We can't believe that it's almost the end of September! To mark the end of another busy month, here are our takes on a few news stories in our wonderful industry. Grab a cuppa and take 5 - who knows, you may learn something new...
1. Approximately 65% of consumers with a disability have abandoned a purchase due to poor accessibility
According to The Drum, brands and businesses are now so focused on 'designing websites that look beautiful from a brand perspective' to the point where it is impacting accessibility for certain users. Ecommerce is such a successful industry because it removes the barriers of a physical shopping experience. For those who are disabled, this is an extremely useful and integral tool of everyday life.
But, unfortunately, not all businesses are doing it well. Here's what you can do as an ecommerce business owner to improve the accessibility of your business's customer experience:
- Implement new options: is there an easier way for your customers to shop with their accessibility in mind?
- Create an accessibility guide: ecommerce sites can provide an accessibility guide for their users to provide them with information on how they can navigate and purchase from your website
2. How long should a blog post actually be?
According to a 2021 HubSpot study, the ideal blog post length for SEO purposes should be 2,100-2,400 words. Now, this seems like a lot. So, where do these numbers come from?
- Backlinko analysed 11.8 million Google search results, and the average first page result contains 1,447 words
- Hubspot found that articles of around 2,250 words had the most organic traffic and attracted the most backlinks
But, do not fear - Google says something different. Google has often stated that word count is not a ranking factor. You may find yourself asking: what is the right answer? Martin Splitt, a developer advocate at Google, says:
'The focus should be on satisfying the query intention of the user, whether that requires 40 words, or 2000!'
So, don't stress if your article is just shy of 500 words. That may be all you need to get your blog ranking, as long as you're nailing the query intention!
3. Relationship marketing...it's a thing!
It turns out that greater personalisation in your marketing strategy contributes to a huge growth in return-on-investment and sustainable consumer loyalty.
This comes from the 2022 Cheetah Digital study, looking into consumer attitudes and loyalty. Their VP of Content and Data, Tim Glomb, states that:
'You can have a great marketing team and many smart people in a room, but if you aren't truly listening to the audience and getting their sentiment and attitudes, then you're going to miss the mark.'
Here are some things you can do to personalise your marketing strategy:
- Keep your consumer at the heart of everything you do - what do they want? What do they need? How can you give it to them? What sets you apart from competitors?
- Build a relationship with your consumers - create a forum and champion your business's community and make your consumers feel individually special
- Be honest with yourself - are you building true relationships with your consumers or are you simply meeting your own goals?
Looking ahead...
Thanks for taking a look at our top stories for September. What does the next month have in store for us? Come back next month for October's news - who knows what will have changed by then!
