Valentines Day and the “Google Effect”

In the days leading up to February 14th, there was the inevitable dramatic spike in web traffic to sites advertising products associated to Valentines Day, some SEO specialists have started to look at the negative affect that these seasonal offers and campaigns can have, leading to a sharp increase in traffic and impacting on the performance of applications and websites, and ultimately on the users experience, in what Lisa Robinson Schoeller, the senior director of marketing for Compuware identifies as “the Google effect”.

Google, and their extensive range of Search Engine Optimisation UK online advertising platforms, are largely responsible for what Scholar refers to as “the Google effect”, causing an upsurge in traffic to websites and applications that can’t always cope with the demands placed on them.

Although it goes without saying, maximising online sales conversions is the aim of the game for any business utilising Google’s Search Engine Optimisation UK and PPC tools.  Setting out with the objective of increasing revenue through web-based advertising is only one half of the battle; without a comprehensive strategy for coping with the inevitable spike in web traffic as a result of driving sales through Search Engine Optimisation UK platforms, with seasonal offers and campaigns, if customers experience slow response times and applications crashing, online operations are at risk of failing to convert sales and drive customers to a competitor.

As online news site Network World explains, its not just about increasing traffic to a site, in order to stay ahead of the competition, web fronts need to support their target audiences, by making their shopping experience as expedient and as easy as possible, achieving conversions and potentially securing future business.  If a site crashes half way through a transaction, or a webpage won’t load because of traffic volumes; customers will simply go elsewhere:

“Naturally, businesses looking to capitalize on the opportunities presented by high-traffic shopping holidays are developing applications that are as complex as the markets they serve. Online businesses need to prepare for end user access from across the globe, as well as from an array of different browsers and devices, such as tablets and smartphones.”

Not so long ago, back in the early part of 2000, internet access was far less prevalent than it is today; sales were generated by physical bricks and mortar store-fronts; now we are witnessing a revolution in the way people make purchases.  From a convenience perspective, most people will conduct a brief search in their lunch break to get on top of their Valentines, Birthday or Christmas purchases; as Scholar goes on to explain: “now the Internet is just a complete way of life, and it’s a matter of survival for businesses to make sure they have the absolute best performance.”

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