tips and tricks to increase visitors and conversions - #bac2014

FireCask, Blackfriars House, Parsonage, Manchester, M3 2JA.+44 (0)161 222 8655 • http://firecask.com/ • [email protected]

Tips & Tricks toIncrease Visitorsand Conversions

by Alex Moss

Director, FireCask

24th October 2014

http://firecask.com/

mailto:[email protected]

WHO AM I?and what do I do?


Today I run 2 companies




I’ve worked with great businesses...




...and written for some leading publications



SECURE YOUR BRAND


Securing your Brand avoidsDecreased Visits● Ensure you have a unique logo

● Use a positive and consistent brand message, even a tagline will do!

● Identify your audience and build your site’s offering around it

● Secure social media profiles using KnowEm (right) or namechk.

The last thing you want is a competitor taking some of your online assets!



http://knowem.com/

http://namechk.com/

http://knowem.com/

TECHNICAL SEO Perform some


Performance, Usability & Indexation● Caching, compression, filesizes

and CDN’s.- best to use Google Page Speed or YSlow!

● Mobile accessibility using responsive design or separate mobile site.- more reading from my blog post for WooRank

● Indexation: use robots.txt, XML sitemaps and good IA so search engines will interpret the site well.



https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/

https://developer.yahoo.com/yslow/

http://blog.woorank.com/2014/06/mobile-seo-audit/




Internal & External LinkingInternalIA (information architecture) is important for both user experience and (to an extent) ranking. Plan and optimise internal linking structure. Gain insight into keywords using a number of methods.

ExternalIf you value your brand and domain, do not deviate from Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. Use tools such as Open Site Explorer, Majestic and LinkRisk to analyse your link profile. Remove any poisionous links.



http://semrush.com/blog/publications/improve-relationship-keywords


https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35769?hl=en


http://moz.com/researchtools/ose


http://moz.com/researchtools/ose

https://majestic.com/

https://majestic.com/


Structured Data & Rich Snippets

Rich snippets include:● Star Ratings

● Reviews

● Products

● Recipes

You can test live examples or HTML code via Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool.

Google have, in the past 6 months, pulled both author and video thumbnails from SERPs.



http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets

http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets


Social Structured DataAs well as search engines, social structured data can help tailor posts shared within Facebook, Twitter and Google+. You can:

● Create clickbait

● Offer incentives without changing the content of the page you’re posting.

I have developed a WordPress plugin that manages all of this.



http://peadig.com/wordpress-plugins/social-structured-data/


Social StructuredData: ContextOne thing to note is that your links should have context:

● Facebook descriptions can be extended to 300 characters, nearly double the default META description

● Incorrect image thumbnails can take the post out of context, or even worse portray something completely different.



CONTENT Think more about


Be more creative with content…

Know your AudienceProduce Quality & Creative ContentUse Good TypographyGo Beyond “Flat Content”




Targeting your Audience● All games have gender, age or location specific

majorities

● Bingo’s general audience are women aged between 30-50

● Sport betting attract more of a male audience

Once you identify this, get some insight on them:

● What is your converted user’s lifespan with your brand?

● What usage habits does your audience have (day of week, time of day, keywords that attract them)

Also look into your analytics data to find out what visitor and player behaviour is like.

Great sources of information from Microsoft Advertising and The Gambling Commission



http://advertising.microsoft.com/uk/WWDocs/User/en-uk/ForAdvertisers/Gambling%20Overview_April%202011_External.pdf


http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/British%20Gambling%20Prevalence%20Survey%202010.pdf



Think Creatively. Create Content such as…

How To’s, Guides, WalkthroughsInfographics & Data VisualisationInteractive Content (Calculators)Live statistics via API or similarRich media (better Images & Videos)




Use UGC and your Own Data…

Lists (games, wins, players)Cross Sell based on user profilesUse feedback & reviews for rich snippetsLive statistics via API or similarRich media (better Images & Videos)



CONVERSIONRATE OPTIMISATION


Branding & DesignCreating trust within your brand is extremely important. Here are a few pointers to help this and help you gain more online exposure in the process:

● If you have a good logo, try to use it in creative ways e.g. bullet points or separators

● Group your brand with other trusted logos such as affiliates providers.

● Keep your colour scheme simple but efficient. 4 colours in palette. Great palette resource at Colour Lovers.



http://www.colourlovers.com/palette/


Calls to ActionAny CTA helps a visitor achieve a goal you want them to complete.

● Homepage and “money” landing pages are the best opportunity to do this.

● Add relevant images to represent the CTA.

● Different styles in nav elements and buttons to make your CTA stand out.

● Use product names specifically. For example, a button saying PLAY BINGO NOW! is better than PLAY NOW!




Layout andTypographyThe layout of a page, even with flat content, can be optimised to improve people’s perception of it. Think about

● Typography - use headings and subheadings to summarise the content.

● Summarise and split important content - use “wells”, panels and lead paragraphs




Offering something in return for data capture, gameplay or deposits will increase conversion rates.

● Use expiration dates to increase urgency

● Offer no deposit games or extra bonuses to new users

● If you have large numbers of users/subscribers, show the numbers off!

● Offer incentives in exchange for data - e.g. sign up via email and receive free tips

Create Incentives




Additional Tips● Use fixed navigation to offer

options to the user without scrolling. Use CTA’s within the navbar too.

● Use overlays for external resources so the user doesn’t exit your own site completely.

● Popups - use popup overlays that open after XX seconds after page load, or a Javascript alert if someone tries to leave the site.




Analyse your own Data

There are a number of ways you can use available data to help optimise your site and increase conversions:

● Use goals in Google Analytics to track specific funnels you want visitors to navigate through

● Analyse your visitors. Look into bounces rates, top exit pages, keywords. Also use internal site search.

● Use Content Experiments to perform A/B tests on homepage and landing pages.



https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1032415?hl=en-GB

https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1012264




Brand & Competitor Analysis● Search for your brand mentions

elsewhere on the web. Use Google Alerts to set up notifications. Also use our Search Operator’s Guide to find unlinked brand mentions.

● Use SEMrush or SpyFu to analyse your online competition. You can find out a lot about the keywords they target and links they attract. You should have a good relationship with your keywords.



https://www.google.com/alerts

http://www.semrush.com/

http://www.spyfu.com/



SOCIAL


Contribute to...Twitter● Use a tool such as Tweetdeck or

Hootsuite to monitor anything from brand mentions to hashtags.

● Don’t just publish outgoing tweets - interact with other Twitter users and search for potentially influential users within your niche.

● Use lists to monitor specific users or competitors instead of following them. Analyse what they share and produce content that would also be shareable.



https://about.twitter.com/products/tweetdeck

https://hootsuite.com/


Contribute to...Facebook● Use your page to publish content, offers

and other incentives. Interact with everyone who comments.

● Join relevant groups and contribute to other people’s posts. Don’t spam as you may be banned or reported altogether.

● Use Facebook’s Graph Search to search for more specific pages, groups and profiles

● Add Facebook Comments to your own site. I even developed my own WordPress plugin to help you.



https://www.facebook.com/help/558823080813217

http://peadig.com/wordpress-plugins/facebook-comments/




Contribute to...Google+ Communities & Hangouts

● Works the same way as Facebook group search

● More technologically-minded and digitally focussed audience




Contribute to...Host Google+ Hangouts on Air

Choose to host your own, invite people to watch and make it public for anyone to join

Tip: decide the best time to host it dependent on your target audience

Once you have finished the Hangout it will be accessible for anyone who missed it within YouTube. You can then embed this into your own site.

Tip: use a transcription service such as Speechpad from $1 per minute of audio



https://www.speechpad.com/

https://www.speechpad.com/


Some Final Tools & Tips● Offer unique discount or offer codes so it’s easier to track conversions

through those channels. Include additional codes into dedicated sites such as this one or this one or generic voucher sites eg My Voucher Codes.

● Reddit provides great traffic if you place the content right. Also contribute to other subReddits. Be careful not to spam.

● Use Buffer to schedule any posts to Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Google+. Great for international target audiences.

● Avoid automation. Although Buffer is great, don’t just schedule for the next month and then ignore the profiles.

● Use seasonality or current events to your advantage. If you host sports betting then ensure you cover important games. If you offer Poker then cover events such as World Series of Poker Tournaments.

● Make sure you have a contact page and get back to all queries within 48 hours. For more advanced form creation in WordPress use Gravity Forms.

● Use live chat. Experiment with a free offering such as Olark. Offer Skype chat too. You can use HTML buttons to offer Skype actions such as chat or call.



http://www.nodepositcasinoonline.com/

http://www.casinobonuscodes.com/

http://www.myvouchercodes.co.uk/

http://www.nodepositcasinoonline.com/

https://bufferapp.com/

http://poker.wsop.com/

http://firecask.com/go/gravityforms/

http://firecask.com/go/olark/

http://www.skype.com/en/features/skype-buttons/create-skype-buttons/

Thank You!Any questions?

Alex MossDirector, FireCask

Email: [email protected] Phone: +44 (0) 7743 870 210Twitter: http://twitter.com/alexmossLinkedin: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/alexmoss1/



http://twitter.com/alexmoss

http://uk.linkedin.com/in/alexmoss1/



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