Has any one ever paid an SEO consultant

[richardg]

And they said web based business was easy !

It's also not cheap (ebay or amazon fees, paypal fees, website fees, google shopping fees, packaging costs, postage costs, returns. Probably should buy a sausage butty trailer for motorbike and car events to be fair. All cash...£1 for me, 1 for HMRC. 1 for me, 1 for HMRC. 1 for me, 1 for HMRC. Ad infinitum.

 

[richardg]

Why not create your own then, start the MPN with that of the bike which would get hits on google and then suffix with your own

i.e if the MPN for a Honda Fireblade is CBR1000RR-R then add yours on the end for e.g a carbon hugger so it is CBR1000RR-R-CH12345

Well, we have an sku code already......but it does not have bike model prefixes. It's like DU232-TG

Not sure if a prefix is necessary?

 

[richardg]

Overall, I am more interested in improving conversion...most the hard work is done, right...8000 visitors, but only 1.5% buying. Seems like a lower hanging fruit than looking for more visitors.

 

[richardg]

You want to be able to surface landing pages right down to models and variants, including use of official MPNs.

The search volume is lower, but commercial intent is higher, so will improve conversion rate; the more granular and specific a landing page is to the user’s query, the better.

Tell me more...improving conversions sounds more manageable than improving ranking etc. Particularly when I consider we have never looked at it. Our pics, titles and prices are bringing them in...but what is putting the 98.4% off? OK, scrap a least 50% of those as bored cyber surfers etc, people that don't even own the bike in question.

So they arrive on the page....what tricks can I add to improve things?

I know our checkout process needs improving...but come short when thinking of anything else. Discounting, bundling, bogofs etc are not possible, we only make a 20% net margin before director pay.

 

[Woodface]

I guess...but I have approached a supposed UK-based guru at 1000 per month, still no guarantee that conversion will not drop. So I won't pay. Admittedly, it is mainly Indian and Chinese people coming to me at about 200 per month. I'll bite if I can pay in arrears after we see the visit / conversion figures.

The UK companies will generally use coders from India & Russia.

 

[Frankiesays]

I guess...but I have approached a supposed UK-based guru at 1000 per month, still no guarantee that conversion will not drop. So I won't pay. Admittedly, it is mainly Indian and Chinese people coming to me at about 200 per month. I'll bite if I can pay in arrears after we see the visit / conversion figures.

That's exactly what I say, cash on delivery, they never seem to get back to me. I mean anyone could claim to be an SEO specialist, without having to show any evidence for the work you've supposedly carried out.

 

[Frankiesays]

Tell me more...improving conversions sounds more manageable than improving ranking etc. Particularly when I consider we have never looked at it. Our pics, titles and prices are bringing them in...but what is putting the 98.4% off? OK, scrap a least 50% of those as bored cyber surfers etc, people that don't even own the bike in question.

So they arrive on the page....what tricks can I add to improve things?

I know our checkout process needs improving...but come short when thinking of anything else. Discounting, bundling, bogofs etc are not possible, we only make a 20% net margin before director pay.

Have you tried the semi-naked woman on a motorbike? That should at least improve the bounce rate.

 

[richardg]

Have you tried the semi-naked woman on a motorbike? That should at least improve the bounce rate.

You are bang on the money there. We expect it would give us a lot more sales and spread the name of the company fast. It's win win really and we will do it...700 products though, we want her sitting behind a table, holding the product close to her chest in tiny bikini top. We also have to be aware of increasingly strict channel rules...google shopping, ebay, amazon etc....all within policy now. But next year maybe not. Then we would have to unpick all the products with her cleavage as a backdrop. We would maybe use them as second pics, not lead pics

Bit pathetic that it would work really, but really I don't care.

 

[Rug Doc]

You’ve mentioned the problem a few times whilst simultaneously brushing past it very quickly...

You need to spend on your checkout experience rather than SEO.

You’re getting traffic, but not converting... so any hiccups or delays and extra button clicks needed to purchase will have prospective purchasers leaving. Make this process as simple as possible. Apple Pay, Paypal, Visa, have them all and make it a really simple experience with as few button clicks and info needed as possible and you’ll see your sales increase.

 

[Heckyman]

I run the website for an outdoor sports brand. I would take Yomanze's advice, having someone who knows what they are doing teaching you how to fish should repay itself many times over in the long run.

Google Analytics and Google Search Console are key in order to better understand your traffic and the behaviour on site. Even if you already installed these on your site, you have to customise your analytics and know how to interpret the results. Once you've done this it's possible to measure the effectiveness of SEO / paid ad campaigns / UX changes etc.

 

[richardg]

You’ve mentioned the problem a few times whilst simultaneously brushing past it very quickly...

You need to spend on your checkout experience rather than SEO.

You’re getting traffic, but not converting... so any hiccups or delays and extra button clicks needed to purchase will have prospective purchasers leaving. Make this process as simple as possible. Apple Pay, Paypal, Visa, have them all and make it a really simple experience with as few button clicks and info needed as possible and you’ll see your sales increase.

Yeah,OK. I'm on it...my beef is we spent money on the header and we need to update the theme if we are to remove a step in the checkout. Updating the theme trashes the header work we did.