Create More Customers

Is Google "the Man?"

I grew up in the 60's where you weren't supposed to trust anyone over 30 and certainly not big, greedy corporations.  Big corporations and big government represented "the Man," the enemy. And "the Man" was always trying to keep you down while taking all the advantages and profits for himself (well, I guess with respect to some corporations, things haven't changed at all).

I realize that Google is gigantic and that's a scary thing. Because we can't control something that large (AIG), we're at it's mercy (to a point) and we can only hope that it's kind and benevolent. Google's stated mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful, but does that make Google "the Man?"

Perhaps it does in some contexts, or even in a lot of them. But, because the focus of this blog and the purpose of  my company, IncreaseOnlineProfits.com, is about helping online businesses attract more visitors and create more customers, let's just focus on Google's search function and whether or not it's an ally or an enemy to our businesses.

Gaming the system

Many people try to cheat the search engines. They find ways to artificially get their website ranked higher for a short period of time. They load their pages with invisible keywords, where the font color and the background color are the same. Or they purchase multiple domains and post the same content on each and link to each other, or a whole host of other blackhat (as opposed to whitehat) SEO tricks.

The problem with trying to cheat the search engines is that you will be found out. Don't even begin to think that you can outsmart Google or the others. You can't. You might get by for a little while, but once they catch on, you just might see your website completely deleted from their databases and/or be blacklisted without any chance of returning.

You say to yourself, "So what? I'll just get a new domain name and do it again." But what about your customers? What about your personal sense of integrity? If that's how you want to operate, always looking for a new angle because you got caught using the last one, that's up to you. Personally, I like to go to sleep at night not having to look over my shoulder, knowing that I'm right with the world, that I've treated everyone the way I'd like to be treated.

Is it possible that you and Google want the same things for your website?

Google is a business. It only remains in business for as long as it returns search results that you and I find relevant to our search. If we search for information or pricing for a Flip camera and Google's search page results just returns a listing of electronic stores, is that relevant? Does that help us out?

No, it doesn't.  If we continued to received results that didn't save us time and didn't match our query, would we continue to use Google? No, we wouldn't. So, it's in Google's best interest to give it's searchers the most relevant information it can based on the  search terms used.

How does this relate to your website?

Google has created a Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide as well as Webmaster guidelines to help improve your site's interaction with users and search engines. Within those guides are suggestions such as:

• Offer quality content and services- write easy-to-read text, stay organized around the topic, use relevant language, create fresh, unique content and create content primarily for your users, not search engines
• Make your site easier to navigate- create a naturally flowing hierarchy, use mostly text for navigation and use "breadcrumb" navigation
• Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it
• Offer a site map that points to important parts of your site
• Write better anchor text- that's the clickable text that tells users and Google something about the page it's linked to
• Optimize your use of images- use brief, but descriptive filenames and alt text, supply alt text when using images as links, store images in a directory of their own
• Try to use text instead of images to display important names, content or links. The Google crawler doesn't recognize text contained in images
• Check for broken links and correct HTML

While these suggestions (and there are many more) not only  help your website to be found in the search engines, they also help those users who actually click through to your site.

Don't you want to attract more visitors by being more easily found in the search engine result pages? Don't you want to create more customers by having better quality and content, a site that's easy to navigate, easy-to-read text, etc.  Aren't these all things that make for a website that people want to visit, stay on, link to?

Is it possible that you and Google are on the same page in this respect? Doesn't it benefit them if you have a quality website with valuable content? Isn't that what they need for their search results? Remember, if Google can't return relevant search results, they lose customers.

Perhaps, they are an ally or can at least be seen as an ally and not the enemy.

Comments...

Have a comment about Google, a different point of view? Please, let me know.

Thank you for visiting the Create More Customers blog. If you like this blog, please be sure to add to your feeds by choosing the RSS button (the orange icon in the upper-right of the screen).  This will allow you to keep up-to-date with the lastest blogs effortlessly.

Rick

In an earlier post,  How Do I Improve My Customer Service?, I suggested that the answer lies in looking at your website from your customer's perspective.  It's the only viewpoint that really matters.

I recently had  an offline experience that's worth describing to you:

A Personal Story

About a year ago, I installed new maple kitchen cabinets in my house. The company was professional, they showed up on time, the workmanship was superior and I was very pleased. The cabinets looked like fine furniture.

In November, I noticed that the finish began developing blemishes in some areas. In California, finishes need to be water-based rather than oil-based to protect the environment, a good thing. Unfortunately, most water-based finishes are just not as durable and long-lasting as the oil-based ones. At the time of installation, it had been raining pretty steadily, and I thought that maybe the finish hadn't dried sufficiently.

I called the company, they sent someone out and agreed that the cabinets needed to be repaired.  The worker took one of the cabinet doors with him to show to his supervisor and told me that I would be called later that day.

By the end of the next day, no one had called, so I called and left a message. After calling each day for 4 days, someone finally returned my call and told me that new cabinet doors were being made.

A week later I called to check on the status of the repair. Guess what? No return call. I waited 3 days and left a voicemail for the owner, thinking surely he would call back and apologize. No dice.

Then I received a call setting up an appointment for installation, which was great. No one showed up.

I then called my sales rep who I hadn't spoken to in a year. He said that he would get to the bottom of it and call me back. He did call and told me that no one was returning his calls either. ( Now, this is a guy who had been with the company for over 10 years and was their top salesman bringing in over $15 million in sales during that time).

A couple of days later, the rep called to say that the company had closed its doors and they still wouldn't talk to him. At this point, all I wanted was my original cabinet door back. He said not to worry, he had contacts and could get another one made if necessary.

Keep in mind, he had suddenly lost his job, didn't know if he would receive his commision checks and really didn't  have any obligation to me at this point. He had his own problems to worry about.

End of story- a few days later, on his way to file a grievance with the Labor Board, the sales rep stopped by the shuttered business and prevailed upon a security guard to look for my  cabinet door. He found it, called me and I got my door back.

I was so impressed that even after he told me that he was getting out of the remodeling business after 18 years, I told him, "Whatever you get into next, if you think I might be a potential client, please call me."

Sometimes, the only difference between you and your competitor, is customer service. My earlier post on customer service offers several examples of things you can do on your website to separate yourself from the rest of the pack.

What are some of your own experiences of outstanding customer service, both online and offline?  Please comment below.

We all have our own ideas of what constitutes great customer service. But I think we can each agree that it means taking that extra step, doing something unexpected that makes us feel like a valued person.

 
A Personal Story
A few months ago, my wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. I called this very highly rated restaurant in Beverly Hills to make a reservation. The gentleman answered the phone with, "Thank you for calling Mastro's. How may we be of the greatest service to you?" When I told him that I was making reservations for our anniversary, he said, "What a tremendous compliment that you've chosen our restaurant to celebrate this special occasion." My first thought was, "That's nice, but come on, let's get real."

To make a long story short, one of the items we ordered was the "Seafood Tower." You can add lobster tail, shrimp, crab, oysters, etc. to it. Well, they left out one of the items and I pointed it out to the waitress. I didn't think that much about it. I just figured they would bring it out on a separate plate. Well, not only did she apologize, the maitre d' apologized, and the chef came over to apologize.  They brought the missing item (I don't even remember what it was), and deducted it from the final bill. Needless to say, I was impressed and did in fact feel like a very valued person.

How can we translate this attitude, this feeling, to our own website, where we probably have very little personal interaction with our visitor?

 
Look at your website from your client's perspective.
What are their worries, their anxieties? At what point do these concerns present themselves along the purchase path?

 
To a new visitor, your business is a big unknown

• Are you reliable?
• Are there any hidden costs?
• Do you have multiple methods of payment?
• Are my transactions secure?
• Can I contact you?
• How quickly will you respond to my inquiries?
• What are your refund policies?
• What are your shipping policies?
• Can I track my shipment?
• What do other customers think of you?
• Can I purchase without registering first?
• Have you given me enough information to make a decision?
• Is your product description accurate?
• Will your autoresponder confirm my order and let me know when it has shipped?
• Is there an FAQ page that will answer most of questions?
• I s there a picture of you, so I know I'm dealing with a real person?

I'm going to stop here for right now, but I think you get the idea. Put yourself in your customer's shoes.

Your website needs to anticipate as many of their questions as possible, in advance, and then answer them in advance, on your webpages. If you're not sure what those questions might be, do a quick usability test. Pay 3 or 4 people from outside $40 or $50 each to spend a half hour on your website. Give them tasks to do. Ask them to purchase something and record their comments.

I guarantee that you'll be surprised at how many of your visitor's questions and concerns have been overlooked. And if you have answered everything in advance, more power to you.