The Easiest
Way to Exercise Your
lateral thinking skills in SEO
By
John Alexander
Definition
of Lateral Thinking:
Seeking to solve problems by some unorthodox or apparently illogical
methods. Exploring multiple possibilities and approaches to a
solution or resolve instead of pursuing a single approach alone.
The process
of "lateral thinking" or "thinking outside the box"
in building higher traffic Web sites is a very valuable asset. By mixing
practices of lateral thinking and keyword research research with Wordtracker.com, you can just tap into unlimited promotional potential for
most of your campaigns. If you practice thinking laterally while
examining your Web analytics (activity reports) you can make significant
differences sometimes with one single move. After all, with a little
careful though there may be ways to increase business with the client
base you already have, not to mention within the SEO strategies you
employ to increase visibility.
Let's give
you an example that just came to mind from past experiences.
I was
noticing a load of significant traffic coming in through 3 or 4 of my
main pages for this project where a client was selling vitamin type
supplements. While there was some good targeted traffic coming in, there
were not many sales happening. Often, the most natural things in the
world for us to do, is work on those OTHER important pages which are not
ranking yet. At one point I stopped to consider the possibility of
looking at things another way.
Was there anything I could possibly do "quickly," that would
get this client some new business, while I was in the process of working
on getting the other newest pages ranked? I had noticed much of the
traffic was coming in on one particularly busy FAQ (Frequently Asked
Questions) page. It became apparent that one of the reasons people were
coming into this FAQ page was because they had "questions" in
their mind about this supplement product which needed answering. (What
is the product?, Is it safe?, Was there controversy?) In other
words, I felt they were not ready to buy, but the reason they were
flocking to this page was for general information. What other
information could I give them that would give them some "peace of
mind" about this product?
With a
little research, I added some important detail and background facts that
I felt was what they needed to give them more of a comfort level. Then I
had some more lateral thought process. I wondered...what if I were to
add a quick sales pitch right to that FAQ page directly? Assuming that
they would have some new comfort level by reading the new more detailed
FAQ information, I wondered if people would buy directly from the FAQ
page if we gave them a good reason to.
What I did
was speak to the client about adding a "special offer"
directly to this high traffic FAQ page with a couple of ordering
options. The "special offer" was not complicated, just an old
fashioned pitch for saving X many dollars if you would by a certain
quantity in bulk. Show the regular price crossed off with the new
"special price in bigger text and a little summary of the savings.
Bingo, the sales started flowing in late that evening after edits were
made to the FAQ page.
Thinking
"outside the box."
One of the
most difficult things to do is really see your project from your
customers eyes and try and think about things from their searchers
perspective. Is there anything wrong with making sales directly from the
FAQ page? Certainly not as far as I was concerned and not as far as the
client was concerned either. One final thing I added was the client's
Toll Free phone number and they started getting people phoning in orders
too.
Okay so how
can you practice exercise more lateral thinking? The key to success is
to approach any challenge from a totally alternative angle. Often we get
so used to performing SEO strategies in one fashion, we tend to practice
the techniques which we are most comfortable with, based on our own past
experience.
When we
"brainstorm" or apply a "lateral thinking" approach
we must give our minds fuller liberty.
How do
you improve at "lateral thinking"?
The easiest
way is by "reason of use" and practice (the same as any other
skill)
It is a fact
that the more you practice anything the better you get. But where is the
best places to begin growing and nurturing these methods?
I can think
of a few places as follows:
-
Keyword
research
Try using Wordtracker.com
with lateral thinking which is focused on the "search
behavior" of your ideal target audience. Wordtracker is a great
working tool for researching keywords and visitor behaviour but it
is your "freedom of thought" that can allow you to
approach that audience in an alternative fashion. Lateral thinking
simply can allow you to see from a vantage point that is more
directly from the "minds eye" of the searcher rather than
having all your focus on the objective of your client. Listen
to my series of free
audio tips on Wordtracker.
-
Copywriting
Write your copy to relate to your ideal target audience. This is not
about SEO it's about writing for the human brain. Lateral thinking
opens a portal of communication directly in line with your target
audiences wave length. Your copy or written dialogue "makes
sense" to the reader. Your lateral thinking delivers new
approaches so that you can present your products and services and
solutions in a fashion that the reader will identify with. Once
again, the best way to improve is with practice. Try a reverse
approach to your article or story. Are there other "points of
view" that a story can be told, other from the first ones that
come to thought?
-
Identifying
how you will grow your Web presence
Lateral thinking can open up all kinds of topics or themes and new
ways to grow your Web site visibility.
Expand your thinking around the new content that your ideal audience
is looking for.
-
Outside
of the SEO process
Lateral thinking can contribute to nearly every aspect to your
site's design, look and overall experience.
Are there alternative ways to use navigation, site functionality and
general applications? Of course there are. You just need to explore
them. What about lateral thought for your newsletter or information
delivery?
The possibilities are absolutely endless if you allow yourself some
liberty to explore. Take some time to make a conscious effort to
practice thinking laterally.
Here are a few examples of what lateral thinking can deliver with
respect to SEO or search engine marketing:
-
More
effective keyword phrase combinations
-
Much more
original and more effective Web site content (written to
relate to a specific audience)
-
Totally new
applications to reach your audience right where they live
-
Lateral
thinking can contribute greatly to the impact of your
"branding"
-
Much
better quantities of traffic
-
Much
better quality of traffic
-
Lateral
think is what can separate you from the competition by miles
-
A much
richer overall Web experience
Science
fiction writer Ray Bradbury once wrote: "Life is about trying
things to see if they work".
In the world
of SEO this is especially true and the great thing is that it is easy to
test something and find out.
Lateral thinking should not just be considered a talent, it is
actually a skill which can be learned and improved by reason of
use. Like anything else, the more you practice, the better you become.
Now is a
great time to exercise your lateral thinking skills for SEO or for
whatever project you are currently working on. Start
practicing right away today, right now or with your very next project!
Highest regards
John Alexander
john@searchengineworkshops.com
About John Alexander
John Alexander is the Director of
Training of Search Engine Workshops and together with his
certified team of SEO training Associates at Search
Engine Academy,
they
teach 2-day beginner, 3-day advanced, and 5-day all-inclusive
"hands on" search
engine marketing workshops in locations across the globe.
John also teaches online
search engine marketing courses through http://www.onlinewebtraining.com.
Click here to go back to the
index of search engine marketing articles
