Insights – Page 4 – ACS Reduc 2022

Why is My Website Traffic Declining?

August 31, 2016

Possible Causes and How to Identify Them

You’re looking at your organic search traffic in Google Analytics and you don’t like what you see, there’s probably no need to panic. But you should take action. First, you need to determine what’s behind the website traffic drop.

Website and Analytics Changes

Have you added elements that Google frowns on?

These elements could be inbound links coming from dodgy sources, keyword stuffed copy, sneaky redirects, hidden text or links, duplicate content from other sites or content with little value. If your traffic loss coincides with a drop in your SERP (search engine results page) ranking, check your Manual Actions report to see if Google is penalizing you for violating its webmaster quality guidelines.

There may be an element you don’t even know about, including hacked content, user generated spam or other security problems. Check Google Webmaster Tools for security issues, fix them, and submit your site to Google for reconsideration.

Are new pages cannibalizing the old pages?

You might have added new pages with URLs that are too similar to those you’re already using. For example, you had a page called www.mybusiness.com/products/gizmo-fix, and now you’ve added a page called www.mybusiness.com/news/fix-my-gizmo. Those pages are competing with each other, not supporting each other. Result: they both receive lower SERP placement.

Rather than adding pages on the fly as the need or opportunity arises, you should have a pre-planned content strategy that prevents this confusion from happening.

Have you restructured the site or migrated it to a new domain?

This will cause a temporary decline in traffic as Google has to crawl and index all your pages over again from scratch. You don’t need to do anything to fix this, just wait a couple of weeks and see if traffic returns to normal. However, make sure you have the 301 redirect function in place for all the old URLs.

Is your content being indexed correctly?

There could be any number of reasons why Google isn’t indexing your pages.

You accidentally added a no-index tag to the wrong page or directory
You accidentally clicked “Remove URL” in Google Webmaster Tools
You set an incorrect preference for URLs parameters

To see if indexing is the issue, search Google for your page URLs. If they don’t show up on the SERP, they’re not indexed. You can also check your Google Webmaster Tools index status report for a decrease in the total number of indexed URLs for your site.

Is the loss a mirage caused by changing your website traffic analysis?

Have you recently adjusted your Google Analytics settings to exclude search engine bots and spiders from the traffic count? If so, you may still be getting the same number of human visitors, it just looks like less.

You can tell if visitors are bots, not real people, by their behavior while on site. When the page gets high traffic but very low time on the page and low conversion rate, you’ve probably got a bot.

Did you set it and forget it?

When was the last time you updated your website with new content? Google algorithms give preference to sites that regularly add fresh or updated text, images, videos, links and/or user comments. Stagnant sites are perceived as having less value to users, and ranked accordingly.

All the above factors could affect your website’s SEO (search engine optimization), which would prevent potential visitors from finding you. Once you’ve eliminated those possibilities, it’s time to look beyond your website for causes of the traffic slowdown.

Search Engine Changes

Are paid ads pushing your website further down the SERP?

You may have noticed recently that Google no longer has paid URL placements in a right hand sidebar. That’s because they’ve all been moved to either the top or bottom of the page. There can be as many as four of these paid placements above, and another four below, the organic (unpaid) results, which means that only the very top ranked websites are visible to searchers on page one. Less visibility = less traffic.

Has Google changed its SEO algorithms?

If your organic search traffic drops immediately followed by an update, it’s a good bet this is the problem. Recent updates have focused on two areas of concern: content and incoming links. Google is constantly raising its bar to reward quality and relevance, and push spammers out of the picture.

Although it means more work in the short term to get your website up to the new standards, it will benefit you in the long run by filtering out irrelevant results and allowing the quality traffic to find you more easily.

And finally, you must consider the possibility that your declining numbers are related to market conditions, not any specific actions that can be easily remedied.

Marketplace Changes

Are seasonal or economic conditions affecting traffic?

If your decline in traffic corresponds with a general decline in relevant searches, there may not be much you can do about it, except take comfort in the fact that your competitors are probably suffering as much as you are.

Another possibility is that you’re unfairly comparing current numbers to a previous period when traffic was inflated by a specific promotional campaign, busy season or other market factor such as an unusually hot summer if you sell air conditioners.

Is your target customer affected by your or others’ actions?

If you’ve begun going after a different demographic, chances are you’re alienating your existing pool of potential customers. For example, if you’re IKEA and you introduce high-priced designer furniture, you’ll drive away your budget-conscious customers. Check Google search data for your SERP position since the start of the decline. A stable ranking while traffic falls means you’re not losing visibility, your customers are losing interest.

New competition may be taking some traffic that would have come to you before. This is bad enough, but when your own resellers start outranking you, it’s adding insult to injury. The good news: reseller cannibalization will probably only affect website traffic, not your revenues.

Small Business Start-Up to Scale-Up in 5 Steps

June 2, 2016

Building a Business to the Next Level

Your small business may have started in one room, with a few friends for employees. But no matter how successful you’ve been so far, this business model won’t allow you to grow into the enterprise level company of your dreams. It’s time for a clear look at what has to change.

1. Focus on resale value.
Like a real estate investment, your business should be desirable to future buyers. Even if you have no intention of ever selling, you may someday want to obtain financing for a growth project, form an enterprise partnership or issue public stock. Outsiders will be evaluating your company, and you’ll want them to like what they see.

2. Analyze your processes.
Are your billings/receivables a tad slow? Employees consistently putting in overtime to meet deadlines? Equipment at maximum capacity? Areas where you’re just managing to squeak by now will completely break down under heavier demands in the future. Give them room to grow with more staff, better software, outsourcing, etc.

3. Pick customers’ brains.
You’ll never know how well you’re really serving their needs unless you ask. And their needs may not be the same now as when you started the business. Use their input to guide your company’s next moves and grow in the right direction.

4. Hire for expertise, not friendship.
Your buddies gave it their all to help your business get off the ground. But to grow to the next level, you’ll need true specialists in key positions, from sales to accounting to production management. Find ways to redistribute responsibilities so that new hires can contribute effectively to the long-term growth of the company.

5. Get everyone on board.
It’s one thing to identify what needs changing, another to put changes into practice. You may decide to introduce a new CRM system, a platform that automates routine tasks, or a process that prevents duplication of effort. In almost every case, you will then encounter resistance to the learning curve, elimination of jobs or risk of failure. You can minimize this by making sure everyone involved understands the benefits of the change to the business as a whole and each of them as participants in the company’s future success.

ACS Honored with U.S. Marines Iraq Combat Flag

May 25, 2016

A Surprising and Humbling Gift from One of Our Favorite Clients

We’ve known U.S. Marine Lieutenants Polycarpe Depe, Emily Eckman and Bethanie Simms since they first decided to set up a charitable organization to support wounded U.S. service members and their families. It’s been our pleasure to create the website for The Org Foundation, and help out in any way we can.

We have been privileged to use our talents to benefit those who have served, fought and sacrificed to safeguard our priceless American freedoms. Every one of them deserve our thoughts and prayers. We certainly didn’t expect them to take time to think of us while on active duty!

Yet, that’s exactly what they did. And here’s what we received: a commemorative flag that was flown aboard a VMGR-352 Squadron aircraft in Iraq and signed by all the members of the flight crew! We will proudly display this flag in our office.

This Memorial Day, we ask all our friends, family, clients and partners to remember the service men and women we have lost … and make a donation to The Org Foundation or the service charity of your choice. Because we owe them a debt that can never be repaid. Thank you Depe, Emily and Bethanie for all you have sacrificed.

Your Handy Dandy Designer Translator

May 19, 2016

20 Terms Often Heard from Website and Print Design Providers, Explained

At ACS, we always try to communicate with our clients in plain English, not insider jargon. But some words, phrases and acronyms are unavoidable when we’re explaining what we’re going to do for, or need from, them. So here’s our cheat sheet to help you get through your next designer conversation without batting an eye.

Website Design

Wireframe: A diagram of how a website’s pages will be organized. The wireframe should be approved by you before actual site building begins.

Responsive: A website that automatically adjusts to the screen size and shape it’s being viewed on.

Below the fold: The part of the website page not visible on screen unless the user scrolls down to it.

UI: User interface. The website design the user will see.

UX: User experience. How the website behaves, navigates and/or responds to user activity.

Print Design

Bleed: When the design calls for printed elements (i.e. photos) to go to the very edge of the page, we extend those elements 1/4″ beyond the trim line to allow for any slight slippages during trimming.

Gutter: The folded center of a brochure, catalog or magazine, where it’s hard to see type or images. The more pages in the printed piece, the wider the gutter becomes.

Type safety: For the same reason that we do bleed, all typography should be kept at least 1/4″ inside the trim line.

Images

CMYK, RGB: Systems used to reproduce an image in combinations of colored dots. CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) is preferred for print. RGB (red, green, blue) is used for websites. If a client provides an image in the wrong format, it may have to be converted.

Resolution, DPI: The number of dots per inch (DPI). For websites, 72 DPI will give you good quality. But for print, at least 300 DPI is required. If we used your website images for your brochure, the result would be as blurry as a newspaper photo from the 1940s.

Raster file: A photo or graphic design composed of dots or pixels. To display correctly, the raster file must be the exact dimensions required by the design. File types: .jpg, .gif, .png, .tif.

Vector file: An image NOT built out of dots. Vector files don’t have to be a specific size and can be enlarged without becoming grainy or distorted, so they’re ideal for multi-use graphics like logos. File types: .ai, .eps, .pdf, .svg.

COB, silo, silhouette: They all mean to cut out the background from an element in an image, such as the person in a photo or the shape in a logo. Usually done so that the element can then be layered onto a different background.

Text

Font: A specific typography design. When you buy a font, it will include upper and lower case letters, numbers, punctuation marks and symbols.

Kerning, tracking: Two words for the same thing: the space between the letters of a word.

Leading: The vertical space between lines of type.

Points, picas: Units of size measurement for lettering and spacing.

A Big Win for Google SEM: No More Sidebar Ads

May 3, 2016

A strategy adjustment is in order for SEM and SEO marketers

As you may have noticed, right hand sidebar ads have disappeared from Google. Instead, there are now up to four PPC (paid) ads at the top of the search results, where there used to be only two. This means fewer organic (nonpaid) results visible above the fold … and a new dominance for Google SEM ads.

It also means that updating both SEM and SEO strategy is essential. Here’s what our internet marketing experts are thinking.

SEO must aim for top 3, not page 1.

Once upon a time, if your website appeared in the first page of search results, you received the best click-through rates and your SEO efforts were deemed a success. Not anymore. Now the competition will be to appear above the fold, and the space available there for organic results has been reduced by the doubled quantity of paid ads.

Plus, the paid ads at the bottom are still there. So it’s harder than ever to even make page 1.

ROI of top position ads must be evaluated.

The new top positions are reserved for premium search terms, which cost more per click, so you need to be sure that the ad is worth the expense. To add value, Google has allowed more features in these ads that make them look like organic results, which are more trusted — and clicked — by users.

Another thing to consider: if your website receives top 3 placement in organic search results, there’s nothing to be gained by having a paid ad right above it.

The change must be kept in perspective.

Before the change, top PPC ads already received 85% of clicks. So the loss of sidebar ads won’t make a major difference in Google SEM returns.
Since the change, 78% of Google search results had less than the max of four top ads. So it’s far from inevitable that organic results will entirely disappear from above the fold.
This change only affects desktop views, and less than half of all searches are performed on desktop computers.

While it’s clear that SEO is now taking a back seat to SEM on Google, we believe that profiting from the new order is more a matter of fine tuning than a complete overhaul. If you’d like to discuss this further with one of our experts, please don’t hesitate to give us a call.

Definitions

Above the fold: The portion of a website page that you can see on your screen without having to scroll down.
Organic results: Nonpaid search engine results, usually the result of good SEO in a website.
PPC: Pay per Click. Online advertising format offered by Google Adwords and other search engines.
SEM: Search Engine Marketing. Paid ads on search engines like Google.
SEO: Search Engine Optimization. Building searchable features into your website in order to get high placement in search engine results pages.

ACS Creative Wins Addy Awards Again in 2016

April 12, 2016

And That Means Our Clients Win Too!

We’re starting to sound like a broken record … but in a good way! After taking home three medals last year from the annual American Advertising Federation Addy Awards (our industry’s Oscars), and we’re thrilled to announce that ACS Creative has won two more for our work in 2015. We’d like to thank each of our clients for giving us the opportunity to partner with them in achieving these outstanding results.

Here are their stories.

Guotai Spirits
guotaispirits.com

How does one of Asia’s most distinguished and popular liquor brands break into the U.S. market which is unfamiliar not only with their label, but with the entire category? With an elegantly designed website that establishes brand identity while educating the consumer on all levels.

Painkiller Tattoo
painkillertattoo.com

How does a new start-up make an impression in a crowded market? With a logo and website that conveys its brand identity of top-end artistry and professionalism, yet is relatable to the target customer. Much as we enjoy receiving Addy Awards, we believe they are more about success for our clients than ego boosts for us. Our goal is always first and foremost to solve a critical marketing challenge for our clients, as each of these websites did. The Addy is just the recognition of that achievement.

Pump Up Your Search Marketing Strategy with Social Media and Display Ads

September 29, 2015

Impressive evidence is beginning to mount up supporting the benefits of integrating social media and display advertising with search marketing efforts. According to a variety of recent studies, the effectiveness of search advertising—which businesses of all sizes have enthusiastically embraced due to its reasonable entry point, ease of execution and capability to measure ROI—can get a significant lift when you combine search campaigns with social media and display advertising.

Let’s take a look at specific findings from five recent reports.

Search and Display: Reach Beyond the Keyword (February 2010)
This study, conducted by digital-advertising solution provider Eyeblaster, found that for the search and display cross-channel campaigns it served from June 2008 to August 2009, almost 1 in 5 people who converted after search had viewed at least one display ad previously. According to the report, the data shows that display ads can stimulate search activity and might help you increase the reach of your search marketing campaign.

The Interplay of Search and Social Media (October 2009)
This study from search marketing specialists GroupM Search, found that searchers who engage in social media are more likely to search on brand or trademarked terms compared with consumers who do not engage in social media. Specifically, consumers who were exposed to both brand-specific social media and paid search ads were

Almost 3 times as likely to search for that brand’s products compared with users who saw only paid search ads
2.4 times as likely to click organic links leading to an advertiser’s site
1.7 times as likely to search with the intent of making a list of brands or products to consider
Clicking paid search ads at a rate at least 50% higher than those exposed only to search ads

The report concludes that social media exposes consumers to brands, products, features, benefits and corporate value propositions and provides a way for brands to become part of the important consideration set for purchases.

The Effects of Display Media on Search Traffic (August 2009)
In this study from digital marketing firm iCrossing, display ad campaigns increased Web site traffic from search engines by nearly 14%. The study also revealed that when search marketing is combined with an online display ad campaign, click-through rates (CTRs) for paid search ads increased about 15%, which in turn resulted in an 11% decrease in cost-per-click (CPC) expense.

According to the report, “An effective display campaign can increase search traffic by increasing brand awareness, brand recognition and brand preference. This brand affinity causes users to be more attracted to the brand website and helps media channels like SEM run more efficiently, boosting ROI.”

The Silent Click: Building Brands Online (June 2009)
The Online Publisher’s Association, in partnership with digital-marketing research firm comScore, released this report that investigates the behavior of consumers exposed to banner ads over the course of a month.

Key findings for consumers exposed to display ads—

1 in 5 conducted brand-related searches
1 in 3 visited the advertised brands’ sites
Consumers typically spent more time on advertisers’ sites and viewed more pages
Consumers spent more money on ecommerce overall and in the advertised categories
Consumers had higher income than other site visitors

Search Engine Marketing and Online Display Advertising Integration Study (May 2009)
This final study, commissioned by search-marketing firm iProspect and conducted by Forrester Consulting, looks at how display ads can influence Internet users’ actions. The research found that Internet users might take one of several specific actions initially after seeing a display ad, including:

Clicking the ad (31%)
Searching for the product, brand or company in the ad using a search engine (27%)
Typing the ad’s Web address directly into their browser and navigate to the advertiser’s site (21%)
Investigating the product, brand or company through social media or message boards (9%)

Almost as many Internet users search for a product, company or brand as click the ad, and a third as many check out the product, company or brand through some type of social media. Furthermore, when actions over time are considered, 49% say they perform a search on the product, company or brand at some point after seeing the ad. So display ads trigger actions other than ad click-throughs, and advertisers need to use search and social media campaigns to fully take advantage of the demand their display ads generate.

What Can You Do to Boost Your Search Marketing Efforts?
If you’re not already doing so, these studies should convince you that it’s worth your while to consider integrating social media and display campaigns with search marketing efforts—especially if your competitors aren’t. In 2008, Jupiter Research reported that only 26% of marketers coordinate search and display buys, with even fewer practicing cross-channel management. If you’ve cut back—or put off starting—display or social media campaigns to feed your search budget, you might reconsider your strategy to take advantage of the lift integrated online campaigns can deliver.

Good People: Our well-Digging Designer

May 29, 2015

Is there anything Madeline Burgos can’t do?

She designs beautiful brand communications. She plays a mean game of tennis. She swims like a mermaid.

And she digs wells in Central America.

It wasn’t easy. Madeline and fellow members of Immanuel Bible Church in Springfield VA spent 4 days drilling and digging through 50 feet of rock, clay, gravel and sand to reach a clean aquifer.

The trip was organized by Living Water International (www.water.cc).

The experience changed her, Madeline said. “I learned the importance of getting out of my comfort zone. I think everyone should take at least one trip to somewhere unfamiliar, to have a good worldview.

“I met people living on less than $1 a day, and living so joyfully. It made me more thankful. It opened my heart.”

That’s our Madeline. She opens our hearts, too.

*A now-and-then series about ACS folks you might like to know

Hackers and Malware and Bears: Oh, My!

May 13, 2015

ACS Creative’s Hosting Keeps Your Online Dangers at Bay.

Who knows all the hazards a website can face in cyber-space?

Nobody, sorry to say. The dangers keep changing so fast. Hackers, Malware, DDoS attacks, brute-force breaches, etc…

But with ACS Creative’s Hosting there is one thing you can count on: well-rounded, well-maintained defense for your site, sales and customer data.

How do you get all of that? Here’s the gist:

Get 24/7/365 security. Choose a top-notch, offsite, firewall-protected servers in a weather-proof “bunker” with round-the-clock monitoring.

Have malware/SPAM/error protection. Have keen cyber-sentries constantly scan for malware and other threats—and alert you in time to avoid major mischief.

Practice automatic back up. Capture all site data at least once a day (ideally twice). So if the worst happens, you won’t be set back far.

Not sure your site hosting does all of this? Get yourself an expert to supervise your ongoing defense. That’s how we can help.

Stay Away from the Web Wienies!

June 30, 2014

Now don’t get me wrong as I am very grateful for the business that eventually comes our way as a result of this poor decision making, but it never ceases to amaze me how many smart, savvy, and seemingly in-the-know business people will trust their web site design and development to a bunch of Web Wienies! That’s right, Web Wienies! And by Web Wienies I mean well-intentioned and good hearted people whom are simply woefully under-skilled in the business of today’s competitive web-centric environment. Often these practitioners have an eye for design or perhaps a penchant for some basic HTML coding and page building. But unfortunately for the enterprises entrusting these webmaster wannabes with the cornerstone of their business marketing – the price they pay in lost business and under-performing online activities is often far too large to even calculate.

And so, every week we get called into new website projects where somebody’s friend, neighbor, cousin, nephew, even spouse (Heaven forbid), or even a freelance connection that initially looked good, has dropped the ball, over-promised and never delivered, or sometimes – and maybe the worst; delivered a sub-par finished product that is probably doing your business more harm than good.

For 90% of the businesses out there today a strong, highly functional web presence is an imperative that you simply cannot do without. It’s time to stop delegating this oh-so important component of your business to anyone but those whom are up to the task – and there is plenty of good, solid competition out there. But unfortunately there are still plenty of people willing to take on your assignment whom are not up to the challenge – the Web Wienies. Do you and your business a big favor and stay away from the Web Wienies!

Uh-oh… Have you handed your website over to a Web Wienie? Or, are you on the brink of handing your web project over to a potential Web Wienie? I encourage you to carefully reconsider your options. Instead, pick up the phone and call us right now and let’s get your project on the right track to web success and powerful results. You deserve no less!