Search engines have been adjusting the way they show search results to users, giving preference to local content in certain scenarios.  For businesses, this is an opportunity to take advantage of as consumer media habits are rapidly changing. In this scenario, businesses often face a dilemma when trying to understand these changes and how they should readjust their marketing tactics to suit these trends.

There are plenty of tips available to help you determine what you should be doing to optimise your website for local search. Below is a list of the most important ones.

• Keep your company’s website and profiles on local search sites, like Google Places, up to date. When prospective customers search, they do not want to find data that is no longer valid. Keeping listings updated will ensure that you do not lose sales and also make your business appear credible. It is a good idea to add optimised images and videos to make it even more useful.
• Make sure your website’s home page, about page, media page and contact pages have accurate information and in legible font that is large enough to read easily. Tiny print against dark background is a no-no and spells bad usability for your site.
• Avoid using vanity phone numbers that are a combination of alphabets and numbers.  The letters cannot be dialed on cellphones with numeric keypads, making it hard for customers to get in touch with you.
• Do not hide your phone number inside a graphic image. If you have to, include the number in the alt text and html as well.
• Flash-only websites tend to perform badly on search engines and also do not show up properly on mobile screens.
• Use descriptive keywords as link text rather than ask users to “click here”
• Take part in the conversation about your business across social media and track it regularly, responding when the need arises. If there are negative reviews, offer solutions and aim to convert them into positive ones.  Acknowledge unhappy customers, and take the discussion offline even as you let your community know that you are taking care of the issue.  For resolved problems, request the customer to post feedback.

Since Google’s aim is to provide users with the most relevant search results for their queries, you can use the above strategies to increase your chances of being found for your targeted geo location.  If you have any other tips feel free to share them!

It is well known that Google continuously modifies its ranking algorithm. The effects of these are usually easy to overlook. But every once in a while, a major change comes along and the Panda is one of them.  The Google Panda update in June 2011 is a ranking factor rather than an algorithm update.  Interestingly, this “update” brought along a lot of ranking changes for many websites and big surprises for some.

Filtering through content

The main premise behind the Panda update is that if your content is low-quality, Panda flags your site and dumps you.  The good news according to Google’s Matt Cutts is that the Panda filter does not run continuously.  Four updates have run between February and June 2011 and the filter’s focus is to reduce the ranking of low quality pages. The goal of a search engine is to deliver relevant results to searchers.  Often the search results include sites that offer no value and these were targeted in Google’s Panda update. Sites like these are usually full of ads and feature too little content or copied content.

If yours was one of the sites that has been negatively affected by the Panda update, the obvious sign would be a decrease in organic traffic and perhaps also a drop in ranking.

Recovering from the Panda update and protecting yourself

Google suggests that websites should focus on adding valuable and original content that is useful to readers and remove duplicate and useless content from the web pages. The search engine will now concentrate on identifying and getting rid of low-quality content featuring in the search results. So what best practices can you follow to protect your site? Here are some tips:

• Continue to create good content – on a regular basis. Affiliates and resellers must rework the content offered to them by manufacturers and invest in publishing original content.  User-generated content through social media marketing is an effective way to do this.
• Avoid stuffing web pages with content for ranking. If it is low quality it will affect the ranking of the good content too.
• Generating quality back links or incoming links is seen as a sign of value by Google.
• By optimising content for social media (i.e. making the content shareable via social media buttons) you can distribute the content across social media sites which are indexed faster by the search engines and perceived as valuable content as they are user generated.
• Take care to avoid an overdose of ads on web pages as this is seen by Google as a way to mask bad quality content.
• Ensure that users find your content valuable and contextual.  Google is keeping track of its Chrome site blocker plug in used by users to block sites from featuring in the search results.  If users don’t want your site, neither does Google.

Ultimately, the bottom line is that original and quality content that users feel like sharing and recommending will keep you in Google’s good books. Content will always be king. Ignoring this fact is the fastest way to be phased out of the World Wide Web.

Has your site felt the impact of the Google Panda update? What action did you take? What difference did you notice? Share your thoughts in the comment section!

The most effective marketing material features a prominent call to action that prospective customers can act on.  The same goes for direct sales – sales people should ideally always conclude their call with a call to action to achieve the objective of their call. Websites are businesses’ 24/7, 365 days of the year sales men that work long after business hours and here, a call to action button plays a critical role.

While a link or some text can also achieve this objective, a call to action button that is well-designed is more effective. This makes call to action buttons an integral part of website design. It is important for a call to action button to be effective and therefore, care must be taken to select the right ones for your website, design it well and position it where it can benefit the website. Mostly, the process of a visitor’s conversion to a customer begins when they click the call to action button. Therefore the button must entice the website visitor to click on the button and take further action.

The button’s location plays a significant role vis-à-vis its proximity to other elements on the web page. If the business sells from its website, a “buy now” button near each of its products would be an effective call to action. Call to action buttons must also be prominently featured near other elements that trigger conversions such as testimonials, special offers and so on.

Here are some tips to make your call to action button stand out and convert website visitors into loyal customers:

Create a call to action button that is immediately noticeable

Make sure the button gets noticed as soon as the visitor arrives on the page. This can be done by placing the button in a highly visible part of the web page which could be the middle, or on the left, just below the content. These are proven to result in better conversion compared to the upper left of your web page as visitors read from left to right and up to down.

Let the call to action button be large and attractively coloured

Choose colours for your call to action button that stand out from your web page’s back ground colour and make it distinctive from other page elements. Research colours and select the appropriate ones for the right response.

Use the right phrasing

Keep the message simple and effective. Be clear about what you want the prospect to do and add some punch to it.

Prioritise

Suppose you would like your visitors to do two or more things on a page, distinguish between these calls to action by making the first priority most prominent. Differentiate by colour and size or present the least important call to action as linked text.

Add value by offering more information

Allow your visitors a preview of what will follow when they click the call to action button. Provide this information just under the call to action and ensure that it invites the reader to take action. This works effectively for free downloads, sign ups and product trials.

Add images

Call to action buttons with attractive, yet relevant images have higher click rates than text-only buttons.

Remember not to crowd your website with call to action buttons, test a few buttons and keep only those that are effective. Your visitor must feel confident that clicking the button will not lead to unwanted consequences.  Which call to action buttons have been the most effective on your website? Share your thoughts in the comments section.