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Chats & Workshops
Holiday Prep: Shop Navigation
BrittaCP:
Hello! AngelaCP:
How is everyone doing? cowpie:
Hi Ang photographz:
Tired from AngelaCP:
We want to keep this interactive so throw out tips and experiences for the rest
of the SKs in chat :) AngelaCP:
Thank you for joining us for chat today. Todays
chat topic is Holiday Shop Navigation. AngelaCP:
What were really sharing with you is the best practices of shop
layout/navigation to make sure youre doing all you can to help conversion
over the holidays. We all know
thats the biggest shopping season of the year! AngelaCP:
There are two main things to think about for shop navigation.
We'll cover two and later you can toss out more ideas... AngelaCP:
The first one is making sure what you want your customers to see is above the
fold. AngelaCP:
Dedicate at least the top or 1/3 of your shop to the Holidays.
This is called placing things above the fold or above the scroll
folds meaning that part of a screen where you have to start scrolling
down. AngelaCP:
This is where you want to have keep the stuff that you want people to see first,
and in this case that would be your most festive and awesome AngelaCP:
Since this is the place that customers will see first, use it as a starting spot
to get them excited about not only magadog1:
Move holiday items and 2008 calendar sections to the top of your shop in its own
sections? AngelaCP:
Yes, that would be a good idea! We'll
have a chat to go over top products and content over the holidays. But calendars
are definitely one of the better selling holiday items... its calendar season AngelaCP:
For those that attended last weeks Holiday SEO chat, youll know this is
also the area to put your shop intro. Be
sure to add keywords that are relevant to your shop towards the top. AngelaCP:
Search Engines places a higher priority on content found in the header/top of
your site AngelaCP:
SEO content is most beneficial on the top of the site vs footer saneTV:
In the <head>? AngelaCP:
Does anyone know? I don't know the
details of the code as I do the general placement? peon2:
yes, that would be the head AngelaCP:
Thanks peon2. So add your SEO copy
in the <head> peon2:
so, as far as navigation goes, which is more effective - links n a sidebar or a
dropdown menu? AngelaCP:
Links in a side bar magadog1:
If there is too much copy in the description, is that detrimental AngelaCP:
Yes. Since this is the visible area to your customers, do not use all your space
on the shop intro. I have seen shops
that have LONG shop intros. That may
be good for SEO, but not a very good customer experience AngelaCP:
You guys have seen THOSE shops right ;) AngelaCP:
Where the content is over and beyond the "above the fold" area? dtdgoomba:
Head tags like keywords, descriptions are treated no differently than normal
page content. Don't go overboard, or
you'll be seen as a spammer. Just
write a nice short clean description, and use some keywords that really describe
the content on the page. Then try to
keep important elements in your initial opening content like H1, H2 Tags.
Just make it user readable, be concise with keywords. saneTV:
More words are not better than the *right* words :) AngelaCP:
bingo :) saneTV:
I find that some of what usually goes into shop intros can go into other parts,
even product descriptions AngelaCP:
So back to long shop intro: Customers may see and leave because they are not
enticed to move on and explore your shop further. peon2:
does putting a lot of text in an "alt" work then? AngelaCP:
Putting good keywords in Alt Tags definitely work Lekker
Jen: peon -
definitely. dtdgoomba:
Alt tags help search engines, people with slow connections loading images, and
people that are visually impaired, so it's all win. peon2:
doesn't Google ignore the meta tag - keywords though? AngelaCP:
I don't believe so...but I'll let the SEO experts here weigh in Lekker
Jen: I don't think
they ignore it - they just don't rank it as important as other stuff. Yahoo
seems to like them. dtdgoomba:
Google will ignore some things, but it won't hurt you for all other engines.
As long as you don't SPAM them, you can't be hurt by it AngelaCP:
Any questions about above the fold?
This is really important in terms of shopping experience AngelaCP:
Make the above the fold area visually appealing and display what you have
to offer. This is a first impression
for your first time visitors. cowpie:
When is the best time to move our Christmas items to the forefront? After
halloween? Now? AngelaCP:
After Halloween will be good, but you can even do it now if you are ready.
Make Halloween your highlight and the holiday as a lowlight ninaPA:
I've started moving my Christmas sections front and center. Also adding
Christmas text to shop description and section description areas where
appropriate saneTV:
I have too AngelaCP:
Once Halloween is over, you're ready to make holidays your highlight and have
gotten the SEO out while you're waiting cowpie:
I know some people get turned off if you start pushing Christmas too soon. BabyDave:
Now is the best time to write SEO oriented text for holiday shoppers -- we are
not likely to get more than one more visit form Google bots before years end AngelaCP:
Get your sections all ready, but no need to put on all the festive dressings for
your shop peon2:
so is using Googles keyword suggestion not the best way to find the
"right" words then? ninaPA:
I'm getting a lot of holiday shoppers already, based on what they are buying.
Personally I think internet shoppers may start early, wanting to make
sure they get things shipped to them in time. AngelaCP:
Based on data... they start as early as 10/23 AngelaCP:
so, i guess it's never too early... but that doesn't mean the full package early
on... magadog1:
Do we remove the holiday keywords from every level after the holidays and
"store" them? AngelaCP:
What I've seen SKs do is hide or lowlight their holiday seasons but leave the
keywords for SEO AngelaCP:
On your storefront, definitely remove holidays if its not relevant.
You can keep a link on the side bar for holiday AngelaCP:
So no more questions on above the fold? We'll
move on to how to organize your shop. BrittaCP:
There are several different ways to organize your shop. BrittaCP:
With your Premium Shops you can create sections.
Have all of you created a cowpie:
Yep! peon2:
that's a big 10-4, Ghostrider BrittaCP:
Sweet magadog1:
Yes. Separated into cards, gifts, calendars. BrittaCP:
To reiterate - make sure you have this section above the fold. BrittaCP:
You can create your sections according to... BrittaCP:
Design BrittaCP:
So when you click on the section, you'll see all the products with that same
design BrittaCP:
I think this is the most common way that SK's will create their sections BrittaCP:
Occasion BrittaCP:
I don't have a picture for occasion, but what it means is creating sections
like: Birthday, Wedding, Congrats! BrittaCP:
Or if you're doing holiday perhaps: Xmas, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice AngelaCP:
Hanukkah BrittaCP:
Product type
BrittaCP:
Here you're breaking your sections down in Stationary, ornaments, hoodies... SlackerPlanet:
What do you suggest should be put in a Holiday Section? My shop does not have
Holiday Themed designs. AngelaCP:
So SlackerPlanet, for a shop that will not have holiday themed designs this is
what you should do AngelaCP:
You can still festive your shop and get your customers to buy gifts for the
family, friends, and loved ones for the holiday AngelaCP:
organize by putting a his/her/baby/pet section AngelaCP:
You can also add some product stuff such as ornaments or stationary.
You can add a Happy Holidays copy to your existing designs and add it on
cards for the holidays. peon2:
stress what great gifts your non-holiday designs would be BrittaCP:
Demographic: women, men, baby BrittaCP:
With Demographic, you can create sections "For Her," "For
Him" BrittaCP:
get all your girly stuff in one section magadog1:
That works, Britta? ninaPA:
it works for us! BrittaCP:
It creates another form of easy navigation for your customers BrittaCP:
It helps in making browsing easier... for instance I know I want to get
something for my mom BrittaCP:
So I may look under the for her" section, or if you have a "For
Mom" section. magadog1:
That is probably my worst problem-- keeping up with the products and keeping
them organized. Ophelia:
The "browse by type" menu links are a great way to pull up all of one
item like say ornaments, even if you have your shop organized by design BrittaCP:
Exactly.... you can place one of these in your shop if you don't currently use
one. AngelaCP:
http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/help/help_pulldown.aspx
AngelaCP:
The code for a product pull down menu is on that page BrittaCP:
So even if your shop is organized by design or demographic.... and perhaps I
don't care who I'm giving the gift to... I just know I want to buy a bunch of
ornaments for coworkers... the drop down menu will help me find them in your
shop in a snap BrittaCP:
Ok... next organization method: Category: Hot sellers, new arrivals, special
deals.
photographz:
Do you move the products out of the regular sections or "mirror" them
somehow? BabyDave:
mirror them only -- don't move products from standard sections boldavenue:
photographz you can use "import" to copy objects into your holiday
section BrittaCP:
Categories means things like: "What's hot," "What's New"
"limited Edition" BrittaCP:
Now... if you have a whole bunch of designs... you can also create subsections,
so your 1st section is perhaps Design Type BrittaCP:
like "retro" or "modern"
BrittaCP:
Or in the case of BrittaCP:
when you go inside, you'll see the sub sections with the designs inside. BrittaCP:
make sense? saneTV:
Britta, I have a "Best sellers' section that is just that: designs that
have proved to be classics. Word-of-mouth sends people to my shop, and people
want to see these popular designs right away BrittaCP:
Great Sane BrittaCP:
So with all the different methods to organize, think about which one will work
best for you. Do you have a few
designs, many? How can they be
bundled into a nice package? bridey:
can you set up a link in the side bar to just ornaments, or just greeting cards
where it will just pull up the results as if the clicked on one of the items in
the pull down menu? AngelaCP:
Yes and SKs have done that. AngelaCP:
I love seeing the shops that put their product specific categories in the top
nav bar. Does anyone here have that? AngelaCP:
Thanks Ophelia CYI:
Most of my search engine traffic lands in one of my sub-sections (motorcycles,
Halloween, etc). I put banners in
each of these subsections as well to make them more visually appealing to
buyers. AngelaCP:
That's a great idea CYI... thanks for sharing photographz:
I believe someone told me Google base doesn't like duplicate information (same
name, description). BabyDave:
SKs worried about sending duplicate info to Google base can mirror products into
holiday sections and give them new names. These special sections should be IN
ADDITION to the normal design based sections, not replacements -- don't mess up
affiliates that link to your design sections Ophelia:
You'll probably want different descriptions in the holiday section anyway...
more holiday-ish text BrittaCP:
for sure. peon2:
sorry, Ang. Yes, buttons and yard signs. Those yard signs are going to make some
cool holiday decorations. AngelaCP:
yes. These election geared products
will work for the holidays or any occasion saneTV:
Get all the arm-weather sweats and long sleeves in one area for a winter section
-- even mugs, for hot cocoa! AngelaCP:
That's a great idea Sane BrittaCP:
I like that idea... you don't necessarily need "holiday" items, but
can still sell your winter themed stuff AngelaCP:
Let us know if you have any questions... we'll go back and answer some of the
unanswered questions earlier.... AngelaCP:
Looks like we got most of the questions answered... if not, feel free to post
again AngelaCP:
I know there are some SEO questions before we moved on... so we're more than
happy to answer questions about that now... seems like that's an area you all
want to focus on AngelaCP:
we have 15 minutes left...and it's fairly quiet... no questions coming in or
comments SFFriar:
Angela ~ is there a group within CP that analyzes your website and gives
suggestions... or, can you recomend any software that is best for doing this? AngelaCP:
Are you talking about for a SK shop? SFFriar:
Yes AngelaCP:
I would suggest the CafePress Community Forums. There's a forum for shop/design
feedback: http://forums.cafepress.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/784104 Ophelia:
Another nice thing theme to do for holidays is "gifts under $20",
"gifts under $10" etc. BrittaCP:
that's an excellent idea... during the holidays, everyone loves a deal AngelaCP:
Yes Ophelia! I like the stocking
stuffer section BabyDave:
I suggest SK do a lot of reading in the forums
-- many MANY questions have been answered very well already photographz:
No one has mentioned count down banners yet BrittaCP:
I've been seeing these a lot this year, Care to share where you can find one
photo? photographz:
Here's a URL: http://ult-tex.net/counts/index.cgi
SFFriar:
Does anyone use a specific software to SEO your site? AngelaCP:
Not the actual SEOing, it's all in your brain ;) BrittaCP:
the cheapest software of them all AngelaCP:
There are tools you can use to help you come up with more keywords, etc BabyDave:
There is no such thing as SEO software -- SEO is all about writing SFFriar:
It sure is nice using all you guys software!
:whistle: AngelaCP:
So the hour is up and we want you to continue chatting so we'll open up the
lobby AngelaCP:
we do hope the chat today helped AngelaCP:
We hope to see lots of great holiday shops :) AngelaCP:
as all the seasoned SKs know...holidays are BIG!!! AngelaCP:
so thank you everyone for attending! BrittaCP:
see you on the boards! |
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