Website Freebies

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Website Strategy Part 1.5

As I finished part one of this series it occurred to me that readers might be having trouble thinking of a freebie, an incentive to offer in return for a visitors email. It’s important to give this some thought, however, not too much thought. Here’s why. The longer you postpone providing an actionable offer, the longer it will take to make your new site sticky. But let’s look at some possible freebies.

If you have a retail or product site it’s pretty easy. Here’s some suggestions:

  1. A sample of the product
  2. A reduced, time-limited price. Or a sale price.
  3. A list of upcoming sales events or product demonstration events
  4. A video that demonstrates the product, or provides unique uses of the product
  5. A white paper that provides detailed instructions, and unique uses and even product accessories.
  6. A password to a forum that consists of power users.
  7. A list of dealers that carry or distribute the product.
  8. A contest to win the product

By now you get the idea. But what if you are strictly a business to business service company; or even worse a doctor or a lawyer? B2B companies can offer:

  1. Limited time price reductions or introductory prices
  2. Online help or phone support
  3. Price reductions based on subscriptions
  4. Video support
  5. Extended service contracts
  6. A white paper on the best way to take advantage of the service
  7. An exclusive club or forum area of the website
  8. Phone time with senior executives

OK what about doctors and lawyers? These are touchy professions and require a little more thought. What would a clinic or a doctor want a visitor to do? I can imagine a few things:

  1. Download white papers on preventative health or best practices for how to prepare for an emergency
  2. Admission to lectures or webinars on appropriate subjects
  3. For both doctors and lawyers downloading a schedule of community service events
  4. Downloading healthy recipes
  5. A white paper on topical legal issues such as Super Pacs

If I haven’t covered something that triggers your particular business or issue, let me know in a reply below. Also, please let me know incentives that worked for your company’s website. I spend a lot of time with clients helping them formulate incentives and calls to action. It’s what keeps visitors coming back.

Website Strategy

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Your Company’s Website Strategy Part 1

It’s difficult to break through the misconception held by many advertising agencies and their clients: That the function of a company’s website should be to reinforce “the brand”. This is an important goal but for most firms it is less important than gaining a following and increasing sales. If your brand is a household word, building brand buzz may be the best tactic.

Most companies don’t have that luxury and they are hoping for some way to beat the competition and get sales. Unfortunately, conventional wisdom fails to see the website as a powerful tool for accomplishing these goals. Actually it is. Over the space of the next few blogs, I’ll explain how this strategy works and some ways to implement it. Let’s start with the fundamentals.

A Call To Action

Contrary to what many web marketers say, getting a list of followers is not your first move. Your first move should be to decide what you want visors who land on your site to do. If you say you want them to pick up the phone and call you, chances are you won’t get too far. The reason? That’s what a business card or a billboard is for. A website is for engaging the customer. It takes action for them to click on your site in the first place. If you want your site to be more than just an online business card you need to know what you want, and ask the visitor to start moving toward your desired response. Notice I said “moving toward”.

The fact is, web visitors are more jumpy than humming birds. If they don’t find something to do immediately, they are gone. And anything can scare them away. But the NUMBER ONE REASON for leaving your site, is that you seem to be wasting their time, telling them over and over how great you are. Your visitors always want something. Sometimes they don’t know what it is. It’s your job to offer them something that’s attractive. Hence, the free service or download you find on so many sites. Smart web strategists know they have to make an offer, and a free offer that promises value is the best kind. Why, because people expect it. That’s the way things work on the internet.

Why Give Something Away, For Free?

That’s no way to make money, right? Before my wife got hip to how the net works, she used to ask me,”How does anybody make money that way?” My answer is that some companies don’t. But if you do it right, you gain trust, and loyalty and leads that translate into profit. So let’s get a little more specific here before we end this first installment.

How It Works

  • Before you design or redesign your company’s website decide what you want visitors to do when they get there.
  • Know your customer well enough so that what you’re asking them to do will be relatively painless and provide a reward.
  • Understand that this “call to act”; sometimes called a “call to action”, is the first step in building a relationship with this client.
  • Because you’re building a relationship, it is absolutely critical that you provide an incentive that is valuable and that your delivery and service is impeccable. Every future aspect of your relationship is built on the integrity of this first interaction.
  • In a typical case, you visit my site, I offer you an e-book on a topic you value in return for you name and email address. The e-book I offer you is well written and useful and contains an invitation to subscribe to my newsletter or podcast. You will either subscribe or move on, depending on your satisfaction with my free gift.
  • Out of this simple interaction, a relationship is born –– one that will lead to more interactions and ultimately sales. This is the dating stage. The customer and I have agreed to go for coffee. Whether we have a date for the dance requires more offers and an evolving conversation.
  • Many web consultants call this the top of the “sales funnel” and we will discuss that in more detail in my next installment.

Stay tuned and let me know what you think.

Google Plus Is Booming

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I’ve already written a few things about Google+ . To me the interface still needs improvement. But it also seems like its growth is unstoppable. Why? Because like the search bar, at the top of your browser, it’s there all the time. Whenever I want to access any of my other Google apps, like analytics, I seem to have to go through Google+. I could list all the ways, it keeps popping up like some kind of cartoon gopher, but if you are a “Pluser”, you already know what I mean. These may be the confessions of a resistant convert however, because if I was Facebook, I would be scared. People are gaining rank and influence by using Plus and you can’t turn that train around. Until something better comes along, it is the horse to bet on. For more check out this Web Pro News video.

Google V. Microsoft

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Internet Search Wars

I read an article today about the epic battle between the two giants over search traffic. It reminds me of those old Japanese science fiction movies where the giant lizards fight it out. I have nothing against either company, but one thing that seems clear: neither side is ready to blink and walk away. This is probably smart because the web is still changing so quickly. The way Bing could gain market share might not even be on the horizon yet. But the stakes are so high, it’s worth staying in the game if you can. Personally, I think many folks are staying with Google out of habit or convenience. The Google search bar is at the top of my Firefox browser and so it’s easier to use than to go looking for Bing.  What’s useful about comparing the two engines is the way they respond to a particular search. For example I searched “Jim Coon” on both platforms and got very different SERPs (results). This is a good, actually a necessary, exercise to perform if you have a company. It’s important to know how you’re showing up on the web and if your web marketing is actually making a positive difference. Next up, a series on web marketing strategy.

Blog Comments

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Even if you have an akismet account, if you achieve any amount of traffic, you are likely to get waves of “comment spam”. There is always a list of comments waiting for approval on my blogs, The difficult part is that most of it is spam, but some of it is great comments. Part of this may be a function of the activity on your blog. In my case I’ve done a number of interviews with prominent web marketers. Spammers can always be found in the web marketers orbit. Moreover, a lot of the spam I’ve received lately seems machine generated. The comments make no sense, but seem to be making an attempt to compliment me on my brilliant insights. I appreciate the praise and the suggestions, but not the spam. Let me know how you are dealing with spam comments, or even if it’s not a problem for you. And make sure to follow me on twitter.

Internet Consultant

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I met with a web designer who just moved into my building today. The web world is getting more and more fragmented. I spent a lot of time talking about the services we provide, but the bottom line is that it takes strategy to make money on the internet. And I don’t just mean setting up a website to sell products or ebooks. Even if you work for a huge company, you are probably missing chances to turn visits into growth. The main reason is that websites are often seen as part of the general branding campaign and left at that. I understand why folks think this way. But even if your site is a glorified business card or brochure it can be a magnet for sales leads at the same time. In short if you want to visitors to stay and return to you company website, there has to be multiple “calls to action”. Give people something to do besides reading how great you are and letting them call you. I would love to talk to you about this and provide some suggestions, so take a minute to fill in the form on the right, and I will contact you as soon as possible. In the meantime, have a fantastic holiday with family and friends.

The New Firefox

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Chrome Or The New Firefox

I just updated to the new Firefox. I can’t help noticing the resemblance to Google Chrome –– at least that’s how it looks on the Mac. It does seem faster, like Google Chrome, and I use it more often than Chrome because I have so many bookmarks in Firefox. I know, you are thinking I can just port my bookmarks over to Chrome. However, I also like the open source vibe of Firefox and the fact that it took on the giant and won. Firefox also works on all my machines and also has these cool SEO add-ons. I can’t say that about Chrome. Let me know which one you like better and why. Is there anybody out there that still prefers IE? I would like to hear from you as well.

Get More Traffic

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It’s a cliche to mention that quality content is the most important aspect of your website. But if that was well understood, why do most sites spend more time on the look and feel than readable content? My theory is that web designers are not writers. It’s enough to create an appealing design and some well placed meta-tags. Then it’s the client’s turn. This just does not work. I am not going to go back to a site that is fixated on convincing me that they are great. I am going to keep returning to sites with useful information and fresh ideas or visuals.

The other reason most sites lack quality content is that it takes time to write good stuff. Let me be more specific: Even if you are a creative writer with much to say, you need more. You need to engage the visitor with the best keywords in the headlines and the body of your piece. And this is perhaps the most important part, you need to provide a call to action. Part of good content is to require something from your visitors. If I go to a web site and there is nothing to do but read marketing messages, I am gone. Provide links, opportunities and gifts, so that you and the visitor can enter into a relationship. Every site is a kind of social site because to be successful you need to provide options that will solve problems or enrich your visitor. Try this on your site and let me know how it works. Or if you have questions, let me know. I’ll be glad to provide more examples.

Facebook vs Google Plus

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Now that Google + is on the scene, have you tried it. I’ve read a lot of positive predictions, have not seen the predicted migration. Google may be holding the trump card because of the power if search, but the plus interface has got to change. At least when Facebook makes a change you can figure it out. Aside from the fact that it’s easy to share on plus all the other functions are clumsy. And compared to Twitter, they have a very long way to go. Although most of my friends in the advertising and marketing business are on Facebook, very few are even trying plus.

TRY IT

In case you want to try it, here is a link to one of the better tutorials, I’ve found. Give it some time. I think there is a good chance it will improve. To make a difference, however, a lot of people need to jump on and wrestle with this interface. If you are one of the people that really like it, let me know. I want to know your secrets.

Is Facebook Going Down?

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Last night I attended a seminar on social media and the leader announced, a facebook killer was being developed. There’s been a lot of talk too lately about member backlash. The real question according to Chris Crum however, is whether facebook is too big to bail. In other words, do we all have so much invested that no matter what facebook does, we have to protect our stake and our relationships, our equity in the network? Let me know what you think. Personally I think it will be replaced at some point, but it will probably be several years from now.