Your website is a gold mine. It can take your business from so-so to wow. All you need to do is learn how to use your statistical information to help you get it done.
Website stats tell you a variety of things. You can find out where your products are booming and busting. You can learn what visitors like and dislike about your site. Are your keywords working? That can be explained also.
The sum total of your website is not content. While content is still king when it comes to providing useful information, it is just one aspect that can be optimized on your site. So much has been written about keyword optimization in content that some might wrongly believe it is the only important part of website optimization.
That is what we are really talking about here - website optimization. Start with the content but don't leave it there. Search engines bots will crawl the entire page for keywords not just your content. Let's take a look at other options for tricking out that website and making it sell itself.
1. Anchor Text - Anchor text is the text that is displayed over hyperlinks on your content. If your article refers to information found elsewhere on your site, don't just say "click here" to find more information, use keywords from that page as your anchor text. Not only are you getting credit for the keyword but it links to another page that also is keyword optimized (or it will be once you are done).
2. Picture Text - People love pictures especially on websites and shopping carts. It can be a big mistake to buy sight unseen. Each picture can have a tag associated with it. When someone runs across the picture with their mouse, they can again see relevant keywords for that page.
3. Links to Other Website Pages - One technique for creating your webpage is to list what services you offer or what your product can do on the homepage. That homepage can be doing more. If you have dedicated a separate page to each unique feature, place those links on the homepage as well. In your list of product features, use keyword-rich anchor text to describe them and have each description link to a different page. Search engines love that.
Are you getting the idea? Your website can be more exciting to the search engine crawlers with just a few changes.
Search engine optimization can be one of the hardest and most rewarding tools in your business arsenal. It helps with marketing, advertising and selling your products or services. Because it is a wide category, there are plenty of places where you can go wrong with it. Here are just five of them.
Under-Using Your Website - Optimizing your website involves every aspect of your site. Most people think that the only important part is the content. Optimizing content is only one piece of the pie. When you concentrate on content and not on leveraging all areas of your site, you are robbing your own pockets.
You will get visitors if your content is on point, but the search engines can rank you even higher if you used keywords in other places. Articles have titles, pages have headlines and pictures have captions. Learn to use them all to your advantage.
Keyword Overload - Search engine bots are smarter than most people give them credit for. Using keywords too much will cause them to just skip over your content and thus give you a lower ranking for those keywords. It seems like you could use as many as you wanted in an article and that would make you more visible but it's not true.
Search engines recognize when people are cheating by overstuffing their articles with keywords. Content that is well written will stay within the allowable keyword density. And, those keywords will show up naturally throughout the article so it doesn't sound like it was thrown together just for the keywords.
Keyword Density - You can have too few keywords as well as too many. Some people write their content without even thinking about keywords. You might have a strong article that talks about cutting edge information but without something to help the search engines look upon you favorably; no one will ever read it. Using the word once or twice in an article is not going to cut it.
No Variety - For better optimization, a website doesn't use just one keyword. If you started with the word "chocolate", your entire website wouldn't be based on it. People use a variety of similar words alone or in combination to find what they are looking for with search engines. If you make and sell chocolate fudge, there are better words to use: fudge, Candace's fudge, how to make fudge, etc. it's like throwing all your eggs in one basket if you don't diversify your keywords.
Reciprocal Links - While it is true that backlinks can increase your search engine ranking, all links are not equal. And search engines like organic links better than simply offering reciprocal link sharing. You want others to link to you because they like your product and what your website presents to others. Using quality content on your site, in article directories and on social bookmarking sites can increase your quality inbound links for higher ranking.
Start out on solid footing with SEO. Learn how to avoid common mistakes that first-timers make.
Want your website to stand out? Pay attention to the kind of articles that you upload. Readers want to be on the cutting edge of topics and that is where you'll want to be to increase your traffic.
Content usually takes the form of articles, blog posts, audio and video too. The first requirement for content is that it be relevant to the topic of your website. If your website is about selling crafts, then the articles that you supply to your readers are going to need to revolve around that subject. In other words, don't be talking plumbing if you cater to crafty moms.
Be Creative
There is a lot of content out there these days so it is not easy to come up with something new. One way is to start with the basic information and add your special touch. Personal experiences go a long way to connecting with your readers and also providing them with information that would be hard to get anywhere else.
Use your failures as fresh content. Did you try to combine a couple of marketing techniques that absolutely didn't work? Create an article that highlights what readers "shouldn't" do. What did you learn from it? Create an article that gives tips for success using that technique.
Your content can be spun off into other types of website media. Create videos and audio files based on your content. It is a way to reach a wider audience who are more attracted to other ways to present relevant information.
Don't Forget the SEO
Now that you have written ideas for your content, decide which keywords would work best in those articles. These are what will make the search engines stand up and take notice. But, in the interest of your readers, your articles will read better if the keywords appear naturally. Don't try to force them in spots where it sounds like you are just adding words to appease the search engine gods. Your readers will be turned off by such contrived content.
Special Features
Your content will serve three purposes: keep current readers happy, satisfy SEO requirements and draw new traffic. To meet the latter, try using these options in your content:
- Bulleted points
- Optimized article titles
- Numbers in your titles
Readers usually scan articles first to see if they are relevant. When numbers appear in the title, they know that they will find a certain number of things that can help them. Bulleted points make for easier reading as do subheadings. Optimized catchy titles make them want to click on your link instead of others in the search results.
Is your content doing all it can for your readers and the search engines? If not, read this article again and then refit your articles to do the best job they can.
When you started your online business, you knew that you would have to have the traffic to make it a worthwhile venture. With your marketing plan, ideas were already recorded to help that become a reality. Here's one you may not have thought about: newsletters. They bring the reader into the "know" and that could mean dollars and cents to you.
A business website gives visitors the basics of your operation. You want to use your resources to tell them about what you do and why they need to get involved with you. There is not always enough space to put columns or tidbits that would be important to readers but not necessarily part of your main marketing agenda.
Newsletters are designed not only to inform but also to let readers get to know you. There can be a column written by you that thanks them for being loyal readers and customers (leading them to buy if they haven't already). You can share honest appreciation for what they do for you.
The Magic of Newsletters
When you don't have enough room for the fun things (contests, freebie offers) and the more in-depth things (affiliate program info, new products) that you want your readers to know put it in a newsletter. There are several formats for online newsletters:
- One page layout that you email to subscribers
- Multiple page PDF format they can access through a link in email
- Animated links on website
Usually, newsletters are sent to subscribers. These are readers who come to your site and opt-in for it by giving you their email address and name. Each month they get an email with your newsletter or link to the newsletter.
For longer newsletters with more information, you can create a PDF they can access, download, print and share with others. This way, your newsletter goes viral to people who know your readers.
Creating a "Subscriber Only" section on your site gives them access to newsletters that have video or animation that they won't see if they had a PDF. This makes readers feel special that they have a place just for them on your site.
Your format is up to you. Whatever you feel that will engage your readers, use it. In the beginning they may not want a lot of flash since it could be viewed as trickery. Keep it simple until they ask for more.
Customer Spotlight
Newsletters are a way to highlight those readers who want to be known. Maybe you have visitors who have joined your affiliate program or have opted in the previous month for the newsletter. Listing their names gives them a place of importance in your business.
What will you place in your newsletter? Creating one, to catch all the "tidbit" information that readers really love, helps them feel like a vital part of your enterprise.
It seems like just about everyone has a blog these days: students, moms, churches. So where is yours? Businesses can really benefit from a blog that goes along with their website.
Business websites are for conducting business. You use the pages to tell potential customers about what you do. They can find out all they want to know about hiring a gardener, choosing flowers, buying seeds and landscaping their dream garden if that is where your business is at. What they don't usually find out about is your life.
When you read online, you can connect with a website through the words of their content. Depending on the type of "voice", you'll want to read more. Readers may even want to know what is behind your passion for the sort of business that you have created. They won't find that on a website.
And, words can sometimes be deceiving. People can promise a lot but not deliver. It can be hard to trust a voice coming through words on a screen without a face or any other information to go with it.
Blogs
Blogs came into creation as online journals. They still are in a way. A blog is less business-like and more personal. Personal is what your readers will want from you. On a blog, they can meet you on another level that will help them to appreciate you even more on a business level.
This doesn't mean that you have to spill all your dirty secrets for them to get to know you. It is about building relationships that will last. So, in the interest of that, you can be the first to extend the olive branch.
Blogs are great because readers and customers can interact with you each time you post. They can sign in and give great feedback every day if they want.
Your posts don't have to be very formal. Start by introducing yourself and talking about your road to the online business world. It is an opener that could be just enough to draw your readers in.
Communicating
When readers leave feedback they are responding to posts. Will you leave it at that? Communication is a two-way street. Answer their comments as often as you can - which needs to be more often than not. Carry on a conversation with the people who are willing to give you a chance.
Blogging for business is a useful tool for building relationships with readers and customers. It gives them a chance to see you as a real person just like them and not just a name who wants their sale.
Have you ever received one of those surveys in the mail after visiting a store or having a surgical procedure? One of the most prominent questions is "What did you like and what can we improve on?" It is worded differently in each one you receive but the point is that they want to know your opinion of the job they are doing. Use surveys to get in touch with your readers.
Surveys are quite helpful. Anyone can sell a product online and get a few sales, but not everyone can tap into what their readers want to create lifelong customers. This would mean repeat business which is better than one-time hits.
The Point of Surveys
The point of a survey is to gauge the reader's opinion of something. The information is useful for creating things like:
- Better customer service protocols
- New products
- New programs
- New services
- Improve sales
But, you must do something with them for all of this to happen. Don't just let those metrics go to waste. Some sites use survey companies to distribute and tally website surveys and polls. It makes the job easier for you and they will also give you a breakdown of what they discovered with the surveys.
Now the rest is up to you. Start by creating a spreadsheet that includes all of the responses given. It would be best to use a survey that has lettered choice instead of just write-in boxes. Now, rank the responses. Use this as a framework for coming up with ways to try and make changes in answer to what your readers would like to see.
Reader Response
You may have to do a few surveys to get readers to take them seriously. As an online customer you know that sometimes surveys are simply for show. The companies who ask for your input never do anything about the suggestions that you give. But, all of them are not like that.
This is where the relationship building begins with your readers on this front. Try to change one thing at a time. If you can, bring attention to it so that readers know you took them seriously. In the future more people will take the surveys and help you to make your business a success.
Give it a try. Your readers are as ready to help you as you are to help them. After all, you can't always read their mind and if you can give them what they want they'll be more apt to stick with you for the long haul instead of finding someone else who can.
Whoever said that social networking was no good for business, never tried it before. Giving your readers another arena in which to see you active is one way to build a relationship with them.
Before you begin using social networking, beware. It is highly addictive. There are many advantages for you and your readers.
Social Networks
Have you heard of Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter? So have your readers. They probably use them for social interaction with friends and family, but you can show them how to use it for business.
Begin by setting up a business and personal space on these sites. You probably already have a personal space on many, but business will be something new.
Facebook
Facebook is a versatile tool for keeping your readers informed about you and your activities. Use a business page to list new conferences you will be attending, podcasts you are hosting, and the names of blogs where you will be guest posting. Readers, that find you here, can sign up to listen to live podcasts, follow you to the guest blogs and also invite you to their events.
If there is a question they want to ask, let's say about how to start a business or how to troubleshoot a problem, they can talk with you wall-to-wall in private to get advice. Through Facebook, you can offer free classes, e-courses and other tools to those who opt-in for different services on your website. Also, let your readers be part of virtual focus groups to help you test new ideas.
YouTube
If you have a new product that needs feedback, post a video on YouTube. Readers and others can post their comments on your work. Use it as a forum to demonstrate products or services and also to tout the advantages of buying from you.
Twitter
Do you send tweets? If you do, use them to communicate with readers about new things you are doing. They can get up-to-date information about not only the business but also personal info you want to share.
Create a separate business and personal account so that you can manage both. If you find readers or customers who have potential as business associates and the like, you can choose to give them access to your personal space as well.
Social networking sites are just another way for readers to see you in action away from the office. You can build a rapport with readers too by unveiling new products and services to them there.
Readers visit your website each day. They are there for information to start. They may keep coming back because of your charm and wit or to get to know you before they try your product or service offerings. Let them know that you are real person by returning the favor and visiting them too.
Everyone is a REAL person but not everyone comes off like they are. Business owners who intentionally stay aloof from their readership set themselves up for all sorts of scathing comments. They are like royalty in ivory towers - high and unreachable.
You are one part of the business equation. Your readers (potential customers) are the other part. Without traffic, you can't hope to make a sale. Unless you build relationships with the readers, they won't see any reason to stay loyal to you.
Blogging
Chances are, at least one third of your readers have some sort of presence in cyberspace. More than likely it will be a blog. They may be professional bloggers, recreational bloggers or online entrepreneurs like you.
One way to get to know them is to visit their sites. If you have your own blog for your business, have a category devoted to reader news. Offer free products or discount coupons when they volunteer to give their blog or website address to you.
Next, visit their blogs. Read what they have to say and the kind of topics they talk about. Leave helpful comments that show you actually read the posts and not just wishy-washy "I came to visit you to say hello." Really get involved.
If you have an RSS reader, you can include all of their sites in it so that you will be notified when there are new updates. Participate just like any other follower of the site. They will recognize your name.
Sites, that you like, will benefit when you link back to them on your site. Organic links rank higher in search engine eyes than simply doing each other a favor and exchanging links. On your blog, you can post reviews of their blogs or just write posts that highlight each one. This is essentially a review without calling it that.
Interacting with your readers and getting to know them in this way is mutually beneficial. Those organic links work both ways. Besides, you never know who will hear about your business through these comments and other relationship building techniques.
Everyone loves to get something for free - as long as there are no strings attached. You can build your list with freebies to garner interest for the products that you are selling or promoting. You might be asking, "How does giving away free stuff make me any money?" Keep reading and you'll see the benefits now and in the long run.
Return on Your Investment
The term "return on investment" or ROI is often used with real estate, but it plays a huge part in business too. When you buy something, you want to make sure that when you decide to sell it, you get more out of it than you put into it. Something similar happens to your business when you give away free products.
Free products are a way to get your foot in the door with potential customers. You want something from them - their information. This is not trickery, but an attempt to gain an opportunity to tell them about the product or service that you offer that can change their lives. If no one will listen, they will never know how wonderful your business is after all. It's also one way to find out WHO is interested in what you have to offer. Be aware however, that just because they sign up to receive your freebie doesn't mean they will automatically become a paying customer. As much as we all wish only those with open wallets would buy from us, there are those who will only stick around long enough to take your free offer then run. It's ok - those who are genuinely interested in what you have to say, will stick around. Those are the ones you want anyway.
Types of Freebies
Free items can take many forms. Before choosing an item to offer for free, consider what you will gain (or lose) if someone does or doesn't come back later to patronize your business. When you are working to define your niche market, think about offering smaller items like special reports.
If you are a writer as well as a businessperson, creating a special report on your chosen topic may take you a day or two. Since you have taken the time to research your niche, you know that you want to offer your product (let's say lingerie) to older women. Your research showed that lingerie that is sexy and cute is only marketed to twenty-something or thirty-something women, leaving older women out of the demographics. Offer a free report on choosing age-appropriate lingerie to help build a targeted list of potential customers.
Think Long Term When Designing Your Offer
The object here is not quick cash but long term sales. If you get 100 names from this one freebie, at least half may come back for another look. It's important to note, that whatever you say in your reports you bear out in your product or on your website. Case in point, if you suggest black teddies for women over fifty, they had better be in your store if that age group is your target audience.
Freebies can be downloadable or tangible products. The main goal is to meet the needs of the visitors with something that will entice them to give you their information for your list. From there, you can follow up with more information to build a relationship that converts that visitor to a customer.
It is incredible how a person's opinion can turn on the smallest thing. In online business, that would be customer service. It can set you apart from other businesses of a similar nature. It builds a trust-based relationship with your readers and potential customers.
What is Customer Service?
A reader signs up for newsletters or your affiliate program. Days go by before they receive a confirmation of your receipt of their request or they receive any information. That reader decides to withdraw their request because you have become "persona non grata."
It is important to follow through on the offers you make to readers and customers alike. That is why they came to you in the first place. Doing your part helps them make the decision to stay.
Just like in a store, no one wants to wander around aimlessly without support. If you have to ask for the helps to help you then the point has been missed. It is the job of the business owner to be available in case they are needed.
How to Provide Good Customer Service
Now, it would be unrealistic to think that you will sit at your computer 24/7 waiting for a reader to ask a question. What you can do is put processes in place so that someone or something is there 24/7 to be available for any eventuality.
Examples of these processes:
- Auto-responder messages
- Scheduled newsletter deliver
- FAQ page that is always updated
- User-friendly tabs, site map and links to get around the website with ease
- Answering service
- Virtual assistant
Even when you can't be available personally, you know that your readers and customers are taken care of. Example: If you have an affiliate program, include enough links and information for readers to understand what you are all about and how they can sign up. Sign up forms need only include pertinent information so they are as simple as possible to complete.
When you have time, go through your email messages for those whose question didn't fit one of the recorded categories on your "Contact Us" page. The auto-responder message for them gives you an additional 24 to get back to the reader with the information requested.
Prompt service tells people that you are concerned about their business. You value their input and want to keep them happy. Customer serviced is a big part of building a healthy long-lasting relationship with your readers.
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