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Turning website visitors into customers

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Website owners can often fall into the trap of becoming so obsessed with the number of visitors the sire receives that they forget about delivering a positive experience to those that do show up. This is especially true if you own a site that sells high-ticket items. You need to ensure that the customer is comfortable and trusts all the information on your pages if you want them to buy.

How to convert a visitor into a paying customer

Here are 5 tips that will help you make it happen more often than not:

1. It pays to keep an eye on what your competitors are doing with their online business. This doesn’t mean that you should run in and copy the successful sites, but it does mean that you should look for their strengths and weaknesses. Knowing what works will help you gain the attention of the search engines and the visitors they send your way.

2. Information really is where your site will live or die. The more reasons you can give your visitors for making a purchase, the more likely thy will be to buy. Your conversion rates will soar if you can give away valuable information for free.

3. Visitors pay real attention to the experiences of your previous customers. Ask happy customers to leave a review or send referrals you way, as that is a great way to create new sales.

4. If you want to stay current and credible, make sure that the information on your website is fresh and relevant. If people are happy with what you offer, they will return, so give them valid reasons to purchase again when they do return.

5. Your website is perhaps your best sales and marketing tool, but it is not the only one. When using other marketing methods, you need to make sure that the message and brand you build on your website is consistent across all mediums.

The most effective ways to measure website performance.

There are plenty of tools available that will give you some real insight into how well your site is performing. Google offers analytics and website tools that should be accessed regularly in order for you to see if you need to make some tweaks to your marketing efforts.

1. Bounce rate – This is a great way to see how many of your visitors are arriving at your site and leaving quickly or only looking at a single page. If you have a high bounce rate, it will affect your search engine ranking.

2. Acquisition – This lets you know where your visitors are coming from when they land at your website. This lets you know where you should direct more of your efforts in terms of marketing your pages:

a. Organic visitors are those that come via a search engine

b. Referrals are those that come from other websites

c. Social media visitors arrive via Facebook, Twitter, or one of the other social media sites

d. Direct visitors will arrive directly using your URL

3. Search queries – This lets you know all the search terms that have been used to find your website, which can really help you cater your message so that more people find you.

Photo: Image courtesy of Steve Snodgrass on Flickr

5 Tips To Generate More Leads From Your Website

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While your website is the ideal place to talk up your business, it should also be used to generate a healthy amount of potentially productive leads.

1. Contact Form

The most straightforward way to generate leads on your website is via a contact form where visitors leave personal information. There are several ways to optimize said form.

Positioning – The contact form should always be clearly visible on the upper half of your page. Ideally, the form should appear on every page, but of that cannot be done, make sure to create landing pages with the contact form included.

Length – You need to strike just the right balance when creating a form. Too long, and people simply won’t take the time to fill it out. Too short, and you won’t get the quality leads you seek. A medium length form will pull in just the right type of leads, as truly interested folks will take the time to fill out more than just their name and e-mail address.

Use content to dress up the form – Visitors to your site may choose to ignore yet another bland form, but will be tempted to fill out a form that goes above and beyond. Tell them a little more about the offer that await, or tempt them in with a special offer that will come their way should they take the time to fill in all the details. Avoid using “submit” at the end, choosing instead to use a call to action.

2.      Keep your blog updated
Blog posts are a great way of picking up leads, especially if you add engaging content that makes the reader want to leave a comment. Get in the habit of writing engaging posts on a regular basis. Each and every comment left is a new lead. When someone takes the time to leave a comment, they are letting you know that they are interested in your services. Great blog posts tend to deliver great leads.

3.      Contact number.
Many website owners make the mistake of essentially burying their number on the “Contact Us” page. If you want to get the attention of your visitors, place your contact number at the top of every page. Interested visitors will definitely call for more information, at which time you can gather their basic information.

4.      Freebies.
One way to get people to offer up their information is to reward them for doing so. You might decide to give away a free gift or perhaps a discount on any one of your products. This is a technique that works very well.

5.      Learn to be social.

The belief that social media is a fad is one that has long since been dispelled. It has quickly become an important part of any marketing strategy, because the fact is that people love to share. The number of friends and followers you have is less important than your activity level. Posting often quickly leads to a growing number of inbound links and leads.

In order to get the most out of social media, you need to use it correctly. That means engaging in conversations as opposed to constantly just talking about yourself. Deliver great content and then get engaged in meaningful conversations with others.

A blog post shared on Twitter will get 117% more views than one that isn’t. If you are interested in B2B, use Linkedin, while Facebook is best for B2C. For referral traffic, you’ll find that Pinterest is more effective than Linkedin, Google+, and YouTube combined*.

Above all else, you need to make sure that visitors have a good experience every time they visit your site. If the site is hard to navigate or the content is bland, visitors may quickly lose interest in what you have to offer.

* Source: Shareaholic, February 2012.

Photo: Image courtesy of Jason Howie on Flickr

Ranking, results, and writing to be read

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When it comes to search engine ranking and pulling in more visitors to your website, few subjects on the matter have gathered as much attention recently as using articles to do so. The content and keywords to be used are a hot topic indeed.

What you may have noticed is that not all the advice you receive in this department is the same. That is because the internet, and search engines, are constantly evolving. Content is an integral part of SEO, but the more content that is out there, the more Google changes their algorithms to ensure that the best, most relevant content rises to the top. Today’s content creators are aware of the need for consistent original content that will keep visitors on their website for a greater period of time.

One of the best ways to make sure that people do stay is to avoid simply stuffing all of your written content with keywords.

Here are 7 tips that will help you create great content that moves you up the rankings:

1. Think of your audience

Getting too caught up in writing for the search engines often means creating content that will not engage your target audience. Google and others are now well aware of what type of SEO content is also a hit with the reader. That means making sure that you deliver engaging, informative content with just the right splash of SEO.

2. Forget about keyword density

Squeezing in keywords where they don’t belong will hurt, not help, your content. The finished piece will be painful to read, and there is simply no evidence that Google uses keyword density to rank websites. By all means add keywords, but make them a natural part of the piece. Use them at the start of your article and include headlines, too.

3. Variety is the spice of life

One thing that the search engine do use to rank is known as Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI). LSI is a process where Google looks for synonyms to normal keywords in content. Good use of these types of words can give you better ranking in Google and Bing. A blog post will sound more natural when it uses synonymous keywords rather just than repeating the same keyword over and over again. The use of synonyms will make your article sound more natural and Google likes this. So mix it up a bit and use similar but related keywords in your blog posts and copy. These small changes can deliver big results.

4. Length does matter

We live in an information age, where knowledge is considered a strong asset. Being able to share that knowledge with others can help position you as an expert and improve your search engine rankings. A longer article is always better than a shorter one. Longer content is often more researched and better thought out than content that is shorter. Google favours longer copy. And you are more likely to have your article shared if it is substantive. So don’t be afraid to plough on and write a long blog post or article. The more knowledge the better, as longer articles seem to get more loves, as well as more shares via social media. And that’s good for everyone!

5. Give your audience the information they want

While this seems pretty straightforward, you’d be surprised how often it doesn’t happen. Think about the most common questions you hear pertaining to your niche or industry and address those in a well-crafted blog post. Or, why not develop a detailed Q&A page that addresses a lot of the questions your readers are looking to get answered? A good Q&A page will connect you to your market and positively build brand image. It will rank well on Google too, giving you more traffic to your website.

6. Ask the same questions as your audience

It is common practice to think about those big juicy keywords instead of focusing on what it is that people are actually searching for on Google. Think about the phrases or questions you type into the Google search box when looking for something, and apply that technique to your writing. The way you ask the question is likely the same as your target audience, so think about including said question as the title or as a headline in your piece.

7. Encourage sharing

Great quality content deserves to be seen, so get it out to the masses via as many social media outlets as possible. People love to share great content with their networks, which means your work will end up with a much larger audience than it would get if you simply placed it on your website. Google loves to see content being shared and will reward you accordingly. Make sure you are using Facebook, Twitter and all the other social media platforms to get your message out there!

Zoom Planet can help you create engaging content that will help you to get noticed and to win more business. Contact us now to get the ball rolling?

Photo: Image courtesy of Tim Snell on Flickr

Why your website needs a blog …. and a plan!

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Most people who use the Internet know what a blog is. 1999 saw the initial start of blogging platforms like LiveJournal and blogger.com. It seems crazy to think that in 15 or so years, the Internet has gone from a small number of blogs to millions of them.

And, it’s not just about personal blogs. You’re also looking a huge number of business blogs. The problem with businesses setting up a blog is that the company will update it every day for up to a month but start to post less and less, eventually never to post again.

If you don’t want this happening to your business, you need a long-term, solid blogging approach. What your business needs an organised person or team – someone dedicated to providing you with original, engaging content for the blog.   You should have a publishing calendar so that posts are done on a regular basis. And, if you can’t do this yourself, be sure you hire someone who can do the entire thing for you.

Why You Need A Blog For Your Business

A blog that’s both well-planned and carried out is a great tool businesses can use for several reasons:

  • It generates brand awareness
  • It allows businesses to engage with their customers
  • Businesses can become the industry’s leader
  • It enables businesses to create relationships in the niche
  • It produces leads
  • It can showcase a business’ experience

When looked at from the search engine optimization point of view, blogging on a regular basis is extremely helpful to business. It helps to:

  • Bring links by posting outstanding material
  • Boost the amount traffic a website gets
  • Rank the business’ relevant phrases and keywords
  • Produce social signals
  • Provide the latest material so the website ranks high

Now, you never want to update your blog… just because.  Put your attention more on the quality of the blog material, not the quantity of it.  Blog posts need to have some type of purpose behind them. You want them to solve an issue, educate or entertain readers. And, most importantly, they should be timed perfectly.

Don’t forget that updating the blog is just one part of what you need to do. You need to also promote the latest material. Use your Facebook or Twitter accounts to continuously mention your blog and its content.

Why It’s Important To Implement and Use a Blogging Calendar

If you’re going to get and stay organized with your blog, you need to use an editorial blogging calendar.  You can either use the free Internet templates along with the free and paid plugins or editorial calendar software.

A calendar is a visual reminder of the picture – series of posts, patterns, theme, etc. It helps to ensure you cover a wide array of pertinent subjects at the right times.  Use the calendar to remind you have ideas you’ve jotted down.

Why Planning Is An Essential Part To Your Business’ Marketing Strategy

Be sure to implement a long-term blogging plan in your marketing strategy. Be sure you put attention on the whole picture and focus on the following things:

  • What you need to write about
  • Why you need to write it
  • Who is the audience you are writing for
  • How you should write it
  • When to write it
  • How and where to promote the content

You want to be sure that the strategy is flexible and is current in the happenings going on in the niche. The strategy should work to increase the exposure for your brand simultaneously.

Special Note: Blogs can include more than just writing – pictures, podcasts, videos, etc.

If you feel overwhelmed by the amount of work laid out in the plain, hire someone to help you do this. You don’t want the ignore chances to help your business because the work is just too much.

Photo: Image courtesy of sunshinecity on Flickr