The whole idea of performance marketing is very simple – you pay for the result. This way, for example, two giants of the online market – Google and Facebook – are responsible for their marketing services. The most popular billing models are:

CPC: cost per click (ad click fee)
CPM: cost per mille (fee for 1000 ad impressions, e.g. banner)
CPV: cost per vier (fee for viewing, e.g. of a YouTube video)
CPS: cost per sale (sales fee, popular model in e-commerce)

As you can see, these models depend primarily on the medium you are using and the expected result. For example, if you want as many customers as possible to click on your ad in Google Ads, you automatically choose the CPC model, because no other model will work in this case. The situation is slightly different when you want your customers to take a different type of action. This is what the CPA model was created for.

CPA: definition

CPA means cost per action. This is a non-standard billing model as it can include a whole range of different activities that your customers or users take. Activities billed in the CPA model include, for example:

– e-book download,
– subscription to the newsletter,
– filling in the application form,
– making a reservation,
– sending an inquiry or satisfaction survey.

CPA: Marketing

Due to its flexible nature, the CPA model is very popular in marketing. It is particularly eagerly used in the aforementioned performance marketing. It can be used in many cases and is easy to calculate. Speaking of which, how can you calculate the cost of a campaign in the CPA model? Use this simple formula to do this: CPA Cost = Total Campaign Cost / Number of Actions.

So, if you ran a promotional campaign for your new e-book, spent $ 10,000 on it, and 360 downloaded it, the CPA would cost $ 27.78.

It is also worth explaining that the term CPA is understood differently by Google and Facebook. In the case of Google, CPA simply means conversion – that is, reaching your final ad goal. You can read more about it here. What about Facebook? In their Business Help Center, we can read that CPA “allows you to pay only for actions that people take on your ad.” So the way of understanding this method of settlement is very similar.

CPA: Earning

Finally, let’s explain the relationship between the CPA model and your company’s earnings. The only possible answer is indirect. CPA is rarely directly about selling. Of course, this is what you ultimately care about (you hope that after reading your e-book someone will become your client, or that the person who made the reservation will come to the scheduled treatment, etc.), but the model itself is not based on how much you earn. It focuses on what actions your customers will take. Of course, some of them will eventually lead to a sale, but not all of them. Therefore, you should approach the CPA model with a certain amount of caution and do not expect that campaigns settled in this way will directly translate into higher sales in a short time.

If you want to know more about the CPA model and see how it could work in your case – please contact the Paraphrase-Online team. We will help you plan and conduct campaigns that will help you achieve your business and marketing goals.

The importance of colors in marketing

Marketing is a field that is a perfect example of the impact of individual colors on a person. Individual branches of business use this effectively, adhering to the discoveries of the psychology of colors. This science confirms that colors have a specific influence on us. Some give you energy, stimulate you to act, while others relax, calm down or inspire confidence. Being aware of these impacts, marketers scrupulously construct advertisements so that they most accurately affect the recipients.

Color is not only used to create advertisements. It is an indispensable attribute of product packaging, company logo or visual identification of stores. Color is also an important element in internet marketing. You have to choose it skillfully when creating your website. In many cases, a specific color can determine the success of the conversion, more about that later in this article.

Color in marketing, including internet marketing, fulfills several functions. Here are the most important of them:
– Aesthetic – the aesthetic value of the colors cannot be ignored; appropriate combination of colors makes consumers more willing to reach for specific products or stay longer on a selected website;
– Emotional – colors affect emotions, evoke specific associations and can stimulate specific actions, so it is worth knowing what colors to use to create the intended effect in the recipients;
– Informational – colors in marketing are also used to provide recipients with specific information about the offer or product;
– Constructive – the task of color is also to integrate the entire marketing message and ensure its consistency.

Can a color influence a purchasing decision?

Yes it can. Color is an important element that influences consumers’ final purchasing decisions, but not the only one. Remember that most decisions in our lives are made unconsciously, although we want to think the opposite is true. And it is this unconsciousness that is influenced by color. The color that evokes specific feelings, thoughts and emotions in us may decide whether we decide to buy a given product or take advantage of a specific offer. It is not without reason that there is a color of trust or a color of security. If the colors of the website or product evoke positive associations in us, then we will be much more likely to take advantage of the offer or purchase.

Blue color – meaning

The blue color evokes clearly positive associations in the recipients. It is the color of trust, professionalism, wisdom and truth. It is associated with a sense of stability, but also cleanliness, peace and composure. Many brands use blue in their visual identification. A perfect example is Facebook or Twitter, but also companies from the insurance and banking industry. Blue helps to establish a positive relationship with the customer.

Red color – meaning

This intense color can evoke extreme emotions. On the one hand, it brings to mind positive associations related to love, passion or passion, on the other, however, it is a strong warning sign. In addition, red is associated with energy, strength, aggression, stimulates action, and effectively stimulates intense emotions.

Due to such a strong effect of the red color, it is skillfully dosed in marketing. It is usually used to mark promotions and occasions. It is also great for highlighting the CTA button – not only will it make it more visible to the recipient, but also encourage them to take action that may translate into the conversion of the store.

Remember not to overdo it with red. It is best to keep it in the color scheme of the website to highlight its most important elements. An excess of red can become irritating to the eye in the long run and make the customer leave the site faster.

Orange color – meaning

Orange brings to mind fun, is associated with positive energy and good emotions. Like red, it also encourages action. This color is often used in marketing to draw the customer’s attention to discounts and bargains.

Yellow color – meaning

Another intense color is yellow. This color is quite ambiguous, just like red. On the one hand, yellow is associated with the sun, joy, energy and vacation, on the other hand, it is used, for example, for warning signs. Therefore, it is important to skillfully use yellow in marketing. A great example of the effective use of this color is, of course, the McDonald’s company. There is probably no person in the world who would not associate the characteristic yellow letter M. It is worth noting that over time, the second intense color, i.e. red, has disappeared from the brand’s logo. Such a combination is considered too flashy today. Currently, the yellow M is used alone or in combination with a more muted brown.

Yellow, like red and orange, is recommended for use in creating CTA buttons on a page. It is also worth using this color to emphasize the unique features of the product or offer. It will also work well when highlighting promotions and discounts.

Green color – meaning

Green is the color of safety. It is associated with nature, ecology, peace and harmony. According to color psychology, green stimulates creativity and also increases credibility. In marketing, green is most often used by banks, medical and pro-health industries, as well as by all those who want to emphasize the ecological activity of their company.

Green is the color of gentleness. Therefore, if we want to evoke delicate feelings and gentle positive emotions in our recipient, this shade will be perfect. Green may dominate the colors of the website if it is justified in the visual identification of the company. This color is also very soothing and friendly to the eyes. It is worth knowing that subconsciously people like to look at everything that is green, because our eyes then rest.

Black color – meaning

Black is considered by many to be a dark and unambiguously negative color, but it takes on a completely new meaning in marketing. Black is also a symbol of elegance and luxury combined with minimalism. It is worth noting that the most prestigious brands in the world often use black in their logos. This color also symbolizes the high quality of products or offer, as well as timelessness, reliability and efficiency.

White color – meaning

White is a universal color that is often the background for all other colors. In the psychology of colors, it symbolizes innocence, delicacy and subtlety. This is why white is a common shade in ads for tissues, toilet paper and cleaning products. We can also find it in promotional campaigns for more prestigious products, such as jewelry, perfumes, and even electronic equipment.

Thanks to the skilful use of white, you can effectively display other elements of the marketing message. It is worth noting that many brands, when creating a company logo, decide to combine a specific color with white. Such a logo is used by most sports brands, such as Adidas, Nike or Puma. Other examples include Coca-Cola and Samsung.

Combining colors in marketing

Knowing the symbolism of colors is one thing. The real art is their skilful combination that allows you to get the best possible effect that will not only meet the aesthetic expectations, but also create the desired impression on the recipients. To achieve this, it is worth focusing primarily on balance.

Subdued colors such as blue, green, but also brown, black or white should be most often chosen as the basis for creating a marketing message. It is especially important when selecting the colors of the website. Here, subdued colors should be the basis, while bright colors such as red, yellow or red should be used for elements that require distinction. Eye-catching shades are best for CTA buttons or listing promotions, deals and discounts. If some content on the website is particularly important, it is also worth highlighting it with an intense color.

However, it should be remembered that bright colors should not dominate. Their excessive number may distort the final reception of the marketing message and make it unreadable for the recipient.

Many companies also focus on brand marketing that is based on contrasts. Paraphrase-Online.com is the perfect example of this. The use of two opposing and expressive colors in visual identification allows you to achieve a clear and clear message. This effect is not only valid for black and white. Contrasting colors are also violet and yellow, orange and blue, or green and red. Examples of brands that use this aesthetic treatment include Mountain Dew, the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team, and the Firefox browser.

In summary, colors in marketing are an important element, although it should be remembered that it complements the entire message. When choosing the colors of the product packaging, the colors of the website or when creating an advertisement, it is worth remembering what effect a given shade has and skillfully combine it with the remaining color range. The choice of colors can really translate into the conversion of the store. It is therefore worth checking whether customers are more likely to click red or green buttons. One cannot forget about the consistency of the message. The selected colors must reflect the company’s mission and vision, and at the same time be eye-friendly and aesthetically pleasing.

– SEO Marketing is a process whose goal is to constantly increase the position of a website in the search engine.
– It is a good solution for both service websites and online stores. However, your SEO strategy will be different in each of these cases.
– SEO Marketing is the cheapest method of acquiring customers on the Internet in the long term.

SEO Marketing – What is it?

SEO Marketing is a process of taking planned actions, thanks to which a given website will be found more effectively in the search engine, i.e. it will achieve better positions for specific phrases. As a result of SEO activities, pages become more visible to web crawlers.

We divide SEO optimization into two basic areas
– technical – we can mention here, among others code optimization, speed of the website, fixing errors, etc.,
– content – here we distinguish, for example, expanding the text content, optimizing headings, etc.

SEO should be an ethical and fair process, both for competition and website users, and thus follow Google’s guidelines for webmasters. For example, obtaining artificial links and automatic linking are inappropriate, which unnaturally inflate the position of websites in search engines. SEO should, however, include link building activities aimed at acquiring links from other websites. Thanks to links, the promoted website is more often visited by search engine robots and rated higher than the competition’s websites.

SEO Marketing is therefore a combination of optimization activities and page linking. Both of these activities should be carried out in a consistent manner. When designing a strategy as part of the SEO Marketing service, it is always worth considering the benefits and needs of the user, business goals and taking into account the operation of algorithms and additional guidelines.

SEO Marketing – What does it consist of?

SEO marketing involves a comprehensive approach to website visibility in search results. SEO and link building are part of a broad spectrum of activities. Apart from them, the scope of optimization activities also includes monitoring and eliminating potential threats to the effects of positioning as well as searching for and implementing beneficial solutions.

More than half of the work on the success of most positioned websites is spent on analyzing, preparing and implementing optimization changes on the websites. Linking complements thoughtful optimization.

On-site activities – these are all activities that we conduct within our website, i.e. technical optimization of the website, content enrichment, internal linking.

Off-site activities –  include linking the website from external websites (back-end, blogs, internet forums, sponsored articles, taking over domains).

SEO Marketing – Who Is It For?

Both local and regional businesses advertising their services through their website and owners of online stores can benefit from SEO Marketing activities. SEO Marketing allows them to gain an advantage over the competition by appearing higher in search results. What’s more, it also allows you to gain the trust of customers and strengthen the effectiveness of other marketing activities, such as Google Ads campaigns, advertising in social media or offline marketing. How can particular types of businesses benefit from SEO Marketing?

– Service companies running their local businesses. Such companies are mainly interested in positioning on local phrases in order to attract new customers from their regions, for example by entering search queries “Las Vegas hairdresser”, “London plumber”, “Manila tailor”. It will be especially important for these companies to get traffic from searches in the areas where they operate.

– Online stores that expect long-term results and want to get high positions in search results, both for branded, non-branded and long-tail phrases. These are companies that cover much larger areas, often operating throughout the country. Positioning for local phrases does not fulfill its function here. Often the keywords here are more specific and unique, as well as more elaborate.

How to measure the effects in SEO marketing?

The effectiveness of SEO Marketing activities depends on the market environment and changing Google algorithms. Therefore, it is important that conducting SEO work is a long-term process that is monitored on an ongoing basis. Constant factors, independent of market conditions and changes in algorithms, also work for their effectiveness.

The constant factors influencing the effectiveness of SEO Marketing include:
– activities related to the posted content (texts on the website, guides, articles);
– implementation of new pages, subpages or products;
– site redevelopment or relocations;
– supporting and complementary advertising activities.

When developing an SEO strategy, it is also worth planning the method of evalsuating the results of work and analyzing periodic control reports on the basis of which you can objectively assess the implemented and supervised activities. The guarantee of the effectiveness of SEO work is the continuity of optimization processes and consistent rationalization of all necessary areas related to the operation of the website.

The effectiveness of SEO Marketing will be determined, among others, by previously established KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). The most frequently used KPIs in the case of SEO are, for example:
– Increase in website traffic in a given period by the assumed number of unique users;
– Increase in the number of brand phrases in TOP100, TOP50, TOP10 and TOP3;
– Increase in the number of non-brand phrases in TOP100, TOP50, TOP10 and TOP3;
– Ultimately, an increase in conversions (sales of specific products, inquiries, complex contact forms, material downloads, etc.) from organic traffic;

How long do you have to wait for the effects?

There is no clear answer to the question of when we will see the first effects of SEO activities. Most specialists will tell you that it depends on many factors, including those described above. However, we can assume that for websites or online stores that have never used any SEO techniques before and have not undertaken optimization, the website should notice an increase in the first 6 months. Very often, it is enough to implement the first recommendations from an SEO specialist to see how they will positively affect, for example, the reception of the website by users, and thus also on web robots.

Starting a cooperation in the field of positioning is associated with relatively high initial costs and no return on investment in a short time. However, with the following months, the position of positioned phrases increases, which translates into an increase in traffic on the website. As a result, the number of clients acquired through positioning is increasing.

In the case of websites with an established position, which were previously positioned and optimized, we can achieve the first significant increases based on a long-term strategy. As an example, we can take the website of one of our clients, who, thanks to the compilation of SEO Marketing activities, increased the traffic on the website by 394% in 3 years. Importantly, when assessing the effectiveness of positioning activities, we should also take into account, among others, whether the given increases are relatively constant, and the revenues and other KPIs that we achieve also go up.

What does the cooperation with an agency look like in terms of SEO Marketing activities?

When deciding to entrust SEO Marketing activities to an agency, it is worth realizing the need to implement all the proposals and changes signaled during positioning. The knowledge of the positioner is supported by extensive experience, and the priority in his work is to propose changes to the client that will bring measurable, i.e. the best results. Cooperation between two entities whose common interest is the best possible website optimization effect is effective only when the positioner can count on the client’s trust in the area of website rationalization activities.

What if the proposed changes cannot be implemented?

If, in any case, the introduction of changes will be difficult due to, for example, emerging restrictions resulting from insufficient functionality of the website engine, it may be recommended to change the software responsible for the operation of the website. Each case is considered individually, and major changes that require website preparation and planning positioning and optimization activities are always agreed with the client.

During the SEO cooperation, changes to the website are being worked and implemented all the time, subsequent errors are eliminated and less important elements of the website are optimized. It is worth noting, once again, that website optimization is a continuous process. After introducing changes, the actions are analyzed and how they influenced the visibility of the website in the search results. Based on the conclusions drawn, subsequent stages of optimization are carried out.

The latest trends in SEO Marketing

Website positioning itself is a term that has been known for many years, and many companies have invested in its activities. However, it is impossible to notice certain trends that have more or less affected the environment and practice of SEO specialists.

User Experience

In recent years, we have been talking more and more often about users, including their experience on the website (UX – user experience) and how important they are also in terms of website positioning and optimization. Why is it so important? Why does SEO Marketing have to consider UX?

The website is now a powerful advertising tool on the web. You may be tempted to say that “if your business does not have a website, it does not exist”. The website is a showcase of the company on the web, presents the offer, portfolio and enables direct contact with your company. Therefore, website designs are more and more advanced, they allow you to place high-quality images, quick payment methods or the presentation of thousands of products. In order for all the amenities to really benefit users and make the company achieve better results, it is worthwhile to adapt them to the needs of potential customers.

SEO Marketing must also take these guidelines into account. Therefore, when setting an SEO strategy for a given business, it is also worth bearing in mind the aspect:
– visual – related to the ease of reading messages by the user, the simplicity of navigation on the website and its readability.
– user-friendly – including the page loading speed and its adaptation to various devices (mobiles, tablet, desktop), having a simple purchase and payment process.
– business – the overriding goal is to sell / attract more customers. The pages should therefore contain a clear CTA (call-to-action), the possibility of contact, customer service chat window, etc.

User intention

Therefore, more and more attention is paid to adjusting SEO activities to the user’s intentions. Google understands better and better what the user means when typing a given phrase and what search results he expects. If it is possible to give him a simple solution in TOP3 or TOP10, this page will be there. No matter how much we saturate our content with keywords. It will be important for the algorithm whether they are really valuable from the user’s point of view and whether he received an answer to his query after entering our website.

Inbound marketing versus outbound marketing

Where does this division into two types of marketing come from and what does it mean? Outbound marketing is defined as “outbound”. It includes all activities of addressing the customer and thus encouraging him to take advantage of the offer. It includes, among others direct advertising and promotion.

Inbound marketing, in turn, is called “inbound”. It consists in carrying out such activities that are to lead to a situation in which the customer will find a given company and express interest in its offer.

Figuratively speaking, outbound marketing can be compared to a loudspeaker or a megaphones from which advertising slogans and a message directly encouraging you to use specific services are heard. Meanwhile, inbound marketing activities can be compared to a magnet that attracts customers to the company and its offer. In practice, the outbound strategy uses, among others:
– graphic advertising on the Internet,
– TV and radio advertisements,
– outdoor advertising,
– telemarketing,
– leaflets, advertising catalogs, brochures,
– paid links and advertisements on various websites,
– mailing and SMS campaigns,
– on-site advertising: incl. web push notifications, pop-ups, chats encouraging contact.

Meanwhile, as part of inbound marketing, you should deal with:
– company site,
– SEO,
– content marketing (including blogs, podcasts, webinars, video content, etc.),
– social media,
– newsletters,
– discussion forums.

All these activities should be based on prior arrangements as to the target group and its exact profile. Only then can they be tailored to the needs of a potential customer, and therefore effective in attracting him and then generating conversions.

Outbound marketing – principles and advantages

 Currently, inbound marketing strategies are used much more often, while those “outbound” are often considered less beneficial, less effective, and even outdated. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Most often, in outbound marketing, an undefined message is used – the same for all recipients and usually not fully supported by the expectations of the target group. However, it is also possible to test different formats and check their effectiveness.

It is important to remember to adapt the rules of operation of outbound marketing to the needs of the modern consumer. There is no place for outdated techniques or intrusive, irritating advertising. However, it is worth taking care of:
– personalization of communication – wherever possible;
– adopting an advisory, expert tone – customers do not like pushy “stuffing” them with products, but value reliable information and advice from professionals;
– careful selection of communication channels – depending on e.g. on the scale of the business, industry and target group.

The advantages of outbound marketing include:
– control over the message in communication (because it is usually one-sided),
– the ability to quickly achieve results, such as building awareness of a given brand,
– relatively low costs in the case of running online campaigns,
– the possibility of operating on a large scale.

Certainly there are also some disadvantages to this type of strategy. This, for example:
– the risk of causing negative reactions from potential customers (intrusive and disturbing advertising),
– some difficulties with targeting the message (i.e. adjusting its form and content to a specific recipient), in particular outside the Internet,
– the risk of the message being ignored by the recipients – the society is flooded with constant advertising message, therefore it becomes resistant to it,
– relatively high costs per acquired lead.

Can inbound marketing be an effective solution for your company then?

Inbound marketing – principles and advantages

The idea of inbound marketing is based on attracting customers. Therefore, it requires a thorough understanding of their needs. How to make the client want to come to you? Belongs:
– develop a detailed marketing strategy – vision, goals and methods of their implementation;
– define precisely who is the target recipient of your services – the profile of your model client should include as much information as possible, including age, gender, profession, habits, expectations or needs;
– prepare a website – keeping in mind its aesthetics, functionality and maximum simplicity, which will facilitate the shopping path and conversion;
– create valuable content and constantly supplement the website with it;
– keep profiles on social media, ensuring that the content presented in them is up-to-date;
– use thematic and industry websites;
– take care of the constant acquisition of leads and develop a system that will help make sure that they will become customers;
– constantly analyze the methods used and deal with their improvement.

Inbound marketing should be focused primarily on building brand awareness and strength as well as gaining customer trust. This has its advantages, provided, of course, that the strategy is properly developed and implemented. These include, among others:
– the ability to reach a large group of customers,
– relatively low costs,
– many forms of communication and almost unlimited possibilities in terms of creation,
– high targeting opportunities,
– the ability to build brand authority and inspire trust at the same time,
– a message based on the intention to buy or the customer’s interest – does not arouse desire, is not intrusive,
– hard sale.

However, this is not a flawless method! They can include:
– high barrier to entry – inbound is based on tools whose level of complexity has increased significantly over the last decade. In principle, the support of a specialist is necessary to obtain optimal results.
– Limited opportunities to build coverage in niche industries – going beyond them can dramatically increase the cost of customer acquisition.
– High budget required in some segments.

When to use outbound marketing?

Certain criteria should be taken into account when considering the two types of marketing strategy. In some cases, outbound marketing works much better, and in other cases it is better to focus on inbound methods. So when is it worth using outbound strategies and addressing customers directly?

When you expect quick results
We have to wait for the results of inboud activities. So if you need to achieve specific goals, it’s best to turn to outbound techniques or paid advertising like Google Ads. They usually allow you to gain certain clients or leads in a short time. It is worth remembering, however, about the principles of running effective outbound campaigns, which have been included above.

When you are new to the market
It is difficult for small, new companies to break into the minds of customers by conducting only inbound marketing activities, and waiting for results may lead to a deterioration of the company’s financial situation. Therefore, to put your foot in the door crack, it is worth using outbound strategies that will help increase brand visibility, and at the same time gain leads at a much lower cost.

When you have a limited budget to start
If you have a small amount of capital, you definitely cannot wait for the effects of running incoming campaigns. Then a well-thought out action of the outbound type with paid channels may prove useful. Of course, this does not apply to companies that have, for example, low fixed costs and can afford to wait longer for results despite a limited budget.

When to use inbound marketing?

Of course, there are also situations in which inbound marketing is usually much better. When is it worth using?

When you take your time
Do you want to build a strong brand, but do not expect immediate results? If you have the right budget and can afford to slowly build your position, it is worth focusing on intense inbound activities. Remember that it can take many months from starting them to acquiring a client. Meanwhile, there is still time to carefully prepare your marketing strategy.

When you realize the importance of good content and have the opportunity to create it
Writing an expert article for your company’s blog from time to time may seem like a simple task that you can do yourself in your spare time. However, this is very disastrous thinking. Taking care of the published content is very important, so it should not be work done “on the occasion”. It should be ensured that the content is of high quality and complies with SEO principles, which requires appropriate knowledge. In addition, someone has to watch over the regularity of publishing the content. Therefore, it should be dealt with by a specific, designated person who at the same time has the appropriate qualifications. Instead of hiring a new employee, you can entrust this task to an agency – in many ways it is a more profitable solution.

When you know your target audience
The great strength of inbound activities is the ability to precisely match them to the target group. Therefore, you absolutely must know it very well – otherwise the strategy you are pursuing will not make much sense. You need to know who your customer is, but also what messages he / she reacts to, how he / she buys purchases and what values he / she believes in.

When you have the right budget
It is about financial resources that will allow you to wait for the results, but also about the amount of funds allocated for marketing. Developing, implementing, and then refining an inbound strategy is usually quite resource-intensive and time-consuming, although the cost per lead is lower than outbound campaigns. Of course, the exact amount of the required budget depends on many factors, including industry, area of operation and competition. In inbound marketing, however, the snowball effect applies. Consistency in acting in the long term can offer you the cheapest lead acquisition.

Inbound and outbound – together or separately?

The above content should help you decide which marketing strategies to use. However, there is also a hidden option number three, which is a combination of inbound and outbound. Does it make sense? Absolutely and probably the best solution! In many cases, this is how you get the best results. Complementary and interpenetrating marketing techniques will allow you to get more customers and maximize your profits. Example? You can use an email campaign with a link to an educational video or article. Such a combination of outbound and inbound activities is characteristic especially for companies with slightly more experience on the market, as well as with a budget, and this is when it turns out to be the most profitable.

How do others do it? Statistics show that smaller companies place by far the greatest emphasis on inbound activities. This tendency is especially visible in enterprises with up to 25 employees. Companies employing from several dozen to 200 people clearly increase their outbound marketing expenses, while in the largest ones (over 200 employees), outbound and inbound methods are basically used in half.

It can certainly be said that modern companies place an emphasis on inbound marketing. It’s a strategy that seems to be primarily more effective in the long run. If you want to keep up with the competition, you should definitely not base your marketing solely on outbound activities. However, the strategies used so far should not be changed abruptly. The process of their modification should always be gradual. Usually, it is also not worth completely abandoning outbound marketing. As indicated above, it also has its advantages! If it is properly implemented, it will surely bring tangible results, although more and more often such activities are considered obsolete.

Inbound and outbound marketing – how to measure the effectiveness of activities?

Still not sure whether to bet primarily on inbound or outbound, or maybe use a mixed strategy? Or maybe you want to check how the activities carried out so far will be compared to the newly implemented strategy in terms of effectiveness? Comparing the effectiveness of inbound and outbound methods is usually not easy, but it can be done. It is worth looking at various marketing indicators and measures. First of all, you should take into account the budget allocated to specific marketing activities and the number of leads obtained and compare their proportions. The so-called CPL indicator, i.e. Cost Per Lead. In addition, it is worth considering:
– QL (qualified leads) – the number of leads that are considered potential customers, ready to buy,
– CR (conversion rate) – conversion rate showing what percentage of leads from a specific source decides to buy,
– Ticket Value – The average value of the transaction for each of the customer acquisition sources,
– Length of the sales cycle – it often happens that acquiring a customer from certain sources takes less than from others.

By comparing this data, it will be much easier for you to identify which activities bring the best results and thus improve your marketing strategy. It is worth monitoring the above indicators constantly, because nothing is certain in marketing – what works great one day may stop bringing results the next.

How to start an online store and ensure its success?

Have you been running an online store for a long time, but still collecting too few orders? Or maybe you are just planning to enter the market, but want to be sure that you will start “with a bang”? Regardless of the motivation, it is worth knowing ways to attract more customers to your online store. Good selling is not a matter of luck at all, at least usually. Those who consistently work for their success, while taking care of the consistency and thoughtful nature of their actions, are much more successful. This is all the more important as nowadays there are more and more e-shops, and therefore the competition is growing. Getting started trading online is often a matter of just a few clicks, but success is much more difficult.

Below you will find proven ideas on how to start your online store. Of course, the best results will be achieved by combining at least several promotion methods. Also, don’t forget the basics – no advertisement will help you stand out if your store page is non-functional or you are unable to offer the right level of customer service. Then you can only generate more traffic on it, but it will not translate into the number of transactions. Take care of the construction of the store itself, its appearance and clear layout. Try to display your products in the best possible way (lots of photos, extensive descriptions, etc.). Think about what makes your offer different and focus on promoting this feature.

First: SEO

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is activities focused on website optimization in accordance with the requirements of search engines, especially Google. Thanks to them, your website is displayed higher in the search results, which means that more people find it. Optimization gives long-term results, although it takes a long time to notice them. That is why it is worth taking care of it in the first place – after all, you think about your store in long-term terms, right? Theoretically, this is a free form of advertising – all you need to do is constantly work on optimizing your website to start showing better results. In practice, however, effective actions require knowledge, time and dedication. Therefore, work on SEO usually comes down to employing a specialist in this field or using the services of an agency.

Optimizing a website according to SEO principles includes many factors. It can be divided into two groups. On-site activities are carried out directly on the website and rely on its appropriate preparation – in accordance with the requirements of the search engine algorithms. This means adapting the entire structure of the website and its content. The most important on-site activities include:
– supplementing missing content – mainly product descriptions,
– elimination of duplicate content ,
– content saturation with key phrases,
– appropriate selection of the content structure – length, headings, paragraphs, attributes,
– supplementing meta data,
 – the use of internal linking,
– adapting the website to display on different devices (responsiveness),
– code optimization and ordering.

All these factors affect the visibility of the website, although there are of course many more of them. In addition, off-site activities, consisting primarily of building a database of links leading to the website, help in positioning. When carrying out all activities related to positioning, remember to use only good practices. This is important, and the updates of the algorithms have already cut traffic on pages that were building separate areas too aggressively – e.g. link profile.

Second: Google Ads

Systematic and continuous activities within SEO will allow you to climb up in the search results systematically – as long as they are carried out correctly. However, if you operate in a competitive industry, it is very possible that you will never make it to the top. There is, however, a shortcut. Thanks to Google Ads, and specifically sponsored links in the search engine, your website can appear at the very top of the list of search results. Experience shows that such advertising can be very effective if used correctly. This is a very simple answer to the question of how to start an online store quickly and efficiently.

Google Ads is in fact a very extensive tool available for both small and large companies and used successfully by them. Payments are made only for clicking on an advertisement, which is a very favorable settlement model from the entrepreneur’s point of view. However, this requires very precise configuration of the settings. Proper selection of parameters can bring large profits at low costs. Sponsored links are unobtrusive and the average user is not associated with bothersome advertising, and the ability to precisely define criteria for who the sponsored content is to be displayed affects the effectiveness of this solution.

Google Ads is also the possibility of using the so-called image advertising. It is very effective if you don’t know how to start an online store that no one knows. It is a method that works best in increasing brand recognition and building its image. It consists in displaying your store’s banners on various websites that provide Google with advertising space. You can decide for yourself on which pages your ad will appear, which will increase its effectiveness.

Remarketing advertising looks very similar. This is a great tool for those stores that have a significant amount of so-called abandoned carts (the customer adds products to the cart but does not complete the transaction) or experience other types of conversion problems. Your store banners are then displayed to customers who have already visited it. You can decide that the displayed content should be dynamic, i.e. tailored to a specific user. Then he will see the items he has previously viewed and possibly other related articles. Such advertising can be very effective!

Third: social media

Presence in social media is nowadays a duty of every company – especially an online store. Profiles on popular websites work like constant advertising. The possibilities of their use are very wide. Through regular, interesting posts you can systematically increase your audience and influence their engagement. By also engaging in replying to comments, you help potential customers to feel and strengthen the bond with your brand. It is a unique way of two-way communication with recipients. So you can also get feedback on your actions – find out what you like and what you don’t. In this way, you can also receive a ready-made hint on how to start your online store.

In addition, the most popular social networking sites allow the use of paid ads that allow you to reach a much wider audience. This is primarily about Facebook or Instagram, which offer advertisers a wide range of opportunities and often also satisfying results. However, it is worth using the advertising potential of all platforms on which you operate.

Speaking of which – when it comes to activities in social media, it is not worth limiting yourself. Most companies run Facebook, but they don’t try to appear on other platforms. This is a big mistake because this is where your customers are often! Social media is a way to reach them directly – especially if your target is a younger clientele. Check what YouTube can offer you (you also launch YT campaigns via the Google Ads panel), TikTok or Pinterest – it is very possible that thanks to your activity in these portals you will gain more customers.

Regularity, diligence and matching content to the potential recipient are the most important rules of operation in social media. You need to know who you are “broadcasting” to, show interest and be original. Posts thrown out of duty, ill-considered and simply boring, will certainly not bring the expected results, and may even work the opposite of what you would like.

Fourth: company blog

A company blog is the most important tool for content marketing, i.e. content marketing. It is considered one of the most important and effective methods to stand out on the web. Content marketing has a lot to do with SEO – by publishing high-quality content saturated with the right keywords, you can significantly improve your site’s position on Google. At the same time, it can attract and interest the client. So it is a great method for anyone who wants to know how to start an online store.

What is it about? Content marketing is based on publishing valuable, useful, interesting and original content (the form is also important). It is true that it is not only about texts (you can also publish, for example, videos, infographics, podcasts and many others), but a company blog is one of the simplest forms of content marketing. All you need to do is think about what your customers are interested in or remember what questions they ask about your offer the most and turn this information into blog articles. It is worth ensuring that they are as substantive and comprehensive as possible. Put yourself in the role of an expert and it will help you build a positive image of the store. Write more about your products, their functions, ways of use, key features, and maybe even how and what they are made of. Thanks to this, you will arouse much more interest and trust.

A company blog can be run independently, although most companies decide to hire professionals – a content marketing agency, SEO agency or copywriter. A specialist can use the information you provide to him that will help create unique content. At the same time, however, it will ensure that the whole thing has an optimal form and style, is linguistically correct and presented in an attractive way. It will also take care of the use of keywords in accordance with SEO requirements.

Fifth: email marketing

E-mail marketing is now often relegated to the background, although not so long ago it was the main form of advertising for entrepreneurs who wondered how to start an online store. Today it is rather a supplement, but it is still not worth giving up. By building your own database of e-mail contacts, you become independent from the operation of social networking sites (e.g. in the event of a failure, hacker attack or other factors that will prevent you from using your account), and you also gain an additional channel of communication with customers. It is worth encouraging you to subscribe to the newsletter, e.g. by offering a small discount on the order. You can remind by e-mail about promotions or sales, inform about new products and any changes taking place in the store. Thanks to mailing, you do not let your customers forget about your store and motivate them to visit your website.

Importantly, the cost of email marketing is low. The preparation of the content and graphic design of the message can be commissioned to specialists or prepared by yourself. Tools for sending messages are inexpensive – there is even a lack of functional free programs on the market if the recipient base is not large.

How to run modern, effective e-mail marketing? First, don’t forget about form. Make it inviting, attractive and consistent with the image of your store. Use CTA (Call to Action) to encourage going to the site. Second, think about personalization. Let the customer choose what kind of information he wants to receive, what product groups he is interested in, etc. It greatly increases the effectiveness of the messages sent!

Sixth: discounts, promotions, loyalty program

How to start an online store in terms of the number of purchases and visits to the website? One thing is certain – nothing motivates you to buy more than a price reduction. Sometimes it’s hard to break to offer a promotion in a store that is barely spinning, but believe – it’s worth it. Promotions should be frequent and varied. It is best if they appear at least once a month and you incorporate them in some way in your business model. There are plenty of ideas for effective actions of this type!

You can, for example, every week, on a selected day of the week (or on a weekend, for example), lower the prices of products belonging to a specific department or group. The promotion will be even more effective if the discounts are tailored to the needs of users and related to current events. There are also stores where promotions are valid daily and their scope changes once a week. Example? An internet drugstore that runs weekly promotions on four selected cosmetic brands. The alternative to discounts are promotions such as “two for the price of one” or “buy the product and get the other half price” or “free delivery”. These types of treatments are very effective in encouraging shopping, and they encourage you to visit the store more often or subscribe to the newsletter.

In addition to regular or cyclical promotions, you can also use discount codes as a thank you for loyalty – e.g. a 10% discount on the next purchase for everyone who subscribes to the newsletter and makes purchases for a certain amount. Another method is cashback – e.g. 10% of the order value stored in the customer’s account, which can be used as a discount on subsequent purchases. Such discounts should have an appropriately selected expiry date so that they can be used safely.

Online stores also eagerly use other forms of loyalty programs. For example, you can promise your customers a gift with the fifth order or create a points system that can be exchanged for discounts or rewards. The well-known clothing chain H&M thus encourages you to sign up for the Customer Club. People participating in the program, after spending a certain amount, receive a discount coupon of 10%. Collecting a certain number of points during the year gives Premium status, and in it some privileges – e.g. early access to sales, limited contests and a guarantee of free deliveries and returns of each order.

I am addressing the issue of loyalty programs as if out of duty. Personally, I do not believe in their operation. They are usually used by customers who would use our services anyway. In addition, we have to invest in their promotion in anyway, the advertising budget, so the question of whether it is not better to target new customers remains open. Probably the reasonableness of a given loyalty program depends on many factors, so you have to test a given solution yourself. There are no ready answers.

Seventh: cross-selling and up-selling

If you are not offering your customers similar or complementary products related to what they are watching or selecting, you are making a serious mistake. Cross-selling and up-selling are very simple techniques that allow you to significantly increase your sales. The customer added sports shoes to the cart? Offer him socks made of breathable yarn. Are you buying a smartphones? He should see a window with the recommended accessories – e.g. a protective case, wireless headphoness or a power bank. This type of play is called cross-selling.

Up-selling may also work for some online stores, although it is more often used in services. The customer chose a smartphones with 128 GB memory? Ask if he really would prefer the richer version of 256 GB, selecting for example “pay only … dollars” or, for example, “choose a higher variant and get a 10% discount”. Simple? Oh yes, but also extremely effective.

Eighth: analysis

You can implement all of the above methods and still not achieve the desired success. Therefore, try never to act blindly. Constantly analyzing your own actions, as well as watching what the competition is doing, is an extremely important component of success. You won’t correct anything if you don’t measure it first. With analytics, you can instantly see what’s working and what’s not – and then adapt your steps accordingly. Follow the above advice and you will quickly forget about difficult times and you will no longer search for information on how to start your online store!

What’s what in this puzzle

DOMAIN – a series of characters that allows you to define the scope of the website within the DNS (Domain Name System). The domain consists of two parts – the main name and the ending, most often specifying the language and country associated with the website.

SUBDOMAIN – an address created within the existing main domain. The address that starts with www is also a subdomain.

CATALOG – folder within the main domain.

The basic component of an online store

The first half of 2020 will forever be a period of many changes. Along with the slowdown in the economy and the closure of stationary outlets, part of the business moved to the Internet. A lot of online stores have been created, and are still being built, that support the activities of entrepreneurs so far, and probably many of them will decide to continue online sales also in the coming months and years – not only due to the pandemic.

The main task of the store is sales – it is no different in the case of its virtual version. Like the stationary, the Internet version requires appropriate preparation, which will enable existing customers to conveniently shop. With the creation of an online store, the possibility of reaching new recipients also opens up.

When taking a step towards the sales website, it is worth getting acquainted with the rules that will allow us to quickly start in the search engine. They include, among others the need to act in accordance with the recommendations for optimization for search engines, especially Google.

Subdomain or catalog – where to put the store?

One of the first problems that business may encounter when moving to the Internet is the need to make a decision related to the locations of the store. If the current website of the company was informative – and we want to maintain it – the online store may appear next to the current page – in a subdomain or catalog.

The decision regarding the locations of the store is crucial due to the visibility of the domain in the search engine. Older domains that have an established position in Google and lead customers to a brick-and-mortar store should not be abruptly modified and, for example, completely rebuilt into an online store. Changing the URL structure, changing the content and layout of the website may result in the loss of existing positions and de facto mean the need to position the store’s website from the beginning.

On the other hand, the main goal of some websites is to deliver content, and the associated store – despite the thematic consistency – is to be a separate entity, serving, for example, to sell 2-3 own products. Goods from this type of online stall will be sold mainly through blog entries and posts in social media, and its visibility in SERPs will be much less important.

So … shop in the catalog or in the subdomain? Or maybe a new domain? Let’s check the pros and cons of these solutions and how Google looks at them!

Positioning the store in the catalog

Developing an existing website by adding a store to it will keep the existing structure and position of the website in the search engine. It is possible that the enlargement associated with the addition of new categories and product pages will have a very positive effect on existing items. And vice versa – higher deposits of old subpages and traffic on them will allow for a better start with new ones.

The appearance of additional pages on the website gives new opportunities for internal linking. Thanks to this, both the older part of the website and the newer one will work for each other by supporting user navigation on the website and accelerating indexing of new content and products.

Behind the success of such a solution, however, is the earlier correct construction and optimization of the website. Further optimization work should take into account the entire page, i.e. modifications for keywords should be broken down into the entire domain, and not only within the newly added directory. Among other potential problems, it is also worth mentioning the payback in terms of website construction and the risks associated with changing its performance. The launch of the store requires technical modifications, the end result of which may be a slowdown of the website.

Before starting the store, it is worth making sure that our server will withstand additional traffic, and the technical solutions used will allow for trouble-free use of the entire website. You will also need to make sure that the domain is properly secured, i.e. it is covered by an SSL certificate. In the absence of a certificate, after implementing it, redirect the domain to a new address, starting with https: //, which may confuse the positions also for the old part of the website.

If the current website was based on one of the most popular CMSs, adding a store to it will be relatively easy. In the case of WordPress, a new store can be set up using the WooCommerce plugin. The VirtueMart component works well for Joomla.

Positioning the store on a subdomain

The decision to create a store on a subdomain means that you have to build your website from scratch. A subdomain – even though it is linked with the main domain – functions as a separate entity on the Internet. This is also considered by Google. It is true that the representatives of the search engine claim that robots combine subdomains and domains, but one does not affect the visibility of the other.

Putting the store on a subdomain, however, can be a good solution for those companies that want to separate their current activity from the store and limit possible changes in the amount of traffic on an existing website. This type of solution works well for bloggers – the store is built on a subdomain, thanks to which it does not disturb the normal work of the blog, while allowing the purchase of products.

A subdomain can also be a good solution for those who wish to sell their products in another country. According to the art of positioning, it is recommended to buy a separate domain for each country, with the extension appropriate for the language of the country to which it is to be addressed, but it is not always available. In this case – taking into account the potential difficulties in ranking – you can decide to create a store in the subdomain. This trick will work especially if our domain ending is .com.

Putting your store in a subdomain is not much different than building it on a separate domain – it is necessary to create the entire website infrastructure from scratch. However, this has its advantages – other technical solutions can be used on the website, without the risk of damaging the existing architecture, and thus – also the results of an already functioning domain. In addition, a fresh store may be in the testing phase for some time and undergo further modifications aimed at finding ideal solutions – the lack of a direct link to the main domain will not have a negative impact on its position.

Subdomain or directory? Alternative solutions for the store

The motivation to transfer sales activities to the network for each entrepreneur may be different, hence the multitude of solutions facilitating this jump. For those smaller, who plan to support their current activity through an online store, there is one more solution – a platform that provides ready-made stores. Pros? The prices of the smallest subscriptions are a few dollars per month, and all maintenance and security issues are on the side of the software supplier. The downside of this solution is the lack of your own domain – the store is created on a subdomain within an external website, which prevents its effective promotion in the search engine. The use of SaaS programs, however, allows you to quickly start sales and it will certainly work for bloggers who have one or two of their own electronic products, e.g. e-books.

Subdomain or catalog? Yes, Google says …

As I mentioned above, Google points out that web robots associate subdomains with main domains, also from the search engine perspective, the choice of one or the other solution should not be of great importance.

The subdomain is treated as a separate page, therefore it must be authenticated in Google Search Console – regardless of whether the home page is already connected to the console.

In practice, most positioners will suggest choosing a catalog. In our opinion, the history of the domain, links referring to it and the current visibility is an excellent basis for building a larger website. Expanding the existing content – especially under the supervision of a specialist – will allow for a faster start of a new part and may have a positive impact on subpages that have previously worked for high positions.

A similar debate – subdomain or catalog – may also apply to the locations of the blog. Just like in the store, the blog should be associated with the main domain and left within it.

In a stationary store, customers count on the help of the seller. Kind, smiling and kind advisers can work wonders and convince even the least determined ones to buy. It can be said that in the online store this function is performed by a description. The better it is, the greater the probability that the customer will buy the product from you, and maybe even stay with you longer? Where to start creating descriptions?

Find out who your customers are

To get your customers attention, you need to get to know them well. First, think about who and why is visiting your online store? Gather as much information as possible about your customers: How old are they? How do they look? Where they live? What do they do? Are they singles? Do they have families? How often do they shop online? How do they spend their free time? What are their daily rituals? What annoys them? Remember that the customer is not interested in what you want to sell. For him, the most important thing is what he wants to buy at the moment. Try to discover his motivations, fears and needs.

Where to find information? There are quite a few sources of knowledge about consumers and the Internet. If you haven’t done research before, start with industry reports. Important information on the demographics and behavior of your customers can be found, for example, in online tools such as Google Analytics or Facebook Audience Insight.

Create your perfect client

Once you have the knowledge, analyze the collected information and use it to create a persona, i.e. your model client. Give her a name, age and place of residence. Write where he works. Let your persona have goals and desires, but also frustrations. Suppose you run an online store with organic cosmetics. One of the persona might look like this:

Jessica is 28 years old. She is the mother of the resolute five-year-old John and the wife of the architect Tom. She graduated in human resource management, and currently lives in the capital and works in one of the corporations in the HR department.
She tries to spend her free time with her family – actively, preferably outdoors. He cares about ecology. He does grocery shopping in a local grocery store. In order not to waste time, she kept visits to the shopping center to a minimum. Instead of at a drugstore, he buys cosmetics online. Before deciding to buy, she checks the composition of products and the opinions of other customers and influencers. It focuses on quality, price is a secondary criterion.

If you define personas well, you will discover what to focus on when creating product descriptions. You will write to satisfy the curiosesity and needs of a specific target group. You will also not waste time on too general or technical descriptions. There is a high probability that no one will read them. And if he doesn’t, he probably won’t buy it.

People buy emotions, not products

Before you start creating a product description in an online store, establish the strengths and benefits of having it. Think about what problems it solves. Customers will be happy to pay if you convince them that it is your product that will have a real impact on their quality of life: they will have more time for their family, they will take care of everyday matters faster, they will be more attractive or they will save a lot of money for holidays. This is where knowing your target group comes in handy. What will convince young mothers will not go to teenagers at all.

Use the language of benefits

Remember that the language of benefits is the language of particulars. Support any benefits your product provides with concrete and true evidence. Avoid cliches and cliches. “One of a kind”, “top-quality workmanship” or “the latest fashion” – they mean nothing to the customer. The market is saturated with this type of desert returns, which is why consumers have learned to effectively ignore them.

If you absolutely want to emphasize that your product is in something “the best” – justify why, eg “The thinnest smartphones on the market. It’s only 1mm thick and you can fold it like a piece of paper”.

It’s important to be clear about the problem your product solves. If an orthopedic pillow relieves spine, head and back pain, say it simply, without any special words or fancy phrases. So that the message reaches all interested parties, not only those who have completed a doctorate in acupressure. When you make customers aware of a problem that you can solve, you will awaken in them an urgent purchase need.

The perfect product description in the online store

Length matters
An ideal description should be around 1000-1500 characters with spaces. Both your customers and search engines will like this length. In addition to the criterion of the number of characters, follow a simple rule – if you read the product description and still have questions, think again.

How much to reveal in the title?
The title should contain the brand, model and type of the product, and if possible, also a characteristic, e.g. color. It is supposed to attract attention, but above all, it should be understandable and legible. Write for people, not for the machine. Do not include detailed technical data and incomprehensible abbreviations in the name. Rely on relevant information that will help customers quickly decode what the product is.

Instead of “Tdx-18 gha roz. XS ”, write“ Alpine Tdx-18 gha (red) ski jacket size XS ”.
Also a mistake is the too general title, which says absolutely nothing about the product.
The title is of great importance for the positioning of the online store.

Show what cannot be touched

Photos are a showcase of your online store, not only the product. Don’t forget that we buy online with our eyes – we can’t touch the product or try it on. That is why it is so important that the photos are taken professionally and reflect reality as accurately as possible. They should represent exactly what you are selling, taking into account the characteristics of the product (color, shape, texture). Even if you have received photos from the producer, it is worth taking a few extra photos that will show exactly what interests your target group. Thanks to this, you will also distinguish your offer from the competition. A good example is Zappos, which shows the most important features of the products in the pictures.

Product description, or how to increase conversion?

The product description has two primary purposes: it explains the functions of the item and encourages potential customers to buy. Few of the elements on the page have such a direct impact on conversion. If you see customers entering your website, viewing products but not adding them to the cart, they are probably put off by the product description or the lack of it.

When creating a product description in an online store, follow the basic rules.
– Choose legibility and transparency. Present the most important features of the product,
– Split text into paragraphs,
– Use boldness to emphasize the most important things,
– Use bullets that help maintain clarity and make it easy for the client to scan the text with their eyes
– Use icons and graphics,
– List everything the customer gets, but also what he won’t get. If, for example, the set does not include batteries, be sure to write about it,
– Give advice and dispel doubts. Create a list of questions and answers and present possible applications of the product,
– Influence the senses and emotions that stimulate the imagination. Appeal to the sense of touch, sight, smell and hearing.

A language your customers will love

The right language is very important in creating descriptions, therefore:
– use short, single sentences,
– use the active side,
– avoid participles; instead of them use conjunctions: which, what, by what, therefore, etc.
– use dynamic verbs: decreases / increases, improves, soothes, speeds up / slows down, oils / dries, strengthens / weakens,
– avoid modal verbs that weaken the power of the message, e.g. “XYZ can minimize the risk of getting sick …”,
– avoid the verbs “to have” and “to be”; it is called energy vampires – sentences with their participation are simple, but also boring,
– use simple, user-friendly words and expressions, e.g. also instead of also, it reduces instead of eliminating, soothes instead of soothing,
– avoid the industry jargon,
– put on the language of benefits,
– give up terms that overly value products, exaggerate their advantages,
– translate more difficult terms to avoid the so-called “Knowledge traps” – a situation in which you think that a given concept is so obvious that you do not need to explain it to anyone.

From General to specific

The amount of information contained in the description depends on the industry. However, it is a good practice to present the most important data in the main description (briefly and concisely presenting the most important information and including the basic keywords). The details should be transferred to the additional description (extensive, presenting the advantages of the product and benefits resulting from the purchase, examples of applications, including elements such as: technical parameters, product specification, pattern and other keywords). Additional description should be presented in the form of legible tabs.

Bet on a hard hit

First, indicate those features that distinguish the product from the competition. Focus on its strongest points and then move on to the less significant ones. End the description with information about add-ons. Take a clothing store as an example to see what a valuable description should contain.

– First, provide basic information: cut, size, color, cut, price.
– Below is information about the size worn by the model in the photo, so that the customer has the right point of reference.
– Include product care instructions – customers often want to know how many degrees they can wash the product or whether it can be tumble-dried before buying.
– Describe the history of the manufacturer.
– List the materials from which the product was made.
– Put customer reviews and opinions.
– Also find a place for additional benefits: free delivery and return.

Make friends with a blogger

A great way to enrich your product description is to use reviews or tests in the description. Many bloggers and YouTubers work with producers and create materials about specific products. This type of content is also created at the request of specific online stores.

SEO product descriptions

Creating product descriptions for SEO is a relatively easy task. However, here too, one can overdo it. Still, most sellers focus too much on positioning and forget about users. The high position of the store in the search engine is of course very important, but don’t write just to fill the description with keywords. If you take care of the customer with substantive content on the website, Google will repay you. See what to keep in mind.

Take care of unique content
Descriptions and titles must be unique. Copying descriptions from the manufacturer’s website will not help your SEO efforts. We realize that creating original descriptions for up to several thousand products can be troublesome. If you do not have the appropriate resources, it is worth outsourcing this type of task to a company that will prepare descriptions in a professional manner.

Choose quality, not quantity
It is a mistake to saturate the text with keywords. Focus on covering the topic and providing clients with the most accurate information. Usually the key phrase appears up to 3 times in the product description with a length of 1000 – 1500 characters including spaces. You can use synonyms and synonyms that sound more natural.

Search for relevant key phrases
Thanks to them you will find out what queries are directed by users looking for solutions you offer. Tools are also helpful that will provide you with information about the most popular phrases, their position, number of searches and competition, as well as how to write to arrange a given text for a given phrase as effectively as possible.

Use materials from your blog
This is a very good practice that provides customers with valuable content and additional linking within your website. You can place an article fragment on the product card and link it directly to your blog.

Relevant Product Names (Heading H1)
The name should contain popular keywords. Each product must have an individual name taking into account the manufacturer, model, distinguishing feature, etc.

Use subheadings (in headings H2-H4)
The subheadings are an important element that improves the readability of the text. At the same time, it increases the potential in search results – especially if you include relevant keywords.

Remember about ALT attributes in graphics
Thanks to ATL attributes, the search engine will know what is in the photo. This way, you can also smuggle a keyword.

Duplicate content

There was a bit of this on the occasion of SEO, but let’s repeat it again – don’t be tempted to copy the manufacturer’s description (the exception is the product specification). But what if the products described differ only in color? Repeated assortment is a problem for many stores. How to create original descriptions for this type of product? Of course, the optimal solution would be to prepare a unique description for each of them, but with large volumes it turns out to be practically impossible. In such a situation, it is worth preparing one universal description and 1-2 sentences characterizing the changing element.

Order or write it yourself?

As always: it depends. Take several factors into account. If you run a small online store, you have time and skills – you can create professional descriptions yourself, why not. Now you know what features a sales product description should have. You are aware of what mistakes not to make. However, if you are the owner of a large e-commerce with thousands of products, and your employees have hundreds of other tasks on their minds, it is better to outsource writing to a specialized company. The price for product descriptions is relatively low compared to the losses you may incur by giving them up.