Despite how big Facebook or Twitter may get, your company website is still essential.
On more than one occasion I have come across blog posts, or “marketers” claiming that businesses should just do away with their company sites and turn their social networking profiles into the final destination of all their inbound marketing efforts.
So what’s my point of view on this? Don’t do it.
While social media may be at the core of how we connect, communicate and grow online, a social profile cannot replace the value of a well optimised website. Your website has to remain the central hub of your inbound marketing.
Social media marketing is a powerful and useful tool when handled appropriately. It allows you to connect with your customers on a personal level and stay connected with them throughout their day. Now people have smart-phones your target audience is almost always online, no matter where they are or what they are doing.
Social media marketing however is NOT the magic bullet to your online marketing needs.
Think of your online marketing like a bike wheel. Each of the spokes represents a different online marketing tactic: blog posts, Twitter, Facebook, inbound marketing etc. All of those things connect back to your main website, the hub of your wheel. You can’t afford to be missing any of the spokes, because it weakens the effectiveness of your wheel. But you can’t even build the wheel without a strong and constant center to hold everything together.
The spokes of your wheel can be replaced at anytime (measuring and testing).
Social media isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, but there are also no guarantees that it will stick around forever or remain as powerful as it is today. That’s why you have to diversify your inbound marketing efforts so as to not rely on one source of traffic. If Facebook where to disappear tomorrow for some reason, what would you be left with? Would you still have a strong online presence or would you fall off the face of the Internet?
Note: The same argument could be made for your website if Google were to shut down, hence the need for diversity.
Businesses should never favor one inbound marketing tactic (social media, SEO and content marketing) over another. The most successful websites are the ones that develop and integrated approach.
Remember, your website has to be the thing that pulls all of your inbound marketing together.
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In a survey just put out in America by Stanford University, 95% of people gave a 9 or higher on the question “On a rating from 1-10 how important is it that a business have a website?” There is no doubt these days that any business that is looking to expand past the most basic of business competition is going to require a web presence to keep their customers satisfied. When you have a webpage, visitors can learn about your products, your hours, your prices and more. It makes things easier for your customer by not having to wait to have the most basic of questions answered and it makes things easier for your staff by not having to field questions all day. Plus, if you don’t have a website you’re leaving money on the table.
You heard me right! You’re leaving solid sales and leads that you otherwise could have gotten.
A lot of businesses have not yet caught on that your website is also part of your sales team. Go and look at any major website for a business. Yes it has contact information, hours of operation, prices and otherwise but the main intent of the website is to generate more business! This day and age potential customers look to be sold too when visiting a website and failure to do so is where you leave your money on the table.
Your website has all the answers, all the details and should have everything needed for your customer to make a purchase or schedule an appointment. Plus, unlike any other salesman, your website after some initial cost will usually be very reasonable as far as cost to maintain.
Just like a salesman your webpage has to look professional and clean. Unless you field your own staff of web designers it is best to outsource the creation and maintenance of your website to professional internet marketers. These folks are the ones that know how to design a page that both looks good and is easy to navigate as well as convert curiosity into sales. They can also ensure that the difficult process of getting your name to the top of the search engines is managed around the clock. Search engines are the best way to get free targeted traffic and should be a part of every website plan.
If you still don’t have a website now is the best time to get the ball rolling. Site development has never been so reasonable and getting your website promoted is a small expense. A good website designed with your customers in mind should bring an amazing return on investment in just a short amount of time.
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Beware…this is really basic…
If you were to ask ten different internet marketers what internet or online marketing means, you would likely get ten different answers! Internet marketing can basically be broken down into two different facets. The first facet is those that communicate to promote a company’s message. By using the internet to brand, sell, and promote a company online you reach a global audience with basically unlimited potential. The second group of internet marketers are those folk that try to sell either their own product or somebody else’s using the internet using a variety of different methods.
Here is a really, really basic and bog standard guide to some online marketing “things”:
A Website: A website is the most common and by far the most successful method to selling products online. A website gives you unlimited reach and individuality. It is relatively inexpensive to get started and your reach is unlimited. Many internet marketers also use their website to capture leads in the form of email addresses. By offering a newsletter or some other free product, you get in exchange your visitors email address which you can then use to pitch products to.
Social Marketing: These are your websites that encourage communications such as Twitter and Facebook. As social marketing becomes an ever increasing part of everybody’s lives, the importance of marketing using these social platforms also increases. By gaining a following and providing them good useful information, they gain your trust and eventually with good marketing will buy your product. The key to using social marketing is to interact with your followers constantly to keep them interested. – Remember, it’s “social” marketing, so be sociable, talk to people 
Video Marketing: YouTube and other video sites have become a very popular method of marketing your goods or services. By creating an engaging video, you have the potential to gain followers much like social marketing. Video allows you to very clearly convey a message to your viewers. Keeping a video interesting and original is the most important aspect to video marketing. Video marketing also offers the potential for your video to go viral which can lead to hundreds of thousands if not millions of views. Of course, for your video to go viral it has to be something completely original and worth sharing with others.
Forums: Internet marketers use forums to become experts in their respected niche. By posting every day and answering the many questions that come across the forums you’ll eventually gain the trust of others on your forum and eventually be received as the expert with the answers. Just make sure that your answer includes your product or service you’re promoting! On forums it is particularly looked down upon to spam or sling products so keep a subtle link in your signature or profile leading to your website to funnel traffic to your sales page.
This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as internet marketing goes but it allows you to begin to see the wide array of methods that internet marketers use to pitch their product.
The most important thing to remember though is to gain the trust and loyalty of your followers so they’ll follow your advice and ultimately buy your products!
This year is forecast to be another record shattering year for e-commerce and online spending. With nearly everybody in the developed world now having internet access, and some people even arguing that internet access is a hum right (which I completely disagree with btw) there is no better time than now to have a website designed for your company (shameless plug).
Here are my five top reasons to have a professionally designed website for your business in 2012:
- Expectations: It’s generally expected these days that if you have any kind of business worth its salt that you have a website to promote it. Today, customers just expect that you have a webpage and an email address through which you are constantly connected.
- Around The Clock Access: Having a website allows your customers both current and potential to have ready access to information about your company at will. These days society runs on a twenty-four hour schedule and if potential customers can’t get access to even the most basic of information instantly, you’ll be overshadowed by competition that has this information on hand and readily available.
- Reduce Cost: While the initial cost of getting a website up and running may be a modest initial outlay, it’s generally assumed that (given your designer has served you well) you’ll regain those costs in in the sales it brings in. On top of that, instead of tying up operators or the receptionist, your customers can have ready access to any questions they might have via your website. This allows your employees to focus on quality service and more sales.
- Increased Organization: A well designed website can show off your products, take orders, handle help tickets, deal with shipping and package it all into a nice interface where you can watch the entire process unfold from beginning to finish. Every step can be documented so that your customers get a quick customer service and a good buying experience to boot. This also allows you to have a bird’s eye view of your business process so that you can examine your processes for both strengths and weaknesses.
- Globalization: There might be an entire world out there longing for your services but they’ll never know it if you can’t get the word out. Having a website increases the radius your business can reach from the boundaries of traditional advertising to the entire world. By not having a website, you leave the majority of your potential market untouched and unaware.
Without a doubt having a website these days isn’t just an option but a necessity. By ignoring the internet, you ignore your chance to brand, advertise, and give customers access to your business and leave the door wide open for your competitors to give customers the online presence they want.
My top tip, think of your website as an asset. Done properly it will bring you sales…
Oh yeah, and of course I can help design your new online presence too
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When you’re selling a product on the Internet, your sales page is your bread and butter. Without an effective sales page you leave a lot of money sitting on the table and leave a lot of potential customers leaving empty handed.
I of course help people make the most of their websites and the Internet to make sure they’re getting a great conversion rate, if however though you’re going it alone to test the waters and are apprehensive when it comes to outsourcing/hiring a consultant, why not try the following…
My Top 5 really easy, FREE ways to fix up your sales (or landing) pages
1. It’s All In the Headline: Which of the following sounds more interesting:
“Buy this recommendations e-book to improve your websites visitor to customer conversion rate”
or
“My top 5 FREE ways to fix up your sales page and convert way more visitors”
The headline is the first thing people see and is usually the primary indicator of whether or not your visitor will keep on reading. You’ve got just a few words to catch their attention, make them all count!
If your web conversion rate isn’t as good as you’d like, you need a hand
2. Push that Big Button: There is research out there that indicates that having a bigger button that says “BUY NOW” leads to more conversions. Perhaps it’s the fact that your purchasing link is easier to see, or maybe people just like to hit large buttons! Whatever the reason, turn that small “buy now” button into a bright and shiny “B U Y N O W!!!” button and see those conversions increase!
3. Font: Make sure that your font is something that is pleasing to look at and easy to read. It’s easy for a visitor to get lost in an overly elaborate font. Remember you want people to read everything you have to say, not just look at the pretty lettering.
4. Testimonials: No one likes to be a guinea pig and most people are afraid of the unknown. That’s why you dispel all those feelings with some well written testimonials. Testimonials add a lot of power to your statement because up until the testimonials, it was just your word the customer has to go on. Now you’ve got others to back you up and that takes away doubt. If you’ve got a few good testimonials, put them on your sales page!
5. Price: The price of something has a lot to do with conversions. Take a look at the following three amounts: £19.99, £19.95 and £20.00. Even though they are all within 5p of each other, the £19.99 and £19.95 will beat the £20.00 price tag 99 times out of a hundred. Try adjusting your price around ever so slightly to see if there is an uptake in sales.
Remember though, there isn’t just one sales page to rule them all. By using the tips above and testing, retesting and then testing again variations to your sales page, it won’t be long before you hone in on that gem that keeps the visitors converting on every visit.
| I’m giving away a free 30 minute telephone consultation, exclusively available to my website readers. It’s 100% free and we can discuss any problems you might be having, from websites to blogs, to SEO and Twitter. Just click here to sign up, for free! >> |
