
Quality content is the single most important factor in your search rankings, but a host of other aspects of web design, development, and performance play into how you appear in the SERPS. Speed is one of them, and it is critical because it so heavily impacts the user experience. One technique you can use is minifying HTML. This allows you to speed up your load times, reduce page size, and reduce network delays.
What does it mean to “minify” HTML? It basically removes whitespace, comments, and other non-essential elements. At the same time, it does not interfere with the content structure. The result is cleaner, speedier sites. The BBC, for instance, has a hefty site of 77,054 bytes. When it is minified, though, it drops 55,324 bytes, a 28.2 percent reduction. For a site that is so heavy on content and media, this is a tremendous difference.
There are several great online tools that you can use to minify your HTML. (Note: It is important to also minify CSS and JavaScript as well. Why not drop as much weight as possible?)
These minifiers offer a quick and easy solution to minifying your HTML code. When you can compress and cut out the excess weight, you can offer a lean, mean site for Google to index and for visitors to enjoy.
Cart abandonment is a staggering problem for every e-retailer. Research shows that 57 percent of online shoppers never intended to make a purchase as they were window shopping, and nearly three-quarters (74 percent) abandoned items because of shipping costs. Just one more statistic: 56 percent of consumers have left items in their carts because they intended to come back later and purchase. That is a substantial figure, and it is one that e-businesses can use to their advantage. Persistent shopping carts enable consumers to come back, find their nice full cart, and complete the transaction.
“Content marketing is the only marketing left.” Seth Godin, author
A businessperson’s work is never done. There is always optimising to be done, whether you’re working on your site’s navigation, your keyword strategy, your content offerings, or your ecommerce site. Optimising your product pages is key because it allows potential customers to access the information they want – and be enticed by your products.
It is estimated that UK shoppers will spend £87 ($138 billion) online this year, up from £78 ($123.7 billion) from 2012. It’s no surprise that mobile devices have pushed the trend. We love the convenience, ease, and ability to shop anytime, wearing any sort of pyjamas we like. Consumers hop on their favorite ecommerce sites, but they also frequent comparison shopping engines (CSE) so they can quickly compare product offerings, prices, shipping options, and more. Google Shopping, Nextag, PriceGrabber, Shopping.com, and other engines make it easy for consumers – but do they make it easy for merchants? Being noticed is difficult. These comparison shopping engine optimisation tips can help.
Every website owner should applaud Google’s ongoing efforts to rid the world of spam, low-quality content, and poorly designed websites. Theoretically. In reality, though, some very good sites can get caught up in the search giant’s many algorithm updates. Because Google is the gateway to your website, getting knocked out of the SERPs can have a devastating effect. One area that Google is targeting with both algorithmic updates and manual penalties is links. Many people feel that the penalties imposed by Google are so severe that it is best to abandon your site and start over. That, too, can have negative effects. What can you do to reclaim your good name – and your good rank?
They are a common sight by now: social sharing buttons. You’ll see them at the bottom of blog posts, videos, infographics, and other web content, urging you to share the love. Sharing buttons make it easy for visitors to pass your content along to others who may be interested, and they can be an invaluable way to increase traffic to your website. Sometimes, making improvements is an arduous process and will make non-developers cry. Luckily, this is not one of those times. Installing sharing buttons is easy, fast, and, best of all, free.
