The
Crucial First-Step Toward Maximizing Online Results
Developing your Web Marketing Strategy is a "must
do" before you can use the Internet to maximize
your business sales and profits. Below are five very
important questions you must answer before you build
a website.
How
Will You Create “Customer Enthusiasm?”
People
want the BENEFITS they receive from your products or services. When
creating the marketing message for your site, think about the "Ultimate
Benefits" you provide such as: saving money, saving time, more
convenience, boosting productivity, improved safety for self or
family, entertainment, etc. Ultimate benefits are what your prospects
are really seeking so don't base your website message just on products
or services. Your Ultimate Benefits will be the theme that binds
everything else you do at your site together.
How
Will You Stand Out From the Competition?
Your business most likely will face intense competition on the
web, so a key part of your web strategy is to define how you are
better than all the other guys in the crowd. To distinguish your
web business, you must clearly communicate your “Competitive
Advantage” in your web message. What is Competitive Advantage?
Simply stated, it is why your products and services are better
than the other guys.
How
Will You Automate the Process of Building Relationships?
Building
relationships has always been important, long before the Internet
came into existence. However, there is very good news for business
that market online – the Internet offers new relationship
building tools that can both dramatically improve customer relations
while also reducing the time, energy and expense of sustaining
the relationships. We can recommend many tools that will enhance
your web site's lead generation, communication and sales processes.
How
Will You Be Found?
Search
engines are one of the primary ways that Internet users find web
sites. Better search engine ranking will provide you relevant
leads that increase your bottom line. The design and content of
your website is extremely important to achieving good search engine
positioning. Therefore, one of the key steps in your web strategy
will be to identify the search terms you want to target.
How
Will You Reel' Em In?
Every
business wants their web visitors to "take action" while
at their website. The action might be fill out a contact form,
respond to a questionnaire, join a mailing list, buy a product,
etc. We call this your website’s “Most Desired Action”
(MDA). As you know, most web surfers are impatient or in a hurry,
so you must get them to take your MDA as soon as possible. Therefore,
it is vitally important that your web strategy clearly identify
your MDA and that your website design and message aggressively
encourage the visitor to take the MDA. We have numerous methods
for improving completion of the MDA.
TAKE
THIS THOUGHT WITH YOU ...
Your
website design and day to day Internet marketing tactics will
flow out of your web marketing strategy.
Create
"Power Content" That Explodes Your Response
The
Right Message is Crucial to Success
Now that you have your web marketing strategy in place, it is
time to create "Power Content" that hits your prospects
and customers “hot buttons,” building desire for your
products and/or services, overcoming objections, and encouraging
the visitor to take action.
Design
Around Your “Competitive Advantage”
You defined your Competitive Advantage as part of creating your
Web Marketing Strategy (right?), now you must communicate it effectively
in your copy. Since you want your Competitive Advantage to be
the focus of your message, you must actually layout your website
page structure to maximize the expression of your competitive
advantage message.
Open
With A "Pain Point" or Benefit-Rich Headline
A strong, enticing headline that relays a pain point or expresses
a benefit is the most important element of any marketing copy.
(What's a pain point? See the article Motivating Your Target Audience
Through Pain.) Studies show the right headline can increase response
to an offer exponentially.
Offer
Multiple Benefits
A benefit is anything that will make a client's life better by
using your product or service. This is the payoff, and the crucial
section of your marketing copy where you must deliver the goods.
List
Comprehensive Features
Features demonstrate how things are created, delivered and maintained.
Think of this section as the support system behind the benefits.
Be comprehensive here because it demonstrates your professional
ability, understanding and level of competence.
Use
Emotion
You must lose any preconceived notion you have that marketing
to "sophisticated" consumers and business-people means
your message must be dry, logical facts and spec's about your
services or products. Your prospects are people - with emotions
- and the better you hit their emotional hot buttons, the better
your business will succeed.
Overcome
Objections
It is perfectly natural for your prospects to raise objections
as they read your message. You can turn this natural tendency
into a closing tool by raising the objections first and then mitigating
them in your copy. Free trials, guarantees, testimonials, etc.,
are great ways to remove objections in your online message.
Use
Long Copy
Longer copy sells better than shorter copy. Internet consumers
are hungry for information, particularly if they are shopping
for a big-ticket item. If they read beyond your opening headline,
they are a good prospect for the product or service being sold.
It's your job to tell them everything they need to know. The web
is perfect for long copy because there are no page length, postage
costs, etc. limitations.
Highlight
Your Creditability
Not until "the finale" should you talk about your company
and accomplishments in any detail. Think of your company as the
magician who, after showing their wonders for the total delight
of the audience, at last reveals their true self.
Make
the Call to Action
All marketing copy must deliver a clear call to action. What do
you want your visitor to do what at your website? There are key
call to action points within any site. These are the points where
you want your visitors to do something. Your copy must work hard
to make these actions happen.
Here are some examples...
- Make
a purchase.
- Sign
up for a newsletter.
- Give
you permission to send promotional emails.
- Download
a program or document.
- Respond
to an email.
- Interact
with a customer service agent.
-
Dial
a phone number.
TAKE
THIS THOUGHT WITH YOU...
I know this is starting to sound like Selling 101, but your website
is your "Cyber Sales Rep."
Isn't it nice to have a salesman working for you 24 hours a day,
seven days a week?
Build
Confidence with a Professional Web Look
Now that your website's marketing and selling strategies are ready,
you can address the "appearance" of your website.
What
Should Web Appearance Accomplish?
All websites need a great look, but what does that mean? What
are the objectives of "the look" of a website? How does
the look contribute to the bottom line - generating profits? Here
are the goals that we usually try to satisfy via the visual component
of a website:
Responsiveness
When you buy a high-performance car, you expect responsiveness
in acceleration, handling and braking. The same applies to your
high-performance website - visitors expect quick downloads, snappy
navigation, easy to read text, informative headlines, etc. The
performance of your website must highlight the message, and should
never include distracting or slow gee-whiz technology. Don't let
poor responsiveness be the reason your impatient web visitors
leave your site.
Less
is More
Continuing the car metaphor, why are BMW's and Mercedes' so well
regarded? One factor is they typically use a "less is more"
approach to create an understated, yet high-quality look. High-end
auto makers use refined styling, rich colors and well-integrated
design to stand out from the crowd. The same "less is more"
thinking applies to website appearance. Don't use graphics, animation,
movies, sounds, and so on if they don't directly support the message
or enhance your customers' experience. For most business, we recommend
a web look that is colorful yet clean, sleek yet uncomplicated,
with a focus on creating an image of understated professionalism,
competence and creditability.
Compatibility
with Your Existing Business Look
In most cases, your website look should be compatible with the
"branding" established by your other marketing and printed
materials, reflecting consistent logos, company colors, graphics,
pictures, etc.
Make
Your Statement
The final goal of a great web look is to make the desired "impression"
on your web visitors. Many business want to make combination impressions,
for example "conservation and friendly" or "contemporary
and stable." We can help you make the perfect impression
for your business.
TAKE
THIS THOUGHT WITH YOU...
Your website's appearance is of secondary importance to your marketing
message.
Keep your web look consistent with your overall marketing message.
Search
Engine Optimization
Want
Traffic? Play Hardball!
You must take forceful, hard-hitting action to fight your way
to the top of the engines. We are not referring to spam or other
"tricks." We are referring to web design and keyword
bidding techniques that ensure that your web pages are accessible
to search engines and focused in ways that help improve the chances
your customers will find you.
How
We Play Hardball in the Search Engines
There are no "search engine secrets" but
we have developed an effective process for search
engine success. Here are the tactics you should use
to maximize your website's search engine success:
- Interview
you to identify keyword themes related to your business
- Identify
related keywords and "lateral" keywords
- Rank
keywords based on an analysis of keyword popularity and keyword
competition
- Throw
a "big net" by targeting a large number of search
terms instead of just the most popular
- Define
your website page structure for keyword themes
- Develop
keyword rich copy
- Optimize
individual web pages for specific keywords
- Create
"landing pages" for specific keyword themes
- Continuously
submit your pages to the search engines
- Monitor
you search engine positioning and take corrective action as
needed
- Implement
pay-for-positioning campaigns
TAKE
THIS THOUGHT WITH YOU...
Search engines are changing daily and we continuously study them
and adapt your website to changing conditions.
Chose
from 1,000's of fresh new 