“10 Simple Things You Can Do Today to Improve Your Website Results Tomorrow,” the last in a four-part webinar series aimed at maximizing online marketing, was presented last Thursday by Brian Offenberger of BizGrowth Solutions for the benefit of all SEMA members.
“This webinar was one of the most exciting and beneficial web-based events that we have hosted, simply because it took a lot of what was presented throughout the May series and applied it to practical situations,” said Nathan Ridnouer, SEMA’s senior director of member services. “Our member participants learned specifics on how to improve their website from strategy development to performance monitoring.”
The following 10 tips, plus three bonus tips, were revealed:
- Forecast Your Results—It is important to establish what your goals are so that results can be measured. Determine a timeline of when results are expected and how often you will check them.
- Get Content Indexed—All content pages should be indexed to maximize results. Search engines must see every part of your website. To find out whether your pages are indexed to appear in search engines, seek help from such online tools as https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/sitestatus.
- Select Your Keywords—Keywords are words and phrases that people use to find solutions to their needs and problems. Search engines use keywords to find, classify and rank your webpages. The following websites can help with the selection of effective keywords:
- Optimize Your Content—Make your content appealing to others. Use keywords in content and update content frequently.
- Attract Links to Your Site—Links are like signs on the Internet pointing a visitor from one place to another. Links can help with lead generation and are highly used by Google to naturally rank websites. It is essential to know how many incoming links are recognized by a company’s website.
- Build the List—The most valuable business asset is the customer and prospect list. This includes names, addresses, e-mails, EVERYTHING! E-mail address collection is a standard business practice. Obtain e-mail addresses online when providing information and during giveaways.
- Measure Your Results—Websites and online marketing offer you unprecedented opportunities for customer behavior data. The previous statement holds true when pertaining to measurement of marketing effectiveness as well.
- Invest in and understand web analytics
- Failure to do so is a loss of profits
- Failure to understand is a tax on profits
- Where do visitors come from?
- What do they do on your website?
- Which offers are most compelling?
- What is most profitable?
- Some excellent learning resources include The Web Analytics Association and Online Marketing With RSS Ray archives.
- Provide Separating Reasons to Do Business With You—Why should consumers do business with you? Avoid “me toos.” If your competitor can say “me too,” then you haven’t given a separating reason to buy from your company. Be bold and have easy-to-understand separating elements. These separating elements must bring value to customers.
- Multi-Channel Lead Generation—Most businesses use one or two channels of lead generation. Google rewards multi-channel marketers. Explore:
- Organic search
- Paid marketing
- Social media marketing
- Permission-based e-mail marketing
- Joint venture marketing
- Content target advertising
- Build Trust With Visitors—Lack of trust is one of the top four reasons visitors will not buy from you. If they do not trust you, they will not buy from you. Trust building improves conversions an average of 14%. The following tools help build trust:
- Money-back
- Free trials
- Testimonials
- Case studies
- Privacy policy
- Anti-spam policy
- Terms of use
- Return policy
- Bonus Tip #1: Test, Test, Test—Let your ideas be tested. Put it on your website, and your visitors will let you know the answer. Constantly test your:
- Page titles
- Paid search ads
- Channel effectiveness
- Placements
- Landing pages
- Email marketing messages
- Offers
- Bonus Tip #2: Give “Lookers” Reasons To Stay Connected—Not everyone that comes to the site is ready to buy. You have already expended some marketing dollars to get them to the site. Your objective should be to keep “lookers” engaged with your company until they are ready to buy. Keep them engaged by either getting their contact information or giving them reasons for repeat visits.
- Bonus Tip #3: Free Online Marketing Tools—Take advantage of free online marketing tools, including http://www.bizgrowthseo.com/free_seo_control_tools.php.
To download the full version of this webinar, click here.
Don’t miss the following upcoming webinars:
- “Managing Your Cash Flow in Challenging Times," June 5, 2008, 10 a.m. PST
- “SEMA Show: Money Well Spent for Your Business," June 12, 2008, 10 a.m. PST.