• Posted by Melanie
• 30 September 2009
• E-Commerce Design, Ecommerce SEO, Zen Cart

Google Anchor Links

If you have doubted the need for fresh, related content on your store pages.... You better rethink your position! Google has improved the search results snippets to include "jump to" links to the page's specific area containing the related content.

We have seen Google recently making huge and innovative changes in sitelinks and snippets, but in fact this most recent innovation may be the most valuable yet. We have discussed here many times, Google's "full text" indexing and ranking ability... Now Google has sought to put that very ability to work for searchers.

Imagine that a shopper is searching for the specs on a gadget they wish to buy, with this type of anchor linking you have a unique opportunity to grab and better convert these topical and information seeking searches. Let's face it, even if you rank for these type of searches, your product pages are designed to sell... Thus very likely the information for this type of search is buried. So much so, that even if they land on the page, they leave never finding the information they are seeking. While this is for good reason, and I do not suggest clouding the ability to shop with this type of information... Now you can include it in a less obtrusive manner, link to it with anchors and discover a entirely fresh conversion opportunity in information gathering searches.

Let's say for example you search Google for "good cholesterol level". You are met with a very unique opportunity in the search results.....

Google Jump to Sitelink

This content or sitelink as we say, not only takes you to the most relevant page... But the most relevant location on that page too!

I know, how can I do that? Well, Google has posted the means to get your site coded and correct anchors set in place for these type of results in a recent post on Webmaster Central Blog. Essentially you will need to relearn a bit of html in order to help Google index you in this manner. Creating page anchors for static pages is really not difficult, but including them in your dynamic pages can be a far greater challenge. Here is a really easy tutorial from W3Schools to get you started.

• Posted by Melanie
• 30 March 2009
• Ecommerce SEO

Power Blogging Titles

Website visitors are in a hurry. You’ve got but just a moment of their attention to grab them and reel them in. When someone visits your blog, will they only scan your headlines and leave, or would they be drawn to read more and stay awhile?

Think about how you read a newspaper. You short read or scan the papers headlines, deciding which content you’re going to read. People read blogs in much the same way.

You’ve only got about 10 seconds.... How will you engage your visitor?

Let’s compare a couple of post headlines:

Dog Explodes - BIG Mess!
or
Hot Dogs Overcooked in the Microwave May Explode

Very likely that first post title grabs your attention, and you'll want to read more of the story. While certainly, it’s important not to "mislead" people, but using creative headlines will help capture a reader’s attention and get them engaged.

Here’s another post title example:

Reader’s Eyes Glued to Computer Screen
or
Man Reads Article after Reading Exciting Headline

Just by putting a fun spin on the title will spark people’s curiosity. In those brief seconds it took to scan those titles, the reader decides to stick around your blog a little longer, as they are intrigued. Using strong headlines that grab attention is a great way to help your bounce rate. People come to your blog and stick around. What do your post titles say? How many people are leaving simply because of how you say it?

Don’t stop at the post title with a little creativity, you can really make the rest of the copy pop as well. Stop and think about the articles that you read, what keeps you reading an article? Have you ever started to read an article, and then got bored during the middle of it? Oh yeah, you need to keep that creativity rolling... Or I will just flip the page. The longer somebody is on your blog, the better chance they’ll take whatever conversion action you’re striving for, whether it’s to sign up for something, purchase something or click through to another article or ad.

So experiment with your post titles.... Know that you can do some very creative things to grab your readers attention. Many great examples of effective post titles also include language like these popping post titles below.

Top 10 Reasons to Blog for Your Business

5 Secrets to Online Success

How to Skyrocket Online Sales

Why You Want Your Business on the Web

Ideally, your post titles can be anything... as you can set your page title (if you choose to do so) to a clearly more relevant title for your SEO. Make them short, easy to understand and engaging for blogging success! Sounds easy.... It is, just use your imagination and measure your success with your stats.

Great post headlines will keep visitors on your site longer and get them deeper in to your content. This greatly reduces bounce and inspires participation from your readers as well. Add the fact that if you can really engage your readers they will share your posts..... Remember after all, blogging is intended to be a creative release.