Understanding Your Website's Bounce Rate

Google Analytics and Bounce Rate

Here at Terrapin, we’re big fans of Google Analytics.  For the unfamiliar, Google Analytics is a tool that allows you to monitor your site’s perfomance by providing detailed statistics about traffic, conversions, devices and more.  

At a glance, Analytics can give you a good picture of what’s happening with your site by answering questions like:  

• How many people visited your site over the last month?
• What keywords are people using to find your site?  
• Which pages on your site are the most popular?  
• Where in the world are visitors coming from?  

But digging a little deeper into the numbers can lead to more questions.  For instance, we get a lot of calls that go something like this:  “Why is the bounce rate on my site so high?  What does it mean and how can we fix it?”  

Not all bounces are bad

Bounce rate is defined as “the number of visitors on your website who navigate away from your site after viewing only one page”.  A high bounce rate may indicate one of three things…

1.  Visitors to your site aren't interested in your product or service

This is a common occurrence.  There are a lot of people out there surfing for lots of different things, so to think that you’d be able to satisfy everyone’s need for a product or service is somewhat foolish.  Visitors will bounce regardless of what you do.

2.  Visitors find the info that they need immediately

Some visitors may only need to view one page on your site to find exactly what it is that they’re looking for.  They may be looking for a phone number or an address, hours of operation or an employee’s name.  Maybe your site is only one page, which makes the bounce rate of your site extremely high, but that’s by design.

3.  Visitors can’t find the info that they’re looking for

If visitors can’t find a piece of information or are confused by the site’s navigation or design, they’ll bounce.  It today’s world of endless results for any search, visitors can easily move on to the next result and hopefully find what they need.  

What is a healthy bounce rate?

Engineers at Google have stated that a bounce rate of 40-60% would be normal for an average website.  It will most likely be a bit higher for a B2B company, a little lower for a B2C company that offers e-commerce.  

40-60% bounce rate sounds shocking, but if you think about the 3 criteria above, some of those bounces were able to find the information that they need and some visitors were just not interested at all.  

The real problems come if visitors who are interested in your product or service can’t find the information that they’re looking for.  If you feel as though this is the case and a primary cause for your high bounce rate, it’s important to review the site thoroughly and see if there are any tweaks or improvements that can be made to mitigate this issue.

Need help interpreting your Analytics data? Feel free to reach out to us here at Terrapin. We'd be happy to take a look!

The top 3 social media platforms for small businesses in Rhode Island and Massachusetts

Social media marketing can be a difficult thing for small businesses in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.  Everyone is talking about it, but it can be hard to see through the hype and understand which options really are right for your small business.  After careful thought, these are what we here at Terrapin see as the top choices for small businesses in the area to consider.  

LinkedIn

Many consider LinkedIn to be Facebook for business people, and it's a good analogy.  You can expect to find business people here networking, trading ideas and learning about all facets of business.  We use LinkedIn here at Terrapin for a few different reasons...

1. Research new potentials, vendors and employees

LinkedIn provides insight into the skills, work experience and specialties of new people who may interface with your business.  Prepare for the initial contact with common interests by looking these people up in advance.

2.  Gain prominence as an expert in your industry

LinkedIn allows you to write recommendations and endorse connections for certain skills.  Input from other professionals like this can add a lot of credibility to your name and open up new opportunities from people researching you or your company.

3.  Learn new skills and follow trends

LinkedIn Groups allow you to meet other business professionals who share your interests, passions and goals.  Bounce ideas off of these people to get a new perspective on a challenge or opportunity, and arm yourself with more business building skills.

Google+

Google's social network doesn't get the same respect as Facebook or Twitter, but it's not something your should ignore for a couple of reasons...

1. Rise up in the Google search rankings

Evidence suggests that posts on Google+ get priority treatment in Google search.  With so many companies competing for search engine visibility, it makes sense to take advantage of everything that you can to raise your natural rankings and be seen.  

2. Uncover new ways to market your business

We've found Google+ to be a great source of information on the latest trends in marketing, namely content marketing, social media and, surprise!, search engine optimization.  It seems as though the thought leaders in marketing have all adopted Google+ and are happy to share ideas with other users there.  

3.  A playground for Google lovers

A fringe benefit for Google diehards is that Google+ is chock full of news surrounding all of the Google products and technology. First look at the latest Android powered phones and tablets? Check.  New developments in Google Glass? Check.  Great new apps in the Google Play store? It’s all here for Google lovers.

YouTube

If videos aren't a part of your marketing strategy, you might consider making them one in the near future.  YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, allowing millions of users to bring information to life in video format.  We’d suggest these topics for compelling videos:

• Product demonstrations and reviews
• Guided tours of your facility
• Introductions to key team members at your company
• Video testimonials from satisfied customers

It's also important to note that YouTube is incredibly popular with the younger generation of internet users.  In a recent poll, 68% of users aged 14-34 reported that they frequently visit YouTube for its video content.  So if you’re trying to reach these younger users, or think this market will become an important base for your clientele in the near future, you need to consider YouTube today.

In Conclusion

We know that these 3 choices may not be the most popular selections for small businesses in RI and MA.  You may already be in engaged in Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest, which is OK.  Obviously tour business needs to evaluate each of the options based on your particular industry or niche and an understanding of where your customers can currently be found.  

But with some focused effort, we feel these 3 social media tools will allow your company to participate in the social media revolution in a way that creates real growth in your organization in the form of networking, education, sales and marketing.  

Not sure where to start? Contact Terrapin Art & Design to learn more about our Social Media Mentoring and Consulting services. This could be just what your business needs to jumpstart a successful social media marketing campaign.

Seeing Your Business Through Your Customer’s Eyes

When you’re engaged in running and building your business, sometimes you get caught up in the details of day to day operation.  If you're like most small business owners there never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done.  This can lead to missing out on the bigger picture – your customers. 

When potential customers search for your products and services, visit your website, and connect on social media, they do not see the intricate details of your marketing efforts. Instead, they see what is at face value – your content, your social media presence, your competition, etc. In order to ensure that your business covers all bases and provides the customer with what they want to see, it is helpful to look at your business through their eyes. 

When was the last time you…

You probably jump on the internet on a daily basis, but how often do you visit your website as your customers see it? When it comes to the customer, the most important aspect of a website is current content. Keeping your content current and regularly updated shows the customer that your company is still active and that you are experienced in your industry. First, you should ensure that the products and services you offer on your site fall in line with the current direction of your company. An obvious mismatch could make your customers more likely to choose one of your competitors. 

Second, you should regularly update any content on your site that is dated, such as news, blog posts, and articles. Having old content may cause potential customers to place less trust in your brand or even assume that you have gone out of business. Finally, you should ensure that the employees featured on your website are still a part of your business. One key aspect of creating a connection to potential customers is by giving a face to your business. Your website should always stay updated with employee changes in the same way that you would update new products or your blog.

Googling your company is a simple and fast way to see what your customers see when they seek out your business. You can easily determine how high you are ranking in search results, what other places on the web your company appears, and whether potential customers are seeing negative or positive results. First, you should ensure that your website and all social media profiles are ranking at the top of a search for your business. Customers should be able to easily locate any and all online presence that represents your business.

Next, you should continue scrolling through the search results to see where else your company appears. Do any other organizations or directory sites list your company? If so, you should ensure that information about your company is correct and updated on these sites. Finally, look further to see if any search results provide negative discussions of your company, such as bad reviews, lawsuits, or product recalls. This can both inform the next steps in your internet marketing campaign and keep you in the know about how your business is viewed by customers. 

Googling your industry and competition is also an excellent way to see how you match up in terms of internet presence. The best way to test this from the customer’s perspective is to type in keywords or phrases that potential customers use to find your products or services. Using keywords that customers search for in your industry will show you exactly what they see.

First, check out what competitors show up in your search results. Because these are the other companies that your customers are seeing, it is imperative that you match up to their online presence. You should also determine if they are local, national, or international players; figuring out the scope of your competition will enable you to tweak your own marketing campaign accordingly. 

Next, see what products or services your competitors are offering, and examine how well your own products and services match up. If your competition is providing an in-demand service or brand new product that your business is not, it may be time to change and update the products and services of your own company. Finally, you should also determine whether or not your SEO campaign is missing out on any keywords that potential customers are using. Your website should be optimized for these keywords to ensure that when customers search for products and services in your industry, they find your company first.

Missing Links in Your Search Engine Marketing Strategy

Back before the dawn of Google, backlinks ruled the web. Through internet natural selection, the search engine evolved into the dominant species. Despite its authority, the search engine has yet to phase out backlinks; they are a crucial tool for small businesses.

Background on Backlinks

A backlink is any link that is directed toward your website from another website. Examples:

• A blogger raving about and linking to a newly discovered site
• A link posted to Facebook or Twitter

Backlinks lost their corner office, but are still an important cog in Google’s grand scheme. The more quality backlinks your site has, the more popular Google considers it, improving your search engine rankings. Think of backlinking as a petition for Google to recognize your site. Quality links are the signatures.

Digitize Your Networking Efforts

You’re always in networking mode for your business. This means a steady stream of business cards flowing from your wallet. Backlinks are digital business cards leading back to your company.

Research and interact on popular blogs or forum sites relevant to your industry. Contact the blogger and let them know about your business and the quality, relevant content you can add to the conversation. This tactic can get the link train moving.

Keep it Relevant

Like with their paper counterpart, be conservative in distributing your backlinks. You don’t pass your card to everyone in sight; you strike up conversations to see who might want your services.

When working the room that is the web, seek out blogs and forums related to what you offer. Like chatting it up with potential customers in person, you’re seeking quality business interactions, not a saturation bombing of your company information.

When playing the good cop, “quality” is Google’s favorite word. If you blindly unload a dumptruck of links (known as linkspam) on irrelevant sites, they send in the bad cop. This side of Google could slap your site with the “spam” label for snubbing their quality guidelines. Even if you’re sharing your link to a relevant site, don’t get carried away; over-linking can also incur Google’s wrath.

Lean Toward Natural Links

Actively backlinking your site is useful, but can become a crutch. These backlinks are lab-grown; focus on the organic equivalent. Cater to your visitors with your site content . This includes filling your site up with:

• Well-written, detailed content
• Attractive photos, layout and visuals

Work toward a site with a strong base of visitors. This will spur organic link-building through these dedicated traffic drivers. Web devotees post at every opportunity, EVERY day. Whether it’s to their own blog, Twitter, Facebook etc, if they like your content, the links will be there. 

Beware the Black Hat

At this point you might be saying, “This sounds time-consuming, I’m gonna farm it out.” Not a bad idea, but be careful.

Many SEO services offer backlinking, but some known as “black hats” will build yours with spam. Google’s spam bloodhounds will sniff out these links, blow them off the web and impose punishment on your site. 

Market, Market, Market!

In the end, you win with a good website. Refine and perfect your content marketing techniques, and with quality web content comes quality backlinks. Inject content into the web that demands interactivity and the backlinks, and improved Google rankings, will come.

What is 'Quality Content?'

Google is the Alpha search engine; your best play is to follow its lead. When stumped, I consult Google tutorial videos, often featuring search guru Matt Cutts. A cardinal rule preached by Cutts is populating your site with “quality content.” So just what is “quality content?”

This vague instruction is like your parents kicking you out when you’re 18; we’ve given you the basics, figure out the rest yourself. Challenge accepted, Papa Cutts. I packed my things and took to the web for answers.

Write for People, Not Google
Google has stated: “High quality content is content that you can send to your child to learn something.” “Your child” could be 7 or 40. One wouldn’t write a biting opinion piece for your first grader like they wouldn’t tailor elementary school learning content for your adult child.

What appears to be a non-answer provides some insight; write content for YOUR audience, not Google. Ask yourself; “What would I type if I were looking for my service?” Build out a list of words and phrases for your target audience from there. Distributed evenly throughout detailed written content, these keywords will bring relevant visitors to your site.

Scout Your Competition
Your most successful online competitors are doing something right. Do a little online reconnaissance. Punch up top-ranking sites and skim for keywords or phrases that jump out at you. You know your business, and you’ll know what to look for.

Whether it’s content you’ve already considered or a new revelation, take notes and apply your findings to your own site.

Write It Like You Mean It
Running a small business website, your primary goal is to sell your service. What emotion do you feel best sells what you’re offering? Urgency? Sentimentality? Humor? Whatever it is, convey it in your writing.

Visitors are being asked to make an investment in your company; it has to go both ways. Potential customers need to know you’re as committed as you’re asking them to be. Backing your service with enthusiastic content tells them you’re in.

Don’t Play Fast & Loose with Content
Quality content needs emotion, but don’t let punchy writing turn to aimless haymakers. Stay structured and on point:

• Is your content focused and informative?
• Is your content tight and filler-free?
• Is it applicable to your service and customer needs?
• Do you present a consistent message and tone throughout the site?
• Does it accurately describe your company and services?

Get Cracking on Quality
These principles are a starting point. There is no exact science behind producing quality content; there’s a lot you have to find out for yourself.

Every small business is different, as will be their content and websites. Build out your quality content like you did your quality small business, with patience and experience.

Words and the Web: Understanding Keyword Tiers

A car with no key is a useless hunk of metal, much like a website with no keywording is a static clump of code and graphics. There’s no magic bullet to bring traffic to your site and customers to your product. 

Your user-friendly functionality and attractive visuals won’t get the word around for you. You have to spread it yourself with three keyword tiers that Google can grab onto to help your site get found.

Tier One: Who and Where You Are 

Let’s say you’re a sporting goods retailer. You’d stock tier one with variations of your company name and location. For example, you should go with “Jimmy’s Sporting Goods, Rhode Island,” or “Jimmy’s RI.”

The web is a seemingly endless road. Through tier one keywords, customers ask for directions to your site.


Tier Two: Your Products and Services 
Not all users will ask Google to point them toward your stake in the digital terrain. Some people will be searching for products and services in their area using tier two keywords.

Following the sporting goods example, such users might query “baseball equipment, Rhode Island,” or “hockey equipment, Rhode Island.” You offer these products, and you want to be sure your site is optimized with them.

If you operate in a competitive market, properly executed tier two keywords give your small business’s voice extra decibels in a loud and crowded room.

Tier Three: Your Niche 
SEO specificity hits its peak here. If you’re just starting out, don’t bank on tier three landing you on a page one Google search result. It incorporates extremely focused terms not likely to be queried.


This doesn’t mean optimizing with tier three terms is mere diligence. Think of them as an investment.


Once your business and products start to take off, you want your unique items to have a foundation web presence. Back to Jimmy’s Sporting Goods, let’s say the shop is carrying equipment for all of the major sports, but wants to eventually be the local go-to for custom lacrosse gear.

They’d lean heavily on tier one and two keywords, but not so much on tier three examples like “Jimmy’s Extreme LaCrosse 3500 Stick.” But, they would want to lay groundwork to build this product’s searchability over time, turning this specialty item into a tier two term as it gains visibility and popularity.

In Summation 
Remember, your site is not going to attract eyeballs based on merit. Approach keywording and SEO for what they are; crucial components to your site’s success.

Learning from Wikipedia

Wikipedia comes off as a Google bully.

The go-to web encyclopedia shows up at or toward the top of the rankings in nearly every search. Do the two entities have some kind of sweetheart deal? Nope. Wikipedia has cracked the SEO code.

Quality AND Quantity
It’s no quick fix, quite the opposite, actually. To dominate the SEO game, patience, and A LOT of content, is virtue.  

To get Wikipedia-caliber rankings, think of Google as that unreasonable teacher you once had; you are regularly required to write novel-length papers. But you had to graduate, so you sucked it up and did it. You want your business and site to thrive, so suck it up and do it.

The more detailed, quality content you work into your site, the more keywords you generate.  As long as you distribute the keywords evenly and don’t resort to keyword “stuffing,” your rankings will improve.

This isn’t the opinion of some lone geek hacker. This strategy comes straight from the mouth of Google.

In his SEO video mailbag responses, Google Search Quality guru Matt Cutts constantly emphasizes “quality content” as the initiation for becoming one of the rankings elite. Again, this goes back to having the patience to crank out an opus per page of your own site.

Repetition without Being Repetitive
A Wikipedia search for “Mariana Trench” produced a 1600 word article. The word “Mariana” is used 26 times, not counting the Notes section. Because of the sheer length and detail of the article, use of this keyword was evenly distributed, avoiding keyword “stuffing.”

This goes back to the quality content concept stressed by Matt Cutts of Google. Speaking of which, the Wikipedia entry for Mariana Trench showed up number one in a Google search for that keyword.

Getting Crossed Up
Wikipedia also excels at cross-links. The contextual internal linking can hook a page on a comic book character to one detailing migration habits of bathypelagic fish. The catch here is the sheer volume of articles on Wikipedia’s site, estimated at 22 million.

With eight figures of page numbers, these cross ups can keep users clicking for hours. It’s like getting into a new band you saw open for the act you bought your ticket to see.

In Summation
If you can follow this blueprint with your site, you could be on your way to being the next Wikipedia. They’ve been at it for over a decade, and you might still be prepping for a launch, so just have some patience with your content, make sure it’s top shelf and construct your SEO around it.

Go for the Gold

Are you sick of seeing your competitors on that top platform proudly displaying their Google rankings gold?

Add Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertisements to your web campaign to take your own top spot.

Pay to Play
PPC is essentially a paid search engine advertisement. It utilizes keywords just like Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Your content shows up in search results as a top or flush right ad instead of an organic result.

With PPC, you set up the ad, establish a budget and only pay when a user clicks the ad. Once the budget is exhausted, the ad comes down unless you re-up.  

The upside to this particular training regimen, if implemented well, is instant gratification. PPC ads are ready to go immediately and will show up at the top assuming a good selection of keywords and sufficient budget. PPC is ideal for specific or seasonal campaigns your business might offer, as well as a long-term marketing tool.

Be Ready for Double Sessions
You’ve drawn in users with your top listing. But establishing lasting web dominance requires “two-a-day” workouts. Along with your PPC effort, Search Engine Optimization is a must.

SEO is like the exhausting, tedious components of Olympic training. The athletes would probably rather skip the endless sprints, laps and conditioning routines.

But these dreaded workouts are mandatory for success, as is SEO. There’s no infomercial-featured, “get ripped in a week” plan to get top-ranking search results honors.

A good SEO plan starts with quality, detailed content. Avoid blatant repetition of keywords, known as “stuffing.” You need to work effective keywords into your site in a natural way.

Never Stop Getting Better
Once you get in peak shape, you have to work to stay that way. Updating your site frequently with fresh content is the only way to stay at the top of your game once you hit that goal.

This all comes back to the aforementioned patience, the old “no pain, no gain” speech you’ll get at practice or the gym.

Bring it In
SEO’s the marathon, PPC’s the sprint. Sticking to this philosophy will give you a competitive edge to go for the gold.

Claim Your Spot on Google Local

I start this blog post by admitting that Terrapin is decidedly Google-friendly.  Many times a day we use a Google website or app to take care of business.  But with all of the tools that they offer, there’s one in particular that I think small businesses need to put more effort into.


Google Local - A Powerful Tool that’s Often Overlooked
Think of Local as Google’s version of the yellow pages.   They list all of the basics:  company name, address, phone, fax and web address.  This gives Google just enough to create a profile of your business for their directory.

More and more these Local accounts are showing up in search results.  Why? Google’s #1 mission is to provide you with relevant information.  Besides websites & pay-per-click ads, Google can now share local businesses in the area as part of your search results.  If you came from the yellow pages generation, then these types of listings are a familiar site for you..

Along the way you’ve probably seen the red Google Maps markers.  Ever try clicking on one?  That will pull up a “balloon” on Google Maps with some of that basic profile info I mentioned above.  For those entrenched in the yellow page way of thinking, a phone number for a business may be all that is needed to reach out.  And you as a business owner can sleep at night knowing Google has probably already created a basic profile for your business.  

Wait... don’t you feel like you’re missing out on something?  You should!


From Shanty to Palace, Without Breaking a Sweat
The biggest search engine on the planet has created a very unique way for you to provide them with more information on your business.  It’s completely free and they have started you off with a basic profile.  All you have to do is claim your spot on Google Local.  Chances are you didn’t know you could, but it is definitely worth your time & effort.

Once you’ve claimed your business on Local, there is a lot more tweaking that you can do to improve your profile and improve your chances of attracting visitors to your site:  

1. Add your logo - Helps to create consistency and a professional look
2. Add your business to more categories in the Google Local directory - This is important if you offer more than a single service or type of product and may help your visibility for a wider range of search terms.
3. Set your service area - Tells Google who are potential customers based on their location.  More on this in a minute...
4. Upload photos & videos of your location, products or services, staff and more to add credibility to your business.  
5. Create special offers - Add incentive for potential customers to reach out to your business.  Make sure the offer is unique, so that you can track the response.
6. Respond to reviews - Google users can review businesses that they find on Places.  This is your chance to interact with customers directly.  So feel free to thank positive reviewers... and offer great customer service to address any negative reviews.

With literally an hour of your time you can not only spruce up your Local profile, but you can also spoon-feed Google a great deal of text & visual information... all linked to your physical location.... all linked to the products / services you offer... all linked to your business name.  

Why is this so important?


Google Knows Where You Are....
WARNING... This next part has some apocalyptic overtones.  I am sure there is some debate as to when exactly Google will go Skynet and become self-aware and have a bunch of Terminators running around wiping out humans.  Let’s just say that in the past few years Google has taken another step towards that - Google wants to know where you are, when you interact with one of their tools.

Thanks to our lack of robotics technology, I don’t consider Google knowing where I’m located a bad thing.  As a matter of fact, they use that information, along with what I am searching for to help connect me to relevant information.  How does Google do that?

1. I have an Android (Google) powered smartphone.  Everything from internet searches, to phone calls, to Google+ posts, to snapping a photo can be locationally tagged thanks to GPS.   
2. Any time one of my computers accesses the internet they use an IP Address to make the connection.  IP Addresses are like phone numbers that can be traced to a city/town level.  This may not be as accurate as GPS, but it’s still in the ballpark.
3. I use Google Chrome as my internet browser on my computers and I allow it to share my location with Google.  I’ve shared my work & home address and using the IP address I am connecting with, Google can tell you if my laptop is at work, at home... or somewhere else.

Coming Full-Circle
As smartphones & mobile computing continue to grow, Google will undoubtedly leverage a person’s location to retrieve relevant information and search results.  Google Local provides you with an easy way of expanding the visibility of your business on the internet - by linking your physical location to the products & services you offer.