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Be Obvious. Be Simple. Be Smart: Tips for Designing a Stellar Website
You have the layout complete. The text is done. Let's Build! Wait. Make
sure you have all your ducks in a row first before throwing up any old
website. Stand out, be different, and showcase your product in a stellar
setting. Check out these tips for designing a website that will quickly
convert traffic to sales! Clean code with a crisp marketing message,
coupled with a search engine friendly design might just knock the socks
off any search engine that comes crawling your way.
Slappin' Ya in the Face Obvious
You'd be surprised by how many people say, "...but my phone number is
right there!" ...But is it, really? Is your call to action on your
website so pronounced that it practically hits your potential
buyer-customer square between the eyes? If not, you might want to fix
that. Studies show five seconds is all you've got to captivate your
audience with a bright call to action, or a custom graphic to make it
obvious. Hook, line and sinker them with a sheer cut, eye popping call
to action! Whether it's a "Call Today", "Book It", or "Buy Now" - make
sure the Pick ME cue is apparent and obvious to your target audience.
Get Ready to Rumble...
We're all human. Competition runs in our blood. Everyone wants to be
first or "the best"... carry this attitude over to your website and you
are sure to beat out your competition! Your website is your virtual
store, and if you don't possess this thinking already, you need to.
Invest in your website, as its seen 24 hours a day, seven days a week by
potential clients all over the world. Be prepared and get educated, as a
website is a terrible thing to waste. The good old days of tweaking
things here and there and wham! ...top ten placements, is over. Invest
your time and hire a good SEO firm to help you market your business the
right way.
Find out who's the hottest in your industry and make it a goal to beat
them. With over 180 million searches on the web today, it is imperative
to research keyword phrases that your competition is going after. What
are their marketing tactics and are they working? Do they have an email
campaign located on-site? What are their credentials? Does the website
provide coupons, discounts or hot deals? It's the internet my fríend,
the competition is steep and all bets are off. So, roll up your sleeves,
put on your gloves, and get ready to rumble! Or, research an internet
marketing firm that specializes in both search engine optimization and
website design that can fight the battle for you.
Simple Simon Wins
Being a "Simpleton" ain't all that bad these days. Just because the
world turns at record breaking speeds doesn't mean your website has to.
Too much going on, whether there are words upon words, or graphics up
the wazoo, can do more harm than good. Be cautious before slapping up
just any old image or using too much text to get your point across. We
all know that "Content is King!", but Optimized Content reigns supreme.
By strategically placing the right keywords in your Title Tags, Meta
Data Tags and throughout the body of your website, your business will
benefit. Clean design, concise code, and fresh marketing ideas that are
clear to the end user will help you get the leads and generate the
desired sales you are looking for.
Optimize, Optimize, Optimize!
Search engine optimization... what's all the hype about!? Internet
competition is booming - open your eyes and smell the code! If you have
a beautiful website, but it's not converting...you've wasted your time
and money. A well built website with search engine optimization in mind
is a goldmine at your finger tips. What's the first step in
optimization? Researching and determining a líst of keywords that will
drive traffic to the site and convert into sales. Test out various
keywords, find out what your competition is and let it ride. For the
keywords that don't convert, bag 'em. Expand your focus to reach broad
based keywords as well as long tail keyword phrases. The narrower the
keyword is, the more likely the user will convert on your page.
Widgets are In
What is a widget? Widgets aid in the process of interacting with your
target audience. When your potential customer/buyer installs your widget
on their webpage, blog or social media networking profile - you wín a
valuable fríend! Widgets provide a great way to strengthen the bond
between your existing customers and any newbies who are interested in
your product. Get new customers and provide a widget for them to
interact with you. Personalization is "key". Almost anything can become
a widget - from games to stock tickers or audio players - put your
thinking caps on and give your customers the option!
Smarty Pants Always Test
This is true. Successful websites are successful because webmasters test
their work. A great way to test your website to see if your design is
working is through the A/B Split method. These tests run concurrently,
at least for a couple of weeks to gain true results. A/B testing
provides real world, data-driven, unbiased results based on your target
market. There is now even an easy to use A/B Split testing program
through the Google Website Optimizer tool! Check it out and win big. Go
ahead - be a smarty pants... you know you want to!
Time to Analyze
Yes, folks - it's time to analyze. You might think the hard work is
done, but it's now time to see if all your work has paid off
successfully. You've created this gorgeous website perfectly equipped
with clear calls to action, clean code and search engine friendly site
architecture - now what? Let it ride and hope for the best? NO! Test,
test and analyze your findings.
Does your hosting company provide a stats program? If so, fire that baby
up and analyze what is working, what can be tossed out and what needs to
be amped up. Focus on unique visitors, time on site, referrals, and what
keyword phrases are driving the most targeted traffíc. A stat program is
your fríend, NOT your enemy. Embrace your website's analytics and learn
from them to tailor your website, your search engine optimization and
your business model after this information. Google also has a free
analytics program that involves placing a simple code before the </body>
tag on pages you'd like to track. Fast, effective and proven.
If you are a "do-it-yourselfer", I hope these tips helped you with the
marketing of your business. If you are too busy and are looking for a
firm to handle both the building of your website and the marketing -
research a good SEO firm. Count on a professional internet marketing
company to shine through and get your hard work to pay off. Good luck!
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