Why 3 listings of course!

In today’s world, talking about being first on Google for something is starting to get complicated. With the introduction of “personalization” of search, the items you see for a particular phrase will vary greatly from what I see when I search.

The good news though is that with the introduction of varied results, there are now more chances than ever for you to have MULTIPLE listings on Page 1 of Google for a certain phrase. So today, the real goal in the search engine marketing profession is to gain multiple listings instead of just focusing on one.

Go for #1 spots in all 3 areas

With Google, you have 3 possible spots that you could appear “#1” for a various phrase:

1. Natural, organic results – these are the regular, non-paid results that everyone knows and trusts.
2. Paid search ads – these paid placements appear at the top and to the side of relevant search phrases.
3. Local listings – in certain cases, Google is now displaying a set of local listings which are near to the locality of the place you have searched.

That’s not all – claim more spots with “Universal Results”

Have you noticed that when you search for something you get results that include news, videos and articles about the phrase in addition to regular search results? These are called “universal results” which are designed to give you a well rounded sample to choose from.

The good news is that companies can now shoot for multiple listings there as well with highly ranked videos, news items and articles or even social results from sites like Facebook and Twitter.

If you can’t beat them, join them

It seems simple – become the most relevant and Google will put your company on the first page. However, in order to know how to make Google recognize your website as the most relevant one, you would have to know the algorithm that Google uses to rank websites. That algorithm is a closely guarded secret, which is why there is no single recipe to the right mix of SEO, PPC, and keyword placement to get onto page one.

Our suggestion, go after multiple results on the first page so when you can’t win for one, maybe you’ll win for another!

The missing link in website success

More and more businesses are online, but some seem to be much more successful than others at reaching customers and turning that customer contact into sales. Understanding why one business outperforms another online, especially when both businesses are in the same sector or field, is not always a simple or straightforward process.

The factors that lead to higher conversion rates are manifold in nature which is why it is important to test them often so that you can be aware of subtle changes that may create big results for your company.

What does conversion rate mean?

For internet marketing, the conversion rate is the number of visitors to your website that go on to complete a specific, desired action. That can mean completing a sale or it can be something else such as starting a shopping cart, signing up for regular email updates, or any other of a number of actions. The conversion rate is a way of measuring how effective your website and marketing campaign is at turning visitors into customers.

Why should I test conversion?

Understanding who is visiting your site and what they are doing on the site is important to designing a site that can promote your business effectively, getting the most value out of the money spent marketing your business online. The more often you test conversion, the better idea you will have of what is working and what is not in your current campaign. This will help you make changes and set a smarter course for future marketing efforts, producing a greater profitability overall.