THE HEADLINE IS HALF THE JOB!

LOWER YOUR BOUNCE RATE 100% FREE!!

Hey, now that’s a headline that got your attention, didn’t it? You’re still reading so it did get your attention – and that’s what a good headline on your homepage does. It gets attention.

There are plenty of high-priced, Fortune 500 company sites that have ignored this basic marketing axiom – headlines grab attention. Don’t believe it? Okay, imagine the next issue if your favorite magazine arrives with no contents page, no headlines or subheads – just big globs of text and pictures without any captions. How long are you going to wade through all of that content to find the stuff you really want to read?

Same idea with your website. A grabber headline will lower your bounce rate because more visitors stick around, pulled in by a great headline.

Okay, what’s a great headline?

A good headline is one that keeps the visitor on site. So what are we talking about, here? What’s going to keep a visitor from bouncing?

Self-interest headlines identify the benefits of the product or service to the reader. The objective of these headlines is to be as specific as you can about the benefit(s). For example:

Double Your Portfolio Return Without Risk

Backache? Let Acme Pregnancy Pillows Make You Comfortable

Lose 30 Pounds in 60 Days: FREE Recipe Book

Notice that each headline defines specific benefits: double returns, get comfortable, lose weight easily. Self-interest headlines describe the key benefits of whatever it is you’re selling.

A note worth noting here: web users are NOT idiots. Headlines like:

EARN $5000 a DAY FROM HOME

DOUBLE YOUR MONEY IN 60 SECONDS

BUY RENTAL PROPERTY IN FRANCE:

EARN $10,000 A MONTH WITH NO MONEY DOWN

STAY YOUNG FOREVER WITH ACME ALGAE DRINK

(May not be legal in all states.)

You still see this ridiculous bombast all over the web. Look, all you site owners who are doing this. Web users are smart so treat them with respect and don’t insult their intelligence with this kind of hype. Self-interest headlines work but screw the top back on the hype jar. People aren’t idiots.

News Headlines present information without any sales spin, though spin is usually the point.

HERBENOUGH EARNS SEAL of APPROVAL

XZY ENERGY BRINGS OIL TO THE PIPELINE

DOCTORS AGREE ON GLAUCOMA TREATMENT

Now, the news headline should be void of any type of sales or promo. Think of it as a press release or newspaper headline. These headlines work well for NFPs, service organizations, pharmas, micro-cap companies (penny stocks) and other agencies projecting a non-commercial, online persona.

Even though these headlines should be void of sizzle, they should still draw the attention of the reader. Boring doesn’t sell. The sites that use this type of headline are usually sites that attract the needs-driven buyer – the guy facing foreclosure or the gal who just lost her health insurance. Needs-driven buyers want information. They don’t want (or need) a lot of sales hype. The sale is already made.

Intrigue Headlines appeal to the curiosity of the reader – evoking a need to learn more.

DO YOU HAVE ANY OF THESE SYMPTOMS?

IS THAT A UFO IN YOUR LOCKER?

WAIT’LL YOU GET A LOAD OF THIS!!!!

Hmm, do I have any of these symptoms? Hey, I better do something. These headlines tease the reader into digging in and reading the rest of the piece, which can include some sizzle, but please remember the hype quotient (HQ). Keep it to a minimum.

Designing the Perfect Headline

Check out that sub-head: perfect headline above. So, if you’re a site owner and you’ve read this far, you’re going to want to learn some tips for developing the “perfect headline.” Get it?

So, okay, the headline should fall into one of the three categories described above. The headline should be the largest design element above the fold on the homepage. Bigger than your business logo, company name, contact information – the perfect headline demands attention.

Turn the spotlight on the reader. Don’t talk about “me” and “my.” Who cares? Talk to “You.”

WOULD YOU LIKE TO EARN EXTRA INCOME?

YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOUR WATER IS DOING TO YOU

YOUR FUTURE BEGINS TODAY WITH US

People are motivated to read content that applies to them. It may sound callous, but it’s the old “What’s in it for me?” mentality. So tell the reader what’s in it for her – in the homepage headline.

Avoid any kind of negativity. It’s okay to say “We’re the best.” That’s positive. It’s not okay to say “Our competition stinks.” Way too negative so keep the focus on your positives, not the competition’s negatives.

Tests indicate that long headlines, as long as no scrolling is involved, work as well as short headlines. So, go for it:

EARN MORE MONEY THAN YOU EVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE

WITH ABSOLUTELY NO RISK TO YOU

AND NO COST TO YOU

A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY THAT HAS UNLIMITED UPSIDE

WITH VIRTUALLY NO DOWNSIDE WHATSOEVER

You get the idea. Visitors will read the long headline as long as it continues to point out benefits to the reader. So go short or go long. Just keep it focused on the reader.

Avoid headlines designed to show just how clever or witty you are. Again, the site headline is designed for one purpose – to grab and hold the visitor’s attention, not to “wow” the visitor with your rapier wit.

Don’t use industry insider jargon, either. You can’t be sure who will be reading the headline and if it’s a clerk in ‘Purchasing’ he may not understand the headline.

Finally, test different headlines to determine which is stickiest. You might think it’s the greatest headline ever written but if it isn’t pulling, move on and try something else that focuses on the benefits of the product or service to the reader.

NEED SOME HELP GETTING YOUR SITE COPY JUST RIGHT? YEAH, YOU BETTER. DROP ME A LINE. LET'S GET STARTED BUILDING YOUR WEB BUSINESS.

Webwordslinger.com

Keep Ém On Site Longer: 10 Tips

10 Tips To Lower Your Bounce Rate

A site’s bounce rate is a measurement of the number of visitors who stopped by the site but immediately clicked off to another site, aka, bounced. There are lots of reasons web users boing from one site to another, which means there are lots of things you can do to lower your bounce rate and keep visitors on site long enough to convert.

Here are ten tips to help you take the spring out of your web site.

1. Don’t assume the visitor lands on the home page. A visitor can enter from a number of access points. For instance, by conducting a search for a A324 converter, the visitor might land on the product page for said converter. (There’s no such thing, btw.)

This means that many different pages may be the doorway to your site so treat each page as a home page. Read on for design suggestions from your web host.

2. Keep critical information above the fold. Above the fold is an old newspaper term that described the newspaper’s front page “above the fold.” This is where the most important (or sensational) news is placed in newspapers today.

In website terms, above the fold is everything seen by the visitor without the visitor having to scroll – prime site space. Your most important information should appear here. A recent study on how different groups of people use the web showed that the 50 and older crowd don’t scroll as much as their web-wise grandkids so if you want it read, keep it above the fold.

3. Web users scan your site pages from upper left to lower right. So, what visitors first see in the upper left corner of their browsers will often determine if they stay or boing, boing, boing.

4. Create compelling headlines. “Who else wants to make a million dollars before bedtime” and other web clichés do not compel visitors to stick around to read your long-form, Dan Kennedy template sales letter. Headlines create interest among human readers and search engine spiders who recognize headlines as important text. So make your point in and add keywords to headlines.

5. Layout your home page in a three column format. Using three columns, you can create three headlines above the fold. If two headlines don’t capture the attention of the visitor, maybe the third one will.

Again, also useful in optimizing your site so make sure to build keywords into your headlines to keep everything in sync and max the utility of both the site text and your top tier keywords.

6. A picture IS worth a thousand words. A visual image (not just text) above the fold naturally draws the eye and attention of visitors so a small image or an image banner is helpful in breaking up blocks of text, and starts off the visitor slowly. A walloping pile of text, no matter how compelling, isn’t going to appeal to those “on-the-fence” visitors looking for a specific service, product, message or arcania.

A couple of points. First, if you’re using a photo, make it a photo worth seeing – a photo that instantly delivers your site’s message. Google “pre-fab homes.” You won’t see innocuous clip art. You see beauty shots of the prefab on a snowy evening with a warm fire going in the fireplace. So don’t waste pixels. Maximize every one.

Charts and graphs are a terrific way to transmit a lot of information in the blink of an eye. You can write pages of text testifying that your stock picking formula is the best, or you can create a chart showing your online portfolio delivering gains of 150% a year. A chart showing rising value (whatever the product or service) makes a strong statement very quickly.

Charts and graphs are also useful in making complex information more accessible to the reader. Your typical visitor won’t read through pages and pages of company financial statements but s/he will make a buying decision based on proof in image form.

7. Make navigation simple enough for a well-trained chimp. If the visitor is confused, even for a moment, you’ll see a bounce. Life is too short to “figure out” how this works. We’ve grown extremely impatient in the digital age and if it even LOOKS hard, boing.

Keep your navigation bar in the same place throughout the site and provide the option to return to the home page from every page of the site. A visitor may get lost and want to start over, learn more or use the links on the homepage to further explore the site.

8. Appeal to the drives of your ideal buyer. Needs-driven buyers have already determined that they’ll make a purchase and pay a lot if the purchase meets their needs. For example, there are a million books for sale on the web telling you how to avoid foreclosure “even if the sheriff is knocking on the door!!!!”

Okay, now that’s a needs-driven buyer. Facing foreclosure. Sherriff at the door – that site visitor will pay $99 for an e-book download if s/he believes the product provides (or is) the answer to his or her foreclosure problems. That’s a needs-driven buyer – a prospect who needs what you market – products or services. These buyers are less concerned about how cool and stylish your site is, how many interactive features it has and so on. These people are looking for solutions and benefits.

Other on-line shoppers are more casual in their buying habits. For example, many browse the web to comparison shop for prices and then run off to the big box store to make the actual purchase. Or, they just may bounce to a competitor site to make their online purchase. It’s a very fickle marketplace. But…

… if something catches the eye and addresses the drives of your demographic bulls-eye, your bounce rate decreases quickly. This means:

• Know your target demographic. Describe your perfect buyer.

• Know your products – inside and out.

• Know the motivations of your ideal buyer – need, the desire for prestige, acceptance, to be part of something larger (to belong) – what motivates your buyer? Example? A site selling acne cures should appeal to the consumer’s natural drive to improve his or her appearance in order to better “fit in.” The human desire to belong and to be accepted is what fuels the cosmetics industry, the fashion industry and other “personal signature” industries.

So, the owner of the acne cure site can create three distinct headlines that address the drives of buyers of skin care products and place them above the fold: (1) Look Better The Natural Way, (2) Why Dermagel Really Works and (3) Stop Covering Up – three headlines aimed with laser precision at a site selling acne cures and other sensitive skin care products.

9. Real information. Not sales hype. If site visitors discover useful information that will directly benefit them on each search engine accessible page of your site, they’re much more likely to stick around and learn a little something.

Sure, if you’re operating on razor-thin margins and “Low Cost” is your prime selling point (WE BEAT ANY PRICE ON THE WEB) then that needs prominent, “can’t-be-missed” display on the home page – somewhere. But to lower your bounce rate, add a little informational content or a big link to your site’s information bank, blog or archives. There’s plenty of opportunity to make a sale once the visitor has begun to explore your site for additional, useful information.

10. Don’t follow the herd. 6,000 new websites hit the W3 each and every day. There are over one billion active websites worldwide. And if your online sporting goods warehouse site looks like every other sporting goods warehouse site you’ll continue to see a higher than acceptable bounce rate. You’ll never get your bounce rate to zero. All you can hope for is to lower it.

One last humbling fact: the average web user decides whether to stay on a site or move on in less than six seconds. Six seconds!!! That’s how long you have to compel the visitor to stay on your site before bouncing off to some other site.

Six seconds. How can your site grab attention in just six seconds? That’s the challenge we all face as site owners.

If your site visitors are bouncing like ping-pong balls, give me a call and let's find away to keep them on site long enough to close the sale.

Webwordslinger.com

Data Miration Requires Careful Planning

Website Migration:

Movin' On

Unless you’re a fully-registered chiphead, chances are you don’t have a clue about moving your site from one web host to another. So, despite shoddy service, unacceptable downtimes and the fact that you’ve been hacked twice, you stay with your current web host. Why?

Because the prospect of site migration has all the appeal of a root canal. So many things can go wrong. It’s going to hurt. You’ll get stressed out. You’ve heard the horror stories (web myths) of sites simply disappearing from Google SERPs, or disappearing altogether, floating somewhere out in the ether.

Well, migrating an active, fully-functioning, income producing business from one web host to another is a serious step and yes, there can be “problems.” Compatibility issues, connectivity issues, even editorial issues. Some web hosting companies refuse to take business from the “adult entertainment” industry, for example. So yes, there are concerns about migrating a site and yes, you should be concerned.

Dissecting a Website

If you’ve been up and running for a while, and you sit down each morning and log on to your administrator’s console, you may have lost sight of the fact that a commercial website is actually a collection of different “modules” designed to work in sync.

So, you have a database. MySQL perhaps? That’s one component. You have a shopping cart and secure checkout like osCommerce. That’s another component. You maintain an active blog. Yet another component. And syncing up all of these modules, so sales are automatically recorded in the database, for example, has been a generational process. No doubt, you’ve added features, changed the look and maintained other iterations of your current site, but it all happened gradually – over a period of months and even years.

To migrate your site successfully, you want three things:

- seamless transitioning from one web host server to another

- complete and accurate functionality

- a strategy

A Seamless Transition

The objective is a seamless transition from one web host server to your new host’s server. It should happen in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately, if you haven’t checked for software and services compatibility, your site may be down for a day or two. Maybe a week or two while you switch over to software compatible with your new host.

If this is your business, any down time is wasted time. Okay, if you’re down for a day, no biggie, right?

But if your site is off the radar for a couple of weeks you’re going to lose sales, future sales and, if you happen to get spidered while your site is down, you’re likely to get slammed by search engines. In one case a page 1 Google link dropped to page 32 of the search engine’s results pages because it was down for two days so a seamless transition isn’t a luxury. It’s a must have.

Complete and Accurate Functionality

In developing your migration strategy, provide time for complete testing of your site on the new server. Glitches may be found that require some adjustment to the underlying HTML code, or the presentation layer. You want to discover all of these problems before you launch through your new web host.

A Strategy

To ensure the seamless, fully-functional site you have now remains fully-functional and looking good, use the resources of the web host. What, the host doesn’t offer assistance with site migration? Then, this is not the web host you want. The better web hosting companies will not only help you develop your migration strategy, they’ll actually help you affect the migration when you’re ready to throw the switch.

A Couple of Obvious But Critical Points

• Always consult with client services at your new web host. Be prepared to describe the components currently in place.

• Back up your entire site six ways from Sunday.

• The data in your database will have to be moved. Back up this data separately.

• Keep your current site active during this planning stage.

• Recreate your site on the new host server and test for everything from browser compatibility to server access though the new administrator’s dashboard. Stress test the new site.

• Once you’ve determined that all systems are go with your new provider, throw the switch. Take your original site off-line as you bring your new site online.

Work with the professionals at your new web hosting company to ensure that all data is transferred and properly secured at the server level, and to ensure that the migration of even the busiest commercial site is seamless, delivers 100% functionality right out of the gate and that all potential migration problems have been identified and mitigated before the launch of the new site.

Quality hosting is based on the premise that if your online business is successful, the web hosting compnay will become successful as its ever-expanding client base remains on line and profitable. So, these web hosts WANT to help you be successful.

Sure, site migration is fraught with potential dangers if handled in a slipshod fashion. But, if you work with the techs at your new host – experts who should be more than happy to provide all the hand holding and technical assistance required to enable that seamless transition – it can be virtually painless.

Consider the service you receive now from your provider. If it doesn’t exceed expectations, don’t let site migration web lore put you off. Working with client support, you should expect and receive that seamless, fully-functional migration and never miss a beat with customers or search engines.

Just starting out? Looking to change hosting services? NP. Drop me a line and let's do this the smart way.

Webwordslinger.com

Seven Tips For Selling To The Rich

Seven Tips to Reach the Rich:

Marketing to the Luxury Consumer

There was a time when the world wide web was NOT the place to sell $100,000 diamonds or fine works of art. It was a place to shop for books, a few music downloads and maybe buy some electronics gear. The luxury consumers, the ones with the resources to buy at Tiffany’s without so much as a second thought, weren’t going to buy their diamond tennis bracelets at higgenbottomsjewelrywarehouse.com where the motto is: “If we don’t say ‘howdy’ your purchase is free.” That type of hometown marketing doesn’t work with those for whom money is no object.

And isn’t that the perfect customer? For all of us?

The Nouveau Nouveau Riche

There’s a new species of luxury buyer. This isn’t old Harvard or Yale money. This is wealth created by the class nerd who developed a software company that he sold for $500 million when he was 25 years old! (Who’s laughing now?) This new demographic is usually a professional, well-educated, two incomes, money in the bank and discretionary income at his or her disposal.

Reaching this market segment requires an understanding of the motives that drive these individuals to purchase – especially to purchase on line. From you.

Prestige and Indulgence

These deep pockets buyers are usually driven by the fashionistas – the media segment that tells us what’s hot (just ask Paris) and what’s not. They’re shopping, not just for a winter coat, but a signature statement – a statement that’s made by wearing designer clothes, for example.

You can buy a warm winter coat at LL Beans for less than $100 but where’s the prestige in that? Instead, this market segment looks for the designer label. The coat won’t keep them any warmer but it does exude prestige and indulgence – because of that designer label.

To reach this market segment, brands must be created and presented in a luxurious manner. Brand names count, whether it’s clothes, appliances or automobiles (especially automobiles).

It’s Not About the Money – Most of the Time

Most of us look for sales, squirrel away money in our IRAs and worry whenever the stock market hiccups. Not so with those who enjoy true financial freedom. When you’ve got millions, a market blip isn’t worth fretting over. So, the natural appeal to site owners to emphasize low prices – a natural selling point for the run-of-the-mill consumer (me) – doesn’t carry any weight with the luxury buyer. In fact, it works against the sale.

There’s a promotion concept called ‘velvet rope marketing’ – marketing designed to appeal especially to the well-to-do. We all recognize the turquoise Tiffany’s box and there’s no such thing as an entry level Jaguar. They’re all pricey.

However, today’s luxury, online buyer is just as likely to visit the Target website as the Tiffany site. It makes sense. These buyers may still look for sales on name-brand cookware at Target because cookware doesn’t have as much power to make a strong, personal statement as a $1,000 Gucci hand bag.

So how do you create a site that appeals to this new breed of online buyer? Here are some suggestions.

How To Convert the Luxury Consumer

1. Perception is reality to this demographic. Consider the coat example above. The LL Bean coat is made well and will last forever. However, the perception is that LL Bean sells to the masses, which they do. And I love my Bean parka.

Create the perception of elegance with a well designed home page and stylish product pages. Create a site free of AdWords and affiliate links. That is NOT what velvet rope marketing is about. Instead, think elegance, distinction and pampering.

2. Speak the language of the buyer. In this case, your buyers know fashion, they know prestige and they recognize the importance of making an independent statement. So, despite the fact that many of these buyers will only purchase brand names, they’ll mix and match brands to create their own, unique signature look. So, no men’s suit buyer is going to go 100% Hugo Boss or Ralph Lauren. That would indicate that the buyer is a slave to fashion.

3. So, build a site that let’s the luxury consumer mix and match from different product pages to see how the whole ensemble works. It’s these kinds of useful, upscale features the new, luxury consumer appreciates. It shows you understand them, their needs and drives and your site is designed to accommodate those needs and drives.

4. Offer special services. Buying services, for example, indicate a velvet rope level of customer care. Buyers provide birthdays and other important dates, provide the gift recipient’s profile, likes and dislikes and you take care of the rest. You, or your professional buyer, picks out the item, elegantly gift wraps it and makes sure it’s delivered on time to the right person.

This ‘concierge’ service can extend in other directions. Using a customer’s previous buying history, you can make gift suggestions for certain people for whom the buyer has previously purchased. Subtle but very effective.

5. Provide a toll-free number and make sure your customer service staff is well rehearsed with complete scripts to manage any contingency. Your phone staff should be courteous, alert and – this may hurt a little – they should also be given the training and authority to make decisions.

The upscale customer doesn’t want to hassle while the client care rep gets approval from a supervisor (who may or may not be available at the moment). This affluent buyer wants answers and resolutions to his or her problems. A well-trained and trusted staff can deliver this level of service routinely. (BTW, client care reps should be U.S.-based and available 24/7.)

6. Hit the mark every time. Track orders, ensure prompt shipment, include an easy ‘return kit,’ including pre-printed return label so all the buyer has to do is affix the return label to the shipping box over the mailing label. Simple and that’s what affluent buyers are looking for.

7. Provide lots of site space for product images. Clothes should be photographed using a model so the buyer can see the outfit or piece of clothing on a human, not floating in front of negative space. Don’t skimp on product pictures. They should be properly lit and shot, which means if you don’t know one end of a fill light from another, hire a pro to snap product pictures for upload.

This is a newly-defined demographic – one driven by the media with TV shows about Hollywood glam and glitz and who’s showing in NYC this week.

Know your brands. Know the motivations of this status-conscious buyer, provide the personalized service these buyers expect in the brick-and-mortar shops they frequent (too bad you can’t offer them a latte while they try on the latest from Europe) and create a site that has the look and feel of fashion chic and online professionalism.

Remember, it is absolutely NOT about the money so play down cost and play up style, distinctiveness and the message broadcast to the rest of the world by the products you sell.

I have arrived.

Having touble hitting your demongraphic sweet spot? Drop me a line and let's target your marketing with laser precision.

Webwordslinger.com

THERE'S GOLD IN THAT DATABASE!

Data Mining:

Solid Gold Information

Data mining is the practice of collecting and storing information in humongous data bases. The information is gathered from opt ins, on-line surveys, forms and other “voluntary” means of collecting information, usually from customers and buyers and about customers and buyers.

Who uses data mining? Retail outlets, insurance companies, banks, airlines and other industries that not only collect data, but derive benefit from analyzing that data in a scientific, systematic manner to improve service and profit margins. And if it works for the big guys, it’ll work for you (only on a slightly smaller scale).

What are we looking for?

Using data mining technology, industries are looking for trends before they become trends. Relationships between customer A and widget B. Patterns of activity, unusual events – the list is endless and growing all the time.

The fact is, billions and billions of pages are stored on computers and billions of those billions of pages are available through any search engine. And while this information can help your on-line activities in a general way, data mining your own historical repository of data will reveal useful information about activities closer to home – yours!

If you’ve been in business on-line for any length of time, even a couple of years, you’re sitting on solid gold marketing data. Your database of customers and what they bought, where they live and how they pay. And you can use an analysis of this information to improve the performance of your web site.

How can it help me?

Probably the most useful way data mining will help small- to mid-sized site owners is by defining the target demographic – the characteristics of most buyers. Men or women? Age? Zip code? Income bracket? Using data harvesting and analytic software, you’ll quickly be able to develop a picture of that perfect buyer – the one who buys the most, most often.

This information equips you to develop marketing campaigns targeted specifically at your key demographic. If you’re selling knitting supplies, using a Harley-Davidson as the centerpiece of your e-mail campaign probably won’t pull as much as a nice picture of a kitten playing with a ball of yarn. Data harvesting enables site owners (and huge media and retail conglomerates) to target their marketing with pinpoint precision. (You don’t think those Gap ads were created by accident, do you?)

Interactive Marketing

Of most importance to on-line business owners, interactive marketing appeals to visitors to your web site. What can visitors do? Where can they go? What can they learn? And see?

By analyzing harvested data, you can track the movements of site visitors to determine which features draw attention and which are just taking up space. “Google Analytics” will even perform the analysis for you, indicating in GUI form which site pages attract attention and which are quickly passed over.

For on-line retailers, this kind of analysis defines your most valuable digital real estate and, obviously, this is where you’d place your most popular or profitable products, announcements of upcoming sales and other “targeted” information.

Is it working?

It would be nice to know if your Adsense program was pulling better than your banners placed on a dozen different sites. Data harvesting will give you the answer quickly once you establish a baseline.

The baseline is what’s happening now – the status quo. With an established baseline, you have a yardstick by which to measure whether your PPC program should get more dollars while your click-through rate on banners isn’t worth the money you’re spending.

Is it bogus?

Large, on-line (and real world) retailers use data harvesting to better detect fraudulent activity. For example, MasterCard will quickly contact cardholders in whose accounts unusual activity has occurred. For example, using data harvesting, the credit card company knows you’ve never made a purchase of anything in Taiwan. Then, in a matter of two hours, 23 transactions from Taiwan all show up on your card. Now that’s called an anomaly – something out of the ordinary.

The MasterCard program continues with follow through. The cardholder of the account in question is likely to get a call from a MasterCard representative to see if, indeed, you did purchase 23 racing bikes in Taiwan within the past 24 hours. If not, they can often void the transaction before it actually takes place.

Will it make my customers happier?

Much. You’ll be ahead of the curve on spotting trends so you’ll have the latest when visitors come to shop. You’ll be able to better predict seasonal buying patterns for your particular goods or services. You’ll be able to improve warehousing, order handling, inventory management and more – even if the inventory is stored in a spare bedroom.

Where do I get this wonderful tool?

You’ve got the data – or at least you should have it, if you’ve been in business for a while. That customer data just needs to be analyzed to better equip you to refine your site, better target your ideal buyer, identify trends ahead of the competition, better identify fraud and deliver the precise product at the precise time to the exact right buyer. Metrics and analytical software, like Google Analytics, will help crunch the raw data into meaningful results.

If you haven’t started using the information you have on your hard drive, you’re wasting some of the best information you’ll ever have concerning the success of your business.

Use it or lose it.

Need more info on how to use the data you've collected? How to read site metrics? Drop me a line and let's have a look at that dbase. It's solid gold!

Webwordslinger.com

ARE YOU MISSING SELLING OPPORTUNITIES?

ONCE YOU'VE CLOSED THE SALE, YOU OPEN UP OPPORTUNITIES

Customer Interactions:

Maximize Sales Routinely

Many website owners find themselves interacting with customers in a number of ways. The website, of course, is interactive to one degree or another (more interactivity is better if you haven’t been paying attention to the ever-expanding Web 2.0 list of must-haves).

But you interact with customers before, during and after the sale and each of those contact points is an opportunity to sell your products, explain the quality of your service and encourage upsells – sales in which the buyer opts for a second item or a more expensive item than originally planned.

Before The Sale

Your site should designed to appeal to your ideal buyer – young mothers, corporate HR execs, kids, jocks – whatever your ideal buyer’s attributes, everything about your site should be focused on engaging those interests to generate a sale.

So, before the sale, be sure to point new visitors to daily weekly items on special and make sure they understand your iron-clad, 100% no-headache guarantee. “You don’t like it, send it back and we even pay the shipping. You risk nothing.” This kind of trust building should be evident in your site text – especially on the first page of the checkout sequence.

Restate your guarantee and provide assurance to site visitors that yours is a 100% hacker-safe site so “order with confidence.”

Provide complete product descriptions and product pictures. This is going to save you so much time and money on returns, client care and other time-consuming but essential administrative chores.

During the Sale

You must have an easy to use shopping cart system – one the user can access with a click to change quantities, add or delete items.

On some sites, the cart abandonment rate runs as high as 50% and you have to ask yourself why? Why did a visitor take the time to shop your site and even put something in the cart before clicking off to some other site? If the buyer doesn’t feel reassured and secure, s/he may simply leave so once the buyer has entered the check-out sequence, use text and icons to direct buyers through the process.

Provide the ability to back out to a previous page so buyers can make changes or just double, triple check without having to start the entire checkout sequence from start. That’s going to lose more than a few sales.

Provide steps that allow the visitor to consider and reconsider the order before finally clicking on the submit button. The visitor should be able to just click off, or back through the sequence to make changes. Make it easy to quit your site even if they’re on the final page of the checkout sequence.

Introduce additional products discreetly at the top and bottom of the first checkout page. These kinds of presentations generate impulse sales. Select products of interest to the buyer based on previous buying history. Personalize the experience of shopping on your site and your repeat buyer ratios will increase dramatically and quickly. Online buyers have shown dedication to specific sites for specific goods – until there’s the slightest problem. It doesn’t take much to throw out 10 years of good will on a shipping glitch.

Finally, keep the number of pages in the checkout to a minimum. Offer your regulars the one-click checkout option. Avoid confusing pages in the sequence. Instead, let the buyer take charge.

Change shipping method. Click here. Add gift wrapping. Click here. Send to another address. Click here. Guide the new buyer through the checkout process the first time and when they come back, the whole sequence will run smoother.

After the Sale

This is where automation should kick in and save you a lot of time on administrative chores.

Immediately send a printable invoice. Be sure to thank the buyer for the sale and suggest a ship and receipt date. Be sure to include all of the order information – address, quantities, etc. Provide the buyer with a 10-minute time window to reopen the order to make a change, fix a mistake or change shipping information.

Also use this text message to highlight other products of interest to this particular buyer, again based on a previous buying history stored in your database. It’s another point of contact and another opportunity to turn a warm buyer into a hot prospect.

Notify buyers when their orders have shipped and, again, spell out the specials of the day and be sure to provide a link back to the recipient’s account or to your site’s home page. Another contact point, another opportunity to introduce specials or products of special interest to that buyer.

Once you’re certain that the order has arrived safely (no telephone calls from angry buyers) follow up with a thank you note for “shopping with us” or “becoming a part of the Huffnagle family.” It shows the importance of customer care and, of course, provides another opportunity to introduce new products, services or the new sales rep in the buyer’s region.

Finally, after the sale, there are auto-responders. Most people expect to hear from companies from which they’ve made purchases but getting bombarded daily with your specials or your inspirational tip of the day, you’re going to get clicked over to the recycling bin faster than you can shout “But wait!”

The judicious use of auto-responders can keep previous buyers coming back if their senses and sensibilities aren’t assaulted with an automated weekly email blast trying to make another sale.

A few times a year to introduce new products and provide a business update is enough. The conversion rate on email direct marketing aren’t impressive, usually running between 2-3% so you have to send out a lot of ARs to make it worth your time. But, the fact is, happy customers may not buy for several years but if you keep in touch with helpful information (tips, recipes, advice, etc.), some of those long-absent buyers will come back – if you just give them enough time.

So, yes, keeping sending ARs to all the customers in your database but (1) don’t overdo it and (2) use these ARs as another opportunity to sell.

Each time you touch the client is an opportunity to sell your products, business, services of message. Don’t waste a single opportunity.

Need some help with your next AR campaign? Looking for ways to maintain a stable customer base? NP. Drop me a line and let's keep your web biz growing.

Webwordslinger.com

The Four Axioms of Website Success

The Four Axioms of Site Success

You can scroll though this blog and find lots of good information on improving site performance, how to monetize a site six ways from Sunday and other topics that focus on the micro things webmasters can do to realize online success.

But what about the larger picture. The macros of site success? The web is a marketplace and, as such, it operates on the basic principles of market economics. Now, not to get all academic on you, the macro-dynamics employed by real-world and online businesses differ. The local boutique, catering to local clientele, uses local print and broadcast marketing channels.

A web-based business employs different promotional tactics based on the unique characteristics of this global, digital bazaar – the web. In the real world, business owners work to build their reputations and to keep their names before prospects on a daily basis. One New England furniture dealer (who shall remain nameless) has his own production staff – shooter, cutter, actress, etc – and releases a new, more-annoying-than-the-last advert daily. And it works! The guy’s got like a dozen stores now.

Retail success online is based on a different set of conventions simply due to the nature of the media and market. Online businesses may focus their efforts locally, regionally or worldwide. Can’t say that about “Woody’s Hardware Store” on main street.

So let’s pull back and take the broad view – see the forest from the trees. Just what are the keys to site success. There are four of them.

Site Connectivity

Not true in the real world, but online connecting up within your retail sphere is a must for long-term success. But not just any connectivity. The connectivity should be denser in the immediate marketplace.

Example: You own a site that sells racing bikes. That puts you in the realm of bicycles. Make your first connections with sites that help visitors learn more about racing bikes. Hook up with sites that sell after-purchase products – helmets, compression pants and those colorful, albeit clownish, outfits serious riders are compelled to wear.

Think of your site as the focus. The closer the topicality, the more links. The closer a site is in your marketing space, the more links. These links come first.

Then, over time (60-90 days) extend your universe and your reach by adding links that are somewhat related to your site but not spot on. Using our racing bike site, connect up with a physical fitness site, a nutrition site, a bike safety site and other satellites further out from the focus of your site.

The Closer the Connection to Your Site The More Relevant the Link

The closer the connection to your site’s products or services, the greater the interconnectivity – the more value to you in driving traffic from other sites and from sites that are somewhat removed but still related to the products you sell.

Axiom I: Connect first with sites closest to your products or services.

Make yourself a part of the web community within your sector. Then, expand your connections to include less related sites.

Here’s How

Research, research, research.

1. Google sites that don’t directly compete in your space but that would compliment the search of a site visitor. You can often use the “Contact Us” to reach the site owner directly. Hey, maybe he’s working out of his spare room, too!

2. Create a symbiotic network like the one pictured above. Keep relevant sites close. How?

• exchange links
• post to each other’s blog
• write articles for each other’s sites
• develop shared promotions (buy a bike, get your helmet free)
• work as a partnership and expand the network when possible

3. With sites further removed from the subject of your site, go with good affiliate programs to develop additional revenues. Word of caution: read the fine print of each affiliate agreement you enter. Go with the ones that pay you simply for the referral – the click through.

Axiom II: Expansion

The wider you cast your digital net the more visitors will be drawn to your site. So, you need to expand your profile on the web.

Here’s How

1. Blog related sites. This provides a link back to your site, and if you write provocatively, readers from distant sites will link to your site to learn more about your interesting views on the disappearing honey bee, or whatever your expertise.

2. Syndicate content. Use these three sites: www.helium.com, www.ezine.com, and go articles at www.goarticles.com. Write a piece related to your site, your experience, opinions, advice whatever. Check for spelling and grammar. (Yes, they still count!). Then upload your article to these sites where they’ll be picked up by other sites who will link back to your site. Man, your site’s link popularity is just growing and growing.

3. Broadcast via RSS. Get your thoughts out there via remote site syndication. If you have something worth saying, your piece will get picked up and delivered to dozens (hundreds, even) of sites. Just let RSS aggregators know you’re there.

4. Once again, create affiliate programs. The best place to start your affiliate education is at Commission Junction located at www.cj.com.

Axiom III: A Unique Positioning Statement (UPS)

And for our friends in the UK, Australia and other countries, a UPS is the same as what you call a USP – a unique selling proposition. Same diff.

Two college roomies come up with the idea for a website where people can upload video clips (an America’s Funniest Videos online and on demand). They call it YouTube and it’s changed everything from the outcome of political races (remember that Mukaka misstep) to the way rock bands find an audience. Got an idea like that? That’s definitely a UPS, which explains why Google bought YouTube for $1.8 billion.

Here’s How

1. Scope out the competition to see what they’re doing, what they’re charging. Looking for a stealth tool? Check out www.spyfu.com/ for a behind-the curtain look at your competitions’ keywords, product prices, menu of services, give-aways and come-ons. Learn from competitors – especially the ones that have seen site success.

2. Create the hook. If you can’t beat them on prices, you’d better consider value added benefits – unlimited replacements, 24/7 tech support, money-back guarantee – put all of these together – then keep going because all of this is standard issue on the web. So, to stand out you have to offer better.

Better service, better information, a better return policy – what makes your site stand out from the thousands of other similar sites. If you can define a truly UPS, you may be the next YouTube, or at least be able to quit your day job.

Axiom IV Constancy

What the heck is constancy?

The web is a fluid, almost a liquid entity, spreading, expanding, thinning in spots. The W3 is in a constant state of flux with new technologies, integration with other media (cell phones, PDAs, GPS, etc.) and a population in the billions! 6,000 new sites launch every day and some of them will eat your lunch ‘cause they do it better.

There are site owners still looking for the passive click-through income of their links farms, but if you’re serious about growing a real, online business, constancy is critical.

Here’s How

1. Constantly update your site with new content. Daily if possible. Blogs and forums are great for free, user-generated content. Keep your site looking fresh.

2. Constantly add new and better interactive features: CSS, live feeds, RSS feeds, a blog, the sale du jour, and so on. This keeps visitors coming back to a truly dynamic site.

3. Keep navigation constant for easier movement through the site. If the navigation is always in the left column starting on the home page, it’s in the left column on every page to prevent visitor confusion.

4. Constantly visit webmaster blogs and websites to keep up with the latest from the professional POV – and these are the folks who are designing websites today with lots of animation, vid-clips, real-time news and all of the other things that visitors are coming to expect. Stay ahead of the curve by constantly staying updated.

5. Constancy in client care. Fast and reliable. ‘Nuff said.

6. Constancy in marketing. This is critical to branding. Use the same logo throughout, the same tag line “…where smart shoppers shop smart”, the same type face – it gives the site a unified presentation rather than a cut-and-paste job.

In the macro-market of the world wide web, indeed, it is the little things that matter. Your site must be optimized for search engines and humans. There’s a whole playbook of SEO dos and don’ts, most of which you’ve memorized and have in place on your well optimized site.

But step back for a moment to take in the bigger picture – the macro-trends in web commerce, the technology that moves forward daily, the new science of SEM – search engine marketing.

This is all new stuff. And without a fundamental understanding of web biz success, you ain't going to make it.

New to the web world of search engine optimization and e-commerce? No sweat. Visit Webwordslinger.com and get in touch. I specialize in start-ups and stretching those limited budgets in lots of different ways.

Webwordslinger.com