China’s government reported the country has surpassed the U.S. as the online population leader with more than 221 million Internet users.

The figure, reported this week by the Xinhua News Agency, reflects China’s explosive growth in Internet use. It was a 61 percent increase over the 137 million Internet users reported at the start of 2007.

Nielsen Online estimates the U.S. online population with home or work access at 221 million. By contrast, one-third of Chinese Internet users surf through cybercafes.

China currently has only 16 per cent Internet penetration — below the world average of 19.1 percent, and well below the approximately 50 per cent penetration in the U.S.

Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA China Ltd., a Beijing technology company, said the Chinese online population should keep growing by 18 per cent annually, reaching 490 million by 2012 — a number larger than the entire U.S. population.

With China on its way to the top spot, the U.S. will likely maintain the number two position for some years; according to Internet World Stats, third-place India had only 60 million users as of December 2007.

A Forrester survey revealed what’s really no surprise: almost one-quarter of online shoppers leave websites without registering or purchasing when they are required to register.

The research firm suggests the missed conversions and lost revenues can be minimized by making registration optional, and clearly explaining the benefits customers will get if they do sign up.

“The right incentives can also be helpful — online shoppers are most likely to hand over personal data in exchange for discounts,” suggested Forrester’s Megan Burns.

Additionally, Webcopyplus has found an effective way to achieve registration is to introduce it late in a process, once online visitors have invested time in a task. However, even at a late stage, if too much information is required, it can still lead to both frustration and abandonment.

Webcopyplus is involved with a Yale study and would appreciate your participation in a survey that takes less than 10 minutes to complete. There are 20 questions, and you could win a $20 Amazon gift certificate.

Just click on Soe City Survey.

– Thanks!

Author and marketing guru Seth Godin posted a sharp entry in his blog about the inbound phone call being a hugely valuable marketing event for a business.

He noted: “The goal of every single interaction should be to upgrade the brand’s value in the eye of the caller and to learn something about how to do better, not to get the caller to just go away.”

That seems to be the prevailing objective: do away with the nuisance, rather than learn something from the prospect or customer.
 
Also, almost every consumer would wholeheartedly agree with Godin’s statement:

“Your call is very important to us,”
does not jibe with,
“Due to unusually heavy call volume.”

Read his post: Who answers the phone

Or view a case study on how not to deliver
‘customer service’.

While there are numerous elements to successful web pages, three are absolute musts and are straightforward:

• Begin every web page with a unique, accurate and explanatory headline.

• Your conclusion must follow. To deliver effective web writing, your web page’s summary, description or key message should be at the beginning of your main copy.

• Use several subheadings or kickers. They should be descriptive, just like headlines, to help your visitors zone in on information relevant to their needs.

Here’s a Rogers customer service case study on how not to conduct business.

With my business phone and mobile with Rogers, I decided to bunch everything together and switch my home phone to Rogers as well. Here’s a breakdown of the events that spanned more than one year:

• After talking to two Rogers call centres for more than an hour in total, a switchover was scheduled for the morning of March 13, 2007.

• On March 13, no one showed, nor did I receive a call from Rogers.

• About a month later, Rogers called regarding a new promo. I mentioned the no-show and they promised it wouldn’t happen again. An appointment was set for the following Tuesday.

• It did. A second no-show.

• On June 21, 2007, I wrote to the Rogers executive team to advise them of my Rogers customer service experience.

• On June 25, 2007, I received a response via e-mail stating: “We have checked our system and we do have an order from you for service. The order is, however, incomplete at this time. As such, you will need to contact our customer service department directly for assistance with the status of your order.” It seems this experience is acceptable by Rogers’ standards. To top it off, the note ends with: “We are pleased to have been able to address your inquiry.” Not quite.

• Several weeks later (late in 2007), a third-party called on behalf of Rogers with a promo. I made reference to the two no-shows and was told there were “system errors,” and was “absolutely” assured they were resolved. I apprehensively agreed to make myself available for yet another appointment for a switch-over.

• Rogers never appeared. No-show number three. I didn’t bother writing this time.

• On Feb. 8, 2008, I received an unexpected voicemail from Rogers – several weeks after the third no-show – stating the migration to Rogers was “delayed.” Not wanting to sign on with Rogers after experiencing this service and the hassle of a switch-over, I called back immediately. I was stunned when I was told after being put on hold several times that it was “too late” for me to cancel the switch-over, apparently “due to automation.” My options were put forth: cancel Rogers after the switch and sign back on with my current provider; or agree to the service at a discounted rate. Not wanting to spend anymore time on this matter and deal with a “double switch-over,” I resentfully agreed to go with the discounted rate.

• On February 12, 2008, a contracted Rogers technician arrived, and eventually determined there was no live line to set me up with Rogers. Additionally, he stated I’d have to call my current provider to cancel my existing service, which baffled me. I was told by Rogers that it was automated and the cancellation with the existing provider “could not be stopped.” Following some confusing calls, the technician said he needed to go to his vehicle to retrieve some paperwork. He came back 20 minutes later shrugging his shoulders to advise me the request for Rogers home phone was cancelled. Annoyed, I wrote Rogers again to convey the events.

• Rogers’ Customer Service response: “Thank you for taking the time to write to us, we appreciate your use of online customer service. We are very sorry to hear of the difficulties that you have experienced in using our service.  We would like to offer you an apology on behalf of Rogers.  We would ask that you contact Customer Service directly to schedule the next available appointment timeframe that would be convenient for you.” Did they read the e-mail? Do they care? To top it off, the note ended with the following point: “You are a valued customer and we thank you for your business.”

• I wrote back immediately suggesting a cut-and-paste response wasn’t necessary, and directing me to Rogers’ customer service number was absurd.

• Rogers responded: “Thank you for taking the time to write to us, we appreciate your use of online customer service…” Almost the same letter was re-sent.

• April 3, 2008, Rogers was leaving me automated messages to call them back, and eventually I did. After being transferred a couple of times, I was advised I was late on payments for the home phone service I never received! I chuckled in a bid to maintain sanity and explained the events yet again to a Rogers employee. The agent, very kind, promised she would review the file, talk to the appropriate manager(s) and call me back the very next morning with an explanation.

The Rogers agent never called the next morning. Two weeks have passed, and still no call. Is this the type of service Rogers wants to be known for?

*On April 24, I received yet another invoice for home phone services never rendered.

*On May 19, after allegedly correcting their billing errors twice, Rogers Customer Service strikes again. Another invoice for services that were not delivered. What’s the cure for the Rogers customer service syndrome? Any suggestions?

*June 2: Rogers Accounts Receivable starts calling again for yet another outstanding balance for a phone line Rogers isn’t providing. After explaining the series of events, I was asked if I’d like to be connected to Rogers Customer Service to straighten things out. I kindly declined.

*June 13: Another voicemail warns the phone service (that Rogers is not providing me) will be interrupted if immediate payment is not made. Once again, I call and explain the events to the Accounts Receivable rep, who suggests I once again talk to Rogers Customer Service. I do, and this time receive a cancellation confirmation number. The representative ended the call with their scripted line: ”Thank you for choosing Rogers.”

By now, I have wasted well over a dozen hours on the phone with them, much of it on hold, trying to resolve their erros. Rogers obviously doesn’t value its customers’ time. Rogers customers could make a point by frequently calling Rogers Customer Service and then putting their employees on hold for 10 minutes or so. If the tables were turned, and customers wasted thousands of Rogers’ hours, they would surely take swift action.

While speaking at a recent Web forum in Vancouver, a web writer from the audience approached me with disheartening stories about how his skills were not valued at his workplace.

Part of the reason web writers are under-valued extends from the fact managers often get excited about new technologies. They believe employing new software and applications demonstrate they’re on the leading edge, creating an opportunity to score points with their superiors. As a result, the employees who handle design and development tend to gain more attention and recognition.

However, many managers forget an important factor. While technology is wonderful, its greatest asset in the digital world from a communications perspective is getting information to the right people at the right time.

But, if technology doesn’t deliver the right information, the entire effort, investment and process is essentially pointless.

The words you choose and how you use them is fundamental in your bid to engage consumers, and persuade them to make a purchase, pick up the phone, subscribe or what have you. Internally, effective web writing can help employees gain clarity, improve productivity and morale, and help build a winning culture.

Technology is powerful. But it needs to deliver the right message. And that’s why web writers are an important part of a winning online equation — whether managers recognize it or not.

The Yahoo Search Blog reported Yahoo is rolling out a major crawl infrastructure upgrade — dubbed Slurp 3.0 — during the coming weeks, which has been suspected due to variances in the search engines crawl behavior.

The search engine upgrades, designed to provide Internet users improved search results, is suspected of providing social sites higher rankings overall.

During a meeting to discuss an upcoming project, a marketing director from a U.S. firm suggested the client would be better served investing more on print materials, including print ads and direct ad mails, versus search engine ads and search engine optimization (SEO).

While print ads and direct mail have their place in the marketing realm, Webcopyplus strongly suggested the client stay the course and focus mainly on SEO.

The client, who is introducing a new type of data storage component for computers, is targeting a broad market – virtually anyone who uses a computer.

Even if you gain access to a direct mail list of individuals who recently purchased computer products, there’s no accurate way of forecasting current or future purchases.

Meanwhile, SEO allows you to target your audience when consumers are at their peak point of interest.

That’s when they are most likely to make a purchase, which translates to high conversion rates, and your best return on investment.

Your homepage is one of the key pages on your website. It’s often the starting point for visitors and therefore viewed most often. So what should your homepage communicate?

Your homepage should:

• Introduce the purpose and scope of your website
• Set the tone and build credibility

Important homepage elements:

• Header and footer
• Logo and tagline
• Clear menu and table of contents
• Company overview
• Key benefits you offer
• News, events and announcements

Like other pages, keep the design and messages simple, and use small images so the homepage loads quickly. Also, use direct, simple sentences.

Every slight improvement to your homepage’s web content will help you create a good first — and lasting — impression.