Providing Unforgettable Web Experiences: 4 Tips

The Challenge: Brands are struggling to stay relevant online. Per a study by Forrester, only 3% of websites earn a passing score in terms of user experience.

Consumers cited 3 reasons why websites are generally failing to live up to customer expectations:

1. Content and website functionality aren’t based on deep customer research.

2. Menu names are vague and typically do not provide visitors with a clear next action.

3. Text is illegible and privacy statements are not clear enough.

Poor website usability is not the only shortcoming. Per findings from Marketing Sherpa: among 1,100 online retailers evaluated, the study found a near 60% average shopping cart abandonment rate.

Per findings from our recent Voice of Customer research, consumers felt strongly about these 4 requirements for valuable web experiences.

4 Key Takeaways for Marketers:

1. Provide easy access to content in just a few clicks.
Customers shouldn’t have to search for the content on your website. For a best-in-class example, check out 2012 Webby Award Winner, Kahn Academy. The online educator structures its homepage around three basic elements: a navigation bar, a search bar, and three call to action graphics targeted to unique visitor segments. The website is a premiere example of what’s possible when ‘simplicity’ and ‘customer experience’ are the key guiding principles for design.

2. Make it easy to share content via social media.
It’s absolutely essential that websites provide social sharing options for published content, including blog RSS syndication.

There are a variety of social sharing tools available to brands, but if you’re starting out, consider adding Digg Digg or Share this -- a Forbes’ 2012 America’s Most Promising Company -- to your site.

3. Make it easy to engage via mobile.
Customers must be able to engage effortlessly when visiting your website via mobile device. Look to beauty supplies retailer, Sephora, for a best-in-class example of a consumer brand mobile site. The website features a clear, thumb-friendly navigational structure and beautifully-modern aesthetic design.

4. Feature Blogs and communities.
In addition to SEO and thought leadership benefits, website blogs function as the homebase for a brand’s community engagement.

Per our own Voice of Customer research on behalf of NBC and Microsoft, we’ve found that consumers demand “connection” to peers, relevant experts, and the companies themselves.

Customers come to your website for more than just ‘transactional’ experiences; provide a community, and they’ll be back when it’s time to purchase.

Have You Forgotten About SEO?

The Challenge: Marketers have grown obsessed with building "engagement" on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Are they neglecting old-fashioned SEO in the process?

For years, tech pundits have depicted an "epic battle" between Facebook and Google, one that has only heated up with Facebook's IPO in May. But for marketers, Facebook and Google fulfill very different functions and represent different stages in the conversion funnel.

While Facebook is a platform for driving social engagement, organic Google results are still one of the best ways to create demand for your products and services. SEO captures users who are trying to solve a problem, but don't know that you offer a solution. Appear high in the search results, and they won't remain ignorant for long.

Before discussing ways to do this right, let's review a couple ways to do it wrong.

THE PERILS OF GAMING SEO

In the early days of Google, tech-saavy marketers tried to improve their search ranking by "gaming" the system, regardless of how relevant - or irrelevant - their content was to the terms a user was searching. These tactics included:

» Transparent-Pixel ALT Tags

One early tactic was to hide keywords in an ALT tag. The only problem is that ALT tags require images. The solution? a transparent, single-pixel image with a "keyword rich" ALT tag. The search engine response? Devaluing ALT tags.

» The META-KEYWORDS Tag

Next, optimizers tried filling their META-KEYWORDS tags with ... you probably know where this is going.

In every case above, marketers and developers tried to drive organic traffic to their sites by fooling the search engines. Nobody was fooled: the search engines responded by adjusting their algorithms to better track the single most valuable aspect of SEO: relevance.

3 KEYS TO SEO SUCCESS

» Create Relevant Content

The open secret of SEO is that there are only a limited number of things marketers can do on their sites to affect search rankings. The major factor in search rankings is links from other sites: i.e., other human beings who think your content is relevant. It’s not something you can game, but it’s something you can assure by creating a steady stream of high-quality content—especially on your official blog. Google demonstrates this fact with their own official blog, which often ranks as a top tech blog—not just a high-quality "corporate" blog.

» Maintain a Consistent Voice
While keyword-heavy content might help search engine algorithms, it's likely to decrease organic, human links to your site. Maintain a consistent voice, rather than setting a minimum number of keywords per sentence, as Dropbox does on their corporate blog.

» Practice Tagging Best Practices on Every Page of Your Site
All of that said, don't neglect basic tagging best practices like concise META-DESCRIPTION tags and relevant TITLE and H1 tags. (SEOmoz offers a great tutorial on tagging basics.) There isn't much you can do on your site to affect SEO, but don't neglect the factors that are in your control.