Get the Details Right for SEO - Tip 6 continued: data captures, customer value, and more
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Another thing, don't worry about data captures. You can't use them anymore for follow-up email offers unless you make sure they comply with the CAN-SPAM Act. This means the extra step that will cost you 15 percent of your potential conversions which was designed by some "brilliant" coder to build your email database is worthless without a double-opt-in, so keep it simple. Give them what they want.
If you absolutely need the information, then using JavaScript/AJAX style forms are great. With these you only show a few fields at a time and if the appropriate radio button is selected, it opens additional fields to be filled in. The entire form is preloaded and will also integrate with a mobile version if you do it right. The idea is that if you get them mentally committed by filling out a few fields, they are more likely to fill out the remaining fields. These menus load quickly and are non-daunting.
Also, add an outgoing link to Wikipedia's listing on CAN-SPAM compliance. This may help gain you more of the trust element with Google since Google looks at your outgoing links and not just their relevance to the page it is linking out of, but also the trust factor of the web site that it is linking to. To them it appears as if you are providing good content using this method. Read more about this in Tip #21.
Placements of "information request" forms are important as well. If you carry hundreds of products, don't put a "request more information" button or form in your side navigation bar. Put one below each product and add script that will pre-fill the request form so that all the end user needs to do is add minimal personal information. (Tip: If you are in the UK, the post office can provide you with an API that will pull addresses based on post codes. When the end user enters his/her post code, their address can be pre-populated which will increase your conversions while minimizing the number of fields needed to complete the lead/sale. If you are in a sector like auto insurance you can get access to the DVLA database that will pre-populate vehicle information. There are many of these types of databases out there. Some are free, some will cost).
For those that are etailers, or those who have actual physical products that they sell (not necessarily affiliate marketers) and are competitive with their competition and their pricing, include a Low Price Guarantee CTA (call to action) like the one that you see here. You'll be surprised at the increase in sales opportunities that you will see. I've been doing this for seven years and not only does it lend itself to keeping tabs on competitors that are violating fixed-pricing structures, but it gives me an additional opportunity to cut the profit to earn a new customer for my client, and grow the lifetime value of that customer. "A little bit of something is better than a lot of nothing."
Here is something to think about: what would you pay me to become a regular visitor or customer of your web site? This offer includes a bookmark, a few recommendations to fellow users and I will eventually spend a few bucks because I'm "getting to know you."
My answer: an amount equal to, or maybe a little more, than the amount that I estimate each visitor's LTV (Lifetime Value) is. So it's whatever I calculate a converting customer's total average purchases are worth to me. If my average customer makes three purchases for an average net profit of £/$25, their LTV is £/$75.
This is great information to have because if you get into paying for online customers, you will use this LTV to set CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) campaigns that sell you customers such as Google Adwords, affiliate programs, or any of the various avenues for lead/sale aggregation.
As long as I can afford it, I'll pay you my estimated LTV (Lifetime Value) because I know what someone like you is worth. You are better than ANY advertisement I could buy. How can I find 10 more of you? How about I pay you to tell your friends I like people like you? I'll pay them just like you!
Figure out the value, or what you spend for each customer acquisition and figure out ways to spend it and get more of them buying from you before your competition does.
You will find that earning the trust of an online customer will be much more substantial than any other customer you ever have, or have ever had, or will ever get in the long term.
Especially in this new and upcoming age of social media and information exchange, these types of tactics are your number one priority, and this tip is, although not the best one here, another task you need to add to your daily arsenal.
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