18 Jan Profitable Website Marketing: My Personal Top 10 Tips
Website Tips For Building a Strong Lead Generation Website
1. Make the first 10 seconds count.
You’ve heard it before, the first 10 seconds in any meeting are the most important. It’s just the same with your website. The colours that you use, the size and relevancy of your graphics, text and links all lead towards your impact presentation. When a new prospect lands on your site they have to know within 10 seconds whether or not they have arrived in the right place. There can be no indecision here – they must know to leave or stay. Make it obvious to them.
2. Avoid heavy loading and fancy graphics.
It follows a similar theme to the above note, but this point applies specifically to your website’s load time. This is failure that most businesses are aware of, but few take action on. How fast does your site load for you? Do all your visitors have high speed connections? The guideline is 8 seconds on a 56K dialup modem, any longer and you’re playing double jeopardy. Above, avoid the temptation to make your landing page some huge logo image or flash presentation. More people than you think don’t want this – in fact, they don’t care at all what your logo looks like, they want to know what’s in it for them.
These are the ‘basic’ website tips, but they count for more than 80% of success!
3. Don’t let them leave from the main page.
The most common page for new visitors to land on is your main page. It’s also the most common for them to leave on – without ever having looked at other pages! That’s tantamount to someone sneaking open your shopfront door a crack, taking a peek and slamming it shut as they leave. This falls in with the 10 second impact point – use bold headlines that stand out and then links that draw your visitors further into your site. The longer they stick around, the higher the chances of them contacting you.
4. We hate Pop-ups, but they work.
Do you hate those annoying pop-up windows that some websites use? You know the ones… after you click to a site they literally jump out and grab you by the throat. How about those ones that no matter what you do they will not close, or another comes your way. Aaargh!! Yeah – I hate them to. So keep this in mind, Pop-up windows do work, if … and that’s a BIG IF… you don’t annoy the crap out of your visitors. A good guideline is to use cookie based pop ups that only trigger one – either when the visitors arrives, or when they leave – no more.
Do a quick search for “Website Tips”, you’ll find many more you can easily implement
5. Entice, bribe and coerce.
So what’s the point of a pop up – they serve one task only – to highlight a special offer, or better yet, to highlight your free email information newsletter. Ask your accountant or advertising agent where the most effective ad dollar is spent… on new customers or on existing ones. Everyone knows that’s it’s easier to sell to an existing client than to a new one. Create a mindset when your free subscribers are equal in ratings to free customers. Do everything you have to, to entice them to subscribe to your monthly mailing list. Everything and anything possible: a free gift, a free sample – something. Bribe them if you have to, but get their details!
You’ve probably heard most of these website tips, but I wonder just how many you’re using…
6. Accept that there is more than one solution.
Too many website owners simply accept that ‘there’s lot’s of competitive websites’ and that browser are not buyers. That’s cow-dung! Browsers are browsing for a purpose – they are looking for someone to meet their needs – and if it’s not going to be you, it’s going to be someone else. So what if they are not ready to buy and contact you yet, then grab their details to your opt-in email newsletter list and keep them as free customers till they pay you for your work. Do you believe that you’ve got a good business, the right services, and the right price point – then prove it – and yell it out from your website. Make it clear that you have the solution to your prospective customers needs, and finally, ask them for the chance to prove it.
7. Use the power of free to your advantage.
OK, I can hear you argument beginning, “But … But …. But …” Forget the buts and begin marketing to them with your website. Yes, people love free stuff, of course, we all do. SO GIVE IT TO THEM! But – when you offer free stuff, do it in exchange for their name and email address, so you can follow them up.
8. Lead them by the hand.
Once you’ve gained your visitors trust (by use of the content on your site), you then need to literally ‘take them by the hand’ and guide them from page to page across your website. This is achieved by your links and the words you use to ask people to click them. As you do this, make sure that all your visitors’ questions are answered. Find out what it is that visitors to your site want to know – then give it to them. Guide them step by step to the contact page, until you have their details.
9. Don’t let go unless they ask you to.
Once you’ve got hold of them – Don’t Let Go! Love them, care for them, and even if they have not yet opened their wallet for you – show them the same level of gold service that you usually reserve for your paying customers. Write (email) them and share stories with what’s happening in your business world, and how it might affect them. The only time you let go is when they click the “Click Here to Unsubscribe” link, never before.
10. Make your site one part of a network.
Finally, don’t be afraid to venture out and create your own network of related websites. This can be done under your own ownership and management or you can set up partnerships with other sites. Send each other traffic, hints, tips and strategies. Share these networks with your visitors and they’ll share you amongst their own networks. Be helpful to them.
Really take hold of these website tips you’ll see a huge shift in your business within weeks!
– Paul Barrs.
