Medic Update and its SEO-echo

Let’s go back to August 2018 for a moment … then it once again shook the search results. The SEO community was in a panic – websites related to certain industries were changing their positions rapidly. The victims were not only smaller sites, but also big players who had been occupying the tops for years. These changes were due to an algorithm update that quickly became known as the “Medic Update”.

Why “Medic”? The spikes in visibility were most severe on health-related websites. Losses were also noticed on portals related to finance, law, politics, e-commerce and others. Soon, Google confirmed that the update was mostly about YMYL sites – “Your Money, Your Health”.

The update coincided with the refreshed of the guide for Google testers, responsible for assessing the quality and credibility of the content on websites. The guide is available on the search engine pages, and its last update took place in October 2020. The document contains detailed guidelines on how to evaluate websites and their classification.

YMYL websites – Your Health, Your Money

The acronym YMYL appeared for the first time in 2013, but the buzz around it only got on the occasion of “Medic”. This category includes websites that have the potential to affect your well-being, safety, health and financial stability.

According to information from official Google sources, the following sites fall into the “YMYL” drawer:
– news – sites presenting information on current world events, politics, business, science, technology and so on … Interestingly, not every type of news fits into this category – entertainment and generally understood lifestyle are not taken into account here, similarly as well as sports news;
– law and politics – sources of information on state policy, voting systems, public institutions, etc. and portals dealing with law and publishing articles with legal advice on issues related to, for example, family law, property law and others;
– finance – market analysis services reporting the latest changes in the global stock markets and pages containing information on loans, pension plans, insurance and other types of websites related to the circulation of money. Sites that allow money transfer, such as online exchange offices, are given special attention;
– shopping – online stores and websites containing information on e-commerce; health and safety – portals with health articles, information on disease symptoms and drug descriptions – composition, action and adverse reactions. This collection also includes websites that focus on diets and ways to lose weight;
– groups of people – websites dealing with topics related to race, origin and religion as well as other sensitive topics, such as sexual orientations, nationality and disability.

The list is not exhaustive – there are many topics that can be considered in terms of YMYL, and the final evaluation in this regard belongs to the testers.

Google assumes that the information contained on YMYL websites may have a potential impact on the well-being of users. Hence the need to maintain high standards in terms of the method of providing information, as well as its content. Verification of pages and information control is also one of the ways to eliminate “fake news” from the search engine space.

E-A-T – the quality of information on your website

E-A-T was created to evaluate the quality of the website content. In English, this acronym is unambiguously associated with the word “eat” and all metaphorical connections are perfectly appropriate here. In this case, the data transmitted within the website will be consumed.

E-A-T is:
E – Expertise
A – Authoritativeness
T – Trustworthiness

Let’s decode what is behind the three passwords listed above:

Expertise – relates to the person responsible for the text on the site. The content is assessed on the basis of the writer’s competence – his education, knowledge of the subject, experience. Placing this type of information and the exact selection of authors of texts is important especially in the context of YMYL websites.

Sites that deal with less sensitive topics are rated lightly and Google allows for “less formal expertise” based on the user’s daily experience. As a result, it positively receives, for example, extensive product reviews in online stores, which – although not signed by a specialist with an academic title – constitute a valuable source of information for potential buyers of the assessed equipment. It is similar with restaurants or service premises – here all you need is “common sense” and a desire to describe the place visited in detail.

Google does not penalize websites created by people without formal education in the subject they are discussing, but “only” with life experience that allows them to obtain the status of an “expert”. As an example, he gives thematic forums, bringing together people interested in a given topic and sharing their own observations. In the case of websites touching, for example, medical topics, these places are treated as a space for the exchange of experiences and are not assessed through the prism of specialist knowledge.

Authoritativeness – relates to the author of the content, the content itself, and the page on which it was posted. Website evaluators are encouraged to look for external sources that can testify to high-quality content and its creator. Interestingly, as a source of information about companies, organizations and authors, Google points to … Wikipedia. Assumes that wikipedia.org is a neutral source that publishes proven information and deals with topics that organizations want to show off on an equal footing with information about an individual’s controversies and problems.

Building the authority of an organization or an employee should not, however, be based on a single source. Google points out that in order to form an opinion about the reviewed website, it is also worth checking the reviews and opinions related to it, posted on independent portals.

It should be noted here that while reviews on independent portals will be issued by users who are not necessarily related to the industry and do not have specialist knowledge, while building the website’s reputation, Google will follow the opinion of experts dealing with a given topic.

Trustworthiness – , i.e. the assessment of the legality and transparency of information. In this context, the level of data accuracy is also assessed and applies not only to the content, but also to the entire website.

The basis for the assessment of credibility is primarily information about the person who is the author of the information on the website. This is especially important in the case of websites dealing with sensitive topics, falling under the YMYL categories. In the case of e-commerce websites, the element proving the authenticity of the store will be the address of the office or warehouse, as well as other information allowing direct contact with employees. Other solutions enabling obtaining help during transactions, e.g. chat, are also positively assessed. On the other hand, problems with the functioning of the website and omissions on the part of webmasters, e.g. lack of a secure connection during the transaction, indicate low credibility.

When it comes to the credibility of the website / article content itself, the consistency of the facts on the topic is taken into account. The greater the compatibility with external sources, the better.

E-A-T or … “it depends”

It has been established that when it comes to SEO, most of the problems can be summed up with the phrase “it depends”, changed in all possible ways. It is no different and in the case of E-A-T:
– the analysis is based on general guidelines which, however, may not be applicable in all cases. The specificity and level of formalization of industries or topics covered on the Internet differs to a considerable extent;
– the evaluation belongs to a Google employee who is responsible for the final interpretation of the site.

It also has its advantages. The Google algorithm, despite the high level of complexity, still works in zero-one. The assessment is based on guidelines, but in the real world, “all shades of gray” are not taken into account. The solution to this potential problem are testers who analyze the search results and check how the program coped with building the SERP. The evaluators not only check the credibility of the sites, but also take into account the local color of the results.

E-A-T analysis and quality testers are another way for Google to make sure that the results posted on the search engine best respond to the user’s queries and provide them with reliable information.

E-A-T and website quality in practice

The concept of E-A-T covers only part of the guidelines for awarding high quality “medals” to websites. Suffice it to say that the guide itself has over 170 pages …

There is no simple formula for improving the quality of your website, but you can extract guidelines from the content that should support your website. So let’s start:

1. Goal – the overriding goal of Google is to provide the user with reliable information. The search engine also imposes it on our websites and indicates the need to create pages with the user’s needs in mind. This idea applies to both the technical and textual layer of the website.

The most popular purposes include:
– providing information on the topic in question,
– providing information about persons,
– sharing photos, videos,
– expressing opinions,
– entertainment,
– sales,
– Questions and Answers,
– sharing documents and software.

Of course, this is only a fraction of the list of ideals behind the creation of websites. The task of the Google algorithm and employee is to determine how well the website meets its goal. The better the presentation and value of the information, the higher the site’s quality rating will be.

For purely damaging sites (phishing, misleading), the rating will be downgraded accordingly.

2. Who are you? Sites that provide information about your business are more reliable. The same is true for content creators. A few words about the authors should be included in the bio placed next to the article or on a dedicated page.

It is worth mentioning the company, its origins and mission in the About us tab or similar. Another subpage can be used to present individual teams and employees. Activity content should be supplemented with information about successes – publications, exhibitions, awards and more.

3. Take care of your image! Reputation is built not only on the basis of information contained on our website, but also thanks to data from external sources.

Bearing in mind not only Google’s recommendations, it is worth taking care of your social media, not only those focused strictly on communication with customers (Instagram, Facebook), but those that will allow you to appear as part of the industry (LinkedIn and others). Building an expert position is also helped by publications in thematic magazines, participation in conferences, trainings, fairs and other forms of presenting your own brand or yourself. Independent publications are also excellent sources of links.

When cooperating with external specialists and influencers, it is worth choosing people related to the industry, recognizable in the community. Cooperation does not always have to mean advertising, sometimes an interview or an article dealing with issues of interest to both parties is enough.

4. Opinions and reviews… the number of websites where the user can express his opinion about the services and products is constantly growing. This situation is favorable primarily for the perspective of the consumer, who can not only share his impressions, but also do appropriate research before making a decision.

A large number of positive reviews and opinions helps to strengthen the brand and convince new customers to choose our company. Good grades make the company’s activities more credible and facilitate building authority. In the guide, Google points out the special value of longer statements by reviewers, which describe in detail the pros and cons of a good or service.

Note – a large number of ratings does not always confirm the high credibility of the company or website. Google, testers and potential customers are more and more effective in “catching” sponsored comments, especially if they are added on a large scale.

Negative reviews arise from strong emotions that perfectly motivate you to throw out frustration in a larger forum. For more neutral and positive impressions, the user may not always need to share them publicly. It is worth encouraging him to do so by, for example, e-mail requests, sent a few days after the transaction or visiting the facility.

5. Update – not only the CMS, but also the content. Its reliability proves the high quality of information. Ditching older blog posts or articles is not in a good mood. Supplementing the content or directing the user to a subpage with more recent data is good for the reputation of our website and increases trust in our business.

By the way … it is also worth remembering to check the information provided by our domain and in the case of external data – to put links to the websites from which they were downloaded.

6. Contact! As I mentioned earlier, one of the key ways to authenticate your online activity is to provide users with the data necessary to make contact – e-mail address, telephone numbers and physical address.

More contact details are necessary primarily for websites falling under the YMYL category.

Another ranking factor?

Discussions about whether E-A-T is a ranking factor or not have been ongoing since the publication of the tester guidelines. He referred to it, inter alia, Danny Sullivan.

Contrary to the technical aspects of the site, which can mostly be assessed in a very specific way, E-A-T standards are more fluid. It is impossible to describe them by awarding points.

A website is a type of business card that allows you to present our business. Its appropriate appearance, adaptation to the needs of users and the reliability of the information provided on it represent the approach to the client and can influence his decisions. Providing high-value information, provided in an accessible way, causes natural interest of users and the willingness to share, i.e. link to our website.

Summary. High quality = more interest = natural links = longer time on the website = higher position in the ranking.

It is not our intention to duplicate that post or refresh it after many years. Therefore, this time we will not present in detail what a long tail is and convince you why it is worth focusing on long tail positioning. We want to tell you how to prepare your website in terms of positioning for long tail and what good practices support it. It is also worth finding out how you can know your real long tail.

For whom will the long tail be especially important?

However, it will not do without a short reminder. The term long tail is used by positioners to define more complex, and therefore more precise and unique, keywords that generate traffic for a given website. Such a keyword phrase consists of a few words. While the long tail can often account for most of the traffic that leads to a given side, it varies greatly internally. There will be no clear leaders here – the most common keywords. However, since this internally fragmented pool of keywords gathered together gives valuable and converting traffic on the website, it means that it is worth taking a look at it and taking care of it. The long tail should not be underestimated.

Long tail will be especially important for online stores. This does not mean that websites presenting services will not benefit from them – they will definitely feel them, though on a different scale. However, it is the extensive websites with a rich offer that will be the biggest beneficiaries of optimization in terms of strengthening the long tail. Considering how influenced by the situation in 2020, trading has become more online than it has ever been before, it is definitely worth strengthening your online store.

Can I monitor long tail phrases?

Can a long tail be somehow grasped, examined, and the most “fat” pieces extracted? Definitely yes. Positioners have at their disposal specialized industry tools that allow you to assess, for example, how many phrases that Google connects to a given website are in the top 10. These tools perform a comprehensive assessment of the website, in isolation from the phrases that are included in the SEO contract and which are monitored. Sounds complicated? We will illustrate this with an example. We position a brand new online store that has just started operating. There is no traffic yet, nor are there any keywords visible in the top 10 on Google.com. By signing the contract, we declared that we would conduct detailed monitoring of positions for 200 keywords selected together with the client. For these phrases, Paraphrase-Online.com measures the position daily. Information on this subject is visible in the customer’s panel and in the reports that he receives periodically. Thanks to this, we know that, for example, after six months of the 200 phrases written in the contract, 150 words are in the top 10. But does this fully reflect the scale of the website’s visibility on the Internet? Another tool can tell us the four-digit number of phrases in the top 10.

By testing the website with SEO tools that do not know the provisions of the contract and the list of keywords, we can determine how many phrases generally related to this website are in the top 10, i.e. after entering how many keywords this website will be displayed in the top 10 search results for a given term.

The number of top 10 phrases for a given website may change by making a month-to-month comparison. When we are dealing with a website that already has a history and established visibility on the Internet, we can compare the results from before the start of positioning (e.g. a month before signing the contract) with the current ones. Thanks to this comparison, you can see how many activities of SEO specialists gave the website and how they increased its visibility in the top 10.

Both parameters – measurement in the context of keywords included in the contract and measurement made with the use of additional tools and referring to the website as a whole – are not mutually exclusive and do not collide with each other. Their combination gives a more complete picture of the effectiveness of positioning and the support it gives the website.

Is there any way to know your long tail beyond the paid tools for positioners in the pro version? The free Google Search Console tool comes to the rescue, which provides a lot of useful information, for example about queries that lead to clicks and visits to the website, and also estimates the position of the keyword generating impressions and clicks. The analysis of the phrases that are visible there allows you to identify those matching the long tail criteria, as well as assess whether they generate clicks and in what positions they are. For the record, we note that these criteria for catching page entry phrases will apply not only in the context of long tails. They will also help you catch shorter but valuable phrases that can be used for promotion, and which were not included in the original set of keywords for positioning for various reasons.

General phrases versus long tail

At the outset, we can say that general phrases should not be opposed to those of the long tail. They are entered into the search engine by various groups of potential customers and, as a result, have different functions. The extensive phrases characteristic of the long tail indicate more precisely expressed expectations regarding the product that our potential client is looking for. General terms are most often entered identically and at the beginning of your search, before the purchase, when you do not have precise expectations yet. General terms can also mean searching for information or a loose examination, rather than an immediate desire to make a purchase.

How to effectively support long tail?

Effective support for long tail phrases can take place at the level of building or optimizing an existing website. We selected 4 elements that are important in the context of long tail optimization, and which are not associated with complicated interventions in the website.

A. Meta title and meta description
The fact that the meta tags: meta title and meta description are particularly important for positioning has been mentioned more than once in our publications on SEO. Since the optimization for long tail concerns mainly subpages with products and subpages related to product categories, it is important to take care of meta tags for these subpages. Setting the same meta tags for the entire website will be a big mistake. Such a duplicate is definitely undesirable from an SEO point of view. We realize that setting up unique meta tags for each product “out of hand” is quite a challenge. Therefore, it is necessary to automatically generate meta tags, which will use, for example, a unique product name (or product category – in the case of category subpages), and at the end there will be e.g. a suffix with the name of the store or company. If we use pagination and products from the same category are visible on more than one subpage, then you should also take care of the uniqueness of these meta tags on subsequent page views. The solution may be to reach for a cleverly interwoven note such as “page 2”, “page 3” etc. What can be done in terms of unique and non-duplicate descriptions? In this case, you can use unique content published on subpages, which will become the basis for meta description. It is worth emphasizing that the meta title tag is more important than meta description in the context of SEO.

B. Page headers
We will write about the importance of headers in terms of diversifying the content in point 4 dedicated to content issues. It’s a good idea to place headers on your website and use keywords in them. If we have a subpage dedicated to, for example, women’s tracksuits available in our offer, then instead of the casual “women’s” headings, it is worth placing keywords describing our offer in the hx headings: women’s tracksuits – cotton, pastel, oversize, printed, etc. Of course, all the keywords and terms that they form a long tail need not appear in a single header. In such a situation, it is worth dividing them among several headings. Of course, there may also be a headline on the page that does not include keywords – not everyone has to include them. However, it is worth using at least some of the headers as space for keywords and terms that may become key to the search.

C. Url address
Words keywords and words that are used to search for products from our offer can also be placed in the url of subpages. We do not encourage the machine to change the current, even imperfect addresses of subpages – improper approach to this topic may cause damage to the website. However, if we are faced with adding new subpages or rebuilding the website, then when planning a new structure and addresses of subpages, take into account that they contain important passwords, in full wording. Referring to the example from the previous section: it is better to have the term “women’s tracksuits” in the subpage address of the category than “women’s”. The subpage of the product should also have a user-friendly url that takes into account specific passwords. However, do not go overboard with the length of the url, as an address of more than 100 characters is too much. Blog entries are also a problem more often than product pages.

D. Content matters
Of course, you can identify the best-selling products and product categories for an online store. This pool is most often reflected in a keyword set, which is saved as an attachment to the SEO contract. These are also phrases for which position monitoring will be carried out – daily research that allows to capture drops and increases or the phrase entering the top 10. Potential customers, however, enter much more variations on the query than is usually included in the list of keywords selected for monitoring. There are some important features for them. When analyzing the keywords that led to entering the website, it is worth knowing what words and terms to use when describing the available product or service. Rich content corresponding to inquiries – not only the most popular ones – is an action supporting positioning, taking into account the long tail. The best place to introduce content supporting phrases described as long tail will be the subpage of the product categories or the products themselves. Being aware of the enormity of the project, which is content optimization (not only for long tail phrases), we encourage you to do it in stages. It is better to gradually implement new content, even in small portions, than to abandon the idea entirely.

The content published on the page on the page must be visible to robots in order to be indexed. They must also be unique content if they are to positively affect the SEO process. It can be said that all the rules for good content that apply in the context of optimization also apply to enhancing content in terms of long tail. As a reminder, it will be:
– uniqueness – the text on the website should not be duplicated on other websites,
– don’t skimp on words – an extensive text will be better than a casual approach to the topic,
– the text should not be monolithic, it is worth using the division into paragraphs, use headings and include keywords in them,
– the text should be linguistically attractive and correct, encouraging people to read, and at the same time providing information that will facilitate making a consumer decision,
– available for network robots,
– systematically developed.

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 curiosity 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 smartphone 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.

Permission Marketing – What Is It?

Both newsletters and PUSH notifications are forms of the so-called consent marketing. What is this? Associate requests for permission to send notifications that are displayed to you on various websites? Until you confirm that you want the information … the website cannot send it to you. The same applies to the newsletter – to receive it, you must enter your e-mail address and confirm that you are interested in receiving messages from a given brand.

This “consent” factor ensures the sender is confident that it is reaching initially interested audiences. They may be at different stages of the marketing funnel, but contact with each of them is valuable and may sooner or later bring benefits.

There is one more important advantage, the psychological one. Since the recipient himself agreed to receive the message – he performed some action. Consequently, he is to some extent involved in the communication process. Such a peculiar “foot in the door” also increases the probability that the established relationship will result in a purchase.

However, it should be remembered that consent marketing also brings challenges: first of all, it requires building a database of people who have decided to subscribe to messages on their own. Nevertheless, the results are worth the effort, and skillfully planned and targeted campaigns bring good results. Therefore, it is definitely worth going in this direction.

PUSH newsletter and notifications: how do they work?

Before we answer the question about the advantages of individual consent marketing tools, it is worth taking a closer look at exactly what each form of communication looks like.

PUSH notifications

PUSH notifications are short pieces of information that appear on the screen of the user’s device with his prior consent. They can be generated, among others through applications installed on the phone, however, the most important role is played by sms and web-PUSH messages, i.e. those displayed by web browsers.

These notifications:
– are small – contain literally 1-2 sentences of text and small graphics,
– they appear spontaneously at the moment selected by the advertiser,
– are enriched with a CTA element, which most often refers to a website with more information.

Newsletter

A newsletter is a form of communication via e-mail. It is about sending new messages to the interested group – be it with information about new products and current promotions in the store, or with interesting entries on the company’s blog.

Newsletter:
– it can take various graphic and text forms – it can be very simple and minimalist, and it can contain a long message,
– also most often includes CTAs pointing to a website.

What are the similarities between these tools?

Apart from the similarity discussed earlier, in which in both cases messages are sent after receiving consent from the recipient, other similarities can also be indicated.

Both forms of communication:
– they can be used at every stage of the marketing funnel – to build brand visibility, arouse interest in products or the desire to buy immediately,
– they must be attractive for the recipient to be willing to interact,
– can be used in conjunction with marketing automation tools, which in turn improves the entire communication process and reduces service costs in this area.

The cost of sending both types of messages may also be similar, especially when you calculate the cost per click.

Newsletter vs PUSH notifications: the most important differences

Despite significant similarities between the discussed forms of communication, there are also many differences. Here are the most important ones.

A. The time it takes to plan your campaign
PUSH notifications work a bit like Google ads – they contain little content with a very high CTA saturation. As they are displayed by the browser, there is no need to design their graphic layout or make other tedious preparations. All you need to get started is a catchy, short text that will encourage action and small graphics.

In the case of a newsletter, you may need a much broader strategy – think about the layout, content, communication pattern and much more. Therefore, the preparation of an email campaign may be more time consuming.

B. Shipping time
Even automated mail sending to a large subscriber base can take a long time, with gusts of up to several hours. Such delays can cause the mail to be delivered to the inbox late and… ignored. PUSH notifications are displayed in real time.

C. Ease of Delivery to Addressee
PUSH messages in the browser are not blocked neither by AdBlock nor by other systems. The only limitation is whether the given user has the browser enabled when the message is sent.

In the case of a newsletter, it is not always so rosy – overly sensitive spam filters can intercept such an email. It can also get stuck in the less visited “offers” tab or remain invisible among dozens of other e-mails.

D. The speed of growth of the recipient base
In the case of PUSH notifications, 2 clicks are enough to start receiving messages. What’s more, the recipient does not have to provide any personal data or register anywhere. Subscribing to the newsletter requires at least an e-mail address and confirmation of willingness to receive the message by clicking on the activation link received.

These features translate into the effectiveness of acquiring new customers. As you can guess, the number of PUSH notifications subscribers arrives much faster than those subscribed to the newsletter.

E. Read / convert probability
PUSH messages usually assume an immediate response and require quick action. It could be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the user, for example, if he is overwhelmed with too many such messages, can reject them without looking. On the other hand, it may click instinctively, e.g. if it finds out that a quick sale in the store ends in 30 minutes.

E-mails are most often viewed at most a few times a day, but if the recipient decides to look at the newsletter message, they usually look at it more closely than quick notification. Something for something.

Does this mean that the newsletter should be replaced with PUSH messages? Not necessarily. The newsletter is part of any good inbound marketing strategy, and the effects of its conduct can bring long-term effects. Web-PUSH works more in the short term. So these tools are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary – they can complement each other.

In the past, direct interpersonal relationships have been a standard way of getting business contacts. Admittedly, there were occasions to establish cooperation by phone, although the human factor still played a significant role. The situation has changed significantly as a result of dynamic technological development.

It can be said that the expectations of contractors have turned 180 degrees. At present, business customers require more from interaction with sales representatives in the early stages of negotiations. They require in-depth attention known to them from other purchasing processes. And rightly so!

Mobile technologies are selling better

Google joined forces with The Boston Consulting Group to see how much impact the mobile market has on the realities of the B2B sector. Interactions carried out by mobile devices turned out to generate on average over 40% of revenues in leading organizations. Interestingly, the rule described applies more to enterprises that focus more on trade than marketing activities.

Mobile drivers, or influences, an average of over 40% of revenue in leading B2B organizations.

Who are the users of mobile devices?

Consumers are now comparing your options to the best digital experience they’ve ever experienced. Thus, mobile devices also play an important role in the B2B sector. According to statistics, as much as 50% of business queries come from smartphones and tablets. The Boston Consulting Group predicts that by 2020 the scale of this phenomenon will be 70%. However, it should be remembered that these data come from the US market.

However, business customers use technology at every step. They use mobile technologies to work, and also perform many tasks simultaneously using several screens. Employees are no longer attached to the desk. Instead, they are increasingly working from home. In addition, mobile technologies enable them to remain productive during business trips.

How to improve cooperation with business clients?

Customers from the B2B sector are also devoting more and more time to the use of mobile technology. Currently, research shows that they spend two hours in front of the display. Statistics in this matter are significantly overstated by younger generations of recipients. Forecasts show that by 2020 consumers will use smartphones and tablets for an average of three hours a day.

50% of B2B search queries today are made on smartphones. BCG expects that figure to grow to 70% by 2020.

Increased usage is not just empty statistics. This state of affairs directly translates into business results. BCG revealed that mobile technologies speed up purchasing time, which naturally increases revenues and reduces investment costs. The smartphone can reduce the purchase time by 20%. This state of affairs greatly facilitates decision making and facilitates team collaboration.

The skilful use of mobile technologies increases the level of engagement, which takes the form of search queries, increased website traffic, acquisition of potential customers and conducting transactions. The mobile market is also characterized by a higher customer loyalty rate. Along with positive experiences, loyalty and frequency of repeated purchases increase.

Benefiting from the use of smartphones and tablets requires an appropriate attitude. First of all, mobile technologies should become the basis of business strategy. It is also worth presenting the content in vertical orientation. Thanks to this they look much better on displays. In addition, you must combine your own data with information collected from recipients. The combination of these three factors will increase the effectiveness of operations.