Google personalisation and what it means for your business.

When potential customers search for your company’s services on the internet will they see you in their search results? If they’ve shown previous online interest in your competitors they may not.

What is personalisation?

For a while now, Google has been watching where your customers click and which websites they visit. It then skews their search results to show them more of their preferred websites, more often and in higher positions.

For example, if they search for electronic goods online and visit the Dick Smiths website, Google will push pages from Dick Smiths higher up their search results in future. Google assumes that if you’ve been clicking around the Dick Smith website it’s likely you would be happy to return.

So what you are seeing in your search results is likely to be different from what others are seeing.

Personalization encourages repeat visitors to popular sites

So businesses who’s websites currently appear near the top of search results and are more likely to be visited, will be much more difficult to dislodge from their perch.

When I explained this to a client last week her eye brows lifted and she said, “Wait, I check my own website all the time so does that mean I’m getting a false impression that it’s ranking better than it actually is.”

Yes, she is.  And if she were checking out her competitor’s websites a lot then her own website would look poor in her search results.

Can you turn Google personalisation off?

Not completely. When you search in Google, whether or not you are signed-into your Google account, Google will customize your results according to your past searches and the links you clicked.

However follow Google’s advice to reduce the impact personalisation has on your search results.

How can you take advantage of personalisation?

Firstly, if your business website is currently UNfindable it would be prudent to do something about it sooner rather than later.

Secondly, make sure your website is relevant to your customers. Think about what it is they are really looking for and make sure it’s on your website. Relevancy is king as far as Google is concerned.

Alistair McAlpine is a long-time broadcaster and resident writer/web strategist for internet marketing company Web Success in Wellington, New Zealand.

You can have the range, the quality, the reputation but can you make it happen for the customer when they want it? And, especially if you’re selling the same stuff as your competitors then being able to make it happen is a key competitive advantage.

The stove top blew up last week – no boiling, stewing or frying happening. Guests coming Saturday night – Saturday the only available day for shopping, we needed a new stove same day.

Pretty soon it becomes obvious that you have little choice – Westinghouse or Fisher and Paykel.

First stop Farmers – a couple of good deals, but no we don’t have a truck, we don’t deliver but you can take one from the display otherwise it’s seven days. Newbolds – same offerings, no deals but they do deliver – $70 – a possibility. Noel Leeming – same offerings, no price advantage – have to order it in, be two to three days. What about installation – make sure you take the plug off the back of the old one as you’ll need that for the new one. OK – back to Newbolds they look like they can make it happen.

Delivery and installation all arranged, be there in 2 hours.

Newbolds made the sale, I’m happy and their brand went up a notch or two in my estimation. They made it happen – same range, same price elsewhere.

In the mortgage finance field, Peter Bozinoff has built a business around his reputation for being the guy who can make it happen – fast. That’s not what he says; it’s what his customers say about him.

It’s not just delivering exactly what the customer wants – it’s delivering when they want it that creates superior customer service.

You don’t have to write your own blog posts – but it does help to brief your writer.

Use Twitter to attract customers to your website

When your Tweets are of interest to your readers they will often visit your website to establish your credibility or look for more information. This blog will show you how to use Tweets to flag down more website traffic even if you don’t have many Twitter followers.

The power of  the Twitter #hashtag

There are millions of Tweets posted every day so Twitter users search for messages of interest using the # (hash) symbol.

# placed at the beginning of a word flags it as a searchable string of letters. When a user clicks on this #hashtag keyword in a Tweet or searches for it in the Twitter search bar they see a real-time stream of Tweets that include the phrase. So hashtags allow users to watch threads of tweet discussions.

Note: a complete phrase becomes a clickable hashtag when #YouLeaveOutSpaces or #replace_them_with_underscores.

Use multiple #keywords in your #Tweets

You can incorporate as many #hashtag keywords as you like into a Tweet but I’d suggest 2 or 3 max or they’ll start to look like spam. Try to work your #keywords into the text of your tweet as this will #SaveSpace and reads more fluently.

Let’s search for #Wellington #accommodation in the Twitter search bar:

Along with the two Tweets on the left, People results are displayed on the right. Clicking on one of these displays a list of their recent Tweets and a link to their website.

Targeting your Twitter audience

Users who search specifically for your #hashtag keyword are guaranteed to be interested in your keyword subject. Your message will have a great chance of being seen  by your customers or prospects.

Twalk is cheap

Tweets are free so there is room to experiment with keywords. When using #hashtag keywords you’re likely to find it’s not easy to predict which words or phrases will attract your audience so try some out. Test broad keywords and also more specific words. You have nothing to lose. When you find one that works, stick with it.

More and more customers are using Twitter and careful use of the # tag allows you to connect with them even if you don’t yet have many Twitter followers.

Tips:

• Try to use an original hashtag phrase to avoid tangling with other conversations. To check whether a hashtag is in current use go to http://hashtags.org/.
• See which hashtags are trending in New Zealand right now at http://trendsmap.com/local/new+zealand  and http://trendsmap.com/local/nz/wellington for popular Wellington topics.
• Follow @hashtags and they’ll start tracking your hashtags for you.

Customers who click stick through thin and thick

Facebook Like gets our thumbsup

What happens when Jo Brown clicks your Like button can make a real difference to your business.

The Facebook Like button is a powerful business tool when placed on your website and is often overlooked. It allows your visitors and customers to quickly point their friends and family to your website.

When Jo Brown clicks the Facebook Like button on your website she is making a strong social statement.

“I like this and I want all my friends to know about it.”

How does it work?

When Jo clicks your Like button this message appears on her Facebook Wall

More importantly, this message also appears on her friend’s News Feeds, where they hang out to keep an eye on what’s going on.

The important bit for your business

When Jo’s friends read this message they are likely to want to know:

1. What is it Jo likes enough to broadcast to the world?
2. Why does she like it?
3. What am I missing out on?

There are two links embedded in Jo’s message:

1. A link on her name which takes them to her Wall
2. A link on your business name which takes them to your website.

The link to your website will allow them to follow their friend’s pointing finger and answer their questions.

You don’t even need to be on Facebook

Many Facebook users see Like buttons as a great way to share stuff with friends, family, prospects and clients. What many businesses often don’t realise is that they don’t even have to maintain a Facebook fan page to benefit from a Facebook Like button on the pages of their business website.

The Like button works independently of your Facebook account or Facebook Business Page by pointing your customer’s friends to your website via their Facebook Account.

Of course there are many reasons why your business would benefit from a Facebook business fanpage but we won’t go into those now.

How do I put a Facebook Like button on my website?

Adding a Facebook like button to your website can be done quickly with even a basic knowledge of html.
Simply go to this webpage to get the Facebook Like button html code to place on your website.

Don’t even want to think about html?  Web Success can affordably do this for you.

A simple Facebook Like button can increase web traffic, customers and your bottom line.

(Image in this blog: Laurel and Hardy poster from www.cyber-cinema.com)

The room falls silent; thirty-two people focus their attention on the speaker wanting to hear how they are going to benefit from the speaker joining their business network. A “seat” in the network is reputed to be worth on average $20,000 per year – worth having.

It’s a bake-off, a competitive situation. It shouldn’t be like this. The assessment  should really be made on the skills, qualifications and reputations of the contestants – and more importantly what they are going to bring to the network. But how can we tell? We’ve had references, information, and their publicity material. But now it’s come down to this – their trades skills are worth squat. Can they speak to us in a way that convinces us that they will be the right one?

Now, it’s only their public speaking skills that matter. Are they articulate, confident (at least seeming so), a bit humorous, witty even and, ultimately, likable?

To some people these abilities come naturally – but to most of us they require development, practice, honing. Practice – that repetitive, boring part of the learning curve that we have to go through before we reach mastery.

What happened?

We had a fair idea who we wanted – but the speaking let him down. A fine tradesman I’m sure he is. A capable and useful member of our group he could probably have been. But his speaking let him down – and when that’s all there is to ultimately judge by then that is what happens. Unfair perhaps, illogical perhaps – but that was the reality.

Public speaking is an essential skill. In professional and business life it comes up again and again. It isn’t necessary to be a great orator – but it is necessary to be able to confidently and clearly express oneself to a group.

There will be times when your “customers” will be real people listening to you speak. Can’t speak? Then you can’t serve all your customers.

Are your speaking skills up to the level you need? You could do a lot worse than join a Toastmasters Club. There are arguments that Toastmasters emphasises rhetorical style over authentic communication – but I don’t know of an alternative that matches for cost and time. The supporting manuals cover the material very well and the range of speaking skills one experiences – meeting chair, evaluator, grammarian, speaker, table topics master – cover many different aspects of speaking. Not to mention “table topics” – delivering an impromptu 2 minute speech. All of this happens in a safe supportive environment of people at various levels doing the same thing – and having fun to boot.

When the $20,000 opportunity comes your way, will you be able to step up to the mark?

This is how we don’t do it. If you can watch it to the end, you’re not busy enough.

Hanging on hold at TelstraClear as they switch me from “In Home” to “Home Plan” – wrong department apparently – turgid piano music aggravates but how, oh so, apt – it’s “Somewhere” from West Side Story.

There’s a time for us,
Some day a time for us,
Time together with time to spare,
Time to learn, time to care,
Some day!

The problem of the ambiguous “confirm a cancel” dialogue box is still with us in 2011.

“So, do I click Cancel to cancel or OK to cancel.”

“You click OK to cancel. Cancel cancels the cancel.”

“Shouldn’t I click Cancel to cancel?”

“No, Cancel cancels the cancel, click OK, OK.”

“OK I clicked OK to cancel.”

“You wanted to cancel!?! You should have clicked Cancel. Now you’ve cancelled it. That’s not OK.”

Reminds me of a great scene in Intolerable Cruelty (you’ll need to turn up the volume).

Moral: Check the “Do not ask me again” box.

Take a simple task that anyone might want to do with web services – register a domain name.

One major provider gives you a heap of information about domain names and all the options – but what do you do next?

The other one also provides information – but, crucially, allows you to register.

People do go to the web for information – but more predominantly they are wanting to get something done. After finding out all the information about domain names, the next logical thing is to register the one they have in mind.

One of these providers is going to leave the site visitor frustrated as there is simply no indication of how to go about registering. The other makes it obvious.