multiple index pages

Hi Alex,

If you've been studying this, you probably know that IP
mapping for
geo-targeting purposes gets less accurate the smaller the
targeted
area. For example, ip-targeting at the country level is more
accurate
than at the province / state which is more accurate than at
the city
level. Most IP targeting databases mention this somewhere in
this
documentation and I see it for myself when I run
geo-targeted ad
campaigns for clients.

If the current solution is working reasonably well, i'd
keep. The
solution is not foolproof (since IP targeting is not 100%
accurate)
_and_ you still have to maintain the existing solution for
visitors
from outside your target area. It sounds overly complex to
me.

As an alternative - does this website have a registration
database
that captures each registered user's address? If so, you
could
automate the process for logged in visitors (via a cookie)
and make
all others continue to enter the old way. This could become
an upsell
for registration.

- David Culbertson
LightBulbInteractive.com



On Aug 23, 10:00 pm, "Alex Visa" <alexv...gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have quite a strange issue, and since most of you are
veterans here, I
> thought you might help with some information.
> I do have to run a website which is hosted on a single
domain name. The
> website is Canadian and addresses 2 different markets
and in both markets we
> need to be bilingual (Ontario & Quebec).
>
> Right now, we are setup as follows: the index.html
redirect to a splash page
> where user has to select province and language and than
the page sets a
> cookie and transfers to one of the 4 index pages. at
his second visit,
> index.html reads the cookie and redirects to the
appropriate page (of the 4
> index pages).
> we cannot reduce the site from 4 (2 province x 2
language) versions to 2
> versions (2 languages) as the products and product
strategies are different.
>
> we have overcome any SEO issue and the website ranks
very good, even for
> generic keywords. My issue is that I know the whole
process described above
> is not user friendly.
> To eliminate the above we can either use a browser
language detect or an IP
> location detect or a combination of the above and serve
directly one of the
> 4 index pages. of course we would have to check for
user agent and if a bot
> shows up we need to have a special page for the bots.
> however, we cannot have the guarantee that this would
solve the issue. we
> will still have to use the existing page as a backup to
display in case both
> language and IP are ambiguous.
>
> *Here is the question
> - Where can I find any information about best
practices, or percentage of
> success using the 2 detectors.
> Our management does not want us to go ahead unless we
have at least
> 99.5%guarantee that we will direct the user to the
right page.
>
> Any advice is welcome. if you see other ways to go
around it, please let me
> know.
>
> Best regards,
> Alex
>
> "Never stop testing, and your advertising will
never stop improving." -
> David Ogilvy


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Another thought to add...

Beyond SEO issues, are you using an analytics package to
tell you how
many visitors make it from the splash to each of the 4 index
pages? If
it's less than 50%, you may have a problem that requires
fixing.

- David Culbertson
LightBulbInteractive.com

On Aug 23, 10:00 pm, "Alex Visa" <alexv...gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have quite a strange issue, and since most of you are
veterans here, I
> thought you might help with some information.
> I do have to run a website which is hosted on a single
domain name. The
> website is Canadian and addresses 2 different markets
and in both markets we
> need to be bilingual (Ontario & Quebec).
>
> Right now, we are setup as follows: the index.html
redirect to a splash page
> where user has to select province and language and than
the page sets a
> cookie and transfers to one of the 4 index pages. at
his second visit,
> index.html reads the cookie and redirects to the
appropriate page (of the 4
> index pages).
> we cannot reduce the site from 4 (2 province x 2
language) versions to 2
> versions (2 languages) as the products and product
strategies are different.
>
> we have overcome any SEO issue and the website ranks
very good, even for
> generic keywords. My issue is that I know the whole
process described above
> is not user friendly.
> To eliminate the above we can either use a browser
language detect or an IP
> location detect or a combination of the above and serve
directly one of the
> 4 index pages. of course we would have to check for
user agent and if a bot
> shows up we need to have a special page for the bots.
> however, we cannot have the guarantee that this would
solve the issue. we
> will still have to use the existing page as a backup to
display in case both
> language and IP are ambiguous.
>
> *Here is the question
> - Where can I find any information about best
practices, or percentage of
> success using the 2 detectors.
> Our management does not want us to go ahead unless we
have at least
> 99.5%guarantee that we will direct the user to the
right page.
>
> Any advice is welcome. if you see other ways to go
around it, please let me
> know.
>
> Best regards,
> Alex
>
> "Never stop testing, and your advertising will
never stop improving." -
> David Ogilvy


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If your "bounce rate" is only 10-12%, you're doing
great and (if it
was me) I would not change a change. From my experience,
many
companies would kill for a bounce rate that low.

On Aug 24, 10:28 am, "Alex Visa" <alexv...gmail.com> wrote:
> 
... I know, but exactly here is where my "case"
has died, as the splash
> page looses just an average of 10-12% of users.
> alex
>
> On 8/24/07, davidsculbert...gmail.com
<davidsculbert...gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Another thought to add...
>
> > Beyond SEO issues, are you using an analytics
package to tell you how
> > many visitors make it from the splash to each of
the 4 index pages? If
> > it's less than 50%, you may have a problem that
requires fixing.
>
> > - David Culbertson
> > LightBulbInteractive.com
>
> > On Aug 23, 10:00 pm, "Alex Visa"
<alexv...gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Hi all,
>
> > > I have quite a strange issue, and since most
of you are veterans here, I
> > > thought you might help with some
information.
> > > I do have to run a website which is hosted on
a single domain name. The
> > > website is Canadian and addresses 2 different
markets and in both
> > markets we
> > > need to be bilingual (Ontario & Quebec).
>
> > > Right now, we are setup as follows: the
index.html redirect to a splash
> > page
> > > where user has to select province and
language and than the page sets a
> > > cookie and transfers to one of the 4 index
pages. at his second visit,
> > > index.html reads the cookie and redirects to
the appropriate page (of
> > the 4
> > > index pages).
> > > we cannot reduce the site from 4 (2 province
x 2 language) versions to 2
> > > versions (2 languages) as the products and
product strategies are
> > different.
>
> > > we have overcome any SEO issue and the
website ranks very good, even for
> > > generic keywords. My issue is that I know the
whole process described
> > above
> > > is not user friendly.
> > > To eliminate the above we can either use a
browser language detect or an
> > IP
> > > location detect or a combination of the above
and serve directly one of
> > the
> > > 4 index pages. of course we would have to
check for user agent and if a
> > bot
> > > shows up we need to have a special page for
the bots.
> > > however, we cannot have the guarantee that
this would solve the issue.
> > we
> > > will still have to use the existing page as a
backup to display in case
> > both
> > > language and IP are ambiguous.
>
> > > *Here is the question
> > > - Where can I find any information about best
practices, or percentage
> > of
> > > success using the 2 detectors.
> > > Our management does not want us to go ahead
unless we have at least
> > > 99.5%guarantee that we will direct the user
to the right page.
>
> > > Any advice is welcome. if you see other ways
to go around it, please let
> > me
> > > know.
>
> > > Best regards,
> > > Alex
>
> > > "Never stop testing, and your
advertising will never stop improving." -
> > > David Ogilvy
>
> --
> Alex
> 514-243-8290
>
> "Never stop testing, and your advertising will
never stop improving." -
> David Ogilvy


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