Bienalto, an online marketing consultancy, are running the 2007 Australian Web Analytics Survey. It doesn’t take long to complete and all participants will be emailed the full survey details.
Web analytics is still not widely adopted in Australia so this is a great way to contribute and get an idea of the current state of play. It’s running until the 19 October 2007 so hop on over there.
I’ve been building websites for a long time. Over 12 years in fact. In the early days it was relatively easy to put up a site, let a few search engines know about it and voila - success! This was at a time when the web was new and the competition was lacking. It was a great time but not one I expected to last. And it didn’t.
These days having a website is no guarantee of success. It takes blood, sweat and… yep you guess it marketing to make your online venture a success. Unfortunately too many people still think if they put a site online the masses will flock to them. And then wonder why they don’t. It’s also a myth that people like to perpetuate. Put a site online and you’ll be making millions within days.
In reality your website needs to be carefully planned, built and marketed just like any other business venture. Start by defining your strategy and determining how you want to make money from your website. Make sure you choose a web designer who understands good design principles, usability, SEO and internet marketing. And last but not least develop your marketing strategy.
I’ll go over some of these strategies in future posts but for now at least consider:
This list is by no means exhaustive but it’s a good start. By creating a marketing strategy and working on it steadily you’ll achieve the online success you’ve been searching for. Good luck!
The lovely Liana Evans of Search Marketing Gurus has interviewed me for her latest Women of Internet Marketing series.
Many years ago a client finally admitted to me, after 12 months, that they didn’t know what a URL was. I was horrified as I’d been referring to website addresses as URL’s the whole time and she obviously had no idea what I was on about!
Never again. From then on I made a decision to explain things as simply as possible. It’s paid off, one of the most frequent comments I get from clients and prospects alike is my ability to explain things to them in a clear, easy to understand manner. Recently I’ve had a number of people ask me to explain something they were told by another web designer or marketer. When being told what the original person said I’m usually dumbfounded that they would assume what they said would make sense to the average person.
Our role is to walk our clients and prospects through the complex area of web design and online business. It is up to us to make sure what we say is being understood by those we say it to.
This one is almost to dreadful to be true. After having the decency to email a company to let them know you won’t be going with their service you’re insulted by said company. Yup this happened to a couple in New Zealand:
They asked for a simple quote on the cost of a wedding marquee - but lovebirds Steve Hausman and Paula Brosnahan got a vicious email from the hire company describing their planned nuptials as “cheap, nasty and tacky”.
Of course the email has spread like wildfire and the company, The Great Marquee Company, has had to post a statement on their website. The owner Klaus Jorgensen has also sacked the person who wrote the email - his wife!
Really, you’d think people would know better. I suspect The Great Marquee Company is going to need some online reputation management real soon. 
I’ve been an editor at Dmoz for years. Over that time I’ve heard more than my fair share of complaints about how hard it is to get a website listed. The single best tip I can give you is this:
Make sure you submit to the right category and comply with the Title and Description requirements! 99.9% of sites I review need to be moved to the right category and have their Title and Descriptions re-written to comply with the rules. If there’s lots of sites to edit you can imagine how time consuming this will be.
Don’t make it hard for the editors. You’ll find your site gets approved far quicker if the only thing an editor needs to do is hit the “approve” button.
A client recently asked my opinion of online newsletters. While blogs seem to be the main focus these days there are still benefits of offering a newsletter. It can be a great way to keep in touch with your clients and can help your prospects get to know you, and your business, better. You can use it to announce company news, new products and services or offer advice.
If you’re considering offering a newsletter keep in mind the following:
Newsletters can be a great communications tool. Just remember your readers have chosen to read your newsletter so make it easy to subscribe, be informative and treat your reader’s details with respect.
In the last week or two I’ve chatted to a number of website owners about the lack of sales on their website. In each instance their first thought was to get more traffic.
I explained to them that just throwing more traffic at the site would not necessarily increase the amount of sales, at least not significantly. If you’re already getting traffic and no sales I’d be looking at why your prospects aren’t buying. Some issues to consider:
Targeted Traffic
Is what you’re selling what you’re visitors are after? This is a good time to review your search engine optimisation (SEO), Pay Per Click (PPC) and other marketing initiatives to make sure you’re targeting the right people. Perhaps your visitors are expecting “genuine widgets” and you’re offering “generic widgets”.
Website Issues
Is your website compelling? Does it provide your users with a reason to buy from you? Is it easy to buy from you? Are your product/service descriptions informative? Are your product photographs of high quality? How does your site compare to your competitors?
Take the time to really review your website. Focus on the design, usability, your unique selling proposition (USP) and your copy.
Merely throwing more traffic at your site does not necessarily mean more sales. And let’s face it, if you’re getting 5 sales for every 1000 visitors wouldn’t you rather get 50 sales for every 1000 visitors. Then an increase in traffic will bring an even larger increase in sales.
Welcome to Widgets Online! We offer a wide range of widgets including red widgets, blue widgets, green widgets, pink widgets, black widgets and white widgets as well as cheap widgets, discount widgets and fast widgets plus many more widgets at great prices. For all your widget needs contact us.
Hardly compelling is it.
Sure you need to include keywords in your copy in order to help rank in the search engines but what use is ranking at number one if your sales copy reads like above? It’s hardly going to compel your prospects to purchase from you.
Your web pages need to be written to cater to both the search engines and your users. Keyword rich copy that is compelling should be your focus. Why should people buy from you? What is your Unique Selling Point (USP)?
As you read over your pages keep those questions in mind. If your site reads like a laundry list of keywords it probably needs a re-write.
I consult to a lot of companies running e-commerce websites. Usually it’s not performing as expected and they want me to tell them why. While each website is different 5 common mistakes come up time and time again. Perhaps it’s time for you to do a quick check of your e-commerce site and make sure you’ve covered the following:
Far too many e-commerce websites have no physical contact details. If you’re wanting people to hand over their credit card details you need to provide information about your company and how people can get in touch with you. This is how you establish trust between your site and your prospects.
A common argument against providing a phone number is communicating via email keeps costs lower. A fair point. An approach I recommend is to include your contact details as well as a message along the following lines:
“Our preferred method of contact is via email and we provide prompt replies, normally within a few hours. As an online business, communicating via email enables us to keep our prices low, so please use this as your first method to contact us. However, should you ever need to reach us via phone, fax or post you’ll find all our contact details below.”
Make sure you state how fast emails are replied to so your prospects have an idea of how quickly their issue will be dealt with.
In 98% of case there will be no need for people to contact you, but providing these details will make your prospects much more comfortable handing over their precious credit card details.
Nothing peeves me more than getting to the end of placing an order to discover you don’t ship to my location. In fact my fists are clenching as I write this!
Clearly state where you ship and the cost of shipping to each of those locations. Place this information where it can easily be seen and label it clearly.
Again, encouraging people to order at your website is all about gaining their trust. Sometimes, for whatever reason, someone may want to return what they have ordered from you.
Prospects will feel far more comfortable buying from your site if you clearly state what your return policy is and how items can be returned.
One of the best ways to show prospects they can trust you, and feel comfortable doing business with you, is to show them what other happy customers have said about your company, service and products. After all, these are independent, 3rd party opinions of you!
If you currently don’t have any testimonials start collecting them from now. You could also approach some of your long time customers and ask for one. Keep in mind testimonials that address specifics are far more credible than ones that say something generic such as “great product, thanks”.
If you’re selling online include testimonials that cover areas such as: ease of ordering, fast shipping, prompt responses to questions and/or issues and how great your products are.
A common complaint I hear is having to register before placing an order. The less data people have to enter the more likelihood they will complete their order. There is plenty of time to collect additional information at a later stage.
Many out of the box e-commerce packages make first time customers sign up for an account before ordering. If your website makes prospects register before ordering I highly recommend you modify your checkout process.
These 5 simple steps will go a long way in establishing trust between you and your prospective customers which in turn will boost the number of orders you receive. Win, win really. 
