Month: June 2008

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A solution to displaying pricing on my website

Over a year ago I did a series of posts discussing the value and issues in adding product pricing to your website. Part of the reason I went thru this exercise was to figure out a solution for my particular situation, where posting pricing is not feasible.

And with the database tools of my new site launched earlier this year, I had an opportunity to try something. I realized that pricing on a website serves two purposes:

  1. As a real number for budgeting and purchasing.
  2. As a measure of value, to compare to other models.

In my posts, I had suggested pricing barometers as a way of addressing #2 when #1 was impossible to address, as in my case. So now I had to follow my own advice, but how…

I realized that comparison to other brands was just one problem, but comparison between my models was a problem I could solve. With two product categories of almost 20 models, and one with over 75, helping the visitor distinguish between my models was already a priority. I had already implemented side-by-side comparison for my largest product categories shortly after launching the site to make things much easier for the user.

And on the comparison page is where it makes the most sense to show a price barometer, so you can compare value along with specifications. So, here’s what I created: a ‘Price Rank’ category to the product specification table. This rank is a simple numeric ranking of base price for that product category. It looks like this:

“Price Rank” (Comparing to other models in this product category. Lower Number = Lower Price): #11 out of 18 ranked

This information is displayed on the product-detail page and on the comparison page. I was really happy when I got this implemented because it seemed very clear. My fear was that the ranking would need a detailed explanation or would be easy to mis-interpret.

And this helps my primary goal for shoppers on my site: to get them to say ‘cool, this looks like the model I need for my application’, and then submit a quote request.

(Pats self on back … and Mike Boyink for his help in implementing.)

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Google Trends: ThomasNet vs. GlobalSpec

UPDATED: See clarification about ‘Also visited’ below.

Just announced that Google Labs’ Website Trends tool can put graphs side-by-side. Hard numbers are not shown, which is probably smart on their part. And ‘tiny’ sites like companies in my industry don’t have enough traffic.

So why not compare ThomasNet and GlobalSpec? This data I limited to USA users, since worldwide, the trends were nearly the same (and USA is my market). I also tried adding iqsdirectory.com, but not enough traffic to rank.

Thomas shows more traffic than GlobalSpec from USA visitors:

In the same screen they also show other sites their users visited. (Blue bar =TN, Red bar =GS)

TN’s visitors must include a lot of their salespeople, as the #1 ‘also visited’ site is their extranet. #3 Webtraxs.com is their website analytics tool.

UPDATE: Per a comment left at the site, this isn’t exactly true summation on my part:
“A better way to think about it is the reverse: Nearly all users of TRRep.com visit ThomasNet.com, which makes perfect sense. This creates, statistically, a very tight association between the two. The point is that it has nothing to do with frequency, but with statistical probability.”

Meanwhile GlobalSpec’s visitors hit have a high probability of visiting ip09.com the most, which I am guessing must host their newsletter content somehow. Interesting to see trade-pub Machine Design as #2 ‘also visited’ site.

Like any trend-graph, things are open for interpretation. What do you think this all means? Ultimately, I am looking at leads delivered, but this gives an overall idea of visibility.

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The State of B2Blogosphere (2): Getting some signal

I guess I titled this series wrong. I really want to talk about the B2Blogosphere. I’ve complained about the ‘noise’ drowning out the ‘signal’. We need more ‘signal’, but what counts?

Getting some ‘Signal’–here’s the kind of things that I like in a blog post:

  1. Lists – Gotcha reading this post didn’t it?
  2. Waffling – Its okay to post questions without answers. Lets discuss the tough issues and figure out the possible solutions together.
  3. Train wrecks – The Internet gives us a chance to rubber-neck. It gives us a chance to learn from others’ mistakes and feel smarter for not making them.
  4. Level 6 – In the seven levels of change, Level 6 = Different. This is what Seth pushes us to toward.
  5. Hacks – Make me work smarter. Save me hassles. Yay.
  6. Stories – Facts are boring…tell me a story about the facts instead.
  7. New Stuff – Okay, I’m tired of posts about iPhones, but most posts about new things help me feel aware of the world around me.
  8. Stuff from Left Field – Surprise works, too. Boing Boing’s theme of ‘wonderful things’ is a great example.
  9. Attitude – What’s your voice? Speak up if you want me to hear you.
  10. Links – Send me somewhere new. Back up your argument. Lead me down a path to learn more.

Okay, not a link to go with every point, but you get the idea. Probably sad that I could come up with multiple examples of ‘train-wreck’ blogs quickly and not ‘Level 6’ blogs.

11. And comments, and posts that make me want to comment…

So post yours here, please. Reactions to my list? What blogs are drawn to, that give good ‘signal’?

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Microsoft AdCenter offers some help, free

I got this email last week (edited down):

Dear David, At Microsoft adCenter, our goal is to help you attract more customers and maximize your search ROI while saving time. That’s why we’re offering you free one-on-one assistance from an adCenter representative. … An adCenter representative will be calling soon to discuss how to improve your search campaigns.

Oh geez, I thought. #3 is going to call, maybe, and if they do, it will probably be a telemarketer trying to set up an appointment or cross-sell or some hassle.

The call
I ended up talking to Cory this morning and he was prepared, approachable, and gave useful ‘ideas’ to tinker with my campaign without talking down to me, or forcing me to log in and follow him click-by-click.

At the end Cory gave me his number, and it was written down by yours-truly in appreciation of his professionalism and potential value.

Smart!
If others like me ignore our MS AdCenter account, you gotta think that this is a smart strategy to get us to look again, improve our campaigns, and see results that (hopefully) we will take notice of. Win-win results!