here to go search 3 foot pool cue for yourself . No one is thinking outside the box on this one. Even the paid results are lukewarm at best. Don’t think a 3 foot pool cue exists? YUP they do, for small spaces, or mini pool tables. And even though the industry standard is in inches - if I am a newbie to pool, I just may not know that. So help your customers. Make pages that speak to them. If you want them to visit your site, make the site worth visiting. Guide them down the primrose path to your door (uh website … and checkout pages).

So now we have searchers (humans) blaming the search engines, and of course website owners blame the search engines, but really isn’t it a matter of personal responsibility ? (oh boy is this getting political now? NOPE…don’t worry).

As if Google being out to get you isn’t enough … to add to the mayhem, every day there are new competitors coming online. So while your site may have been loved by the Search Engines yesterday, you have 3 new competitors today that are coming to get customers online for themselves. And you have to proactively manage that.

Search Engine Optimization is silly, but indeed necessary to attract qualified traffic. But search engine optimization is not a one time tactic, it has to be thought of as an ongoing marketing effort. If you still use the yellow pages to advertise your business, you can’t advertise in the book for one month and stop. On the web, you can’t do the same thing either. You should always be looking for ways to implement even the smallest progressive steps to increase the flow of qualified humans to your website. Pe

rhaps I should invent a new term and call it human search optimization? Ahhh that may be best left for another day.

Human Search Optimization

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