Learn why your website might not be living up to its full potential…

Just because you build it, and they come… doesn’t mean they’ll stay.

So you’ve got Google adwords, banner ads, co-registration and joint venture deals, postcards, print ads, radio commercials, your mother-in-law and everyone else you can bribe, cajole and threaten, driving traffic to your website.

Yes! You’re an absolute genius at driving traffic to your website.  You’re getting a gazillion hits and unique page impressions—every minute!

You’ve got so much traffic, tying up so much bandwidth, that Al Gore is thinking of producing a new movie about you: An Inconvenient Internet Presence: How one marketer destroyed what I invented.

And yet, despite all your fame and glory… no one’s buying what you’re selling!

In other words…

Your Website Sucks!

Way back in the stone age of internet history… roughly five or so years ago… a website was a website was a website.

They all looked alike, they all worked alike (which basically meant they really didn’t do anything) and they all accomplished the same thing—pretty much nothing.

A website was a virtual business card. And since every business ordered business cards, every business ordered a website.

And then vanity and misguided creativity took hold of the entrepreneurial imagination.

The business card website quickly evolved into a multi-varied, multi-page behemoth. And as technology grew faster than our ability to master its consequences, the art of website design became an addiction—consuming the health, time, patience and money of the website owner—and the unwary visitor.

Pop-ups, hover-overs and other hovercraft, web 2.0, RSS, flash media, video, audio, 4-wheel drive, GPS, this and that, inspired and invigorated web developers and designers to continually raise the bar.  Their ultimate end game: keeping visitors hostage to a website—tossing them into the black hole of web pyrotechnics, where nothing, not even light can escape.

And it didn’t bother them in the least that their Frankenstein website creations required an eternity to load on the average computer screen—eating RAM, disturbing REM, crashing hard drives, destroying transmissions, shackling legs in irons—lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Okay, let’s get back on track here…

Today, there are basically two and a half types of websites… those that inform and educate, those that inform educate and sell… and those that only sell.

Do You Know to Which Group Your Website Belongs?

Are you sure?

As a marketing and sales copywriter—I can tell you in a heartbeat.

I get phone calls and emails—almost daily—from individuals and company representatives lamenting the fact that their website doesn’t convert, and they want to know if I can help.

My first question, of course, is… how much money you got, pal?

Just kidding… but it is in the back of my mind.

Anyway… here are those two and a half website styles in a nutshell… and in their absolute worst incarnations…

The “I’ve really got nothing to say” Website

Typically, this website belongs to a small business owner.  They’ve got a single product or a single service that they’re offering—yet, they have 20 or more pages on their website.

They’ve got a home page, a contact page, an about us page, a mission page, a subscribe-to-our-newsletter page, a link page, a testimonial page, a preferred vendor page, a site page, a leave-a-comment page and a product page for each person, animal, business or situation for which this one product can be of use.

But… there’s only two or three sentences on each page—if that much! So by default or design, graphical wizardry fills the remaining and yawning void.

Now, is there anything wrong with having a “brochure” style website?

Of course not—if you’re GE, Amazon, Dell Computer or any other business that has a diverse and extensive product and service mix.

For quicker and easier surfing (read: optimized usability) such a company needs a website that will logically and intuitively segment their wares and information on to different web pages.

But, if your company is a one-trick pony… a microsite will do you just fine.

Why waste your visitor’s time, forcing them to click here and there (and out of boredom flee to your competitor’s website), when everything they need to know and find about you, your product or service can comfortably and ergonomically fit on one page?

“…But I don’t want my website to look like one of those long-scrolling websites, you know, the type that sells information products!”

You’re laughing. Trust me… I hear that all the time, and it kills me.

My preferred retort to that bit of ignorance should be: “Well, those sites, the better conceived ones, typically rack up millions of dollars in sales—usually in a very short time. And so how much did you make last week?”

But instead, I politely suggest that they be sure to tell their web designer that he or she should stay away from that sort of, uh, look—but still put it on one page (two at the most).

Which now brings us to “that” sort of look, or site, the long scrolling, one-page kind.

The Kick-butt, Killer Commando Website

Because I don’t want to get into the debate, again, over whether long copy outsells short copy (it absolutely does!)… let me just state that a long scrolling, one-page, “information product kind” of website has but one purpose in its virtual life. To sell one thing—and to sell that one thing right off the page—right then and there!

And because “properly executed” websites of this kind can sell, and sell very well… uninitiated and salivating entrepreneurs who won’t take the time—or spend the money—to achieve a similar level of selling sophistication… will blindly, poorly and sacrilegiously copy that type of website’s form and style—while ignoring its compelling substance.

They’ll slap up a website, using a website design program they downloaded off the internet the night before.

And then they’ll fill it up with pages and pages (the amount of which seemingly corresponds, oddly enough, to the entrepreneur’s age) of overblown, hype-filled, irrelevant, stream of conscious verbal diarrhea.

And Holy Baloney! the impossible promises they make—with no credible proof provided—and the multitude of “freebies” offered (valued at thousands of dollars more than the $49.95 or $495 program, system or product being hawked)—is an absolute marvel to behold.

And then, of course, there’s the false deadline and limited supply (without a reasonable explanation as to why).

The list of unadulterated snake oil BS, sales gaffs and obvious chicanery on these sites is endless—indeed, the list is as long as the website.

Fortunately though, few are swindled, and these sites disappear relatively quickly, simply because…they don’t sell well.

And yet… the online, long-copy, scrolling sales letter, when conceived with good and honest intentions and executed with consummate sales skill, can quickly create a fortune, and a loyal and well-deserved following for a gifted entrepreneur where neither existed before.

That cheap imitations have muddied the worth and image of one of the mightiest and most sublime manifestations of salesmanship in print… is unfortunate. But they will endure… to the benefit of seller… and customer.

Which now brings us, finally, to the website by half…

The Landing, Splash, Squeeze Page

This rose by any other name—should be short, sweet and to the point.

What a surgical military strike is to the field of combat, the landing page is to the theater of marketing. Its sole purpose is conversion—to get the reader to buy, subscribe or inquire—fast. All the “selling and persuasion” typically comes before the visitor lands on this short-copy, quick-strike page.

Interestingly, one mistake many marketers make in regard to the landing page is not in the design of one—but in the lack of one.

They’ll do all the right things (hopefully) to generate traffic—but rather than drive the visitor to a page that is a dedicated follow-up to the ad the visitor just read—they drive them to their company’s home page, instead.

Then the visitor has to hunt and click for their particular item of interest.

If you give a visitor/potential buyer the slightest opportunity to get sidetracked and not complete the desired action—they will!

Another mistake is not designing the landing page to look and read the same way as the ad that attracted them in the first place.  In short, there’s no continuity—no sense that they’re in the right place—primarily because there’s no repetition of the offer made in the ad.

Even though the potential customer has already been seduced, persuaded and sold on purchasing your product or service—or just providing their email address—you still must continue to seduce, persuade and sell them on your landing page.

You just don’t have to take as much time doing it. Just repeat the salient selling points already made in the ad—including the guarantee or risk reversal element.

But don’t be too quick and smart about it, either.

Don’t request your customer’s credit card number in a cold, calculating and peremptory manner. Continue to entice and excite your customers on your landing page—so that they can’t bear to wait a moment longer to give you their name and email address… or their money.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

 A Graceful Flowing Font
Summary – We can now write emails which are as beautiful as any artistic paper letter and do a lot that paper correspondence can't. We seem to keep our artistry for blogs and web pages Do you think anyone has declared moving type to be the end of civilization in the same way people said typewriters were killing letter writing, telephones were isolating people, and television and the Internet were isolating young folk from other people? Did anyone rouse the mob to drive out that wicked Johannes Gutenberg and....

 Be Your Own Website Copywriter- Is Pixelvision Killing Your Copy?
Product knowledge can be an entrepreneur's best friend - or worst enemy. You love your product and know it so well – maybe too well. As a result your perspective can actually get in the way of website copy that sells. Are you so close to your fine product that you can't see what really matters to your customers? Try this. Put your nose right on your computer screen. Now look at what's on your screen. How's the view? Can you see the big picture or are you getting lost in the pixels? You just experienced pixelvision. In this exercise pixelvision....

 E-Commerce in a Nutshell
Are you new to the Internet and you're not quite sure what e-commerce is all about? You won't be left in the dark any longer! What is the use of paying hundreds of dollars per week on rent just to sell a few products through a storefront when you can sell everything easily and efficiently online? That is the question a....

 Mass Control or Mass Scam
Been looking lately at ways of increasing internet sales for various products that I promote, and in doing so I came across a website flogging Frank Kern's "Mass Control". Wasnt too sure about if or not it was a scam so I did a quick search and came up with this post... Frank Kern Busted by FTC! If you're trying to make a living online, sooner or later you're going to run across an entertaining character called Frank Kern. He's a good old boy from Georgia who apparently has made a killing touting various money-making schemes online and now lives the surfer-dude....

 Web Design and Development with Experts : Video Tutorial
Develop and Design your website with expert Designers. All web Services under one roof. Designing of a web is like drawing a masterpiece. The designing of a web page is important in a way that if it's a business website the web reflects your company, so if you make a bad designing this will affect your business badly. So making your....

 Who Needs a Domain Name
It's a good idea, if you have a website to consider registering your own domain. A domain name would look like this: thisisadomain.com. Anyone can register his or her own domain name, whether you are an individual or a business. Here's why having a website domain is important: · Your domain name is yours forever. If you decide to switch web-hosting services, you can still keep your domain name. This means that regular visitors to your website wouldn't be affected, if you changed hosts. They would simply type thisisadomain.com and get to your new site. · Having your own domain....

 Small Business Website Design Strategies
Think of it like a courtroom. The small business is on trial it's products and services are suspect from the get go. That small business needs to prove beyond a shadow of doubt that it can provide the best value over its competitors. What's worse is that you only have about 8 seconds from the time the visitor hits the homepage to the time they click the back button to hook them into your sales copy. For a small business a website can have a massive impact on whether....

 Starting An Online Business? Watch Out For These Headlines!
Are you trying to start an online business? Are you overwhelmed with the many online business programs available or concerned that you'll lose money by investing in them? While many offers sound too good to be true, there are some very good ones available - but how can you be sure? Learning to read 'between the lines' will better prepare you for what's really involved. These 4 common 'hyped' terms mislead many wanna-be online business owners. The bottom line is this. If it was easy everyone would be making 6 figures with an online business. Here are some common phrases....

 Getting Started: Creating a Business Plan
Getting Started: Creating a Business Plan By Jaff Mydin You're excited. You have a great idea for a profitable online business. Maybe it is an original idea that has not been marketed online before. Maybe you have come up with a new spin on the ordinary. Whatever it is that has influenced you to start your online business, be sure that you have a plan before you begin. This is not the time to “pick it up as you go”. These are some basic things that should be included in your business plan. The business summary should give a brief description of the....

 Advertising Options on the Internet
These options can help you understand the rapidly growing market of internet advertising. Your online business will likely require more advertising than a contemporary business downtown, yet some new to the world of online business do not spend the time and money to advertise their business appropriately and are, in turn, loosing money. Your online business is crammed into the world wide web along with thousands of others selling the same product or service as yourself. Consider this scenario: In your hometown you want to open an art supply store. In that same town there are thousands of art supply stores. In order for your business to be successful, it will have....

 Great Tips on How to Make Your Website
I believe computers are the greatest thing ever! Dont you just love all the things you can do with a PC or a MAC? And what matters so much is not what they can accomplish but that they can accomplish it from our homes. I simply love the fact that I dont have to go out to a secret government agency just because I want to get access to a computer. Today all it takes is a few hundred dollar desktop PCs and an Internet connection. There are many things you can do online and you can even make your....

 Do You Have A Vision For Your Online Business?
A characteristic of many successful businesses (both online and off-line) is that they have a vision for their business. They know what they are working towards, and they are creating a business that will be like their vision of the future. It is always a good idea to stop every so often and reconsider what your vision is for your business. So how do you create a vision for your online business? The first step is to ask yourself what you really want to create with your business. Imagine the ideal business that you want to own. Do not be distracted....

 Do You Have A Vision For Your Online Business?
A characteristic of many successful businesses (both online and off-line) is that they have a vision for their business. They know what they are working towards, and they are creating a business that will be like their vision of the future. It is always a good idea to stop every so often and reconsider what your vision is for your business. So how do you create a vision for your online business? The first step is to ask yourself what you really want to create with your business. Imagine the ideal business that you want to own. Do not be distracted....

 Advertising… The Best Marketing Tip
The best marketing tip you will ever hear is to advertise your product or business.  In fact, any marketing tip you hear or see will be related to some form of advertising.  In this article, we will go over several marketing tips and the reason you should use them. One great marketing tip is to use an auto responder.  Autoresponders automatically send out emails to people on your mailing lists or to people who have been to your website.  You can then send out advertisements of your business or service.  This is a great marketing tip because it is often....

 So You Want To Start An Internet Home Business?
Copyright © Robbie Fanucchi <a href="http://www.RJFanucchi.com">http://www.RJFanucchi.com<a/> Everyone these days has the notion to run a home based internet business? Do you have what it takes? This is the most important question to ask yourself before venturing forth. Why? Because not everyone is suited to start a successful home business. As strange as it sounds, many prefer to answer to a boss who dictates eight to twelve hours of their day. After all, if you do exactly as he says and your life is still miserable, who is to blame? Yourself? Of course not. You blame the boss. But if you have your own....

Trackback URL for this post:
http://www.problogtips.com/how-to-know-if-your-website-is-killing-your-business/2298/trackback/

Posted by Jaron in the catagory of... General Interest

1 Trackback »