Boost Your Business Success: 5 Must-Read Articles on SEO, E-Commerce Pricing, Merchant Risk, Social Media Strategy, and CTA Buttons + A Special Credit
Daniel Dias
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As business owners, we cannot simply wait for success to come to us. We must actively pursue it and capitalize on strategic opportunities to make it happen. In this month's newsletter, we have compiled valuable tips covering various aspects of business, including SEO and merchant accounts, to help you achieve success in 2023.
Here are 7 ways in which your business can gain advantages from implementing SEO strategies.
For anyone interested in establishing a robust online presence for their brand, investing in SEO is a must. But what exactly is SEO, and how does it work?
In essence, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and it is a crucial process that businesses undertake to enhance their online visibility and searchability. Put simply, it involves following a set of practices that improve the appearance and positioning of your web pages in organic search results. With only ten spots on a Google search page, it's vital to appear on the first page of search results if you want to attract visitors to your website. According to HubSpot, 75% of searchers never go beyond the first page of results.
Although the rules of SEO are constantly changing, there are some basic practices that you need to follow. These include keyword analysis, backlink building, and content creation. Additionally, you'll need to focus on writing compelling title tags and meta descriptions and optimizing images and page speed, among other elements.
Incorporating SEO into your digital marketing strategy can be complex and time-consuming, but it's worth it. By strengthening your SEO efforts, you improve your chances of appearing on the first page of Google search results. As a result, you'll increase your online traffic, which will enhance your chances of selling your product or services to potential customers.
Here are the top seven benefits that businesses can achieve through SEO:
Investing time and effort into SEO requires regular monitoring and updating of best practices. However, the benefits associated with SEO are so immense that it is worth all that work. Therefore, SEO for your business website is something you cannot afford to ignore.
HOW TO DETERMINE WHETHER YOU’RE A HIGH-RISK MERCHANT (AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT)
The process of starting a business involves many complex aspects, some of which can be overwhelming. One crucial element that requires careful attention is how to receive payments from customers. To achieve this goal, businesses can open merchant accounts through banks or independent sales organizations (ISOs). ISOs are third-party companies that act as brokers, bringing prospective merchants to banks, payment processors, or large financial institutions. They also handle the details of the merchant's payment processing needs and advocate on behalf of the merchant.
However, setting up a merchant account can be challenging for companies considered high-risk merchants. High-risk merchants are businesses that operate in specific industries, have a high failure rate, or have an average ticket amount above a certain threshold. For instance, businesses that sell firearms or e-cigarettes are considered high-risk industries. Many financial institutions also label legal firms, travel firms, and software industries as high-risk. Any business operating in an industry known for its volatility is also considered high-risk, particularly if they face a high risk of chargebacks, fraud, or a high return volume.
You may also be labeled as high-risk if you are a new merchant who hasn't processed payments before or if you have a minimal history of processing transactions. Having a low credit score, a high average transaction rate, or a high volume of transactions can also lead to the classification of a high-risk merchant. Merchants that process an average transaction of $500 or more or process more than $20,000 in payments per month may be labeled high-risk. Selling to international customers who reside in countries at high risk of fraud or having a merchant account closed previously for any reason can also result in being labeled as high-risk.
Despite the difficulties, high-risk merchants can still obtain merchant accounts. However, they differ from regular accounts in various ways. High-risk merchants typically pay higher processing and chargeback fees and are subject to cash reserve requirements. Payment processors may withhold a percentage of a client's processing volume for loss prevention. High-risk merchants may also be limited in processing transactions that exceed a predetermined dollar amount or cumulative volume each month. Additionally, they may be required to fulfill additional obligations, such as investing in a credit card of an NFC-capable terminal or a mobile payment solution.
To obtain a high-risk merchant account, businesses must follow specific practices. They should be transparent with merchant account providers and provide all relevant financial documents. Businesses should also be prepared to share a few years of tax returns and work on improving their credit score before applying. Demonstrating that you have the necessary resources for running your business and having between 25% and 50% of monthly card transactions in your bank account can help make the process of securing a merchant account easier.
When searching for a merchant account provider, businesses should research at least a few providers before selecting one. Ideally, their merchant account provider should have experience catering to others in their industry. They should verify the track record of the provider, have a direct conversation with them, and clearly understand all costs involved. It is also essential to identify situations in which the terms of the agreement can change and go through the contract carefully before signing.
In conclusion, finding a cost-effective and efficient high-risk merchant account requires careful consideration of various factors. Following the steps outlined above can help businesses select a provider with minimum hassle and maintain good relations with them in the long run. Finally, businesses should always remember to read and understand the terms and conditions of their merchant account provider carefully.
Stay Ahead of the Game: Why Social Media Competitive Analysis is Essential for Your Business
To ensure that you are performing as well as your competitors in your industry, it's important to invest time and effort into analyzing their social media strategy through a competitive social media analysis.
Conducting a social media competitive analysis is vital because it enables you to identify your competitors' strengths and weaknesses, as well as your own. Through this process, you can discover opportunities to grow your business and pinpoint potential threats that you can take swift action to protect yourself from.
A social media competitive analysis can help you identify your competitors, what platforms they use, how they use them, and what problems they are trying to solve for their customers. By doing so, you can gauge how well their social media strategy is performing and how you can improve yours.
In addition, a competitive analysis might spark ideas for creative campaigns, inspire unique ways to use your social media channels, find new ways to make your brand stand out and uncover niches that nobody has identified so far. By paying attention to what your competitors are doing, you could also figure out the best time to put up social media posts and understand how to better communicate with your audience across various platforms.
The main steps that constitute a social media competitive analysis are identifying your competitors, getting relevant data, evaluating their strategies, carrying out a SWOT analysis, and monitoring the data regularly. By following these steps, you can conduct an effective social media competitive analysis that will help you stay one step ahead of your competitors.
To identify your competitors, start by determining the keywords your business is trying to rank for using Google AdWords Key Planner. Inputting the top five or ten keywords on Google search and going through the organic search results and paid ads that come up as a response to your search can also help you identify your top competitors. Additionally, tools like Facebook Audience Insights and Twitter Analytics can help you discover other brands your audience follows, which can be counted as your competitors.
After identifying your competitors, you can use quantitative and qualitative criteria to evaluate their strategies, paying attention to their content strategy, ads or promotion strategy, and communication tone. Analyzing their advertising strategy would include identifying the targeted ads they use, while communication analysis means understanding how your competitors interact with their audience. You can conduct a SWOT analysis using all the data and information mentioned in the previous step to find out where you stand against your competitors.
Lastly, social media competitive analysis is not a one-time task but should be done at regular intervals. Tools like BuzzSumo, HootSuite Streams, and Brandwatch can help you analyze and keep track of your competitors' social media strategies and compare their performance with your own.
Unlocking Sales Potential: The Ultimate Guide to E-commerce Pricing Strategies
Determining the optimal price for your product can be a challenging task. If you set the price too low, you might reduce your profits significantly, while a price that's too high can lead to lower sales and lost potential customers.
Implementing pricing strategies can help you choose a price that not only enhances your sales figures but also helps you maintain your market share, all while considering the ongoing market conditions.
To choose the most appropriate pricing strategy for your business, you need to acquaint yourself with the various strategy options and evaluate their psychological impact on your customers.
What is an e-commerce pricing strategy?
E-commerce pricing strategies consist of rules that aid in determining the ideal price for your products. The price you set for your product depends on various factors, such as the cost per product, the profit percentage you want to make, and the price your customers are willing to pay for the item.
However, pricing strategies may also include marketing tactics, such as discounting your prices during time-sensitive periods to increase sales figures, such as when you launch a new product.
Why is it crucial to choose the right strategy?
A survey found that 60% of e-commerce shoppers say that pricing is one of the critical factors that affect their buying decision. With the emergence of specialized apps that compare prices of the same product on different platforms, it can be challenging to set the optimum price for your product.
The pricing strategy you choose should enable you to achieve all of your long-term objectives, including staying competitive, improving your bottom line, and communicating the value and quality of the product. However, keep in mind that you may need to modify your pricing strategy from time to time to keep up with changing company objectives or shifting market conditions.
Most popular pricing strategies:
There is no one-size-fits-all pricing strategy that works for every business. Hence, carefully consider which of these ten pricing strategies will work best for your product or service:
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In cost-plus pricing, you calculate the total costs associated with manufacturing or sourcing the product, marketing, and shipping, and then add a markup to this total cost to arrive at your selling price.
Pros: It is simple to execute and can generate consistent returns, provided your costs don't vary significantly.
Cons: It doesn't account for market conditions like competition or customer demand.
2. Penetration pricing:
This strategy involves introducing a new product at temporarily discounted prices to gain market share and increase brand awareness.
Pros: It can increase sales volume and attract more customers to your store.
Cons: Your customer may perceive your competitor's product to be of higher quality, or later, they may refrain from buying the product at regular prices because they’ve become accustomed to your introductory price.
3. Dynamic pricing:
The price of your product fluctuates based on various factors like demand for the product, supply of the product, competitor pricing, or even timing in dynamic pricing.
Pros: You can take advantage of ongoing market conditions to earn higher profits.
Cons: It is not ideal for small businesses because it requires automation and machine learning, which increases costs.
4. Skimming pricing:
A new product gets released at the highest possible price in skimming pricing, and the price gradually decreases as the product becomes less popular over time.
Pros: A company can quickly recoup its sunk costs by capitalizing on the novelty of a new product.
Cons: It doesn't work in markets where there are many competitive sellers, or where the high price of the product acts as a deterrent for potential buyers. Additionally, if you lower the price too quickly, you may offend customers who bought your product at its peak pricing.
5. Competition-based pricing:
In this strategy, the seller uses their competitor's price as a benchmark while pricing their product. This strategy works in industries where competitors offer products that are highly similar to yours, and the only differentiating factor is the price.
Pros: You can draw in budget-conscious consumers by pricing your product consciously below your competitors.
Cons: For the strategy to work, you would need to manufacture the same product at a lower cost than your competitors.
6. Premium pricing:
With premium pricing, you again use your competitor's prices as the benchmark. However, you would price your product above your competitors to indicate that your item is more luxurious, prestigious, or even exclusive.
To do this, you must differentiate your product in some way and offer more value than your competitors - this could be in terms of customer service or even great branding.
For example, you can buy a Timex wristwatch for $28. However, consumers recognize Rolex as a status symbol and of higher quality, so they are willing to pay $10,000 for it.
Pros: Higher prices translate into higher profit margins.
Cons: It is ineffective if your target market is price-sensitive or has other means of acquiring the same product.
7. Psychological pricing:
When deciding whether to buy an item, buyers usually look at the first number in the price. So, when you price an item at $39.95 instead of $40, more people are likely to buy it simply because the price starts with a lower number.
Walmart frequently uses this pricing strategy - you'll find that their prices typically end at .88 to convey a lower price.
Pros: This strategy can significantly increase sales volume.
Cons: You may lose out on a few cents or a dollar of profit per unit, but the increase in the number of units sold could compensate for this loss.
Bundle pricing:
In this strategy, products are bundled together and priced lower than when sold separately.
To determine the selling price of the bundle, multiply the product price by the number of products you plan to include and then subtract the discount your consumers receive by purchasing the bundle.
This can be the same product, such as "Buy 2 get 20% off." It can also involve related products that complement each other.
McDonald's is one of the most well-known users of this pricing strategy, with its Happy Meals being one of the best examples of bundle pricing.
Pros: Consumers love discounts of any type, so this strategy can help you clear out the excess inventory in your warehouse.
Cons: You will need to constantly evaluate which prices are working and which need adjusting for better results.
8. Anchor pricing:
Anchor pricing shows customers how much they will save by displaying the original price along with the discounted price.
Another option would be to place the product next to a similar one with a higher price - the point is that you want to reassure the consumer that they are getting a great deal.
Amazon frequently uses anchor pricing strategies to convince consumers that they are getting a great deal.
Pros: Anchor pricing helps consumers make faster purchase decisions since they feel confident about paying a fair price.
Cons: You would need to decide upon an optimal discount - if it is too high, it may create a sense of distrust, while too low may not be enough to entice the consumer.
One advantage of pricing strategies is that you can combine them to achieve even better results. For example, you can use the anchor pricing strategy described above to help you boost your sales over a short period while sticking to the cost-plus pricing strategy over the long run.
To adapt to changing market conditions, you would do well to evaluate your pricing strategies regularly. In other words, deciding upon a pricing strategy for your business is not a one-time task. It requires constant monitoring, analysis, and evaluation before you
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About the Author: Daniel Dias is a Business Lending Specialist who assists small business owners in obtaining the capital they need to start, expand, or maintain their businesses. Daniel understands the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and offers a variety of programs with flexible guidelines to help overcome common obstacles such as credit scores, credit history, time in business, financial documentation, and industry type. His expertise enables business owners to secure the necessary funding to achieve their goals and succeed in the marketplace.
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1 年Thanks ??
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1 年Good article Dan