21 Pointers to Sharpen Your Website

21POINTERS TOSHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

DULL WON’T WORK.Hello.Goodbye?• Visitors decide to stay or go in seconds• Engage them immediately• Or off to Google they go

[1] Start smart. ‣ No need to start from scratch ‣ Survey your competitors and sites you like ‣ Allow the effective ideas to inform parts of your plan ‣ Mix, match and make these strategies work for your site21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

[2] Know who’s there. ‣ Who do you want to visit? ‣ What’s their purpose? ‣ What’s their pain? ‣ Understand their point of view ‣ Point the way to the solution21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

[3] Generate something. ‣ Create a speciﬁc purpose for your site ✓Generate visitors ✓Generate leads ✓Generate sales ‣ Deﬁne your goal and ask your visitors to do it21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

[4] Build on a simple platform. ‣ Select a content management system (CMS) ✓WordPress ✓Joomla ✓Drupal Gardens ✓HubSpot ‣ Make it easy to update content without HTML skills21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

[5] Say hello to SEO. “Your search strategy is your business strategy.” Vanessa Fox, author “Marketing in the Age of Google” ‣ People are trying to ﬁnd you ‣ School yourself in SEO ‣ Choose keywords carefully21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

[6] Make it easy to navigate. ‣ KISS concept ‣ Place important links ﬁrst and prioritize their order ‣ Embrace the conventions ‣ Make the interface uncomplicated and uncluttered ‣ Limit the user’s choices ‣ Point the way to the solution21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

EASY DOES IT. In a recent study by HubSpot, 176 participants were asked “What is the most important factor in the design of a website?” 76% SAY“EASY PLEASE” An overwhelming majority responded by answering: “Make it easy for me to ﬁnd what I want.”

[7] Provide clear instructions. ‣ Create a compelling call-to-action ‣ Make it map to the user’s needs ‣ Make it easy to ﬁnd ‣ Lead the way21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

[8] Create magnetic content. ‣ Content is your reason for having a website ‣ Get it together early in the process ‣ Use a variety of media ✓ images ✓ video ✓ audio ✓ presentations ✓ articles ‣ Serve up new, topical and timely content often21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

MORE CONTENT, 60 MORE LEADS. 50 40 30 ★ On average, B2B marketers employ eight 20 different content marketing tactics 10 ★ 90% expect to grow their business through content marketing 0Source: Content Marketing Institute &Marketing Profs survey of over 1,000 marketers ★ Success is measured 1: Web trafﬁc @ 58% with the criteria 2: Sales lead quality @ 49% 3A: Direct sales @ 41% charted here: 3B: Sales lead quantity @41% 4A: Customer feedback @ 40% 4B: SEO rankings @ 40% Web trafﬁc ranked #1 5: Inbound links @ 30%

[9] Use the power of you. ‣ Most common mistake: ﬁxating on yourself ‣ Your visitors aren’t there to read about you ‣ They have problems they seek to solve ‣ Nix the “I,” “me” and “we” ‣ Put the power of “you” to work21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

[10] Publish and push. ‣ Publish a blog ‣ Feature content users value ‣ Make it fun and informative ‣ Encourage comments ‣ Offer RSS (really simple syndication) and email subscription options21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

[11] Give your customers a voice. ‣ Get your customers talking ‣ Achieve the most powerful form of advertising ✓ word of mouth ✓ a.k.a. word of mouse ‣ Invite visitors to speak up ✓ surveys ✓ polls ✓ user forums ✓ questions ✓ product reviews21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

[12] Be social and share. ‣ School yourself on ✓ Twitter ✓ Facebook ✓ LinkedIn ✓ Google+ ✓ YouTube ✓ SlideShare ✓ Bookmarking ✓ Pinterest ✓ Q&As ✓ News ✓ And... tomorrow’s hot service ‣ Identify where your customers are and engage them there ‣ Use share buttons/services21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

You’re either or you’re out. Social media. It’s not a trend. It’s your friend. Like it. Follow it. Get into it. It’s simply not optional. Your customers use it. Your competitors do too. If you’re not interested in joining the conversation, you’re not as committed to making your online marketing work as you need to be.21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

[13] Tell customer stories. ‣ Your customer wields credibility and clout ‣ Deliver their stories to showcase how your products and services deliver satisfaction ‣ Be truthful21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

[14] Perform pay-per-click tricks. ‣ “Field of Dreams” was ﬁction ‣ If you build it, promote it ‣ Use Google AdWords ‣ Advertise on targeted sites ‣ Syndicate your content21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

[15] Make mobile meaningful. ‣ Most sites are not optimized for mobile—big mistake! ‣ Fast growing population shopping on smart phones and tablets ‣ Use one of the many inexpensive mobile site creation and hosting services ‣ More trafﬁc + better experience21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

[16] Don’t keep the guests waiting. ‣ Your user has very little patience ‣ Avoid high overhead, slow loading assets of any kind ‣ Trash ﬂash ‣ No need to show off21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

[16] Keep your eyes on the F. ‣ Studies indicate users ﬁxate their eyes in an F-shaped pattern on the page ‣ Apply this knowledge to showcase your logo in the upper left of your pages ‣ Place navigation, contacts, shortcuts and important elements in this path to increase visibility21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

[18] Trust professionals. ‣ Yes, you want to decrease the cost and speed the development of your website ‣ Using amateurs is not the answer ‣ Hire professional writers, designers and programmers ‣ Allow them to do their jobs21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

[19] Count on your metrics. ‣ Your website is a business tool designed to deliver results ‣ You can’t manage what you don’t measure ‣ Use analytical tools to pinpoint metrics such as visitors, leads and sales ‣ Make ongoing adjustments21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

[20] Test and compare. ‣ A/B testing is valuable, especially for landing pages ‣ Compare and contrast copy and design executions ‣ Reﬁne accordingly ‣ Enjoy higher conversion21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

[21] Keep on keeping on. ‣ Your site is never sharp enough ‣ There’s no ﬁnish line in website development ‣ Keep... ✓ Measuring ✓ Reﬁning ✓ Creating useful content ‣ ... and your site will become more valuable to your business21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

PENCILS OUT, SITE-SHARPENING QUESTIONS YOUR ANSWERS HAVE YOU SURVEYED YOUR COMPETITOR’S SITES?PLEASE. DO YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHO WILL BE VISITING? HAVE YOU ESTABLISHED YOUR OBJECTIVES?A quick review of HAVE YOU SELECTED A CMS? ARE YOU READY TO GO WITH SEO?21 Pointers to IS YOUR NAVIGATION SIMPLE?Sharpen Your Website IS IT CLEAR WHAT YOU WANT CUSTOMERS TO DO? ARE YOU CREATING MAGNETIC CONTENT? DOES THE COPY FOCUS ON YOUR CUSTOMER?‣ Make a few notes DOES YOUR SITE FEATURE A BLOG?‣ Give yourself some ARE YOU ASKING CUSTOMERS TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION? IS YOUR SITE ALL SET FOR SOCIAL MEDIA? assignments HAVE YOU PUBLISHED CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORIES?‣ Get to work WILL YOU BE USING PAY-PER-CLICK ADVERTISING? DID YOU MAKE A MOBILE VERSION OF YOUR SITE? ARE YOU USING SLOW-LOADING STUFF? ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS IN THE F-ZONE? Good luck DID YOU, OR WILL YOU, HIRE WEBSITE PROFESSIONALS? ARE YOU MEASURING AND ANALYZING? ARE YOU TESTING THIS AGAINST THAT? WILL YOU EXPAND YOUR SITE REGULARLY?

Point your browser to FeldmanCreative.comfor all your online marketing needs. Owner Barry Feldmanhas been a copywriter and creative director since 1988.A seasoned storyteller, Barry will help you create an ultra-sticky website, deliver persuasive copy, execute strategiccontent marketing, and offer pointers to sharpen your site,attract and engage prospects, nurture relationships,generate sales, and build loyal brand advocates. www.feldmancreative.com

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21 Pointers to Sharpen Your Website

by Barry Feldman on Feb 02, 2012

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21 Pointers to Sharpen Your Website — Presentation Transcript