Web Site Usability as an SEM

[rustybrick]

SEM and Usability are becoming like brothers and sisters. Driving traffic to a site is just one of the steps to SEM now. What do you do, in terms of usability, to convert Web site visitors into Web site customers?

[Anthony Parsons]

Make the site flow from start to checkout. When you land on any page, you want to know where to go next. If you already know, then they do what they want, but if not, let the site lead them through. The product or service has to sell itself, not you selling it.

Lets face it. Most people will never buy when landing first time upon a site. But if you make it the most enjoyable experience of all the similar sites they visit whilst competitor shopping, chances are you will get them back for the sale. Lets face it, some people are solely out for the cheapest price, not price vs quality. Never going to fix that.

IMO, that is the biggest key though. If the first visit is easy, resourceful, helpful and flowed through the information they wanted, they will be back. If its contains dribble, hard to navigate, struggle through crap to get to anything, goodnight Irene. If it is good enough, possibly get them to the checkout first time around.

[David Wallace]

Usability is one of those things where it really depends on the client or the site owner. As a SEM, I can make a lot of suggestions regarding usability that are simply ignored. It also depends on the product or service. I cannot control their product quality or service level. Those two things can often help improve sales and customer acquisitions or hinder them.

Therefore it is my practice to note certain things that I feel would make their sites more "usable" but if they do not accept my suggestions, that is as far as it goes. When they come back at a later date and whine that they are not seeing the ROI they would like, then I can take them back to my original suggestion.

[St0n3y]

That sounds about right. You can only recommend so much and the onus is on them to follow through. I've had similar experiences with clients, especially when it comes to keyword selection. They complain about not getting sales but refuse to change their keywords to be better targeted.

[Anthony Parsons]

I have a problem like this right now with a customer in the US. They don't want to change too much as it is a million dollar business from the site, but they get over 40,000 uniques monthly with only 800 or so conversions, where as their competition is getting over 4000 conversions monthly with exactly the same service.

I identified all the problems, gave the solutions and they give me doubt. Why employ an SEO / SEM if you're not going to listen to them. They pay us good money because we know what the hell we're doing, not just for appearance, though is how it seems sometimes. O, then they winge back at you later as Dave stated.

[David Wallace]

I wrote an article a while back entitled "The Nightmares of a SEO (http://www.searchrank.com/resources/art009.htm)" out of the frustrations I spoke of in my post above.

It identifies some of the possible things that can go wrong as well as provides some solutions so the SEO, webmaster and client can all get along and have a productive SEM campaign.

[bwelford]

I'm not sure that just saying include Usability goes far enough. I think you have to have a site that exudes Credibility as well and finally it has got to be a site that has Saleability, in other words, it's got to make the sale. :)

[rustybrick]

I can not relate to most of this. I hate taking on clients to just do rankings. Normally, I would redo the whole site and include all of the goodies.

[Anthony Parsons]

I can not relate to most of this. I hate taking on clients to just do rankings. Normally, I would redo the whole site and include all of the goodies.

That's exactly how I like to do it. Spot on. Do it right the first time, not touch up to get one out of the crap.

[St0n3y]

I would love to do that but most of my clients can't (or won't) afford it.

[seomike]

Here's a good argument.

If you have a prospect that wants you to SEO their site, Do you do it even though it's poorly layed out and you know it won't convert?

SEO = Web Doctor IMHO.

People come to you to fix something that is broken or not working properly. I think too many SEO's mold crappy sites into ranking trophies for their testimonial pages but when you really get down to it, it is still crap :D

A properly planned out site should have a lot of things. But I think the most important is "A user should know where they are, where they came from and where they are going at all times". 2 out of 3 won't cut it.

[St0n3y]

I agree fully, but reality is often different. I would lose a large client-base if I insisted on such. Fortunately, I have deffering strategy levels and often get clients to move up into these other areas after a bit of time.

[seomike]

See that's where you gotta lay numbers on the table.

Ok client we predict you are lossing 10k a month in lost sales due to a poor site. We'll charge you 6k ONCE for a redesign. Any questions?

Or this one, Ok client you're spending x amount on SEO and 1k in overture and adwords. Your cost per conversion in the PPC is $150 your average profit is $100. Your cpc for non ppc leads is $50. This is so high because you don't convert cause your site sucks. If we do a redesign you'll make x amount more per month. your overture and adword cpc will be $50 and your non ppc cpc will be $10. You'll make more money per month and thank me later. Any questions.

Oh by the way we'll pro rate the cost over 6 months so we don't hurt your pocket too much.

LOL - back to reality - I wish it were that easy but a lot of the times it works! People want to hear that you can fix their problems and they really want to hear that you can make them more money.

[David Wallace]

Here's a good argument.

If you have a prospect that wants you to SEO their site, Do you do it even though it's poorly layed out and you know it won't convert?
Absolutely I would! Who am I to say that their site won't convert anyway? Do I know their business better than they do? Can I predict the market? Can I predict what their visitors will do?

If someone comes to me wanting me to get them higher rankings then that is what I will do. If they begin to complain to me that they are not seeing conversions from that traffic, then I am happy to step in and offer my assistance. But I wouldn't pass judgment on them from the get go because they have a crap hole of a site that I don't think will convert.

Hey, I have seen some real cruddy sites that I would never buy from myself do very well.

We recently took on a client with a framed site that I knew would not do well against their competition. After initial optimization efforts they saw some improvement but wanted more. I told them we could redesign their site, take it out of frames, make it more aesthetically pleasing, more usable, etc., etc.

To make a long story short, we did the redesign, they are doing much better now, have a great looking site and are seeing more conversions. Had I wrote them off from the beginning, not only would we not have gained a great client, we wouldn’t have been able to design their new site as well.

[seomike]

It was my argument not my point man.

[K.S. Katz]

Usability and SEO go hand in hand; however, very few clients actually recognize that. My usual strategy is to give them the big picture and then try to tackle each item one at a time.

I've had clients that needed to see the traffic to learn that "just because they come doesn't mean they're going to buy". Once I gain their trust that my methods work, then they allow me to help streamline their site design.

Problem is that there's multiple factors that makes a site usable and most site owners have no clue. It's part education and part learning experience that teaches them the importance of usability.

[St0n3y]

If you get them in the door, often times you can sell them on more services later. If you don't let them through the door, you've missed that opportunity all together.

[rcjordan]

IMO, usability and SEO are largely separate issues. And usability in the usual sense, easier to navigate, clear link text, compact layout & design, etc., can easily run counter to the site's goals. If, for instance, you want to increase leads from a 'contact us' form, you may not want to include site search. How about a site that seemed, when looking at the serps, to have just what you wanted but when you clicked through it was too disjointed to navigate but there in the right column was a skyscraper for EXACTLY what you wanted? Those are instances when lack of usability increases conversions.

[St0n3y]

Usability and SEO are different, however usability and SEO are both part of SEM. IMO

[rcjordan]

Usability and SEO are different, however usability and SEO are both part of SEM. IMO

Agree. SEO was brought into the thread and the bots/algos really aren't swayed all that much by usability.

As for the marketing aspect, usability, along w/ graphic art, design, layout, etc. is only a tool to get the user to do what the marketer wants. In that respect, it does not have to be 'good,' clean, and/or intuitive to get the job done.

[searchengineblog.com]

Agree with RCJordan

Usability, like SEM, needs to serve a marketing goal if it is to translate to the bottom line. Don't make it hard for users to do what you want them to do (convert), however there is a lot to be said for making it difficult for them to do otherwise.