"Logician" <sales@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1141887997.917855.302220@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> __/ [ Logician ] on Wednesday 08 March 2006 19:18 \__
>
> >
> > T.J. wrote:
> >> "Logician" <sales@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> >> news:1141842820.379550.42300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >> >
> >> > T.J. wrote:
> >> >> "Logician" <sales@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> >> >> news:1141841502.659875.71790@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> >> >> >> __/ [ Logician ] on Wednesday 08 March 2006 17:25 \__
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> > I sell bathrooms, and one of my competitors is apparently
> >> >> >> > selling
> >> >> >> > a lot
> >> >> >> > via taps4less.com, by a lot I mean a large amount (think what
> >> >> >> > an
> >> >> >> > average guy earns per year, multiply by a few times, and that's
> >> >> >> > the monthly income).
> >> >> >> >
> >> >> >> > Is there any way to see how the site is getting so much
> >> >> >> > business?
> >> >> >> > ie to
> >> >> >> > check out the sources of leads?
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> Ideally, you would get access to that foreign server and grab the
> >> >> >> logs.
> >> >> >> That
> >> >> >> would be the only way for the full story to be revealed. Of
> >> >> >> course
> >> >> >> it is
> >> >> >> rarely possible and illegal too (I am being cynical here).
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> In practice, what you could probably do is derive estimates from
> >> >> >> channels
> >> >> >> of
> >> >> >> traffic by looking at the competitor's placement for various
> >> >> >> search
> >> >> >> terms
> >> >> >> and making a gross comparison based on the number of referrlas
> >> >> >> that
> >> >> >> you
> >> >> >> get
> >> >> >> for the same query. If for some given search phrase you get a
> >> >> >> certain number
> >> >> >> of referrals and your poisition is X, then depending on the
> >> >> >> position
> >> >> >> Y of
> >> >> >> the competitor, you could possibly estimate how many people
> >> >> >> percolate through that SERP to 'that other' site. There are more
> >> >> >> factor to consider
> >> >> >> like page title, summary, etc. Other than that you could identify
> >> >> >> backlinks
> >> >> >> and estimate how much traffic should be expected.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> Lastly, remember that people over-inflate figures, so take
> >> >> >> whatever
> >> >> >> you
> >> >> >> hear
> >> >> >> with a grain of salt.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >
> >> >> > The figures are accurate - they are very reliable. I am talking
> >> >> > about
> >> >> > money figures not clicks or visitors.
> >> >> >
> >> >>
> >> >> But do you know the outgoings?
> >> >
> >> > I know they use shopping.com which is 20p/click, and Google adwords
> >> >
> >> >> It's like gamblers, they always like to talk about
> >> >> the wins, but you rarely here about the losses.
> >> >
> >> > Yes, but this information is really real. I checked out the site and
> >> > there is a lot of clever advertising, eg
> >> >
> >> > - discounts are given for RRP and then VAT is added for the sale, but
> >> > RRP already has the VAT included. So the saving is not real (out by
> >> > VAT).
> >> > - also the restocking charges stock goods going back easily.
> >> > Re-stocking was illegal under DSR but I am not a lawyer. the law used
> >> > to say all returns are exempt from re-stocking charges for 7 days.
> >> >
> >> > But I will try and find out what they are doing to get so much
> >> > income.
> >> >
> >>
> >> Yes, it is a nicely set out site for selling stuff,
> >> Optimising isn't everything.
> >> If they have access to the right products, at the
> >> right price, have a good shopping cart, have good sales
> >> staff and someone clever at doing the ads that is exactly
> >> the sort of thing AdWords is perfect for.
> >> It's all about ROI.
> >> They may be spending £100k a month on Adwords and
> >> Overture but if that brings back £120 k a month then good
> >> luck to them.
> >
> > How did you get £100k? That's sounds very high.
> >
> >>
> >> Regarding the DSR:
> >> They could argue that they sell predominantly Business to
> >> Business, but if the crunch came and if a consumer stood
> >> their ground, they wouldn't have to pay a re-stocking fee,
> >> but as the company already have the money, would many
> >> consumers go to the trouble of taking them to court?
> > The site is retail not business to business.
> >
> >>
> >> If you think the ads are blatantly misleading concerning the
> >> RRP, you could try reporting them trading standards, but
> >> I doubt it will have much effect.
> > They just fake the savings.
>
> Logician, the time you spend worrying about the competition could better
> be
> spent improving your site. The same applies to statistics vanity and
> excessive analysis. It can be distracting and discouraging, which is
> unhelpful and counter-productive.
How much retail have you done? My guess is not very much. Your comment
about "competition" shows you have almost no knowledge at all about
sales, branding, and retail. I feel sorry for anyone trusting your
judgement.
The world is full of people with "opinions" and very few of them are
worth hearing. Sadly, a lot of people with "opinions" don't understand
the worthlessness of their views.
I have now discovered that a lot of sales are from ebay and nothing to
do with taps4less.com, also the site has 17,000 entries at PPC sites
and only 170 pages listed in google.com.
My site gets good comments from people, and that is because the content
aspect of it. It is very easy work to improve layout etc, and work
normally done by inexperienced people.
The technical aspects and supply aspects are far more advanced.
I really wonder about SEO "experts."
Probably because your question has very little to do with SEO
and is more concerned with SEM.
It took less than a minute to see that they are bidding high on
AdWords and Overture, they are probably listed in numerous
comparison sites and as you say, are using Ebay well.
Are they a powerseller (or using one)?
The look of their site is a lot better than yours, their navigation
system is a lot better than yours, their images are a lot better
than yours, they have a local rate phone line, their cart is nice
and simple to use, their AdWords campaign is a lot better than yours
Their site has little to do with SEO, but they obviously have a
good marketing team and someone good running their AdWords
(assuming they are monitoring it well)
As I said in previous post SEO isn't everything
AdWords is perfect for sites like that as long as they monitor
it well.
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