2013 Todaymade page 1 TODAYMADE.COM THE SECRETS OF WEBSITES THAT SELL

Transcription

1 2013 Todaymade page 1

2 THE SECRETS OF WEBSITES THAT SELL Better At Marketing Training 2013, Todaymade todaymade.com 2013 Todaymade page 2

3 CONTENTS The Secrets Of Websites That Sell Three Strategies For Planning Your Website Why Search Is The Most Important Tool Put Your Website In Their Pocket Taking Control Of Your Website Content Creating Killer Website Content Use Social Media To Build Traffic Using Your Website to Generate New Leads The Website of the Future Is A Mobile App 2013 Todaymade page 3

4 THREE STRATEGIES FOR PLANNING YOUR WEBSITE The most effective websites happen long before any code is ever written. Effective planning of our website will save us some frustration in the long run. There are three things to consider that will help us understand how our website will be used, and who will be using it. KNOW THE USER The first and probably least understood step in planning a website is to simply know the customer. Our website is for our customers, not us, yet we often forget to consider them when we begin creating our website. A good website always begins with simple customer profiles. These document the individual nature of our customers, and help us answer simple questions. Creating profiles of your current customers will help you understand your broad customer base Todaymade page 4

5 These customer profile questions should answer: Who is going to be using our site? What are they going to do once they get there? What will they be looking for? How can we help them find it? In creating these profiles, we need to be honest with ourselves while still being realistic. That is, we may or may not like all of the answers to those questions because we might have other ideas in mind for our site, but the needs of our customers must come before our pet projects on our website. Profiling our customers might be as simple as documenting our current customers. Consider what we know about those we already work with and keep them in mind as we plan our website. Using actual customers gets rid of the guessing game that often leads to false assumptions. UNDERSTAND THE DELIVERY The second thing that we need to do is understand our delivery method. This encompasses the physical delivery of our website as well as the emotional delivery. Our customers have access to a wide variety of technology. We need to consider what device or method our customer will use to access our website. Are we ready to offer our site to anyone on any platform? Mobile and tablet computing is a growing rapidly and businesses can no longer ignore what their website looks 2013 Todaymade page 5

6 like on these new platforms. We need to reach our customers where they are, and reduce any barriers to using our site. We also need to understand our customer s state of mind when they visit our website. Are they looking to make a purchase, or are they looking to complete a task? Understanding what their motivation is helps us plan our site to meet all the needs of our customer. As you build trust with your customers, give them the chance to do something with that trust, like signing up for your list. MAKE LONG-TERM CONNECTIONS Sometimes we forget to plan for the long haul. Whether it s a simple oversight or a lack of optimism about our website s chances on the Internet, it s an unfortunate mistake. We need to plan on being around a long time, and making long-term connections. Online marketing is all about building trust, and trust comes from long-term relationships that can be built using marketing or even social media Todaymade page 6

7 When we don t plan for these long-term connections up front, we might consider taking actions that limit or hurt the potential for the long term. Burning bridges, intentionally or not, forces us into a short-term corner. Up-front planning for the long-term is necessary. PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER Too often, we start planning our website by asking ourselves what we want. Unfortunately, even if we mean well, it is the wrong approach. Websites are to be user-centric, meaning that they put the customer first. What do they want? What do they need? This approach is the difference between just another website and a real website that works. Keep your customers close, and their wants and needs even closer Todaymade page 7

8 WHY SEARCH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL FOR NEW BUSINESS Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become a kind of mythical beast, and seems too daunting to even be bothered with. Nevertheless, SEO has unequivocal value when we realize that Google, and not our own website, is our homepage. When our customers search for our company or products, what do they see first? They see the results from the search engine. Rarely do people head on over to our website first; a search engine like Google is usually the first stop. UNDERSTANDING PAGERANK One of the things that we must understand about Google is something called PageRank. PageRank is a number between 0 and 10 that is assigned by Google s search robot. This number attempts to determine the overall quality of our website. The higher our PageRank score, the more likely we are show up in search results. GOOD PAGE STRUCTURE One of the major influences of PageRank is website structure. This refers to how the pages of a website are built, the HTML code, the navigational structure, and so forth. Search engines, including Google, offer webmasters help to ensure peak search engine performance. A good web developer will know exactly what should be done to maximize SEO in this regard. There are, however, a few things that we can do ourselves Todaymade page 8

9 1. See Our Two Audiences Remember that our website content serves two audiences. First, we need to serve our own human audience by providing the content and information that they need. Second, we need to provide for search engines like Google. Meeting the needs of both of these audiences usually means longer copy that is helpful, and written in a conversational way. 2. Incorporate Important Keywords The next thing that we can do is incorporate Important Keywords into our text. To do this, simply develop a list of important words and terms that we want people to find us for and start incorporating them into our content. Think about the terms our customers typically use. How can we naturally incorporate them into the copy of our website? Google can provide you with direction on what words should be used when creating your content Todaymade page 9

10 3. Update Our Website Often All search engines love to see new content being added to our site on a regular basis. These engines are always combing the web to find and index any changes a website makes. The more often we update our site, the more often search engines like Google visit. The more often they visit, the more likely our PageRank will improve. 4. Think Inbound Great SEO really requires a mindshift. We need to think differently about the information on our site. The term Inbound refers specifically to traffic that comes to our site from search engines and social networks. This is the type of traffic that can provide a major influence on PageRank, and is important for everyone. Finding ways to increase this inbound traffic propagates more inbound traffic. Google Analytics provides you with stats on how well your website is performing, and where your inbound traffic is Todaymade page 10

11 History tells us that most businesses don t pay much attention to their Google ranking. This can be used to our advantage. The company that begins seeing both audiences and starts building inbound traffic using good page structure and important keywords will quickly rise to the top of the Google pile. Remember, Google is our new homepage - be sure to make it count. Google is your new homepage. Most people will find your site through search, rather than typing in your site s address directly Todaymade page 11

12 PUT YOUR WEBSITE IN THEIR POCKET We might wonder about needing a mobile website. Is it really all that important? The truth is: yes. In 2010, a Quantcast study showed that mobile web users more than doubled in a matter of one year. That s 110 percent annual growth! In fact, the research is showing that mobile website browsing will likely surpass traditional browsing on the computer by the year Let s think of our own habits, and how we use our own smartphones. With the extreme popularity of smartphones like iphones and Android devices, not to mention ipads and Tablets, many of our customers now have very powerful computers with them at all times. It s only natural that they d use them. The iphone is the new phone book, personal assistant, shopping coordinator, and Internet surfing device all-in-one. Let s not forget social networking on these same mobile devices. Millions of people share and browse social networks on their phones. As links to our site are shared across those networks, we can be sure that a significant portion of visitors will be coming from mobile devices as they click through these links. If we don t have a mobile presence, it won t be long before we cease to exist for our customer as they go about day-to-day life. AREN T MOBILE WEBSITES CLUNKY AND JUNKY? Many of us tend to think of mobile websites as ugly text-based sites that aren t fun to use. Or, as website managers, we see them as a huge chore, another website to update and maintain alongside the regular website. Neither of these things have to be the case anymore Todaymade page 12

13 Using responsive web technology, we can build a single powerful website that works seamlessly on a variety of screen sizes. No matter what device you use - smartphone, tablet, or a laptop - the content on the site will automatically reorganize to suit the appropriate screen size. This seamless adaptation ensures a similar user experience across all platforms, and allows for single website management instead of multiple websites. Using responsive web technology means your website will look good and be fully functional on any device or screen size Todaymade page 13

14 This is the way of the future. As users demand a more mobilefriendly experience, brands need to deliver on a high quality option that is available instantly from the user s pocket. PLANNING FOR MOBILE The technology is certainly here when it comes to mobile websites. What about the experience? We know that mobile web users tend to have very different goals from the traditional web browser. For example, the average mobile surfing session lasts less than five minutes. Mobile visitors have specific goals and limitations, so we need to provide for them. Again, before we dive into preparing our mobile site, we should know what our customer wants from a mobile website experience. What do they need access to on the go? What gets in the way? How can we help them find what they need on our site? CONCLUSION Habits and customers are constantly changing. To build an individual website for each device and screen is expensive and time consuming. A responsive site adapts, as needed, to accommodate the experience of many under one umbrella of maintenance. As the power of marketing moves online, mobile usability will become more and more important. Consider our own habits. Are we more reliant on our mobile device? Our customers are just like us Todaymade page 14

15 TAKING CONTROL OF YOUR WEBSITE CONTENT Managing website content today has changed from what it used to be. In the old days, web pages were created and maintained using a static method, which meant that each page was hand coded with HTML and put online by a web developer. While this method worked, it was inefficient and cost a lot of money. There s nothing like paying 100 bucks to change a phone number right? That s where Content Management Systems come into play. Often referred to by the acronym CMS, these systems allow us to control the content on our website by logging into a web based system. There are several advantages to using a CMS. Our CMS makes it easy to manage your website content from a simple interface. Whichever CMS you use, it should allow you to make changes easily and quickly Todaymade page 15

16 TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR CONTENT The first and most obvious advantage is that it helps us take control of our content. Changes are inevitable for any business. A content management system allows us to make simple changes to the text, files, images, and videos on our site right from our own computer. KEEP GOOGLE COMING BACK CMS systems are so important is because they help feed Google. We call this Google food, and it simply means that websites with regular updates are watched more closely than static websites that rarely change. By adding new content on a regular basis, we re constantly telling Google that we have new and interesting things to share. ITERATE QUICKLY Many of us still think of websites with a set it and forget it mentality. This is no longer the case, anymore. For the sake of Google, and for the sake of your customers, a good website is a living website. It is constantly changing and being updated. With a CMS we are be able to make changes and additions on the fly, breathing new life into our website. WHAT TO LOOK FOR There are many choices when it comes to choosing a CMS. Open-source options, like WordPress, are inexpensive, but they 2013 Todaymade page 16

17 can also be limiting. They are meant to address the general needs for a broad range of likely users. Another option for a CMS is one that is completely custom-built. These kinds of custom systems can be costly to maintain, but they do meet our company s needs, since they are built completely around that one goal. Some solutions, like Todaymade s own CMS, combines the two options to create the best of both worlds. Our system is extremely flexible, providing an out-of-the-box pricing model with the power and flexibility of a custom-coded CMS offering. It s also easy to use, and that is very important. We always say that if you can send an , you should be able to update your website Todaymade page 17

18 CREATING KILLER WEBSITE CONTENT At any given moment in any given place, someone is planning a website. They re talking about the navigation, the layout, the colors but they re forgetting the most important thing of all: the content. Content is the stuff that keeps people coming back to our site again and again. It s more than just the words and images on the page, though. It includes the voice we use and the topics we cover. We need to understand the reason for our website. Why does our company have a website? Is it simply for an online presence? Because our competitors have one? These reasons may have worked in the early days of the Internet, but no more. Websites that want traffic need to think differently. INBOUND MARKETING Inbound marketing simply refers to a marketing strategy that focuses on attracting prospective customers by offering useful information. We bring them into our site because of what is there. So, rather than pitching products or services through interruption like traditional advertising we conveniently deliver information that benefits our customers. Building our website 2013 Todaymade page 18

19 around the things that we want to say rather than the things our customers want to hear is a common mistake. Inbound marketing turns this around. THINK LIKE A USER Every time we publish something on our website or blog, we need to be thinking about how it benefits our audience. What are they searching for? What do they want? Inbound Marketing works because we learn to think like a user and give them what they want. To do this, there are many types of content that we can create, but a few of the most popular include: 1. Content That Informs Written articles, blog posts, or recorded videos that keep customers in-the-know show them that we are on the cutting edge, and that they can rest assured they will be, too, if they read our content. 2. Content That Helps Our customers have questions and, as experts, we have the answers. How-to articles, s, and tutorial videos can be great sources of valuable content for current and prospective customers Todaymade page 19

20 3. Content That Entertains Make your audience laugh, or maybe even cry tears of joy. Our customers are people with real emotions; connect with them in this way and they will see us as real people, too, and remember and appreciate it. One of the greatest assets a website owner can have is a blog. Company blogs are becoming increasingly valuable ways to gain inbound traffic and provide helpful information for our audience. Done right, they mean steady content and search traffic, and help establish our expertise in the eyes of customers. We have to remember that killer website content doesn t just bring a visitor to our site, but it also keeps them coming back Todaymade page 20

21 USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO BUILD TRAFFIC AND CONVERSATION Social media is all the rage today, but plain old websites still matter a lot. They are, in fact, the center of any good social media marketing program. The outlet for all that social media traffic is our website. How can a website be social? It is actually simpler than we might think unless we think of our website as a brochure. Not much happens on a site that is finished and frozen in time, much less anything social. A brochure website may have worked in the early days of the Internet, but no more. WEBSITES ARE STILL HUBS It is better to think about our website like a hub, the center of our online universe. Some may get to our site by typing in our URL. Some might come from a search engine. Others might come from social networks. No matter the source of the traffic, our website should always be the final destination. It is important to see Facebook Pages, Twitter profiles, and Pinterest boards as extensions of our website, rather than individual hubs themselves. For example, Facebook is a great tool for community and conversation. Our website could be a hub of helpful information while our Facebook page becomes a place to have conversation about related topics. Our Facebook page is not, however, all we have. It s the microphone, not the message Todaymade page 21

22 BLOGS ARE HUBS One of the best ways to keep our website connected to social media is through a blog. Imagine if our website contained dozens, if not hundreds, of helpful and informational articles that our customers loved. We could post links to our blog on social media sites and allow our fans and followers to share them with their friends. Connect To The Social World The first thing we need to do to connect ourselves to the social world is to share our own content. Tweeting and posting links to our site on our Facebook wall is an important first step for a social website. There are tools that can help us automate or simplify this process, like TodayLaunch. Social Media Integration The second important step to building a social website involves some basic social media integration. At minimum, we should have links on our site to our social networks so that those who do find our site can also find us on social networks. Beyond that, we should also provide share buttons that make it easy for our visitors to share our website on their own social accounts. At the very least, this should include share buttons for Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Pinterest and Google+ can also be useful in some cases. We need to make it easy for our visitors to share our website with the world Todaymade page 22

23 TODAYLAUNCH IS YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA DASHBOARD Now that we have our visitors sharing our content, we need to be part of the conversation they started around it. Keeping tabs on four or five different accounts on different social networks can be challenging, making it necessary to find a tool that will help us manage them all. TodayLaunch is a tool that helps us stay in the conversation easily. From one location, we can maneuver across many accounts and social networks, replying and sharing the content we find. The more sharing the better Todaymade page 23

24 USING YOUR WEBSITE TO GENERATE NEW LEADS When it comes to a great website, goals matter. Sure, our website should provide readers with information about their business, but is that enough? At Todaymade, we believe in websites that do more than just tell our company s story. Websites are sales tools, and there has to be a return on our investment. Why pay for a website that just sits there and doesn t pull its own weight? YOUR CUSTOMER S NEEDS Part of what makes a website great at capturing leads is thinking in a customer-centric way. What do our customers want or need, and what can we trade them for an address or a phone number? We need to base our thinking on their needs, not just ours. Once we understand our customer s motivation, capturing leads comes down to three simple steps. Step 1 What Type of Leads Do You Need? The first step requires precision focus. We need to decide two things: What type of lead do we need, and what area of our business are we hoping to grow? When it comes to choosing a lead type, there are two that we can gather. The first is a simple address. The second is more detailed and includes a phone number and/or address. For example, if we are hoping get more subscribers in our Todaymade page 24

25 marketing program, then all we need is an address. If we are hoping to make direct contact with someone via phone or mail, then we might be better off offering a free consultation or estimate. It just depends on our particular strategy. Step 2 Make Our Website Ready for Lead Conversion Once we have a lead strategy, we need to develop a way to reach our goal. Our navigation should lead our potential customer directly to the call to action. In doing this, we need to make it obvious, telling them what we want them to do. There is no sense in beating around the bush. Our customer isn t looking to waste time, either. And of course, we have to make it valuable. What incentive can we offer? A free ebook or digital download? What will strike a chord with them and help them cross the finish line? A clear path and a desirable incentive brings about successful lead conversions. Step 3 Check Our Conversions The last thing we need to do is check our conversions to determine the success of our efforts. We ll look at how many people are visiting our site, and how many of them have completed the lead generation process successfully. Website stats and tools like Google analytics can help us do this. Our website should be doing all the heavy lifting, much of which is done through a well-made call to action. Without it, our site isn t a marketing tool at all Todaymade page 25

26 THE WEBSITE OF THE FUTURE IS A MOBILE APP Our next website may not be a website at all, but a mobile application. Smartphones and tablets are lifestyle devices. We use them on the go, in the store, and on our couch. They go where we go, and that is why it is no surprise that by 2014 mobile traffic will exceed desktop traffic on the web. We ve all heard of mobile websites, but many of the online users in the future will continue to ask for and demand mobile apps. In fact, emarketing.com did a study which concluded that over 60 percent of mobile users preferred the experience of an app over a website for things like navigation, connection, and reading useful information. But, what exactly makes an app different from a mobile website? APPS DO MORE To put it simply, apps do more. They are directly tied to our operating system, which gives them access to many things that websites don t have access to. For example, app users are able to download and store content on their own devices. This means that they can use our app even when they are offline Todaymade page 26

27 Apps also allow us to take advantage of key tools like the camera, sound controls, and video playback. This also includes things like notifications, which allow us to send an instant message to users at a moment s notice. Perhaps the most exciting advantage to an app is the prime real estate that they offer on mobile devices. Mobile websites are great, and they are still important, but they are only available through the use of a web browser. Apps are given primary placement on the home screen of the phone, and are quickly accessible through an icon. Our shiny app icon will be right where our customers spend the most time, on the home screen and not buried in a browser, making it easy to stop in and visit. APPS PROVIDE MORE INTERACTION One of the biggest things separating an app from a website is the experience that customers expect. Visitors to our site and users of our app are looking for very different results. App users are usually looking for a more interactive experience. They don t just want to see something - they want to do something. The best apps help users perform a task or will give them easy access to the information that they really want. Before we decide to develop an app for the Apple ios or Android operating system, we should examine how we can add value to the users of our app. How can we help them on the go? Apps can provide great avenues for user participation, feedback, and promote a unique form of loyalty to one brand or company Todaymade page 27

28 Todaymade A web development and design company helping the world create and share great content todaymade.com 2013 Todaymade page 28