5 Ways How Multi Location Businesses Can Improve Their Profits Online

5 Ways How Multi Location Businesses Can Improve Their Profits Online

by Digital Marketing

With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to linger, online/hybrid commerce has arrived much more quickly than many businesses had originally anticipated. In fact, many online selling platforms have more than doubled their number of users in less than two years. Whether or not your business was ready for this online migration, it has become the new normal for a business in 2022. If your multi-location business is still struggling to navigate these waters, the following breakdown looks at 5 ways you can improve your online profits in the current business climate.

 

1. Add a “Where to Find” Page to Your Website

Despite the continued shift to online commerce, there is still a large demographic that enjoys making purchases in person. Some people simply feel more comfortable when they have the chance to hold a product in their hands, compare options, and chat face-to-face with a real-life member of your team.

However, even those people who like to make their purchases the old-fashioned way will more than likely be starting their research process online, comparing options through a basic internet search. In order to capture as many of these leads as possible, it is paramount that your business has the best store locator software added to your company website.

 

Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

 

Having a “where to buy” page serves a number of important purposes for the business:

    • Segmentation and conversion – automatically route leads to your nearest dealers and vendors so that these professionals can follow up and get clients in stores.
    • Client engagement – allows your business to use branded local pages to feature showrooms, reviews, and product photos so that customers can quickly see what types of products and services are in their local market.
    • Analytics – gives actionable statistics on how clients are arriving at your stores, which online campaigns are working for your business, and how effectively your dealers are following up with leads and closing sales.

 

2. Use a Central Location to Consolidate Resources

With the cost of commercial rent soaring across the country, businesses are looking for as many ways as possible to downsize. While shifting completely online is the logical choice for some companies, this is simply not an option for service-based businesses that will always require some sort of physical presence.

However, what you can do is pare down each one of your physical branches. Keep only what you need for doing business at each location. Have a central hub to store all products and supplies for servicing each of your branches.

This will greatly reduce the amount of space needed for storage at your physical locations and limit the number of worker hours needed to keep your separate branches running. In fact, if you are able to perform this process effectively, you may be able to rent a small section of a larger building to perform your service, splitting the rent with another tenant.

 

3. Have Elite Customer Service

In the age of hybrid commerce, customers have greater choice in where to buy than ever before. If they are not happy with one business, all they have to do is search for a similar offering and place an order from a competitor. Customer defection can transpire in a matter of seconds.

One of the surest ways to annoy customers is through poor customer service. While chatbots and redirects to tutorial videos and FAQ pages are a great place to start and will suffice for some customers, others will quickly become frustrated when automation does not have the answer to their specific question or concern.

Therefore, it is incumbent on your business to go above and beyond to guarantee customer satisfaction. If possible, try to quickly connect customers to a live service agent. If this is not feasible for your business, make sure you provide them an opportunity for voicing their concern and try to get back to them in no more than 24 hours. The last thing your business needs is for a frustrated customer to defect to a competitor and leave a scathing online review as they go.

 

4. Build Ongoing Relationships

Statistics reveal that a mere 5% increase in customer retention can lead to up to a 95% increase in profit. As such, it is critical that you place special attention on locking in your current client base and not give them the chance to go elsewhere. Some ways you can do this include:

    • Keep up-to-date contact information so that you can provide them with the nearest option to access one of your stores whenever they move.
    • Featuring their stories and feedback on your company website or social media pages. Customers love feeling like they are part of your team.
    • Sending unique coupons, offers, and incentives to returning clients. Have a robust referral program so that your loyal customers get rewarded for marketing for you.
Photo by Jason Goodman on Unsplash

5. Set Up an Infrastructure for Convenient Online Payment

Finally, customers want as much convenience as possible during the online checkout process. Setting up ponderous accounts or not being able to use their preferred payment option is one of the leading causes of abandoned carts. Some ways to add convenience to the checkout process include:

    • Applying any saved information from previous purchases to current purchases.
    • Accepting as diverse a selection of payments as possible. Younger customers particularly like Venmo and Cash App.
    • Make guest checkout an option for new customers. If they are happy with your business, they will eventually create an account.

 

Improve Profits for Multi-Location Businesses

Hybrid commerce has become a way of life for businesses in 2022. To help your multi-location business be as profitable as possible in these uncharted waters, add a WordPress store locator to your company website, consolidate resources to a central location as much as possible, have elite customer service, build ongoing relationships, and set up a robust infrastructure for processing online payments. It is very important to consider working closely with the marketing experts who can help you strategize and improve your ROI.

Ecommerce Marketing Ideas to Make a Difference in the Coming Year

E-Commerce Marketing Ideas to Make a Difference in the Coming Year

by Digital Marketing

The New Year is nearly upon us, and everywhere you look retailers and e-commerce marketing campaigns are being turned into high gear to capture as many sales as possible before the big Christmas holiday. While that is a great strategy in the short term, it doesn’t prepare small businesses and online sellers for the upcoming year.

 

That is why we’ve gone through a few of the expected web design trends and e-commerce marketing tips that you should take advantage of to keep your business afloat and doing well in the future.

 

1- Step up Your Visual Game

 The vast majority, nearly 83%, of consumers consider sharing video content with their friends when it relates to their interests, needs, or desires. That means if you want to have content that engages your target market, you need to make it tailored to their needs and in a video format. User-generated content is one of the most valuable ways to go viral online and through social media. Having videos of unboxings, tours of your facilities or funny 20-second clips will go a long way to improving your e-commerce marketing in 2022.

 

2- Don’t Shy from SEO and Link Building

There is a good reason why so many web design trends involve SEO practices. You could have all the fantastic and engaging content you want, but if Google and other major search engines don’t understand how to categorize your website, you won’t get the traction you need. This is even truer for local SEO. You don’t want to appear like a shoe company based in LA if you are selling homemade candles in Alaska.

 

3- Personalize As Much As Possible

Today’s consumer not only wants a more personalized experience with their favorite brands, they expect it and will judge other brands when it isn’t offered. Using customized advertisements that change what is viewable on your website based on the user’s demographics visiting your landing page improves your click rates. Instead of casting a wide net that gets lost in the marketing mix, you are directly targeting high-value consumers’ needs and wants. 

 

4- Integrate Social Proof

The advantage of shopping online is that you get to read other users’ reviews who have tried a product or service. Having a space in your e-commerce marketing for user-generated social proof like reviews increases your trust factor with those on the fence about making a purchase. This web design trend to post recent Amazon or Shopify reviews directly on your landing page is an excellent way to bring more attention to what you have to offer.

 

 

Where to Get Started

When you consider what changes you need to make to your marketing and website platforms for the next year, try reaching out to the experts at Griffon Webstudios. We have years of experience streamlining e-commerce marketing campaigns and improving your website user journey that can directly target those consumers most aligned with your products and services.

 

Visit Griffon Webstudios and schedule a consultation with our expert staff today!

Proven Local SEO Tips to Dominate Google Search

Proven Local SEO Tips to Dominate Google Search

by Digital Marketing

How often have you done your keyword research only to find those challenging to leverage phrases that always end with “near me” or “in my area” in your results? That is because almost half of all Google searches involve looking for local information. Consumers use their mobile devices to hunt down stores, restaurants, entertainment, and services near their specific location.

Google noticed this a long time ago. They began shifting their search engine algorithm to elevate businesses higher in organic results with location data as part of their SEO strategy. Maybe your site gets buried when people in two states over searching for “local sushi restaurant,” but you are number one in the results when it is someone within 20 miles of your excellent spicy tuna roll.

Would you like to rank higher in Google for local SEO? Here are a few of our digital marketing tips that are proven to give you a boost.

1- Leverage Google My Business

Google My Business is a profile of your company that often comes up beside search results on Google’s website. It is a quick overview of your business that makes it incredibly easy for consumers to locate your products and services. On mobile devices, you will appear above the fold, often before any other search results after filling out the proper information for Google.

2- Utilize Other Business Listings

It might seem simple, but updating your listing on Yelp, Angie’s List, HotFrog, or any other popular business listing website should be at the top of your local SEO checklist. This sends a clear signal to Google that you are who you say you are, and any searches in your area should filter back to your business.

3- Consistent Information

Business information will change periodically. Maybe your company will move to a new building, or use multiple phone numbers for different departments. In either case, you need to ensure all your NAP (name and place) data is the same across all your platforms. Google wants to verify you because it improves their service. Having your name, address, phone number, and other contact data the same on Google, Yelp, and even social media is incredibly important to your local SEO results.

4- Create and Optimize Local Content

This may seem obvious, but many businesses overlook simply adding highly relevant local keywords to their content. For example, if you are a Seattle-based dog groomer but do not list words like Seattle, Washington, and Northwest on your website, you are not telling Google exactly where you operate. You’re missing out on potential customers because your digital marketing isn’t directed to consumer location-based searches.

5 – Be Mobile Responsive

If you haven’t already, update your website so it is mobile responsive. This is a good idea for your local SEO checklist because nearly 30% of all mobile searches are locally based. If your website does not display well on a mobile device, you will not appear well on Google’s search engine results.

Local SEO to the Rescue

Leveraging local SEO in your digital marketing strategy is an easy way to increase your brand visibility, website traffic, and overall success. This is a straightforward solution to growing your business within your local area that does not take a lot of work or research to complete. The more you can take advantage of improving your local digital footprint, the more likely you will rank higher in Google, leading to better customer engagement.

Foolproof Marketing Plan & Strategy for Your Business

Foolproof Marketing Strategy for Your Business

by Digital Marketing

If you want to grow your business in the modern online marketplace, you need to develop robust marketing strategies that go beyond SEO. There are some essential elements your website and online presence must have to compete with the hundreds and possibly thousands of businesses in your particular niche. It all begins with setting up a strong marketing strategy that explains the ins and outs of your target goal and the steps you will take to achieve success.

The Base Model

1- Summarize and Identify

Start by outlining your business model with the details you already know but may not be clearly conveyed to your customers. For example, what is your name, location info, contact points, mission statement, philosophy, and values? Do you present this information to your customers in a transparent and conducive way so they can quickly understand how and what you are?

2- What are Your Goals?

You cannot work towards a goal if you haven’t defined it yet. What is the marketing initiative you hope to achieve in the short and long term? What key performance indicators will let you know you’ve reached specific benchmarks like sales revenue, website traffic, and conversion rates?

3- Who is Your Target Market?

Time to get out the data-driven insights and define your target market, high-value customers, competition, and overall niche analysis. You need to know the demographics of everyone involved in your customer journey.

4- Time to Strategize

Now it is time for the meat of the project. How are you going to reach those target customers with the least and most engagement potential? What channels will be leveraged the most to entice them to interact with your brand?

5- Budget Everything

It is way too easy to go over budget when working on a new marketing strategy because you can see the potential value you are going to bring into the business. Take your time and follow a strict budget, so your overall operating costs do not end up fluctuating beyond your control.

Would You Like a Checklist?

You’ve developed a strong plan, but what suggestions for different marketing strategies? Here are a few of the ideas and tips that have worked well for businesses in the past:

  1. Leverage market trends
  2. Identify customer value points
  3. Improve your distribution channels
  4. Create buyer personas
  5. Profile your competitors
  6. Categorize market segments
  7. Prioritize which customers to target first
  8. Include comprehensive customer touchpoints (social media, website, email, etc.)
  9. Adjust your pricing
  10. Set precise sales forecasts that are communicated to everyone on your team
  11. Increase your SEO, SEM, and PPC plans
  12. Have a modern mobile responsive website
  13. User generated content and personalization

There are many, many more ideas, but that is an excellent place to get started. Of course, the best way to implement a new marketing strategy is to hire the SEO experts at Griffon Webstudios.

We have years of experience developing high-performing marketing strategies for businesses across all industries. Working with our marketing and design team is an excellent place to establish a solid marketing campaign for your business’s future growth. Give us a call today and schedule a consultation. You will see how quickly your team shifts into high gear to improve your business potential.

Ultimate Holiday Marketing Campaigns for Your E-Commerce Business

Ultimate Holiday Marketing Campaigns for Your E-Commerce Business

by Digital Marketing

The leaves are changing their colors into a vibrant natural kaleidoscope that conjures images of cozy evenings wrapped in a blanket in front of the fireplace while sipping on a fresh pumpkin spice latte. The holiday season is finally upon us and soon, we will be reliving glory days around the Thanksgiving table with family as we start shopping for Christmas presents using our phones.

Is your business ready for all that activity? Do you have a marketing campaign already in place for Black Friday and the busy holiday season leading up to the New Year? If not, it may be time to hire an e-commerce marketing agency.

Rise Above the Competition

The recent pandemic has forced marketing campaigns to be incredibly competitive. More and more people are entering the world of online business development because they need other income streams compared to traditional jobs of the past. With so much competition, you need a way to improve your e-commerce conversions and get more sales, especially during a season when most of the world is shopping online.

A professional e-commerce marketing agency can streamline all your holiday campaigns into easy-to-understand processes. Everything from social media implementations to stunning email promotions can be simplified so you don’t miss out on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or any important dates during the holiday shopping season.

why-consumers-shop-online

Unify Your Messaging

Your holiday promotions need to be universal across all your online platforms. If you send a thank you email to a customer who just placed an order, there should be a note about your Cyber Monday deal. Likewise, your social media should all be pointing to any shipping discounts you’re offering for last-minute Christmas shoppers.

Most importantly, you need to start leveraging data analytics to see how your holiday marketing campaigns perform. You want to quickly respond to market shifts or customer needs that may require a tweak to your campaign here and there.

Personalize Everything

Holiday campaigns require new graphics and copy that should align with your brand identity but are personalized for your target market. You need to deliver highly relevant content with eye-catching visuals on all your landing pages designed in holiday themes.

While you are developing new pages and content for this holiday season, make sure you optimize all your pages to maintain a high site speed that is mobile responsive. You want everything to be easily digested by the majority of shoppers. They are going to use their smartphones and tablets to look for products for their friends and family.

For the first time in history, smartphone purchases accounted for more than $50 billion in seasonal sales!

Where to Begin

Maybe you’re working with local businesses and influencers to promote your holiday deals or have new upselling packages to encourage more site traffic during this busy season. Whatever the reason, hiring an e-commerce marketing agency to deliver your marketing campaign is an excellent place to start.

Griffon Webstudios offers an experienced team of marketing specialists and web design experts ready to transform your online presence for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, the New Year, and so much more. We have all the industry knowledge and technical skills to help you significantly impact your revenue streams this season. Give us a call today to set up a consultation and learn how this holiday season can be one of the best your business has ever seen.

What Does It Take To Develop A Native Mobile App?

What Does it Take to Develop a Native Mobile App?

by Mobile Apps

Figuring out what kind of mobile application will work best for your business can be a challenge. If you have never done any type of app development before, the learning curve to creating something new can be a little steep.

That is why it is crucial to hire a professional app development company. They will have the expertise to help you build, streamline, and launch a powerful mobile app.

What is a Native App?

A native mobile application is built using a specific language or platform for use with a particular device. These apps are installed directly through that device’s branded store like Apple’s App Store or Google Play. They operate directly on the mobile device and access specific device features like GPS for location data. So if you want an iOS app, you would use a language like Swift and design your application specifically to work on iPhones or iPads.

Where to Begin

Native app development is highly sought after because it is faster, more secure, and reliable than cross-platform or hybrid applications. The downside is they take a bit longer than other development and usually involve a higher price tag to complete. The best way to get your mobile app launched is to hire an app designer who works within the framework of your target device. They will have the experience and know-how to manage every step of the process, including:

  • Defining strategic goals
  • Analysis & Planning
  • UI/UX Design
  • Actual Native App Development
  • Testing
  • Deployment & Support

mobile app statistics

Every one of these stages is essential in developing your own native application. Of course, some design houses may use a modified version of these steps depending on the scope and price tag of your specific requirements, but for the most part, this is the basic outline of what to expect.

 

Why Using Native Apps Helps

Let’s go back to our original example. We are a New York-based florist with multiple locations around the city and have just completed a native app build. How does this help our business?

First, we know our clients tend to use Apple products more than anything else. So we have created a brand extension that associates our business with their favorite device. Now they are making an association between our company and one of the most trustworthy brands in the world.

Next, we can start leveraging their iOS features to our advantage. Say we launch a new ad campaign where we use push notifications through our native app so that consumers see coupon codes whenever there is an upcoming holiday or a birthday listed on their calendar.

This will encourage them to reach out and purchase some of our flower arrangements for their next special date. We can also use our native app to send notifications whenever they are within a certain perimeter of our store that says something like, “Have you sent your mom flowers recently?”

Finally, we are creating a faster connection with our target market. Native app design is all about using the device features to accelerate our customer relationships. It may cost a bit more upfront, but the benefits over the long term are well worth the investment. If you have an app idea ready to go for your business, using native app development to target your most engaged consumers is a great way to go.

Web Design Trends to Watch Out for in 2022

Web Design Trends to Watch Out for in 2022

by Website Development

Any website development agency will tell you that staying up to date on the latest web design trends is essential to maintain or grow your online presence. You want to appeal to your consumers with all the newest media and optimization strategies possible to differentiate your brand from the competition.

Here are a few trends to watch out for in 2022 that will help keep your online presence top of mind for your past, current, and future visitors.

Speed Matters

Our attention spans are not what they used to be. Your visitors want engaging design and attractive colors within milliseconds of landing on your website’s front page. They want to get the information required as quickly as possible. That means load times, image optimization, content placement, and other speed-boosting factors are going to be highly relevant to website development agencies as they re-design and adapt sites for the upcoming year.

It’s All About Personalization

There are so many modern tools at your disposal for creating an intimate experience with your customers. You can have content that is specifically designed to show up for specific sectors of your target market. This way, whenever they visit your website, they first see the most relevant data that speaks to their detailed user profile.

Website Personalization

There is nothing wrong with crafting content for consumers based on their tracking histories, locations, and previous interactions with your business. This offers a more personalized experience that builds upon brand loyalty and customer relationships. The more they enjoy your service, the more likely they will refer your business to their friends and family.

Cleaner Design

Don’t be surprised if the local website development agency you work with suggests leveraging more white space or a cleaner overall design for your site. This web design trend not only provides your consumers with a more mindful experience that is easier on their eyes, but it also works well with mobile responsiveness. As most modern consumers are using mobile devices to search for their favorite brands, it only makes sense to design a website that will be more attractive on their platform.

Storytelling and Multimedia

The world is finally embracing the power of a story in marketing strategies. Web design trends in 2022 will use social media integration to craft a compelling narrative to expand customer relationships. This storytelling will and should involve a lot more video content. Users spend 88% more time on pages with videos because that form of media is visually appealing and conveys your brand messaging in a simple and engaging way.

How to Adapt

If you are looking to stay relevant in the upcoming year with your online presence, hiring a professional website design agency is a great way to integrate the latest web design trends. They will have the industry knowledge to upgrade your site design and leverage new tech so you can continue offering high-quality service and products to your customers with as little interruption by your competitors as possible.

6 Reasons why SEO is important for Shopify stores

6 Reasons Why SEO Is Important for Shopify Stores

by Digital Marketing

Did you know that almost 80 percent of people ignore search engine ads while browsing Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines? That’s why getting organic SEO traffic is so important. However, it is not the only reason why you need to prioritize SEO. 

Today, I will review six reasons why SEO is essential for Shopify stores. If you are not yet prioritizing SEO as part of your e-commerce strategy, you need to start sooner rather than later. After reading this article, you should have a pretty good idea of why SEO is essential, even if you are already paying money for paid advertising. 

Let us get into it. 

1. Effective SEO Is Essentially Free Advertising

Even if you are earning an excellent ROI on your paid marketing efforts, it still pays to invest in SEO. If your SEO strategy is effective, it is essentially free advertising. Once you get good rankings in the Google search results, you can get free traffic every day, for years, without paying anything extra. 

On the other hand, you have to constantly keep paying for traffic you get via PPC or social media ads. Even if you end up with a profit when all is said and done, you still have to keep spending money to maintain your traffic volume. Whereas with SEO, it is not necessary. You can maintain your existing Google rankings with minimal effort, and you can still keep getting new website visitors even if you take a break from working on SEO. 

SEO is essentially free advertising, allowing you to improve your bottom line and increase your profits by a lot. Since you don’t have to pay much for SEO, most of the revenue you make as a result of an effective SEO strategy will be pure profit. If you are not satisfied with your current ROI, focusing more on SEO might help. 

In 2021, global ecommerce is forecast to hit $4.89 trillion – almost a 400 percent increase in seven years.

2. Organic SEO Can Bring In Targeted Leads

One of the beauties of organic search results is that they can bring in targeted leads for free. You can target keywords that show buyer intent, for example, to attract targeted leads who are likely to make a purchase. It’s all about the keywords you target and rank for. A generic keyword like “baseball bats” might not be very specific because you don’t know what the intention of that particular search is. Do they want to buy a baseball bat? Or do they want to know what a baseball bat is? 

On the other hand, a keyword like “the best baseball bat for kids” or “where to buy a baseball bat” shows buyer intent. That searcher is looking to buy a baseball bat, and if you can rank for that keyword, you can attract people looking to buy the product. The same goes for any kind of conversion you are trying to achieve, whether that is trying to get people to buy your product or sign up for your email list. 

3. SEO Makes Your Store Easier to Find Online

Sometimes, one of the most challenging things about running a successful Shopify store isn’t getting people to buy from your store, but get them to find your store online. If someone is interested in purchasing a specific product because it fulfills a need, convincing them to make the purchase doesn’t take that much work. However, if they never find your store in the first place, you are not going to succeed, even if your store is highly optimized for conversions. 

The problem with e-commerce stores is that they don’t have a lot of valuable content. Sure, you have product pages, but they don’t have a lot of informational content on them, for the most part. They can still rank, but that depends on the site. If the site is enormous, has a lot of links, has a lot of authority, and has been around for a long time, product pages will have an easier time ranking. Otherwise, it can be hard to rank, especially if you’re up against sites like Amazon, Walmart, and Target. 

SEO for eCommerce stores usually involves some degree of blogging. Adding a blog to your store allows you to add informational content and get your website to rank. It also allows you to get backlinks to your site organically, and you can slowly build up your site’s reputation and authority. 

4. SEO Optimized Sites Can Have Higher Conversions

Shopify stores that are optimized for SEO can have higher conversion rates for a few reasons. First of all, you can get a lot more visitors, which naturally translates to higher conversions. The more visitors you have, the more buyers you will have, even if your conversion rate stays the same. 

However, there’s more to it than that. As I already mentioned, the vast majority of searchers ignore paid ads that pop up in the search results. Even if they do click on it, they tend to mistrust ads. That’s why people use ad blockers – they don’t like advertisers, who obviously have an ulterior motive. People tend to trust natural, organic search results because it provides provide helpful, informational content. 

So, even if they do click on a paid ad, they might not trust what they see enough to make a purchase. They’re coming from a place of suspicion. On the other hand, when they see a helpful blog post, they’re often coming from a place of trust, as you are helping them out. Even if they land on a product page that shows up in the Google search results, they will likely trust it a lot more than a paid ad. 

The more they trust you, the more likely they are to make a purchase. They’ll trust that the product you are providing is of good quality and that you will give a good customer experience. So, not only will you get more visitors, but your conversion rate (the percentage of visitors making a purchase) might go up as well. 

 

Mobile e-commerce has seen particularly rapid growth worldwide, with Insider Intelligence forecasting that m-ecommerce will grow at a 25.5 percent compound annual rate until 2024.

5. High SEO Rankings Can Improve Your Brand’s Credibility and Engagement

A site without an SEO strategy and good rankings looks kind of suspicious. If you only rely on paid advertising and don’t have a blog that is getting high rankings, people won’t trust you as much. You won’t be able to position yourself as an authority in your niche, and you won’t be able to establish more credibility. You’re just another e-commerce site that nobody visits, resorting to ads to try to get sales. 

However, if your site consistently ranks on the first page of Google for various search results, you are more likely to be respected. Your credibility will go up, and your brand will be looked at as an authority. People will trust you and the quality of your products more – that’s just how it works. People tend to trust the first few results on Google more because Google itself deemed them trustworthy enough to give them those rankings. 

With more credibility, your engagement rates can go up. People might buy from you more, follow you more on social media, and leave comments on your posts. They may even share your content with friends and family who were looking for a product, service, or solution you were offering. 

6. High SEO Rankings Can Position You As an Industry Leader

High SEO rankings do affect the way people look at your website and business overall. When people search for e-commerce products online, they expect to see industry leaders dominating the first page. For example, they might expect to see Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Target, and other famous e-commerce sites popping up on the first page, as those are leaders in the e-commerce industry. 

In more specific industries, they might be expecting industry-specific sites. For example, if they are searching for baseball paraphernalia, they might expect to see the MLB Store pop up. If they are searching for hosting services, they might expect sites like GoDaddy to pop up. If your store pops up for whatever they are searching for, they will expect your site to be an industry leader and regard it as such, simply due to the fact that it appeared in the search results. 

When people see your site on the first page of Google, they will be more likely to click on it, more likely to trust you, more likely to regard you as an authority, more likely to trust your recommendations, and more likely to make purchases on your site. 

Shopify customers include major brands like Nestle, Pepsi, Unilever, and Budweiser, as well as innovative brands like Gymshark, Hawkers, and Leesa and celebrities like Kanye West (Sources: Shopify).

Hopefully, you now understand the importance of SEO for Shopify store owners. There are many plugins that can help you optimize your Shopify store for SEO. Increase your site’s authority by starting a blog, and improve the rankings of your product pages by optimizing the descriptions for keywords, getting backlinks, and including high-quality images. SEO is a process, and you won’t get results overnight, but the results you get are easy to maintain and can significantly increase your profits.

The Ultimate Guide to Google Shopping Ads

The Ultimate Guide to Google Shopping Ads

by Digital Marketing

One of the most popular online sites for people to search for content and shopping is Google. It has a repository of millions of brands that showcase their products and services online, making it easier for you to go forth and purchase. However, as sellers, you need to understand what Google Shopping ads are involved with and what can be done to shape the online ads.

With that in mind, we’ve broken down Google Shopping ads so that you find it easier to go forth and create ads on the platform.

What are Google Shopping Ads?

Google Shopping ads include a slew of rich information so that the customer can receive everything they need before considering a purchase. We mean things like the product image, merchant name, price, and more by rich information. 

This information is collated and created using the data attributes taken about the product that can be entered. The report can be entered in the Merchant Center and shown to those already looking for the products you’re advertising.

Google-shopping-ads

The ad content can be easily customized based on your requirements, and you can set the pricing and budget that works best for you. The ads can also be measured easily, with the impact understood via advanced reporting and performance tools available on the backend. 

Advantages of Google Shopping Ads

Google Shopping makes the shopping experience much simpler and streamlined for its users. It comes with a slew of benefits that can make eCommerce shopping much simpler for users online:

Qualified traffic

With Google Shopping, you can receive more qualified traffic, similar to a normal Google Search Text ad. You’re only paying if someone clicks on your ads and the text ads are difficult because it needs to be super appealing within a few characters. You need to try and attract many qualified clicks via the site. You won’t have to pay for irrelevant clicks, and this is one of the biggest advantages.

When you have an eCommerce store, you need to ensure that you’re only paying for the clicks you want. When someone is searching for your product, they can see the product title, image, price, and other information such as shipping and promotional info. It also shows up next to other similar products.

This means that whenever someone clicks on a shopping ad, they’re at least a little interested. The information is presented to them upfront to take a properly thought-of decision before they purchase. 

Better UX for better conversion rates

The Google Shopping user experience is much more streamlined than the regular search ads. Whenever a person clicks on the shopping ad, they are taken straight to the product page. They don’t have to click and navigate their way around the website for what they’re looking for. The process is made simpler, and this can help in the overall streamline of the conversion process. 

By being taken straight to the product page, users can enjoy lesser clicks to the point of sale, which means a lesser chance of them getting annoyed. It leads to better returns despite a higher cost of conversion.

Clear customer intent

The customer intent is one of the significant benefits and features on why Google Shopping is super beneficial. These ads are designed to come up only when someone’s query indicates what they want to purchase. Instead of paying for broad clicks at the top of the funnel ensures that you’re paying for those people who are ready with their money to purchase. The intent factor lifts these ads above the search ads a little bit more. 

Once this is paired with how these ads are shown and where they’re going afterward, you’ve got the content for a great ROI!

Shopping ads drive 76% of retail search ad spend, and generate 85% of all clicks on Google Ads or Google Shopping campaigns.

Tailoring goals down to a product

Instead of campaigns that specifically group keywords together, the Google Shopping campaigns can easily group certain products. The entire inventory is available; you can easily advertise and place a structure that suits you best. 

There are plenty of eCommerce stores that don’t have just one blanket goal for all the products. The sales targets and profit margins can also vary between the product type or between the individual products. 

Google-Shopping

The best thing about these Shopping campaigns is that products can be grouped together regarding the sales goals, which can be optimized. It can give you control over what you’re giving them money for and provides quality traffic rather than quantity. 

You can see revenue that results from better traffic and product. This can ensure better ROAS and far valuable insights from the customer’s behavior. 

Google shopping ads are a great way to catch people with one objective: to purchase something. If you have an online store, you can showcase the product in front of them and give them the power to decide based on that.

Creating a Profitable Shopping Ad

To create campaigns for these shopping ads is to advertise the products on the Google platform. The Shopping campaigns must make it simpler to organize, manage and also overall optimize the shopping ads. 

These robust benchmarking and reporting tools can help in better optimization and monitoring of the campaign performance.

The product data is also an integral factor in creating and also managing the Shopping campaigns. Once the product data becomes accessible, these campaigns make it easier to organize and browse product inventory to make better decisions. Here are some ways to improve your shopping campaigns:

Create the listings and photos up to the mark

Google-ShoppingOne of the first and foremost things to consider and take care of is the product photos. These are what your customer is exposed to at first, and they have to fall within the requirements that Google looks for. 

By this, we mean that the images have to be within the required dimensions for the ads, and Google lays these out on the site itself. Once you’re able to satisfy those demands, the photos can make it easier for you to go forth and advertise.

The listings also need to have all the information that can make them attractive for the customers. This is important because it needs to be up to the mark and also contain relatable and relevant information all in one place.

Make sure the store is as per the Google Shopping ads policies

Whatever ads you put up all need to properly align with the rules and requirements that Google’s Policies hold. The ads can also be created so that they don’t fall foul of the various conditions that Google has created to ensure these ads’ smooth operation. 

The store needs to effectively satisfy the necessary store policies to show these Google ads to the right audience without causing any issues. Just go through the rules docket once, and it’ll become easier for you to start advertising online.

Create and set up the Merchant Center Account  

This is an important step because it is through this account that you’ll run your entire business on the Google platform. You’ll require a Google Account to sign up for the Merchant Center. In case you don’t have a Google account, go to accounts.google.com and create one.

Once you’re prepared, you can head over to the Merchant Center and also sign in with the Google Account. 

Create your product feeds

The feed can be defined as a file that contains a product list that you wish to advertise via the Merchant Center. Whenever you add the products, you can assign specific attributes to them, and the product feeds will use the same to group these products together. 

Once the feed is created, it can be used across as many Merchant Center features as needed. There are various types of feeds that are present in the Merchant Center.

These feed types will also depend on what your needs are as a retailer. The attributes used to describe these products to the Merchant Center are the same across the various feed types.

Mobile devices generate 65% of clicks on paid Google search results.

Link the MCA to Google Ads

This is another crucial addition that you need to make for your Google account and the most important one pertaining to running a store. When you plan to showcase your products on the Google platform, you need to have an account properly connected. 

By linking your Merchant Center account with the central Google Ads console, you’ll be able to gain all the necessary tools to run your store. Whenever you approve a link between the Merchant Center and Google ads, you can allow the product data to seamlessly flow from the Center to the Google ads for all your ad campaigns. 

Depending on the product data type you submit, you can create effective Shopping campaigns to advertise products, use certain dynamic remarketing to drive the Display campaigns, and do so much more. 

Only if you have a Merchant Center account can you link the same. There are new account link requests that appear in the Google Ads account on the “Linked accounts” page, which is also located right at the Setup part of the Tools and Settings menu that drops down.

Campaign settings

Country of sale: You need to choose the country where you want your products to be shipped and sold. Your ads are only shown to people in the country that you’ve selected. To advertise, your product data in the MCA is available for those countries that you choose. If there’s no product data available, you won’t be able to advertise.

Further, the country of sale cannot be changed once the campaign is created. You’ve to adjust this setting to limit the total number of products on the campaign.

Inventory Filter: This is one setting that needs to be adjusted if you wish to limit your campaigns’ overall product number. You need to choose criteria that the product meets to become advertised. The products that match these requirements alone are added to the campaign. This can be changed even after the campaign is created as well.

Bidding: This is something that you wish which can also be adjusted once the campaign is created. Make sure you’ve taken account of the finances before proceeding with this step.

 

In the United States alone, e-commerce sales are expected to surpass $740 billion by 2023.

 

Daily budget: The daily budget needs to be selected based on what you’re willing to spend on a campaign.

Campaign Priority: This setting only needs to be adjusted if you’re advertising one product in various campaigns for one country of sale. The priority helps determine the budget that will be used whenever there is an overlap in the campaigns.

Networks and devices: The shopping campaigns can help drive traffic to the products and increase conversions. In case you’d like to limit where these ads appear, you’ve to uncheck boxes for networks that you’d like to exclude. Ads can appear on any device, including mobile and computers. This can be changed based on the campaign and once it is created.

Locations and Local inventory ads: This setting can limit where these ads are shown in specific locations. This can be changed once the campaign is created. The local inventory ads need to be adjusted if the shopping campaign must include those sold in the local stores. If you’d like to advertise local products, you can submit local data to the Merchant Center.

Once you take care of these factors, the Google Shopping ads are now live!

google-shopping

Top Strategies for More Sales from Google shopping ads

A few strategies can be followed to increase your sales and make sure the ads are running more efficiently. These include:

Optimizing product titles

The product titles need to be efficiently optimized so they can be easily searched and discovered on the Google platform with ease. Make sure the product titles contain all the necessary details with regards to showcasing your brand and the products you’re selling, and you’ll be good to go.

Optimize the descriptions and categories

The product feed descriptions also need to contain a synopsis of the relevant information along with the product titles. This summary needs to have the necessary keywords and other information that a customer would like to know about before going forth and purchasing from your brand.

Ensure that the categories are also corrected, and the products are not shown in other categories so that there is no confusion and a loss of money if it’s not done in the right way.

Optimizing the images

Your product images are another essential addition to the mix, and they need to look inviting. The customer must know that the product they are looking to purchase is the same as the image, so ensure that the editing is precise and well-aligned.  

Use extensions

With Google Merchant Promotions, you can also enjoy the opportunity to showcase certain offers along with the Shopping ads. These extensions make it easier to distinguish products from other ones with certain goods, which gives clients an added incentive to visit sites. 

Reviews and Ratings

If you need your products to sell, fetching good reviews and high ratings is extremely important. New customers need to know that the product they are looking to purchase is of good quality, and one of the best ways to do that is by showcasing product reviews and ratings. Ensure that you have this highlighted on the page, and it’ll make your job so much easier.

The ratings and reviews need to be in line with the products, so don’t share fake reviews because it will have an adverse impact on your brand perception.

reviews

Use negative keywords the right way

The negative keywords strategy is another important requirement for anyone who wants to showcase their brand but only with the right ones. The negative keywords will ensure that your products are not shown whenever a customer types in specific keywords which stray away from the ones that your brand needs to be known for.

Adjust based on the performance of devices

Where your customers are buying your products is also essential, and you need to ensure that you’ve optimized your bids accordingly. Take a look at where they’re shopping for your brand online and with this, make it easier for you to go forth and create campaigns. 

These campaigns need to be optimized so that you don’t face any issues regarding where your customers are shopping from.

Optimize by geolocation

Certain products can only be sold in particular demographics and locations. If yours is one, make sure that your ads are also effectively optimized by geolocation to avoid targeting an audience in the wrong geography! 

High-performance products can have in

When you have products that are performing well, you need to capitalize on getting the most out of them. Make sure that you increase the bids for your products that are performing well, and you’ll be able to gain more footfalls once they get optimized.

Remarketing Lists

For your shopping ads, you can increase the number of people purchasing if you remarket to them. They might have dropped off for many reasons, but once you’re able to showcase the product again to them at a time when it is more convenient, you increase your chances of selling.

Ecommerce accounts for close to 11% of all retail sales in the U.S.

Once you implement the above techniques, you’ll begin seeing a change in how your brand is being perceived online. Follow the necessary steps and ensure that you’re always in line with the Google Shopping ads requirements, and you’ll soon begin making a lot of revenue online. 

Creating an approved Google Shopping Feed & running profitable Google Ads is a multi-step process. AdNabu’s app helps you to easily create a Google Shopping feed & run profitable Google shopping Ads. All changes from your Shopify store are fetched and updated automatically in the feed. 

mastering-the-art-of-local-seo

Mastering The Art of Local SEO – How To Rank In Multiple Locations?

by Digital Marketing

A powerful online presence is crucial for businesses these days. Companies that want to succeed have to make sure that they work on increasing their visibility to potential customers. If you are familiar with digital marketing then you know what search engine optimization can achieve for your business. It can help you increase your traffic, visibility and eventually your leads and revenue.

With almost all businesses trying to rank up, it can get very challenging to optimize your website for the search engines. The competition is high which is why you need to hire a professional SEO company to take care of your online marketing needs.

How To Perform Local SEO?

The procedure to rank your business locally on the search results is different than that of performing a traditional search engine optimization. There are certain things that you might have to do differently in getting ranked for local searches.

Choose The Right Keywords

You won’t be able to optimize your website in the right way without proper usage of keywords and location related to your business. So be extremely cautious in choosing the right combination. Let’s say you are a local realtor operating across the New York region, here are the keyword combinations you could possibly use to reach your potential clients- “Buy A Home In NY”, “Property To Buy Near Me”, “Buy A Home In New York”, “Which Borough Is Best For Investment”, “Is It The Right Time To Invest In Real Estate In New York”, etc.

Study Your Competitors

One of the most powerful ways to perform search engine optimization is to study your competitors. Analyze what they are doing and try to do it better. Check what keywords they are using, what type of content they publish and review all the other SEO related practices your competitors do.

Use Google My Business

These days if your business doesn’t show up on Google Maps, it instantly loses most of its credibility. It is another important aspect of local SEO. When someone searches for your business, they should see it on Google Maps with all the information related to the products/services you offer. Having a business on Google Maps will automatically help you perform well on the search results.

How To Rank In Multiple Locations

When people start a business, they only have one thing in mind, that is to build their business and scale-up in the coming years. You might be performing really well on the search results for your local market but once your business starts to attract more clients and turns into a bustling company, you need to expand to other nearby areas as well.

Now it can be very tricky to perform SEO for locations where you don’t have a physical presence as you can’t register a local address on Google Maps or show it on your website that you have an office in multiple localities.

Create A City Landing Page

One of the best ways to rank in multiple locations even when you don’t have a physical presence in that area is by creating a city landing page for the targeted location. One thing to keep in mind is that the content should be unique for each one of the cities. Using the same content and just altering the location names is going to do you no good. It might not even get indexed by Google due to duplicate content.

Make sure to not provide incorrect information about your business address or the location of your service because it can have an adverse effect on local SEO. Create high-quality content and backlinks for your city landing pages and that should help you rank better.