maine web development, web design, internet marketing

So you’ve created a really nice call to action graphic that you’re extremely proud of and it goes to one of the most important pages on your site that could generate a potential sales lead.

You check your analytics and goals and BOOM, nothing. A few clicks that might go to the all important contact form or freebie download, but not enough to make you too excited.  What can we do to gain conversion results?

Here are some ways you can spruce up your user conversion strategy to get the numbers you desire.

Take Action :

1. Rotate! – Switch sides, move a button in place of the other. Keep it fresh, a change of scenery might catch the eye of a returning visitor. Maybe they haven’t seen it before because it wasn’t in plain sight. Typically, sites have either a left or right side for clickable graphics. Make sure that the placement is correct so users don’t have to scour your site to get to an important page.
2. Wording – Are you conveying the right message within your graphics? Does your message portray an accurate description of the link’s destination? Why are you confusing your visitors? Keep it short and sweet too, a verbose call to action graphic is an ugly graphic.
3. Color/Image Change – Don’t be afraid to choose a complimentary color for your design, get creative about it provided it is in good taste. A change of image couldn’t hurt either, make sure it is appropriate and contingent to the message of your graphic. Rollover changes are important as well! This is more likely to capture a users attention and create awareness.

After you’ve made some changes, give it a little room to breathe, check your analytics after a few weeks and make a decision to follow steps 1-3 again or rethink your approach to your goal.

Make sure that these user conversion buttons/graphics are of great quality, this will keep your site users engaged and more willing to click.

I have a talented drummer friend who is very active in the music community of New York City. He gets gigs by answering ads on craigslist, through word-of-mouth, and general networking. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a website, his MySpace page is updated on an infrequent basis, and he refuses to take part in any type of social media. I am constantly urging him to invest in a Flip Video or Kodak Zi8 camera, start filming his gigs and drumming demos, and then post the footage to YouTube or Facebook – and promote it with a blog or Twitter (or both!). These ideas are always met with great skepticism (“what about my privacy?”) or excuses (“I have no time!”) and the conversation usually ends with nothing happening. Who knows – he could be missing the chance to record with T-Bone Burnett, Jack White, or Jay-Z. Hopefully some day he’ll embrace the new social technologies and get some more exposure for himself.

All of the above can very well be said for many small business owners. Some would offer that they don’t have the time, resources, or manpower to introduce online video into their marketing efforts. Much like my musician friend above, small businesses must be wary of their marketing spend. Fortunately, a lot of the tools used in marketing with online video are free (or very affordable) and a 5-10 minute piece can pack in a lot of information, while also being entertaining, informative, educational, and engaging. Below are some tips you can use when incorporating video as part of your marketing strategy:

Equipment

Sound. Lighting. Vision. In this order of importance. These are the three essentials when making sure your video project is not lacking the quality people expect from online streaming media. The video devices you use rarely have decent on-board microphones, so acquiring a viable sound solution is a must. If viewers immediately notice the sound is not up to par, they will tune out… immediately.

It’s also wise to follow the general rule of thumb for lighting, which is to provide your filmed subject or space with 2-3 times the normal lighting in a room or environment.

Finally, be sure to check out the affordable HD video camera options currently available on the market. As I mentioned above, the Flip Video and Kodak Zi8 cameras produce very nice results for web-ready content. You can also check out the new Zoom Q3, which adds higher quality audio to the equation. Of course, there are a plethora of higher-end digital video cameras out there that would produce more professional looking images, but it all depends on your scope and budget.

What to Film

1) Yourself!: Are you an industry expert? Do you want to take a break from writing blog posts? Do you have a message or knowledge that you think would be better communicated through visuals and the spoken word?

2) Your employees: What better way to personalize the B2C or B2B relationship than to profile the people who do the actual work. This could also open up opportunities to start regular video blogging amongst your team of experts – providing a constant flow of fresh content to the web user.

3) Product demonstrations: Companies have innovative products that are made in ultra-cool ways. Wouldn’t it be nice to demonstrate how these products work and how they’re made, in addition to the drag-and-zoom options of a photo slideshow? It’s also a good way to boost sales (wink-wink).

4) Celebrations: I’m not talking about company birthday parties. I’m referring to customers celebrating your business. Get customers to film testimonials and post them on your website or Facebook page. Capture your products and services in action – a dog enjoying a new line of chew toys, a solar panel instillation team preparing a house for green energy, or your dry cleaning business accepting an award at an event for excellence in social responsibility.

Prepare

Before your organization dives into online video, make sure you don’t become a deer caught in headlights. First, you’ll want to outline and script each shot of your film – even if there’s only one shot and one subject. There’s also the task of storyboarding. This involves the rendering of the action taking place in each shot. Storyboards can be done on a napkin or made to look beautiful by your graphic designer. Whatever you do – have a plan! These processes of preparation are all part of that plan.

Finally, discover why you are making these videos. What do you think visitors to your website or social media sites will want to see? The two main purposes of online video in your marketing plan are to engage and to tell a story. Will these videos achieve these things? Know your audience before they get to know you.

Promote

There are numerous ways in which you can promote your videos once it goes live. Since YouTube is the fourth most visited website in the world, it would be wise to create a company-branded YouTube channel. If your company has a Facebook page (the second most visited site – now with 400 million users!), you can also post them there and announce their existence on Twitter, the company blog, newsletters, and your website. Online videos can also be optimized for search engines.

Speaking of search engines, I will discuss SEO as it relates to online video in the next blog post about video for your small business. I’ll also get into editing software and techniques, audio issues, and the importance of branding and messaging in your video content. Stay tuned…

When I’m asked whether or not a website should have search engine optimization, I always say yes.  Why wouldn’t someone want to give their site a fighting chance to be found when someone performs a search related to their business?  This is what I do on a daily basis and I’m very passionate about it – it’s important.

But that isn’t the only thing a website needs to accomplish.

eMarketer’s “2010 Digital Marketing Outlook” surveyed senior marketers regarding which activities are their top priority in the digital space this year, as well as which measures of engagement on their company websites are most important.  9.4% of the respondents sited conversion and ROI as the most important website engagement measurement.

Only 9.4%?!

Your website is a marketing tool and conversion should be at the top of your list.  Merely driving traffic to your website with SEO doesn’t mean your work is done; you need to engage those visitors and encourage them to take some sort of action.  Conversion can be measured in the number of contact forms submitted by potential leads, the number of blog subscribers you have, how many newsletter signups you receive, etc.  The idea is to have visitors interact with your site and start developing a relationship with you.

Let’s review a couple of the metrics in the survey that trumped conversion.

Time on Site

The average amount of time that people spend on the site was the most important metric of engagement according to the survey. I agree that this is a good gauge of whether or not people are interested in the information you’re offering and it’s one of the things I look at when I view web stats.  However, if the navigation and layout of your website is confusing, then a high average time on site would also be applicable, as people are spending time just trying to get around.  Ask a friend or relative to act like a potential customer use your website and find a specific piece of information and get their feedback.  Did they have a hard time finding it?  If so, you may need to adjust the navigation of your site accordingly.

Pageviews

This metric was also high on the marketers’ lists.  A pageview is recorded when a visitor, literally, views the page.  So if someone looks at your “software consulting services” page 1,000 times, what does that mean?  It means that your “software consulting services” page was looked at 1,000 times. All you can really infer from pageviews is that a certain page may or may not be popular with visitors.  If that consulting page is consistently a very popular page but you aren’t getting many people contacting you for more information, then you may want to consider the possibility that you’re not offering enough information about it or not reaching out to people in the right way.

So all other web stats, other than conversion, don’t matter?

Conversion should be the top metric that you look at to determine whether or not you are engaging people with your website.  However, that does not mean average time on site, bounce rate, traffic sources, most popular pages, etc., are not important.  These additional statistics can provide you with the insight that you need to figure out what you may need to work on to get people to take that desired action (convert).

But My Keywords Are #1 in Google

That’s great!  Does it guarantee that someone will sign up for your newsletter once they click on your site from the results page?  Unfortunately, no.   The first step is being found.  The next step is engaging the visitors once they’re at your site, taking them by the hand and leading them to what you’d like them to do.  You may not be able to convert them the first time, but with an easy-to-navigate site, lots of relevant content written specifically for your target demographics, and prominent calls-to-action, you’re well on your way.  Monitoring your website stats and making adjustments based on them will ensure that you are focusing on the ultimate engagement: conversion.

There are many elements that affect the reputation of your website. Most of the topics listed below (in no particular order) are intermingled and depend greatly on one another. Just like in life, it takes time and support to build a good reputation online. Be aware of all the ways people are gauging your website and implement a strategy to build up a good reputation for it.

1. Blog Often – Blogging allows you to demonstrate your knowledge on a specific subject. By providing your expertise, you will be considered a resource that many people will look to for advice.
2. Easy to Understand – The content on your site needs to be easy to understand. Use language that a majority of internet users can comprehend and steer away from using industry jargon.
3. Provide useful information – Your website depends on the usefulness of its content. Be a resource to people, direct them to industry specific white papers; have an events calendar; or offer training workshops or webinars. People that find your site useful are more likely to share it with others, thus enforcing your good reputation.
4. Be Consistent – When updating elements on your site, like news, events, and blog posts, try to be more consistent rather than sporadic. Your users will appreciate knowing that they can go to your site and find what they are looking for.
5. Search Engines & SEO Are Your Pals – If someone is doing a search online and your site comes up on the first page or even in the top five, chances are that search engines consider it to be relevant. Most users trust their search engine to show them the best options for what they typed in the search bar. You need to execute a strategy to keep your website optimized for search engines.
6. Get “Real” – Yes, your website’s reputation also depends on your personal online reputation. Connect with people online using social networks like Twitter and LinkedIn and build a community around you and your business. Discuss topics and share ideas that lead them back to your website for additional resources.



7. Usability and Navigation – Your site needs to be easy to use and to navigate through. Users should understand how to get to the information they are seeking without difficulty.
8. Privacy Policy – Reputation and trust go hand-in-hand and you must include an easy-to-read privacy policy on your website. Your users should know what information you collect on your site and how you intend to use it.
9. Clean design – A clean design is beneficial for your site’s usability, navigation, and readability. Your website’s design must clearly display its calls to action so users can immediately understand what is required of them through the process.
10. Easily Accessible – No one has time for a site that takes a long time to download and please don’t make anyone download anything just to view your site. Make sure you make your site accessible to a wide range of internet users.

These topics work together as a team, not independently, so it is important to think of all the pieces of your website as a whole. For example, if you have a blog on your site that is not consistently updated, your website will be regarded as unreliable. Additionally, if you are not offering useful information to communities on social networks, they will be less likely to use your website as a resource. Building a good reputation for your website takes time, but once it has a solid foundation, it becomes invaluable.