PeSA – the Professional eBay and ecommerce Sellers Alliance – provides an annual event for sellers to come together, share ideas, learn from industry leaders and network: the PeSA Internet Conference.  Now in its sixth year, this year’s event is being held on the Gold Coast from 30 May – 1 June and brings together serious players in the online retail space: eBay, PayPal, Magento, Australia Post, Tommy Hilfiger, Kogan, DealsDirect and many more.

The content of the conference has been carefully formulated to offer true HOW TO’s rather than theoretical strategies. So delegates can deploy immediately on their return to work. PeSA have a mixture of content for a broad range of business sizes as we know, no matter what your current turnover is, some of the best learning points can be found from similar businesses of differing sizes. For example: Big business can show you how to grow and smaller businesses may be able to offer cost effective solutions to universal issues.

You’ll be joining 600 delegates at this event. There’s over 60 content sessions at the PeSA Internet Conference, across five dedicated streams, there’s the ability to tailor a conference experience to individual business need.

Running an online business can be isolating. The chances are that no matter what issue you’ve ever faced in business, someone else has been there too.  Meeting like minded people not only gives you a chance to connect, but also to build relationships that give you a place to turn when future issues arise.

Netregistry is a partner of the PeSA Internet Conference 2012. Come and visit us at stand #26.

SPECIAL OFFER

As customers and friends of Netregistry, you can save $50 off the registration price. Simply enter the coupon code NET2012A5 when registering at www.internetconference.com.au

Growing your business website’s link profile is an essential part of your SEO strategy, since it’s vital for increasing consumer attention and traffic from search engines. This is due to search engine algorithms using link building as a way to evaluate the quality of websites and pages based on the information.

Let’s take a look at the benefits link building can have on your web presence:

Higher search engine rankings

The greater amount of links you have pointing to your website, the better chance your search engine rankings will have of increasing. Therefore, your website position will appear higher in search engines.

More traffic

The main benefit of link building is the ability to attract increased visitor traffic to your website. If you aim to publish your website links on credible directories, instead of cutting corners and resorting to spamming links over social media sites, you will generate not just more traffic, but traffic that is interested in your product/service.

Rapport building

You can build your network and form long-lasting relationships if you link build wisely. Make it a habit to share reciprocal links with people who have a similar website or product as yours. If you’re a business, exchange links with business websites in your industry. If you form an ongoing relationship with influential online people, they’re more likely to link back to your content and webpages on a regular basis. Use link building as a vehicle to cross-promote content together.

Reputation boost

Having respected sites link out to you is highly favoured by search engines. If your business URL appears on an authoritative website – such as an influential blogger or media publication – you’re building a credible reputation. It’s like getting a seal of approval. Furthermore, these websites rank and appear higher on search engines, so if your brand is incorporated on influential websites, chances are your website will show up on the first page of search results.

To find out how to increase your link building strategy speak to a Netregistry consultant today, call us on 1300 638 734.

Now in its fourth year, Online Retailer Conference and E-commerce Expo, is the Asia-Pacific’s largest e-commerce event with over 100 of the world’s leading e-commerce and multichannel experts and top-tier technology providers coming together at Sydney’s Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Set over four days and including strategic workshops, learning sessions, peer-to-peer roundtables and networking events, Online Retailer Conference and E-commerce Expo offers you a unique learning experience and the opportunity to connect with industry thought-leaders as they offer strategic insights, tactical ideas and demonstrate how to implement practical advice.

What’s happening in 2012?

100+ world-class speakers
E-commerce and multi-channel experts from all over the world will be sharing the expert knowledge, proven strategies and key insights that have contributed to their success.

The line-up for 2012 includes some of the biggest names in the industry such as Sucharita Mulpuru, VP and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, Steve Zapf EVP Multichannel Operations, Guitar Centre and Cam Balzer CMO threadless.com. Joining them will be local entrepreneurs such as Jane Cay from www.birdsnest.com.au , Kelly Brough www.oola.com.au and Jethro Marks, www.thenile.com.au.

You can keep up to date with all the latest news by joining the Online Retailer Facebook page or signing up to the e-newsletter at www.onlineretailer.com

New Summit
Alongside regular favourite the Mobile and Social Commerce Summit, an entire day dedicated to fulfilment has been added. Store-to-Door will help you manage those peak seasons and streamline what can often be a tricky fulfilment process.

New Workshops
The ever popular Site Optimisation Masterclass with Martin Newman returns along with two new Workshops – Advanced eCommerce Essentials and Content and Merchandising. You will learn from experienced course instructors and each workshop provides an excellent opportunity to collaborate and discuss with other retailers.

More technology and innovation on the Expo Floor
Australia’s best technology service providers will be at Online Retailer to help you solve your toughest e-commerce challenges. You will be able to connect with the experts and get the answers you need to help you choose the e-commerce technology that is right for your business.

Netregistry has been a Platinum Sponsor of the Online Retail Event since the very beginning. Come and visit the Netregistry team at stand #1406.

Early Bird tickets are now available. Take advantage of the best rates and register today! Visit www.onlineretailer.com

If you aren’t making your business stand out with a strong web presence you’re missing out on lucrative returns. It doesn’t matter if your businesses can only advertise on a shoestring budget, as there are plenty of free marketing tools to take advantage of – such as Google Places.

How does Google Places work?

Google Places is a local online directory of businesses. It works by helping consumers locate local businesses just by searching for certain keywords or phrases in Google. For example, type in “Melbourne + cafe” into Google and a string of cafes in Melbourne will be listed, including their contact details and locations. The directory displays the exact physical location of a business on a street map using Google’s web-based mapping application Google Maps.

Why should I use it?

Google Places has a knack of showing up on the first page of Google search results, positioned right at the top along with a helpful map. It’s the first thing people see and it’s displayed above your own business website.

With SEO (search engine optimisation) becoming more vital to successful online strategies, now is the time to start utilising tools like Google Places. Local businesses that are vying for sales online, but do not have a map listing, will find it extremely difficult to rank higher for their target search terms when Google favours its Google Places directory.

Here are some helpful tips for maximising your Google Places listing:

1. Sign up right now

Register for the service by entering your business information on Google Places – it’s quick and simple. Enter your shop address, contact details, business website and hours of retail operation. If your business does not have an office or store and you do not want to disclose your home address, you can choose to hide your personal details: just specify a ‘service area’.

To get the most of your Google Places listing also ensure that all the information is 100% completed – the more useful your Google Places listing the more likely it is to show up in the search results. Google has provided guidelines for completing your Places listing.

2. Use the right keywords

Whenever you mention your products, services or business in your listing descriptions, always use keywords and phrases that consumers are likely to search for. This will boost your SEO and display your business in competitive search results.

Be careful however, because using keywords in the wrong areas of your listing can be a violation of the Google Places quality guidelines and can cause your listing to be suspended.

3. Relevant images

Add life to your Google Places listing by submitting photos related to your business. Include your storefront or office, photos of your bestselling products and even your staff members.

4. Customer reviews

Once your Google Places is up and running, start encouraging your customers to post feedback on your listing. Google favours customer reviews because it indicates that your business is active and appreciated by real customers.

5. Stay on top of your game

Treat Google Places like any one of your other social media pages and monitor feedback. If you receive a negative review from a disgruntled customer, respond to it. Use it as an opportunity to show that you are taking responsibility for any errors and that you are willing to correct any problems. If you believe that your competitors are creating accounts and posting negative reviews with malicious intent, you can report it to Google and dispute it using the ‘flag as inappropriate’ link below the fake review.

A Google Places listing is paramount to a success online marketing campaign and forms and integral part of search engine optimisation. Have you found a Google Places listing working for you? Do you have any tips and tricks to increase the reach of your local listing? Tell us in the comments.

If you want to get more exposure from your local business, speak to Netregistry about our search engine optimisation programs.

It all sounds easy. But if you’re new to PPC, there are a few elements of the advertising medium you need to understand in order to maximise the results of your PPC ad campaign. Here’s how:

1. The right ad style

Your PPC ad style needs to be attractive and marketable enough to grab someone’s attention. Your best shot is to write a succinct two-line message and publish an accompanying link. Be aware that you are targeting a certain demographic of customers, so write your copy in a style that appeals to them.

2. Keywords count

It is essential to incorporate your businesses’ keywords into your PPC ad. This ensures that your products and services align with the words and phrases people use to search for them. Keywords also important as the popularity of certain phrases will affect the price of your PPC ad campaign.

3.  Use analytical tools

Take the time to fine-tune your PPC ad campaign. Make use of analytical tools such as Google AdWords. These resources can dramatically ease your learning curve and save time by analysing results and refining any ad elements that could benefit from improvements.

You want to maximise your return on investment through PPC, so it makes sense to use analytical tools. They provide a snapshot of your keywords, campaigns, costs, rates, costs per conversion, costs per click and more. You can even compare past results with current efforts to see what works and what doesn’t. You will be surprised at how much traffic and sales you can generate just by tweaking a great ad campaign or fixing problems in unsuccessful PPC ads.

If all you are still unable to get the results you desire, nor have the time to dedicate, hire a professional like Netregistry. To find out how Netregistry’s PPC experts can help you squeeze the most out of your budget call 1300 638 734.

Regardless of whether your website is for business or personal use, there are a few helpful tips you can take on board to make your domain name choice a lot easier:

Dotcom prevails

In the internet world, .com is always the most memorable domain a person or business could have. To reinforce your location, Aussies should opt for .com.au as it signifies that you are located and/or operating within Australia. This is very important, considering the internet is placing a growing emphasis on geo-location.

Spelling

To avoid any confusion, choose a domain name that is easy to spell. The last thing you want is for your audience to type your domain incorrectly, and as a result be taken to a site that is completely different to yours. Keep your domain name simple to avoid any missed opportunities.

Marketing appeal

Set your brand apart by using a catchy, marketable name that’s both short and easy to remember. Can you imagine advertising this URL on a flyer or huge billboard? You want to opt for a domain name that turns heads. If it’s your business name, that will work too.

Keywords

It is extremely effective to use keywords within your domain name for SEO purposes. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to find your business and know what it’s about. If you have a painting business, for example, use the words ‘painting’ or ‘painter’ in your URL to signify your business trade.

There are boundaries to using keywords however – domain names that are too long or use excessive hyphens can be seen as spammy by Google and web users, so try to avoid long, keyword filled domains.

Buy your pie

Due to various URL extensions (.net, .org, .biz, .co), it’s important that you buy up all domain name extensions in a bid to protect your business brand. Purchasing all domain name extensions ensures that you won’t have to pay top dollar later on if somebody else has already swiped up your highly effective domain name. It’s also a wise move to boost sales. Simply redirect all extensions to your preferred .com and visitors to your website will be maximised.

These are just a few reasons why domain names are so important. Not only do they help potential customers find your site, they also have the ability to seriously boost your rankings in search engine results. Contact Netregistry to find out more.

A sound SEO strategy will help improve the organic page ranking (visibility) of your website or web pages in search engine results. Market-specific keywords and phrases related to your website, along with correct page titles and meta descriptions are SEO techniques that will help your business website reach the first page of search results.

Want to improve your business page rankings? Start with these basic SEO tips:

1. Quality content is essential

Search engines favour websites that provide high quality content and an exciting user experience rather than those that contain poor quality or keyword-riddled copy. Google’s Panda algorithm update made quality content more important than ever.

That’s why it’s essential that you create content that your customers find interesting and actually want to read. If users find your webpages useful, you will attract more traffic and therefore build a better reputation online. A better reputation means more inbound links, more social shares and a higher traffic rate – all signals to Google that your site contains quality content.

2. Use the right keywords

It’s still important to include keywords and phrases that your visitors regularly use in search engines. Although Google is moving towards “quality content” based search criteria using keyword that relate to the topic you’re writing about is still highly effective and important. Make sure you are delivering exactly what your page advertises.

For example, if you are a Melbourne-based business that specialises in selling used books, it’s a good idea to include keywords such as ‘Melbourne used books’ within your copy.

This highly effective SEO technique works in the following way: if a customer searches for a used bookstore in Melbourne using those keywords, the chances of your site appearing higher up in the results is boosted because your copy contains the exact terms the visitor searched for.

3. Link building is a must

Make it your mission to integrate a number of reputable links on your website as well as encourage external sites to link to your own. This strengthens the reliability of your website, which search engines favour.

For example, if a blogger or an authoritative website links to your webpage, search engines will interpret it as a sign of having quality content that people enjoy reading. The more people linking to your site means increased online approval, and subsequently increased popularity and page rankings.

Although external links are golden, creating internal links within your domain is important, too. You can do this by linking your ‘about us’ page to your ‘services’ page whenever you mention the products and/or services your business offers. Internal links make it easy for your customers to navigate around your site. It also communicates to search engines that your pages are related, as well as helping search engine spiders reach your pages.

4. Persevere

Continue exercising your SEO strategy. You may only achieve small results in a short space of time, but you remember that you are slowly building up your page rankings – that is something that money cannot buy. It takes time and effort to create genuine hype around your website, attract new fans and get it to the first page of search engine results, so persevere and you will soon reap the benefits.

For more tips and tricks on how to improve your page ranking, Netregistry offers and SEO service or talk to their friendly and professional staff about what steps you can take.

The major finding from the research was in essence, if you pause your paid search campaign then 89% of the clicks from the paid campaign will not be made up by organic search clicks even if you are ranking on the first page.
For example:

• You receive 100 clicks per day from paid search advertising
• You pause the paid search campaign
• Only 11 additional clicks are received from organic results with the absence of the paid ads

While the study was in-depth, the data was gathered from 400 paid search campaigns, there were several questions left unanswered.
Website owners, both those using paid search campaigns and those who are not, flooded Google with questions after the results were published. Website owners wanted clarification on how they determined the 89% figure and how applicable this is to the majority of paid search campaigns.

Google was forced to refine the study and include further variables. On March 28th this year Google released the findings via their Google Research Blog. Not only did the new findings support the previous information, it also highlighted in more realistic terms the effects of pausing a paid search campaign.

The two main questions from the initial study were answered:

1. How often is an ad impression accompanied by an associated organic result (i.e. organic result for the same advertiser)?
2. How does the incrementality of the ad clicks vary with the rank of advertiser’s organic results (i.e. what’s the difference in percentage of paid clicks replaced by organic clicks for varying organic rankings)?

The re-analysis of 390 of the paid search campaigns that were previously looked at revealed some astounding results:

On average 81% of ad views (impressions) occur when the advertiser does not have an accompanying page 1 organic listing.

Additionally, 66% of ad clicks occur in the absence of an associated organic result on the first page of search results.

With this in mind, Google also showed that:

1. If you have a paid search campaign and rank number 1 for a keyword you are bidding on 50% of clicks will not be replaced by the organic traffic if you pause your paid search campaign.
2. If you have a paid search campaign and rank between 2-4 for a keyword you are bidding on 82% of clicks will not be replaced by the organic traffic if you pause your paid search campaign.
3. If you have a paid search campaign and rank between 5-10 for a keyword you are bidding on 96% of clicks will not be replaced by the organic traffic if you pause your paid search campaign.
4. Obviously, if you do not rank organically for a term you are bidding on, 100% of paid clicks are not replaced by organic clicks if you pause your paid search campaign.

Understanding the results can be complex, especially for those new to paid search advertising. In a nutshell Google has showed that you cannot expect organic traffic to completely replace paid traffic even if you rank on page 1 organically.

One important point to note is that the results Google has published do not include any references to conversions. So the number of conversions from organic results versus paid results and how they interact may well follow a very different trend.

Full details of the study and the results can be found here.

Have you experienced a similar phenomenon? Do you believe the results that Google has released are accurate and reflect your paid search campaign.

Netregistry’s paid search consultants can help you manage a successful paid search campaign to ensure you are not missing out on additional clicks to your website. Call us today on 1300 638 734 to find out how you can benefit from PPC.

A customer just wrote on Whirlpool about being disappointed with our levels of customer service. He was asking for recommendations for a new supplier to move to.

That happens. Hopefully not too frequently, but it does. There’s really no way to avoid it ever happening, but there is a way to achieve a positive outcome. Much of customer service and sales is about exactly that – turning adversity into satisfaction. The truth is that I believe all our customer interactions are well intended. Even when we get it wrong, and upset a customer, it is never our agent’s intention. We are generally doing our best to satisfy customer requirements – even if it isn’t apparent. We train our staff to treat those instances where there is a negative sentiment expressed as an opportunity to understand what is causing our customer to struggle with us. Because the best thing for a stressed customer is to solve their issue – or if it is insoluble, to be sympathetic to their difficulty. An unhappy customer is a customer in need, and our job is to help them get through it, not to put the boot in when they’re down.

Done right, things can turn around quickly.Within minutes, that customer on Whirlpool had Clancy send him a message offering to help. A few minutes later I wrote to tell him that I’m happy to be his personal account manager and gave him my mobile number with instructions to call day or night. At the same time Mark wrote to explain our platform is moving forward and we want to know why he was unhappy and what we could do about it. We didn’t coordinate, but sent these messages independently.

As a customer not getting what you’re expecting, the thing to remember is that we do actually care. Conversations on the phone can get heated and seem adversarial, but with goodwill on all sides most problems are manageable. As a company, we want to improve and meet customer expectations. We have a genuine desire to deliver for our customers.

And the outcome of that Whirlpool thread? “I’m sold. I’m staying. Thank you.”

In the past, emphasis was placed on simply using the right keywords and backlinks. While these remain important tools, the recent changes to Google’s algorithmic system dubbed the ‘Panda Update” now place the highest importance on user experience. In other words, quality sites that offer their visitors real value will ultimately rank highest in Google searches.

Google Analytics can help you understand whether visitors consider your sites content as valuable and therefore a head-start in achieving a higher rank in search engines. With Google’s content farm algorithm change, understanding how your website can best perform is more vital than ever.

Bounce rate

One of the most important tools within analytics for determining your visitor’s experience is the bounce rate. Bounce rate refers to the percentage of visitors who looked at only a single page on your site before leaving.

Understanding bounce rate requires an appreciation of how information is searched. When a person enters certain search criteria, they are most likely to click on links that appear on the first page. If your site ranks on the first page, it is more likely to be visited.

However, simply ranking on the first page is not enough to keep visitors on your site. Visitors will stay if they find what they are looking for and enjoy the experience. If not they will immediately ‘bounce’ from the site. A high bounce rate can indicate that the content on your site is not relevant to the search term the visitor used or the visitor is not enjoying the experience on your website.

Making sure your website is relevant to the search terms as well as ensuring a positive user response on your website through good interface and user experience design is vital.

Time on page

The ‘average time on page’ data is also helpful for determining whether your site is providing value to visitors. As the name suggests, this data provides information on how long, on average, visitors stayed on the site and how long they remained on each page. If visitors feel happy with your site and believe they are receiving valuable information, they will no doubt stay longer.

A direct extrapolation of an extended stay on your website is a higher degree of interaction. Whether this means reading a blog post, filling in a form or making a purchase – the longer someone stays on your website the better. The aim is to attract the visitors and keep them there.

Pages per visit

Next, the number of pages visited will give you not just an indicator of whether visitors are enjoying the content, but whether the links within your site are effective. If you find that visitors are clicking a link and quickly returning to the previous page, it could help you determine which pages need refinement – depending of course upon their purpose.

So what can you do if analytics inform you that bounce rate is high and average time on site is low? Begin by beefing up your content. Make sure that your visitors are finding the information they want as fast as possible. The keyword tool is a marker for this. By learning the keywords visitors used to arrive at your site, you can see whether your content is meeting those criteria.

One useful tip to discover whether your content is beneficial is to add a paragraph or two of an article onto a second page. If your visitors click through, then you know they were enjoying what they were reading and wanted to continue.

What metrics do you use to analyse traffic? Do you have any tips and tricks to determine how well your websites is performing?

For more tips and tricks on how to improve the experience for your website visitors, take a look at Netregistry and talk to their friendly and professional staff about what steps you can take.