eCommerce and

A couple of months ago our awesome Adwords team was able to hook us up with five free hours of assistance from a third party to help train and setup Google Website Optimizer tests. We had mentioned to them that we were interested in trying some tests but did not have much experience in doing so and through that conversation they were able to help get us resources to get started. Looking back (as we are collecting the final data from our first test) having that help was invaluable. With that in mind I wanted to share the steps we took with the third party to get things going before our first test kicked off.

First, get familiarized with Google Website Optimizer (GWO). There are several resources available in video and written forms which explain how it works and what needs to be done.

Second, review the website for tests which might be a good jumping off point. Typically, good first tests are variations of an add-to-cart or checkout button, text location or color, banner / promotion variations, etc. For the first test you want something which is easy to setup and has many creatable variations as to get some experience before moving onto more complex tests.

Third, open up your GWO account and start to setup the test. This will include tasks like, telling GWO what kind of test you want to run, and installing the tracking codes on the test and order complete pages.

Fourth, the variations of what is going to be tested need to be created, reviewed and loaded to GWO. At least for multivariate tests GWO handles what code gets swapped out, be it an image or text. Once the codes are in place for the test, developers don't need to be the ones setting up all of the variations as they are created inside the GWO console. All of the buttons, badges, text, etc. will need to be created though (get your designer on the horn ahead of time) and setup inside of the GWO interface. Depending on where your developer setup the test codes it may require a little HTML or CSS knowledge but nothing too crazy.

Fifth, once everything is setup and ready to roll you’ll want to make sure to test that all of the codes are setup (especially the conversion tracking), and then use the preview tool in GWO to preview how all of the variations will look. Test! Test! Test! You don't want to turn on a multi variant test which does not work, has broken variations or takes your site down.

Finally, kick off the test and let the data roll in! Remember that depending on site traffic and how many variations are being tested it could take days or weeks to get enough data for GWO to show recommendations about which variations are the best.

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Rich Snippets are a feature Google introduced in May.  Rich Snippets use microformats to structure data so that Google can index it and add it to search listings. Yelp was their original experiment and beta test of Rich Snippets, they used the data to display aggregate reviews and price ranges for product listings. When I first read about this new feature I was interested, and stared at the examples via Yelp’s organic listings because enhancements like these are eyeball magnets for users.  All retailers love eyeball magnets. They also enhanced the search experience.

While we are reviewing and looking to implement microformats for Rich Snippets for our own websites I sure hope that Google continues to roll these enhancements out across the board.  The shear time saved when researching for restaurants and products are great for the user. It would be awesome to search for a product via Google, and immediately see in the organic listings what the review ratings, prices and promotions (like free shipping) are for the product via the SERP page. I have however yet to see more than one listing using Rich Snippets on any one SERP page, which defeats making comparisons.  So I am hoping more people jump on the bandwagon and get this data into the SERP’s!

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Recently, I have been seeing a disturbing trend, affiliates who join an advertisers program, grab their data feed and then, using networks of automated websites, cannibalize the advertisers organic search traffic. These tech savvy affiliates realize that by using the advertisers own data against them on their own websites, they can trick Google and other search engines into indexing a large amount of pages which are displayed in Google's and other search engines organic listings and therefore generate a lot of traffic and commissions for them via affiliate networks. I have seen this done a couple of different ways, some more shady than others.

Here is how it works...

A publisher/affiliate will sign up for a program that offers data feed access.

Once they are approved and have access to the data feed, they will set up an automated way (typically via FTP) to grab that data feed and insert it into their own database or content management system.

This database or CMS then feeds their multitudes of websites (I have seen affiliates operating this way with hundreds of websites) with this data.

The next step is done usually one of a few ways. To get indexed by Google they typically cloak (this basically means that they do one thing when Google comes knocking and another when normal users do) their multitudes of websites getting search engines to index basically the same information the advertiser has on their website.

Now that the affiliate has all of these websites with all of this product data getting indexed they either forward only the users, not the search engines, to the advertisers website or to another one of the affiliate websites which the user can use to click through to the advertiser.

This basically creates several listings in organic search results for the affiliate, each of which will drop a cookie if clicked by a user.  Additionally each will generate commissions if clicked on and a purchase was made by the user. Keep in mind that now the advertiser’s typically single website can be severely outnumbered by the affiliate’s army of websites.  The army of websites that are using the same data the merchant is using on their own website and then supplying via their affiliate account!

Here is an example... (Screen shot below)

The affiliate in question used to be a part of our program, however after trying to contact them to let them know we were not happy with the ways in which they where promoting our website, and not receiving a response we had to remove them. They then continued to sign up for our programs under different account names and we had to go through the same process and remove them again.

Not only are affiliates using these tactics to cannibalize their advertiser’s organic traffic but many of these tactics are against search engines and affiliate networks terms of use.

I recommend that you watch for affiliates using tactics like this especially if it’s something you don't want them doing. Also make sure you have language in your affiliate agreement which directly note tactics you don't want used when promoting your program.

In many cases contacting affiliates and explaining your position is a great way to deal with potential issues and many are happy to oblige. Most affiliates are there to work with you in promoting your program, but on occasion you’ll find those trying to game the system.

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Amazon has been in the news quite a bit lately, whether it’s the Kindle, the Zappos acquisition or the creation of their outdoors specialty section. Some topics get more press than others but I find the tactics Amazon is using to bolster their eCommerce presence very interesting (as if they needed too) and doing so at the category level. It's yet to be seen how Amazon will leverage or integrate Zappos even though they state it will remain a separate business but they now own Zappos, Endless and the shoes category on Amazon.com (that’s a lot of shoes). In the outdoors space they recently announced their new specialty outdoors section which is offering gear from a selection of top tier merchants. We have seen this before with toys and other categories of products as well. While Amazon is the largest eCommerce website, they now seem to be conquering through category and acquisition, creating destinations where they now attempt to rule with the best selection, price and customer service.

What I also believe is important to note is that many large eCommerce websites also have an Amazon store.  This gives Amazon two inherent advantages, the first being that they know what you are selling, at least on Amazon, and second of those SKU’s they have access to which ones are top sellers.  This data also applies to other etailers within the same verticals.  Along with SKU data collected from marketplace merchants Amazon also gains insight on what those businesses do in sales, growth, and customer service which they monitor rigorously.

Now whether Amazon uses this data or not, or to what extent they are using this data may yet to be seen but it means that they could start stocking the best SKU's, therefore circumventing merchants through exclusive manufacturer deals. They also have an idea of which businesses might be better partners or possible targets for acquisition.  Targets based on their account performance. I sure can't think of a better place I would rather be than in Amazon's shoes right now (excuse the pun).

Since it seems that eCommerce websites may be good targets for acquisition right now, I think the bigger questions might be “What is Amazon's master plan? How do they plan to dominate eCommerce and what are they or others looking for in an eCommerce acquisition? What businesses might fit that mold?”

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You too can be just like me with my 12 week program!

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In my SEO Tools in Review Part one, I reviewed some of the SEO tools I see used the most in the marketplace, so in part two I would like to outline the types of tools I see most often utilized and the value they have to the SEO or marketer. Across many of the suites of tools I mentioned in my previous post reside similar tools, and while the method and data might change, the goal of the tool is usually the same, or close to. Here are some of the most common types of tools I see.

Web Page Header Check

A very common tool is a web page header check.  This simply checks the status codes and other information which the web server is sending out when loading a page. These codes let things like browsers and search engine spiders know if this page is OK, Moved, or Bad.

HTTP Status Codes

200 OK, 301 Moved Permanently, 302 Found, 304 Not Modified, 307 Temporary Redirect, 400 Bad Request, 401 Unauthorized, 403 Forbidden, 404 Not Found, 410 Gone, 500 Internal Server Error, 501 Not Implemented.

http://www.seoconsultants.com/tools/headers.asp
http://www.webconfs.com/http-header-check.php
http://www.seochat.com/seo-tools/check-server-headers/

Common Issues and Opportunities

Finding common issues / opportunities or low hanging fruit is not always easy especially in a highly technical environment. These tools often run through a laundry list of common checks and also sometimes gather pertinent data regarding a website or web page. Crawl testing also falls into this category, making sure that search engine spiders can access and spider a website or web page information.

http://semcheck.com/
http://www.seomoz.org/crawl-test
http://www.webconfs.com/search-engine-spider-simulator.php

Keyword Density

Many would agree that keyword density is not something which is touted anymore, however there have been many tools created to measure it and gauge an optimum keyword to content ratio. There are some interesting tools which will review a page and return what it thinks are the targeted keywords.  Sometimes that can be helpful.

http://www.seochat.com/seo-tools/keyword-density/
http://www.webconfs.com/keyword-density-checker.php
http://www.seotoolset.com/tools/free_tools.html
https://tools.shoemoney.com/how_it_works1.php#keywordDensity

Keyword Research

Finding the right keywords is an important task.  If a website has the first spot for a term with little traffic but similar terms have more traffic it might be better to use the higher trafficked terms and optimize for them as well. Some really great tools have come out to perform keyword research and help users find better keywords.

http://tools.seobook.com/keyword-tools/seobook/
http://www.seomoz.org/popular-searches/
http://www.seomoz.org/keyword-difficulty
http://raven-seo-tools.com/features/research/
http://www.seochat.com/seo-tools/keyword-suggestions-google/
http://www.webconfs.com/website-keyword-suggestions.php
http://www.webconfs.com/keyword-playground.php
http://www.seotoolset.com/tools/free_tools.html

Competitive Research

It's always a good idea to take a look at what your competitors are doing and while running all of the tools mentioned on competitor domains can give you some great data, some people have created competitor specific tools to extract specific data. There are also some great tools which let you compare websites and their varying statistics to one another. Those can be highly valuable tools when comparing yourself to your competition or competitors to competitors.

http://www.seotoolset.com/tools/free_tools.html
http://tools.seobook.com/competitive-research-tools/
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo
http://www.quantcast.com/
http://www.compete.com/

Link Analysis / Link Building

Link building is all the rage these days so it’s understandable that several tools have been created to help find, manage, and create valuable links for a website. Not only are there tools to find optimal websites to get links from but there are tools to see what kinds of links competitors or other websites already have.

http://www.webconfs.com/backlink-summary.php
http://www.seomoz.org/link-finder
http://www.seomoz.org/linkscape
https://tools.shoemoney.com/how_it_works3.php#backlinkFinder
http://raven-seo-tools.com/features/link-building/

Rank Checking

These are some interesting tools which aggregate rank and authority data for a domain or website. The SEOmoz trifecta tool is a one of my favorite tools, which quickly grabs vast amounts of data about a website.

http://www.seomoz.org/trifecta
http://www.webconfs.com/domain-stats.php
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo
http://www.quantcast.com/
http://www.compete.com/

SERP Tracking

SERP tracking can be tedious without some kind of tool to aggregate the checking and storing of the SERP data. Each of these tools is a good quality option to help streamline that process.

http://tools.seobook.com/firefox/rank-checker/
http://raven-seo-tools.com/features/serp-tracking/
https://tools.shoemoney.com/how_it_works1.php#keywordTracker
http://www.seomoz.org/rank-checker

Additional Resources

Even though there are a lot of really great tools out there don't forget about additional content which might be available. SEOmoz and ShoeMoney for example have boatloads of awesome premium content.  Many of the other tools have blogs that can be used as a resource so take that into account if you are looking to pay for tools.

Search Engine Tools

Don't forget that each of the major search engines also have webmaster tools. These are free, provide a lot of value and have data that many of these tools don't have.

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Any person with a little knowledge of SEO has obviously noticed the onslaught of SEO tools hitting the marketplace these days. A variety of free, paid and subscription based tools have become available to the masses and I have been fortunate enough to try most of them. Some are good, others are great and still many are rubbish but I thought it might be nice to create a little collection of the ones I like the best and see as having the most value.

Now I know this is not every SEO tool ever produced but these are the ones that I not only see used most often but have also used myself.

SEOmoz SEO Tools

SEOmoz has some really great tools, but some of the more advanced are tied to their subscription service. I believe that they were one of the first companies to really start making and tailoring complex tools for the SEO and marketer alike. My favorite tool is the Trifecta which used to be called the Page Strength tool. It can grab loads of great information related to a page or domain. Many of their guides and SEOmoz Pro features are also great but those do start at $79.00 a month.

ShoeMoney Internet Marketing Tools

ShoeMoney recently launched ShoeMoney Tools which is a little heavy on the PPC side of things but has some great tools none the less. My favorite tool is the Domain Marketplace which has thousands of unregistered domains and along with any pertinent information tied to them. The rest of the SEO tools are a bit generic but the PPC tools are great and since they are tied to the ShoeMoney name you know they are good. ShoeMoney, much like SEOmoz, has some great premium content and also very interesting and valuable forums. Now, none of these tools are free, its $79.00 a month for access.

SEM Check SEO Tools

SEM Check is a little different, it’s a quick and easy way to analyze a website for common problems and opportunities concerning search engine marketing. It checks things like server status, redirects, error pages, etc. then provides a nice organized actionable report based on the errors found. While it’s also a paid tool it's only $12.00 for one report or they have subscription type memberships that include X number of reports a month packages.

Raven Internet Marketing Tools

I actually used Raven tools for quite a while until they changed their pricing structure. What drew me to this service was their SERP tracking tool which I found to be really valuable. They have some pretty awesome Social Media tools and one thing that I do really like about their service is that they support multiple users/websites and agencies which is pretty cool for those who need it. Customizable reports is another bonus they provide. Again, this service is also paid; it starts at $79.00 a month and there are caps to the SERP tracker (6 cents for every keyword past 1000 keywords).

SEO Book SEO Tools

SEO Book has two of my current favorite SEO tools in the keyword tool and rank checker tool. The SEO Book Keyword suggestion tool is the best free keyword tool that I have found and the rank checker is actually a fantastic SERP tracking tool especially when coupled with the site rank reporter. Now the rank checker is a Firefox plugin and they also have the SEO for Firefox plugin which is a great Firefox addition.

SEO Chat Tools

SEO Chat Tools have been around for a while and show the most age comparisons as opposed to the rest of the tools I’ve discussed, in addition to some very unique tools as well. Some of my favorites being their Domain Typo Generator, Multiple Datacenter Keyword Position Checker, Keyword Difficulty Tool, Check Server Headers and Google Dance Tool. What’s great about all of these tools is that they are free, and even though some are a little old and buggy it’s hard to pass up free.

Webconfs SEO Tools

Webconfs SEO Tools have also been around for a while and like the preceding tools are also free. Some great tools include the Domain Stats Tool, Backlink Builder, and the Website Keyword Suggestion tool. The rest of their tools are pretty generic and they certainly don't have as great of a selection as the other suites.

SEO Tool Set

SEO Tool Set was created by Bruce Clay and is free (but subscribed users seem to get more functionality). Tools like the Check Server, Competition Research, Ranked Page Report and Linked Analytic Report are all pretty good. Two great additions are Bruce Clay’s Search Engine Relationship Chart and the SEMToolBar which is a great add-on for Firefox and IE.

Some honorable mentions that I also use are Firefox add-ons: SearchStatus, Web Developer and Firebug.

Keep in mind that even the paid services will promote their tools by offering trial memberships for dirt cheap; ShoeMoney and SEOmoz have both done this in the last six months.  Watch them closely as they are coming out with new tools and improved reports all the time.  Many have publicized their interest in community feedback and recommendations so if you are looking for a particular tool don’t be shy about sharing your interest with them, you may be surprised at the type of response you may receive.

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Recently, Elastic Path presented a great webinar on the topic of Buy, Build, or Leverage? It was a really great webinar which presented some great information and posed some interesting questions. Now of course Elastic Path is an eCommerce vendor and therefore certainly have some reasons to push their own product, however, overall I thought it was very interesting and that they did a good job of presenting the points and issues from all sides.

Since the Gordian Project uses a custom platform there are many instances where our problems and solutions can get technical in nature and be solved by an array of solutions. While our platform is mostly custom we have certainly assimilated solutions which we would rather buy or leverage than build such as LivePerson, PowerReviews, Google Analytics, Mcafee Secure, etc. All of these solutions we decided not to build, find a partner and then integrate their solution into our platform, each provides value for us in its own unique way. Most of these solutions were relatively easy to come to an agreement on, integrate and begin using. The webinar does a great job addressing this and I applaud them on their great presentation.

This webinar got me thinking about possible issues though and what we have faced in the past. What happens when things do not work out the way you intend or a solution is no longer providing the value you are looking for? Our saga in this regard has been the site search and merchandising elements of our website. When our website was first created it had custom site search functionality which worked well enough, nothing spectacular, no killer bells and whistles. After several years with this solution we decided that something more robust was needed, preferably with better search, marketing and merchandising capabilities. After looking at all of the options we decided to take on a 3rd party vendor who was considered best of breed in this field. After all negotiations were finished, and documents were inked, we were able to begin the task of integrating the solution, which was no small task. 

The solution worked especially well for most of our commitment with our partner, but issues with scalability arose when taking into account multiple websites.  Product upgrades on their part, required further development on our part became frequent and with less and less accurate notice.  Website changes on our part required cooperation on their part.  While there were few there were enough reliability issues and while any downtime is inopportune, two weeks before Christmas can really hurt an internet retailer.  Finally, there was a hefty price tag associated with the service.  In looking at all of these pieces together, the perceived value of the service began to dwindle. 

With all of that in mind, late last year we decided to forgo renewing our contract and instead decided to build something in-house.  While our solution would have fewer bells and whistles the resolution would be more than sufficient for our current needs, and far better than what we had initially. After some intense planning and development, using what we had learned, taking notes from what industry leaders were doing, and utilizing the research available to us, we created, what is in my opinion a pretty great solution.  It’s our own, and we have full control. While we continue to make tweaks it has been a very positive experience, and it turned out to be a financially smart decision as well.

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No doubt retailers that offer Google Checkout as a payment option are now aware Google is changing their transaction processing fees to a new tiered structure and removing the Adwords processing credits. This is a pretty large change they plan on implementing, and one that will likely be adding much higher processing fees for Google Checkout Merchants.

Old Fee structure V. New Fee Structure

Under the old model if you processed $100,000 in one month through Google Checkout which represented 1,000 orders you would be charged $2400 in processing fees, which include the per transaction fee of $0.20.  Seems legit right? But let’s say you also spent $10,000 on Google Adwords the previous month, you would get that $100,000 processed for free because they will process 10 times whatever your Adwords spend is for free and everything else at the normal rates.  Nice kicker huh, for taking on Google checkout and also using multiple Google services?

Under the new model if you processed $100,000 in one month through Google Checkout which represented 1,000 orders (this pushes merchants into the lowest tier of processing fees at 1.9%) you would be charged $2200 is processing fees, which includes the per transaction fee of $0.30.  The fees are slightly lower than the previous model, that's great right?  Maybe not, let’s say you still spent that same $10,000 on Adwords the previous month, under the new model you now owe the full $2,200 in processing fees! They are removing the Adwords processing credits.  Wha wha wha!

Our wonderful checkout representative plans on calling me this week to review the changes and let us know what they plan on accomplishing with the fee changes, but still that's a pretty steep increase in fees. The fees are especially high when you take into consideration, that we made the upfront investment to take on Google checkout, pay for the development and fully integrate Google checkout. Granted, they have tossed on some awesome promotions since we implemented the feature and have successfully heavily engaged users.  It’s still a hard chunk of change to write a check for (or never see as the case may be). On top of the hard economic times, I hope that this does not affect too many merchants in an extremely negative fashion.  I could see merchants with large Adwords budgets who process a lot of dollars through Google Checkout possibly getting thrown under the bus on this one.

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Recently, we had some interns helping us review our policy pages. Overall both I and the interns thought it was a pretty interesting project and we will certainly be making some necessary changes to our policies. Specific changes include: making our policies more readable, more user friendly, and displaying the most valuable information in an easy to read layout.

Before we set out on this project we knew that our policies had not been updated in a while, and we were interested in how we stacked up against competitors and other Internet retailers.  We focused on what was displayed in others policies, the terms of their policies and how strictly they where enforced. We also paid particular attention to what was enforced and why some policies seemed more flexible than others, and of those policies which ones were clear sticking points for merchants. With that in mind we decided that our onslaught of interns would be perfect for the job of researching website policies and providing us with some recommendations.

Throughout the entire process I had to combat the question, "who reads the policies anyways?” and I had to explain that it’s true, most people do not read the policies, upfront.  What the interns needed to understand was that the policies contain essential pieces of information which need to be made public and available to our users regardless of what point in the buying cycle the customer decides to read or review them. While someone may not care what the returns process is upfront, you know they certainly care if they get the wrong product, a damaged product or simply do not like what they ordered. Clear and concise information regarding how to contact us, answers to common questions, order status, return a product, terms of use, privacy information etc., needs to be available.

Having this information is not only important, legally, but it is also important to keep transparency between our staff and consumers.  When imperative information is made public upfront it ensures that we are properly servicing our customers and in turn giving them the ability to serve themselves.