What is it?

According to destination CRM, “CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, is a company-wide business strategy designed to reduce costs and increase profitability by solidifying customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. True CRM brings together information from all data sources within an organization (and where appropriate, from outside the organization) to give one, holistic view of each customer in real time. This allows customer facing employees in such areas as sales, customer support, and marketing to make quick yet informed decisions on everything from cross-selling and upselling opportunities to target marketing strategies to competitive positioning tactics.”

Salesforce’s objectives are, “Sell more effectively with better sales tracking and real-time visibility. With Salesforce, every step of a sale—from phone calls and emails to collaboration with colleagues—is tracked in one place, so reps stay on top of deals and build stronger relationships with their customers.”

Salesforce touts the following statistics:

29% increase in lead conversion rates

21% increase in sales win rates

24% increase in deal size

26% increase in sales revenue

38% increase in sales forecast accuracy

The primary product of Salesforce is their web-based programs that track sales leads, project revenue, and help call center reps deal with problems. But customers have been asking for better ways to respond to social media. Their popular social media tool, Chatter allows companies to monitor what is being said on LinkedIn and Twitter. This winter a newer, higher priced option is said to be even better. An updated Chatter will allow businesses to set up social networks that interface with other users. They can have discussions and share documents. Salesforce is a tool to help boost sales and customer loyalty by harnessing the excitement about a product or brand on social media. Salesforce is a CRM or Customer Relationship Manager that gets businesses globally connected. Today relationships are more important than ever. Businesses formerly were deemed success or failure because of their physical location. Today a business needs to be a social enterprise. Customers need to be “friends.”

Who Should Use Salesforce?

Some businesses, including large companies have hesitated to delve into social media. Social Media Marketing or SMM is scary. The free-wheeling realm of conversation is not easy to control. Safesforce reminds would be users that when consumers are online shopping and trading product tips on Facebook or Twitter, the software can “help companies understand and profit from those desires and complaints.”

Today Toyota uses Chatter to create a network of electric car owners. Burberry uses Salesforce for its ecommerce site. KLM uses Salesforce to follow complaints voiced on Twitter. Disney has a Salesforce marketing campaign with a Facebook trip planner and photo sharing tool. Gatorade monitors Twitter and Facebook conversations at its Salesforce Social Media Command Center. Dell tracks social media users’ conversations about its brand.

View small businesses in US and Canada using Salesforce.

What is the Future of SMM?

Companies that embrace social media and cater to mobile shoppers will get closer to them. Customers that don’t interact with their market will get left behind. Salesforce recommends becoming a social enterprise. This means connecting and sharing, in business. Recognize that customers are just as likely to search for you on Facebook as they are to visit your website. A social context in business is a prerequisite for success.

View a Social Media Marketing Checklist for basics of getting started and poised for the future.

What can you do?

Start simple. Be online; active in as many social media avenues as you can manage. Use tools such as Google Alerts to be aware of communication online. Find out which networks your customers spend the most time in. respond to negative comments and have a procedure outlined for dealing with such (for example, direct them to customer service hotline).

Learn more about Customer Relationship Management at Salesforce.com.

I love ads. No, really – I do.

I watch movies for the previews, I watch TV for the commercials (OK, I watch the Super Bowl for the commercials). As a marketing consultant I pay attention to ads in a way that most people don’t.

I save ads. I have a portfolio of business cards. I have a file folder of my favorite direct marketing pieces, magazine ads, and newspaper ads. I love ads that make me laugh, ads that I can relate to, and ads that really grab my attention.

I recently wrote a blog post About Business Cards. As I was flipping through my business card portfolio one word came to mind, “boring.” So many cards were dull and looked just like the one next to it. In this over-communicative era, it is more important now than ever that your ads stand out!

The business cards got me thinking about the other marketing material, marketing collateral, and ads that I love. Here are a five of my favorite pieces from my files. (Yes, your opinions will vary. This is just a small sample of ACTUAL ads I have received. I am a 27 year old female and mother of one. – These ads worked on me.)

Maybe this one is just so effective on me because I have four sisters; I can relate. This ad addresses a woman’s never-ending search for the perfect pair of jeans. If your sister wants to steal these, they must be goooood.

“The two words every crazy-busy, socially overachieving multitasker wants to hear.” When this came in the mail I knew they were talking to me. I swear, whoever designed this studied both demographics and psychographics. They knew what would make me open this mailing. The inside is a pop up of the phone “Palm Pixi.”

“We’d like to apologize for just how effective Vicks Vaporub can be.” What a combination. This ad has a great emotional appeal. What parent wants to see their active child lying listless? It also clearly shows how effective their product is.

This postcard actually was addressed to me! It says, “Welcome Terra Fletcher.” The back looks like a handwritten postcard welcoming me to the Grand Canyon and Smoky Mountains. What can I say? People love seeing their own name. I’ve seen a similar idea that put the recipients name on the front license plate of a sports car. That’s the stuff that fuels daydreams.

“Will the Internet kill magazines? Did instant coffee kill coffee?” This effective, logical headline got me to read the entire ad. This ad is simple, but a different kind of simple – not as visual as most of these ads, but easy on the eyes and it addresses the question advertisers have been asking themselves.

By the way, none of these are ads I’ve designed. I have (in my humble opinion) put together some pretty great pieces for myself and for my clients. The hardest part for me to design a marketing piece is when I’m limited by the company I’m working with. We are so worried about offending, being misinterpreted, or NOT looking like everyone else – that our ads are BORING! Don’t be afraid to be bold. Be different. Get noticed.

A really inspiring resource is Outrageous Advertising, That’s Outrageously Successful by Bill Glazer. It’s a really easy read with lots of images.

What are your favorite ads? Why do they work? And importantly, do you remember the company associated with them?

By:  Terra L. Fletcher, owner Fletcher Freelance – business writing, marketing, and public speaking

Photo Credit: Tony the Misfit

Memorial Day may very well be the most important, significant holidays celebrated within the United States, and it is definitely one of the most underrated.  When we think of Memorial Day, most of us envision the beginning of Summer, an awesome movie opening in theaters, great sports on TV, and most importantly… a three day weekend!  But it’s more than that—much more.  A memorial exists to preserve a memory, and that memory is why Memorial Day is so important, as well as the least “Hallmark-inspired” holiday of them all.

Observed on the last Monday of the month of May, Memorial Day was originally established shortly after the American Civil war to honor both the Union and Confederate troupes who died as a result of that tragic war.  After World War I, the memorial was expanded to honor all Americans who had died in any war.  This is not a holiday about gifts, or candy, or food, it is a day set aside to honor those who have died for us and our country.  Regardless of where we stand politically, or how we feel about those who run our military, this day honors those soldiers actually on the front line.  Those who are fighting.  Those who most deserve our respect.

A century ago, closer to the holiday’s beginning, the day was marked as an occasion of memory, when families would visit the graves of their relatives who had died in war.  As time passed, however, the holiday evolved to include everything it is now devoted to, such as family get-togethers and day-trips to the beach.  Now I may seem as if I am criticizing this type of celebrating.  On the contrary—if anything, Memorial Day should be an occasion when we as Americans do everything we enjoy most about the American way of life.

Why?  Because our way of life, what it means to be American, is precisely what these brave men and women died for.  These soldiers died so their families and countrymen would be safe.  So they could enjoy mom’s apple pie, and be free to play basketball with dad out on the driveway.  I do not mean to speak for them, but I firmly believe these soldiers would want us to memorialize their deaths by celebrating and taking part in the way of life they chose to risk their lives defending.  So on memorial day, enjoy yourself with your family and remember those who gave their lives so you and your families would be free.

Interesting facts about Memorial Day:

• It was originally known as “Decoration Day” as the original tradition was to decorate soldiers’ tombs on this day.  Today, there are many people and groups who continue this tradition.
• The name “Memorial Day” was first used in 1882, but it did not become popular until after World War II.  It was not until 1967 that the name actually became official.
• The holiday was originally celebrated on May 30^th of every year.  It was celebrated nationally for the first time on May 30, 1868.  The date was specifically chosen, because it did not fall on the anniversary of any particular American battle.
• A “Moment of Remembrance” takes place nationwide every Memorial Day at 3pm local time.
• The date wasn’t changed to “the last Monday of May” until 1968, when the Federal Government passed the Uniform Holidays Bill.  The law came into effect in 1971.  The date was changed along with Veterans Day, as well as the celebration of President Washington’s birthday, in order to create several three-day weekends.
• The changing of the date remains a controversy to this very day as some believe it undermined the importance of the day, and encouraged the modern observance of the holiday as a day of leisure.
• The oldest, continuously running Memorial Day parade takes place every year in Ironton, Ohio.  It has run since 1869.

Personally, my celebration of choice for Memorial Day is a good, old-fashioned American barbecue.  Now sure, barbecuing is a practice done world wide, including Australia, “Put a shrimp on the Barbie, mate.”  That said, the word “barbecue” most likely originated from the Taino people of the Caribbean and Timucua people of Florida, who both used the word “barabicu”.  So “barbecuing” started in the Americas.  And at the end of the day, let’s face it, no one embraces the sheer spectacle of barbecuing the way Americans do.

Interesting facts about BBQ’ing:

• In the United States deep south, pork is the most common meat of choice for barbecuing.
• In the American south-west, beef if the most common meat of choice for barbecues.
• The American tradition of gathering outdoors and celebrating barbecue cooking as a feast likely originated in the deep south around the time of the American Civil War.  Poverty was rampant and it was considered a reason to celebrate when a wild pig was killed and provided to the community.
• The largest pork-focused barbecue competition in the world takes place every year in Memphis, Tennessee.
• The absolute largest barbecue competition world-wide takes place annually in Kansas City, Missouri.
• Not to be overshadowed, the sauce involved in barbecuing is easily as important as the meat (if not more so).  Sauces vary widely by region and can change drastically as one moves across a state as small as even North Carolina.

Bar-B-Q related links:

• The American Royal Barbecue Contest - This is the largest barbecue competition in the world.
• The World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest - The world’s largest pork barbecue competition.
• Bill Wight’s Famous BBQ FAQ - A wealth of knowledge about the art of barbecuing.
• Barbecue – A History - Steven Raichlen’s expert lecture on the history and art of barbecuing.
• Barbecue’n On the Internet - Another great, online resource for barbecuing.
• Barbecue Recipes and Grilling - About.com’s resource for barbecuing and grilling.
• The Greatest Place in the World for Barbecue - Without doubt, inarguably the greatest place in the world to enjoy barbecue.

Photo credits: Tony the Misfit, Photospin

Photo Credit: Labrador Retriever

We love our dogs, it’s part of what makes us “human”.  No really– Before you roll your eyes, just think about it.  There is no other animal on earth with the same relation we humans have with other species so much unlike our own.  And this goes beyond “pets”.  As dogs, cats, and falcons have kept us from starving, horses have helped us travel for centuries.  Call it hyperbole, but I think to own a dog or other companion makes us more complete as a human being.  Different cultures prefer different animals, so it’s interesting to see what breeds each group prefers.  As an American, I’m obviously most interested in what my neighbors prefer and what it says about us.

According to the American Kennel Club, the Labrador Retriever is the most popular breed in the United States.  But– before you think of Labs as the quintessential “American” dog, consider this: They’re also the most popular dog in Canada and the UK.  In fact, Labradors originated from the Labrador region of Canada, near Newfoundland.  Labradors (as well as many other retrievers) were derived from the “St John’s Water Dog”, a breed that went extinct in the 1980’s.  It was originally bred to retrieve fishing nets, which is why retrievers to this day have webbed paws.

German Shepherds are the next most popular breed in the US.  Originally bred for herding sheep, today they’re especially known as police dogs, and are even utilized by the military.  The breed was created at the end of the 19^th century by Max von Stephanitz who acquired a mutt he believed to be the ultimate shepherd.  He named this dog “Horand Von Grafath” (Apparently, Germans take dog-naming just as seriously as everything else).  All modern German Shepherds are descendents of this dog and his pups.

I want to digress for a minute and talk about tools.  Stick with me here, because this is interesting.  Most tools make absolutely no sense unless you actually know what they’re for.  Without any knowledge of their purpose, they just look like funny shaped pieces of metal.  This same logic can be applied to dogs.  For centuries they were used as tools, and just like tools, their “silly” shapes and sizes make no sense until you know what they were intended for.  Take, for instance, the Yorkshire Terrier, America’s third most popular dog.  Personally, I thought it was a lap dog, primarily for companionship.  Nope.  The Yorkshire Terrier was bred in the 19^th century as a rat hunter for clothing mills, hence their size, strong jaws, and protective fur.  Who would have thought the Yorkshire Terrier was a ferocious hunting dog?

What always struck me as weird about beagles is that the most famous beagle of them all, Snoopy, doesn’t look anything like an actual Beagle.  I have to wonder if Beagles would have been more popular than fourth place if Snoopy actually looked like his breed.  After all, didn’t everyone want Snoopy as their dog when they were a kid?  Modern Beagles were bred around the 1830’s as trackers for rabbits and other game.

I have a feeling that this is the dog many of you have been waiting for me to mention: the Golden Retriever.  For many, this is the quintessential family dog, thanks to movies like Old Yeller.  That may be true, but it exists because of advancement of firearms in the 1800’s, no joke. Rifles became so accurate in the 1800’s that fowl could now be shot out of the sky at great range.  This led to more wasted kills as downed birds would be lost in the field, or over water.  In Scotland, a new dog was bred to fix this, the Golden Retriever.  This is why Golden Retrievers have a natural love of swimming, a water repellent outer coat, and a “soft mouth” (so that it doesn’t damage what it retrieves).

The next dog on the list honestly surprised me, since I’ve rarely ever seen one…. the Bulldog.  This is a breed with a very violent, strange history.  The original Bulldogs were bred for bull-baiting, a blood-sport in which a bull would be entrapped and attacked by dogs.  After the sport was made illegal in 1835, the dogs continued to be kept as pets.  Then, in one final strange turn, Bulldogs were permanently crossbred with Pugs giving them the appearance they have today.  This new appearance, however, rendered them completely incapable of performing their original purpose of taking on a bull. If you want to see what an original Bulldog looked like, then you’re almost better off checking out the next dog on this list, the Boxer. 

Boxers are the descendants of English Bulldogs crossbred with another extinct breed, the German Bullenbeisser.  Boxer’s were originally intended to serve as German hunting dogs.  The Bullenbeissers they were descended from were bred to run ahead and seize hold of large prey (such as bears and boars) and keep it in place until the hunters arrived.  Interesting that today Boxer are widely known as a loyal family pet (although they still make a terrific guard dog).

As with the Yorkshire Terrier, the Dachshund is another dog I originally thought was bred purely as a lap dog.  Boy was I wrong.  The Dachshund is an underground hunter, bred to fit into burrows and hunt badgers.  In the United States, they were equally effective at hunting prairie dogs.  Their long narrow body is shaped to fit through tight underground tunnels– and it goes far beyond that.  The Dachshund’s skin is loose enough to not be scratched while tunneling, and their paws are shaped for digging.  Furthermore, their ears are intentionally floppy to prevent dirt from getting in them.  Their long snouts assist with hunting by smell, and their deep chests provide ample lung capacity, and therefore extra endurance.  The curved tail gives the hunter something to grasp hold of when freeing a Dachshund that is stuck.  How a perfectly bred “badger hunters” came to be known as silly “wiener dogs” is beyond me.

The next time you see a Poodle with a silly haircut, consider this: Poodles are one of the absolute smartest breeds in the world.  Poodles were originally bred as water hunters.  With their penchant for swimming and their water resistant coats, they were ideal for retrieving game from large bodies of water.  Due to the breed’s intelligence though, their use quickly spread to tracking and even herding.  The smaller version of this breed was partially bred for hunting truffles.  The name “Poodle” is derived from the German word “pudel” or “puddeln”, meaning “to splash into water”.

And finally, we find an actual lap dog on the list, and an ancient one at that: the Shih Tzu.  It’s believed these dogs originated in Tibet and date back as far as a millennium ago.  Further speculation suggests they were introduced to China during the 18^th century.  Dogs such as these were typically presented to royalty.  In the 1930’s they were finally brought to England and introduced to the western world.  Back in China, however, the dog would almost go extinct during the Chinese revolution.  By the time the communists had taken power, only seven males and seven females remained.  Today, all Shih Tzus can supposedly be traced back to these dogs.

If there is anything to be learned from America’s preferred dog breeds, it’s that American dogs are as much a melting pot as American people.  With breeds of all shapes and sizes originating from as close to home as Canada, and as far away as China, Americas dogs are as wide and varied as their owners.

Related Dog Categories

• Dogs – Pet
• Shopping Dog & Cat Accessories

Photo credits:

 
• Labrador Retriever – emildom75, Marvin Kuo
• German Shepherds – MarilynJane, US Army
• Yorkshire Terrier – hj_west, ZeePack
• Beagles – Rafael Acorsi, Rafael Acorsi
• Golden Retriever – marcos_leal, timsnell
• Bulldog – Vivian Chen, sabianmaggy
• Boxer – Dryfish, nicadlr
• Dachshund – paldor, Soggydan
• Poodle – The Kennel Club, John Steven Fernandez
• Shih Tzu – audrey sel, mick 124
• editorial – the giant vermin

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=989

These days it seems like everyone and their mom thinks they’re a professional SEOer. So what do they do? They find relevant keywords and then they pack them in their content like sardines in a can. The result is completely unreadable copy. And unreadable copy is copy that does not convert. So what’s the point of boosting your rank if you can’t turn readers into buyers?

Besides, at this point, keyword stuffing is pretty much useless. The reality is, you should only lightly sprinkle your keywords in your content. Think of it like salt. A little is good but too much kills the flavor. So if you aren’t cramming your content with keywords, where are you putting them? Here are five other places you can place them.

1. Image alt tags—One of the newest advances in the SEO world, optimizing your images is a good idea. Not only will it help your page rank, but it also allows your images to pop up in image searches. So when someone clicks your image, they go to your site. Make sure you make your image alt tags as specific as possible.

2. Meta description tag—This is basically the short summary of your page that appears on the search results page. This description should be carefully written as it’s not only a place to put your keyword, but it’s also an important piece of copy. It must convince whoever is performing the search to click on it. So be careful that you don’t force your keyword here and make it read awkwardly.

3. Heading and subheadings— Headings and subheadings are basically mini-titles. So it only makes sense that you should include your keywords here. Does it actually improve your rankings? No one seems to know for sure. But it can’t hurt as long as you don’t overdo it. And it definitely helps with readability.

4. Title tags—The title tag holds the exact title that will show up in search results. This is what searchers will actually click on. That said, this is one of the most important places to put your keyword. Make sure you make the title tag for each page specific. Meaning use a relevant keyword. Not the same one over and over.

5. URL— This one seems like a no-brainer, yet you still see people using the most nonsensical URLs. It’s only logical that you should place your keywords in the matching URLs. Not only does it help you boost your rank, but it helps categorize your site as well.

Where else do you think you should put your keywords?

Unless you’ve been living on another planet for the last few years, you know Twitter is blowing up. And not only is it being used for entertainment, but i’ts proving to be a great marketing tool for all types of businesses.

That said, how should you use it? Well, I think the more important question here would be, how should you NOT use it? The following examples will show you exactly what you shouldn’t do when you’re Tweeting for your business.

• Get personal—When you’re Tweeting, it’s tempting to get too comfortable with what you say. The platform connects you on friendly terms with lots of people. However, remember you’re representing your business first. Don’t Tweet anything that you wouldn’t want your customers to read. Because they will. And I assure you they don’t want to know about your night last night.
• Only Tweet about you—Just like you don’t want web copy that reads “me, me, me,” neither do you want Tweets all about yourself. If all you Tweet is your own promotions and links, eventually people will peg you as a selfish Tweeter. Then they’ll unfollow you. No one likes a guy who is only out for himself. You need to add something valuable to the table.
• Tweet a million times a day—Tweet quality, not quantity. I frequently unfollow people who Tweet enormous amounts a day. Why? Because it ends up feeling like spam. Give me less Tweets that are more interesting. If you overwhelm me, I probably won’t read any of them. It’s too hard to distinguish between the good, the mediocre, and the bad.
• Tweet inconsistently—As in all aspects of your business, consistency is a must. If you just pop up every few weeks with a Tweet, who is really going to pay attention? You’ll go unnoticed. Marketing should be a daily thing. Make Tweeting part of your daily regimen. Maybe you just want
• Don’t respond—Twitter is a two way street. It’s not all about you talking. It’s about your customers talking back. And you can’t hold a conversation if you don’t respond. And trust me when I say, if you continually fail to respond, your customers will eventually figure out that they aren’t your number one priority. And they’ll probably be right.

What are some other ways you’ve seen people use Twitter incorrectly for their businesses? Talk about them in the comments section!

As the saying goes, “everyone’s got to start somewhere.” And blogging is no different. Everyone begins as a blogging newbie. And everyone makes mistakes. The key is to recognize where you went wrong, change it, and learn from it. Here are some blogging mistakes that make you look like an amateur. Avoid them at all costs!

1. Poor design—Sure blogging templates are meant to be shared. But that doesn’t mean you should pick one that screams “I borrowed this template!” In fact, do yourself a favor and don’t even use a template. Instead, hire someone with web design experience to make you a fresh design all of your own. Can’t afford it? Well maybe you can at least get someone to design a header for you.

2. Research paper-speak—Remember how in college you couldn’t say “you” in your papers? Instead of saying things like “you need to know this information” you’d change it to “one must need to know this information.” I call this research paper-speak. Well that may have served you well in college, but this isn’t the university. This is your blog. You know, where you’re supposed to foster conversation. And you do that by addressing the reader… with “you.”

3. Complex sentence arrangements—Contrary to popular belief, complex sentence arrangements are not the first sign of a good writer. In fact, all it shows is that you have a good control of grammar. However, a grammar guru doesn’t necessarily make a good blogger. Your job is to make your entries readable. And you do that by writing clear and concise sentences.

4. Collegiate-level vocabulary—Guess what big words are good for? Showing off. And if you’re a show off, no one will read your blog. Look, who really wants to have to search Dictionary.com every five seconds to make it through a blog post? Not me. And not the majority of your readers either. If you can find a smaller word, use it.

5. Rambling—Now here’s one thing you can use from your research writing experience. You need to stay on topic. How do you make sure you’re writing is focused? When you reread your article, ask yourself the following question after each sentence: “Does this have anything to do with my main idea?” If it doesn’t, lose the sentence.

6. Intimidating length of text—Big blocks of text are intimidating. Period. Break it up into smaller paragraphs. Use bolded lists, like I did in this post. It’s much easier on the eyes and more likely to be read.

7. Heavy on the syrup—Metaphors are cool and all, but don’t overdo it. I shouldn’t have to strain my brain to figure out what the hell you’re saying. Using too much figurative language will come off as showy and cheesy. Keep it to a minimum.

Are you making any of these amateur mistakes? Can you think of any that should be added to my list? Tell me about them in the comments section!

I’m sure by now you’ve heard about Google Instant, where Google displays results as you type in your search query rather than waiting for you to finish. (I guess Big G’s mommy never told him it was rude to interrupt.) I’m also not afraid to say that I think this is one of worst features Google has come out with in a while, and that I think their less than fully honest promotional language is particularly gag-worthy.

Background and Google Instant Access

To be fair, I think I should tell you that I don’t have access to Google Instant yet. Why? I have no idea. I should. Everyone around me seems to, so it’s not a geographical thing. But I don’t. (And yes I’m logged in when I search, cleared my cookies and cache, made sure all of my browsers are supported, and made sure auto-complete was turned on in my Google search settings.) That said, I’ve seen plenty through the previews, and I did test it out for myself at someone else’s place recently. The experience was precisely what I expected.

Here’s Google’s short introductory video to Google Instant, in case you haven’t used it yet for yourself.

I have a few separate concerns about Google Instant. I’d like to share them with you today and get your own feedback about whether you love or hate the tool (or fall somewhere in between) or if you share any of these concerns. Here they are:

1. Google’s marketing language isn’t terribly trustworthy.

The big benefit Google is touting about their instant search is their ability to save people time when searching. First of all, that’s flat out untrue. You can’t compare the time spent searching unless both search methods provide exactly the same relevant information the user is searching for. That’s not what happens with Google Instant. Instead you’re given more general results more quickly.

Might you choose to click on them? Sure. But if they don’t have the info you’re looking for, it costs you more time rather than saving it. The whole point of long tail searches is to get the precise information we’re looking for after all.

My real issue though comes with the fact that Google claims they’ve seen “many” searches taking 30-90 seconds to type. Well, when you want to make it sound like a new tool will cut time, it certainly helps marketing-wise to bloat your numbers.

“Many” is not a valid statistical measure. And you’d have to be fairly incompetent a typist to take up to 90 seconds just to type in a search phrase. So… that 2-5 seconds Google Instant claims to save you? Is that off of those bloated estimates based on “many” users or the 9 second search of the “typical user” that they claim? Well, they don’t bother making that clear on the Google Instant info page. Big difference. (You can make a logical assumption they base it on 9 seconds as per the graph on that page claiming “averages,” but since they commit a cardinal sin in statistics presentation of not fully labeling their graph, you’re still left to guess real numbers. Something else interesting to note is that their own graph shows quite a bit of overlap, meaning the current tools were already highly efficient for quite a significant segment of their users — again, specific numbers aren’t made available by them on that graph though.)

Let’s be realistic here — this about getting people to talk about their tool (meaning talking about Google again), rather than saving boatloads of time for users.

Screenshot of the Google Instant information page, showing the promotional language and stats-deficient graph mentioned in this article, for reference purposes.

2. More issues exist with the “time saving” claim.

Despite the marketing claims of Google Instant saving users time, there are certainly ways it could slow down the search process. For example, if something flashes up onto your screen human nature is to at least glance at it. So basically you could spend several seconds scanning the results that initially come up only to find they’re too generic to be what you’re looking for. That counteracts any claims of a few seconds being saved.

There’s the distraction element too. If the page is constantly changing as you’re attempting to type a search phrase it can be distracting. If you’re already a slow typist (and if Google’s claiming some people are taking a whopping minute or more to type in a phrase, apparently there are plenty of you out there, right?), that distracting ever-changing text could make it even more difficult for you to finish what you were trying to do.

As for the element of prediction, that’s nothing new. For quite some time you could enable that feature, where Google predicts what you’re going to type either based on your past search queries or popular searches. And let me tell you, it doesn’t take 2-5 seconds to hit enter (or even the down arrow once or twice if you need to) to pull up exactly the results page you were looking for from that list. So where exactly is the time saved?

3. Google’s hypocrisy might kill new competition.

In the net neutrality debate we’ve seen Google reps talk about things like making sure there are equal opportunities for “the next Google.” In other words, the Internet should remain open so new online businesses and websites have the same opportunities companies like Google had when they got started. Well, Google Instant is an incredibly hypocritical move by the company, given its ability to make things much more difficult for new Web startups.

What’s the problem? Well, if you’ve ever run a website you know it can be next to impossible to rank well in search engines for shorter, more generic keyword phrases — especially the highly searched ones. For example, a new marketing firm would have a very difficult time ranking for the word “marketing” while they might do very well in the rankings for “Internet marketing firm Dallas.” The longtail keyword searches are new sites’ best opportunities to drive search traffic to their sites, especially early on. More general phrases are usually dominated by much larger, and older, sites.

Now Google is going out of its way to encourage users to bypass longtail search queries in favor of more generic results — the ones already more likely to be dominated by older sites and companies. New players in a niche or industry run the risk of losing out on a lot of search traffic (and ad-driven traffic tied to those longtail phrases through Adwords). So on one hand we have Google saying they care about new startups and giving them a fair shake, and on the other hand we have them promoting a tool that risks doing precisely the opposite.

Those are more than enough reasons for me personally to stay away from Google Instant (if they ever make it available for me that is). But are most of Google’s users tech savvy enough to understand issues like longtail search and potential implications of cutting it out of the process (or at least making it easier to bypass)? Remember, just because you’re familiar with Internet marketing, SEO, and the intricacies of finding exactly what you want on the Web, that doesn’t mean your Average Joe Google user does.

Photo by TrueFalseFilmFestival

Storyboards are visual aids generally used when creating a movie. They lay out the major action within different scenes of the film and make a movie look like a graphic novel while in its pre-production stage. This helps the director and cinematographer plan out the various shots needed to make an interesting and well thought out film that is unified in its presentation and has scenes that work only to push the movie forward.

So what does that have to do with a blog? Have you ever thought of your blog as a graphic novel or movie, with each post as its own scene within the overall ‘movie’?  Or even thought of each post as its own mini film in a series of shorts? You can easily do so by drawing out some rudimentary panels (representing your individual posts or categories) on a whiteboard and adding to it occasionally. It doesn’t have to be very complex and you don’t have to be an artist to achieve the desired effect.  There are some very compelling reasons to do this including:

Storyboards can keep a blog focused: If you have a business blog then you have a single, unified purpose for blogging. But within that purpose there are a lot of small, offshooting topics that may seem unrelated to the umbrella purpose. If you storyboard your blog, you can figure out how to keep all topics united and relatable to others so that you present a collective experience to your readers rather than a frenetic disarray of opposing themes.

A storyboard can help flesh out the climactic point of each post: If you are attempting to effect social change, professional growth or other compelling movement with your blog, then you need an exciting climax within each post that gets your readers moving and works to the collective message. By storyboarding your individual posts as well as your overall blog you can help to figure out the most compelling points for the climax and you can plan the post-by-post build-up to them so that they will have the most impact possible and not just get lost in the overall noise of the blog.

Storyboards can help your blog posts work together to move the blog forward: Your blog is going to grow professionally as you do. With a storyboard, you can make sure that all your posts work toward that growth in a sensible way that makes it easy for your readers to not only witness the growth but to also enjoy it with you. Your storyboard can help you map out the best time and way to create these posts to accomplish your goal.

A storyboard can help you explore different angles of your post: Sometimes, looking at something in a different way than you are used to helps you see your point of view and others differently. When you create a storyboard for your blog or posts it can help you anticipate criticisms that others may have and help you refute other points of view within each post in an efficient way.

Remember, your storyboard doesn’t have to be stick figure drawings relating to your posts, it can simply be a visual resource to direct your blog. This can consist of something as simple as a flowchart. As long as you have a changeable visual element directing your blog you will have better control, clearer communication and more consistency.

Improving your website’s usability is often the first step towards increasing conversions and ROI. Besides actual usability testing, a great way to understand what users are doing on your site is to watch their actual behavior patterns on your website with free tools such as Google Analytics. In this post I’ll show you 5 ways to improve usability based on reviewing this data.

1. Use The Site Overlay Tool

Google’s Site Overlay tool is a great way to get a quick visual overview of where people click and where they don’t. Using this tool will give you a bird’s eye view of what’s working and not working on your site. For example, you’ll be able to tell very quickly if people are reaching your contact page from the home page.

2. Navigation Summary

Similar to the site overlay tool, the navigation summary can give insights into the overall effectiveness of your site structure. It helps you figure out whether or not visitors to your site are going where you want them to, such as a landing page or signup form. If people aren’t following your intended navigation path, you probably need to make some structural changes to help them get where you want them to go.

3. What’s the top Entry Page?

The first page that a visitor sees often determines whether or not they stay on your site, and most visitors will arrive for the first time at a page other than your home page. If they get confused or don’t find what they are looking for, most people will leave immediately. Identifying your “Top Entry” pages will help you find content within your site that may better serve your audience at a higher level, such as on the home page.

4. What’s the top Exit Page?

Another important factor is the “exit rate” on a page. This is an especially important metric for online shopping carts, since it shows the ratio of people who left your site after visiting two or more pages. If your shopping cart exit rate is high, you can usually make changes to specific pages to reduce shopping cart abandonment.

5. Check Your Bounce Rate

Your bounce rate measures visitors who are landing on your site but leaving without making a second click. If your bounce rate is high, apparently your site has failed to inspire further exploration, and these users click away to their next internet adventure. Look at where visitors are coming from. This often indicates the level interest they have in your offering. A high bounce rate is a red flag to further investigate why they are not finding what they need.

Hopefully these 5 tips will help you improve your site’s usability and increase conversions as a result. What else do you use to improve conversions and ROI on your websites?