More Clients - the Online Marketing Newsletter
for Independent Professionals
from Action Plan Marketing
and Robert MiddletonIn This Week's Issue: Is your web site working hard enough for you to get the online marketing results you want?
The Hard Working Web Site
Just recently I partnered up with Bob Serling, a kindred soul and a masterful Internet marketer. I did an interview for his new program on selling professional services online and go into great detail about how to get better results with your web site and eZine. (more about the program below).
In looking over my eZine archive I noticed I hadn't done an article that focused exclusively on the web for over two years. So today I thought it would be appropriate to revisit the elements of an effective web site.
If you have a web site, I'm willing to bet that it's not really getting you the results you'd like. Is it attracting new business consistently? Is it helping to speed up your sales cycle? Are visitors signing up for your eZine? Is anyone even visiting the site?
If not, your site isn't working hard enough.
You may have been very excited when you got your web site up, but has the reality met your expectations? Is your site "just sitting there" but not generating any consistent results? Why is your site not working as hard as it should?
A web site is a lot like a complex machine. There are many different elements on each site and they all work interactively. If one part doesn't work properly, it affects all the other parts. A successful, hard-working site needs to have every single component pulling its share of the marketing load.
When all of the elements work on your web site, it will become your most important marketing tool. It will help generate leads, qualify prospects, shorten the sales cycle, increase word-of-mouth business and expand your marketing reach nationally, even internationally.
I know. That's exactly what my site has done.
There are at least twenty elements that go into the construction of an effective web site. It's much more than just design and content. Those are only starting points, but here's a guideline to all of those elements. Answer the questions for each to determine how hard your site really is really working.
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Design - Is the site attractive and inviting? Does the design make someone want to explore further? Does it fit your business and personal identity? Does it simply feel good?Graphic Elements - Do the various graphic elements--from your logo, to pictures and icons--fit in with the overall design and functionality of the site?
Fast Loading - Does the site load quickly and easily? Are all the graphics optimized to be as small as possible, and are you avoiding unnecessary code that bogs things down?
Bells and Whistles - Do elements such as flash, roll-over navigation buttons and other interactive elements add to or detract from the effectiveness of the site?
Home Page Copy - Does the home page succinctly capture the purpose of your business? Does it grab one's attention and interest? Does the copy make your visitors want to know more?
Directions from Home Page - Once on the home page, are visitors directed to the right place first? Do you know where you want them to go? Do you know what you want them to do?
Navigation - Is it obvious where each nav button leads? Are the navigation buttons easy to read and click on? Do they go to the right places (not dead ends)?
Site Information - Do you include all the basic information about your business that your prospects are looking for? Does it tell them more about what they GET than what you DO?
Depth-of-Content - Is there enough depth-of-content on the site as a whole? Are you giving away things like articles, reports, assessments, and other information (the InfoGuru strategy)?
Proof - Is there enough evidence or proof on the site that you can deliver what you promise? Do you have testimonials, case studies, models and logical, persuasive arguments?
Headlines - Do the headlines on each page encourage the visitor to read the copy on the page? Do they offer clear benefits targeted to the visitor? Are they easy to understand?
Body Copy - Is the written copy on each page relevant, interesting and enticing? Does it make you want to know more, to read further, to respond?
Formatting of Copy - Are the pages formatted so that they are easy to read? Can readers grasp the essence of each page in only a few seconds? Are you using the most appropriate fonts?
Calls-to-Action - Are there several calls-to-action in various places that encourage the visitor to take the next step to find out more about your services?
Keep-in-Touch - Is there a way to sign up for a newsletter or eZine on the site so that you can keep in touch with prospects? How well is this implemented? Do you give away a bonus such as a free report for signing up?
Contact Information - Is it easy to find out how to contact you? Are there several methods for contacting you, including phone numbers, email links and forms?
Order Forms - If you are selling information products on the site, is it 100% clear what they are getting? Have you answered every question a buyer might ask? Is the form easy to use?
Shopping Cart - If you are selling information products on the site, do you have a well-set-up shopping cart system that's easy to use and to modify? Can you set up sales and special offers?
Keywords - Do you have the best keywords strategically placed on the site to increase the chances of being listed in search engines? Are you listed in the main search engines?
Link Popularity - How many links are there from other web sites to your web site? The more popular you are, the more likely you'll be listed higher in the search engines. Have you gotten articles published online that will give you these links?
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Do you know the answers to all of the above questions? If not, you don't really know why your web site is not working. You don't know whether it's the design, the copy, the navigation, the format, the calls-to-action or one or more of fifteen other essential elements.
My experience has shown me that it's usually a combination of all of these things. You need to make improvements in several areas before your web site will start turning visitors into new clients. Time to do some serious work to ensure that the investment in your site starts paying off.
More on "The Hard Working Web Site" in Marketing Flashes below.
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Is your online marketing effective?
http://consulting-success.comHave you tried to market your services online and been disappointed with the results? Or is your current online marketing reasonably effective, but you'd like to get even better results? If so, here are some facts about a new online marketing program for service professionals I know you'll be very interested in.
Fact #1: Two years ago, Bob Serling generated only 15% of his consulting income through online marketing. Today, 60% of all the new business Bob generates comes from online marketing. But - and this is a very important "but" - the business that he generates online is almost effortless and costs next to nothing. So it's substantially more profitable than business Bob generates through offline methods.
Fact #2: Bob Bly, author of more than 50 books, including "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Direct Marketing" and "The Copywriter's Handbook", states that if you aren't marketing your services online, you're cheating yourself out of your full profit potential. These days, when Bob needs a new client, he uses a very simple online technique that's so effective, he literally turns down more business than he accepts.
Fact #3: Joe Vitale, who is credited as the first online copywriter, as well as the author of books for both the American Marketing Association and the American Management Association, now generates 100% of his business online. His speaking, training, and consulting schedules are so full just from online marketing, he no longer puts any effort into offline marketing methods.
Fact #4: I (Robert Middleton) now attract virtually 100% of my business online. It wasn't always so. But with a web site that was designed in 1996 and the More Clients eZine launched in 1997, I've learned how to attract all the clients and program participants I can handle. In addition, I've developed a thriving online business offering marketing manuals and audio programs. This online business alone generates three times the income that my overall business did just five years ago.
Fact #5: Don Crowther, generally recognized as "the" leading expert on pay-per-click advertising uses inexpensive key word purchases (the opposite of conventional PPC advice) to bring in more business than he can handle. His services, expensive and extremely successful, are booked solid month after month. Again - nearly all from online marketing.
Fact #6: The five experts I just mentioned above reveal all the strategies and techniques they use to produce these results in Bob Serling's new program "The Ultimate Guide to Selling Professional Services Online".
This is the only program dedicated exclusively to selling professional services online. So you won't get a lot of information you can't use, you don't have to adapt techniques from other industries to make them work, and you know that every strategy and technique has been tested and proven for selling more of your services.
With five leading experts laying out their most effective strategies and techniques, there's far more in this program than I have room to tell you about here. So I've posted all the details on my web site, which you can see by clicking here:
http://consulting-success.comIf you'd like to make all your online marketing much more effective, this is the single, authoritative source that will give you everything you need to get the results you really want. I urge you to check it out today.
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Marketing Flashes on "The Hard Working Web site"
* A good web site just POPS when you first see it. It draws you in. It makes you smile. You find yourself eagerly clicking on a button to find out more. You're not thinking, you're responding. If your web site doesn't do that, it needs work
* Don't kid yourself that people won't ready long copy on a web site. If it's relevant, interesting and formatted for easy readership, people will read. Don't fall into the trap of very brief content with a few short bullet points. Those are the sites that don't get read.
* Don't make your navigation a mystery. People are less likely to click on a button if they don't know what lies behind it. If you make it crystal-clear they'll click without hesitation. Make it obvious and people will visit more pages on your site.
* Give people a reason to take action now. There are so many ways to do this on a site. At the end of each page have a link that directs them to the next page. At the bottom of your services page encourage them to call or email. A simple response form can also work quite well.
* Put out "bait" if you want people to sign up for an eZine. These days people are getting so much email that it's getting harder to lure new subscribers. But if they get something free immediately after signing up, you'll get a lot more to try it out. If your eZine is good, they'll stick with it.
Until next week, all the best,
Robert Middleton
ACTION PLAN MARKETING
Helping Independent Professionals Attract More Clients~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
210 Riverside Drive
Boulder Creek, CA 95006
831-338-7790© 2004 Robert Middleton, All rights reserved. You are free to use material from the More Clients eZine in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including live web site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear. The attribution should read:
"By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit Robert's web site at http://www.actionplan.com for additional marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional service businesses."
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