The 'How We Do It' Blog

Disclosure: Optimate Group Pty Ltd has a financial interest in Australian Botanical Art.

Background:
Australian Botanical Art is an ecommerce web site that was developed in partnership with artist (and relation) Maurice Hayler in 2012. With nothing but search engine optimisation, the site was selling consistently three months after the launch date.

The site had been upgraded several times since with software releases, and a blogging engine was part of a more recent upgrade. This was an ideal opportunity to expand on the search engine optimisation and promote the prints further.

Analysis:
Purchasers of the prints have interests in three broad areas: art, Australian flora, and home décor. Blog content can be created that caters to those interests.

The Approach:
Three blog categories were created: The Stories Behind the Flowers, Botanical Bits, and Art, Prints and Framing.

The first category is dedicated to Maurice’s charming narratives on how he found the subjects for his artwork. These posts are not only authentic accounts that add character and backstory to the prints, but which also link to related articles that further share his adventures with readers. Each post additionally links to the prints should a reader wish to purchase them.

The other two categories are less personable but more practical, in that they offer information a reader could apply in their own life. Examples include a post explaining scientific (binomial) names, and a post on the importance of acid-free framing.

In Conclusion:
Adding a blog to the site proved a rewarding intellectual output, and there is potential for the site to grow beyond an ecommerce site. More posts on more subjects still need to be written, but the diverse interests the site caters to means there’s no shortage of material in the forseeable future!

Please get in touch if you’d like help identifying blog topics for your own website. We can even write the content on your behalf if so desired.

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Disclosure: Optimate Group Pty Ltd has a financial interest in Australian Botanical Art.

Background:
Australian Botanical Art is an ecommerce web site that was developed in partnership with artist (and relation) Maurice Hayler in 2012. This brand-new site at the time had no social media behind it (and still doesn’t), was completely unknown, and needed to rank in search engines if people were to find it.

Analysis:
The prints are truly beautiful, and Maurice’s art appeals strongly to people who appreciate the unique beauty of Australian flora. Each print displays both the common name and scientific name of the subject flower, which further increases appeal to those with a botanical background or interest. (Purchasers have included botanists and overseas tourists seeking a reminder of their Australian wildflower experiences.)

Such people tend to be very well-read and self-learners. It made sense to cater to such an audience, and this became the focus of our search engine optimisation work.

The Approach:
Each product on the site is a print of an Australian flower, known by both a common name (eg Ashby’s Banksia) and a scientific name (eg Banskia ashbyi). Each product thus has a title that incorporates both names and a unique web page address (known as a unique search engine-friendly url) that also includes both names. Each product’s description further includes detailed botanical information, such as the family, genus and species to which it belongs, and the meanings of these. (Please see here for an example as to how this was done.)

Botanically-minded people are likely to search for any combination of these details, and do, as evidenced by the server logs.

And a scientific background ensured attention to detail when naming species correctly — there are strict rules — which was absolutely essential if wishing to appeal to botanically-minded people!

In Conclusion:
The site was launched in mid April 2012, and through nothing but this search engine optimisation, was selling consistently three months later. It possibly could have been selling earlier with a social media presence, but to be honest social media just isn’t our thing and we can’t get into it. (We also find it an incredible time-suck!)

We really do prefer to spend the time researching, writing, and building a web presence the slower more conventional way — but that’s just us and there is no reason why this slower approach can’t be done in conjunction with an active social media campaign done by others for faster results. Social media is great for interaction with an existing audience, while slower methods such as search engine optimisation is great for attracting new customers, that may then choose to join your social media audience.

Please do get in touch if you need help with your own search engine optimisation. We can also help with any tech writing that would advance this if so desired.

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Disclosure: Optimate Group Pty Ltd has a financial interest in Australian Botanical Art.

Background:
Australian Botanical Art is an ecommerce web site that was developed in partnership with artist (and relation) Maurice Hayler in 2012. With nothing but search engine optimisation, the site was selling consistently three months after the launch date.

The site originally offered a range of 35 individual prints, six diptych sets, and three triptych sets. Each of these were available in three different standard frame sizes (5″ × 7″, 8″ × 10″, and A4). Ordering was simply a matter of choosing the prints of interest, and the size required. The price changed in real-time depending on the size chosen.

Shortly thereafter we introduced the option of buying the same prints pre-matted and on acid-free backing ready to frame, in two standard frame sizes (5″ × 7″ with 8″ × 10″ mat and backing, and A4 with 12″ × 16″ mat and backing) and one non-standard size (8″ × 10″ with 12″ × 14″ mat and backing).

Suddenly ordering became more ‘messy’, as the customer not only had to choose a size, but whether to purchase with or without a mat and backing, and with the price changing in real-time on-screen depending on the choices.

The Problem to Solve:
The site continues to rank well to this day, but was becoming harder to navigate and less easy to use with an increased product range and purchasing options. The site would become harder again to navigate with the introduction of another five diptychs and the planned introduction of another two sizes with mat options.

It was vital that the site become more streamlined before these new items were added.

The Solution:
The site had always been organised by print, with size and mat listed as options. A Banksia print, for example, would display with a choice of three size options and whether supplied as a flat sheet or with a mat and backing. That was six possible combinations, for one item, on one page!

So I considered breaking the site into two, with a ‘Flat Prints’ section and a ‘Prints with Mat’ section. This left size as the only option to choose from when on a product page, and was an attempt to return to how the site was originally. But this still didn’t feel right. A customer, on seeing the home page, still had to decide which section to explore first, and would have to go back and change the order completely if they changed their mind. They may not even know those options existed should they land on a different page via a search engine result.

Then I realised that each print (and diptych and triptych) could be its own section! I knew straight away that that was the approach to take.

Implementation:
The solution was simple, but implementing it took three weeks of solid work — not in one block but spread over several months to fit around existing clients’ projects of higher priority. (This was our own site and thus took second-fiddle.)

This effort was well-worth it! The home page now lists an image of each print, diptych and triptych on one easy to scroll through page. A customer can now click on a flower of interest, without first having to decide if they want a flat print or one with mat and backing. Once they have selected a flower, they are immediately presented with some botanical information about that flower, followed by images of all size and mat options in one spot. All sizes and prices are visible from the outset, without having to select an option for these to update in real time. There is also a link to a size guide page for more information should it be needed.

In Conclusion:
The site is far more appealing and intuitive to navigate. The five new diptychs were added seamlessly, and everything is now in place for when we are ready to add the two new sizes.

Please get in touch if you’d like your own ecommerce site assessed. We won’t offer fluff on whatever the latest trends and fads in web design are, but offer sound advice on the far more practical aspects of user experience .

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