Social Networking is the fastest growing trend on the Internet. The concept behind Social Networking is to put the job of driving traffic to websites into the hands of real people instead of search engines or pay-per-click programs. As the Internet becomes more human, personal comments from web site readers become vitally important.
There are several reasons why a web master should not overlook this fast growing SEO tool. Soliciting comments from website readers is the most valid form of posting testimonials on the web. These testimonials give a web sites content credibility and establish the writers and owners as industry professionals.
Soliciting comments from web readers is the most reliable way of removing the static stigma from a website. Blogs and forums are the best methods of establishing a two way method of communication between the web master and the readers. When managed right, a forum or blog can become a powerful Q&A or even a sales page.
Comments are becoming a rubric for measuring a contents importance and a establishing a web site as an authority on a subject. The most common method of soliciting comments is visiting other writers blogs, and this time consuming method works fairly well.
Soliciting comments can be a frustrating task. Several factors must be in balance before a blog or forum will receive multiple comments:
The original content must not be preachy or talk down to the reader. It must be factual, but leave the topic open for discussion.
Allowing others to discuss a topic, and responding to their comments, is a good way of encouraging comments. It is harder to encourage readers to comment if the blog or forum is written to be the final word on the topic. Write the blog to sound like a personal experience, or a single piece of advice, will encourage others to include their information.
Focus on the blogs target audience, and pay close attention to who is leaving comments. A professional blogger will expose problems. This gives people a chance to offer their suggestions and even their own experiences to the problem. This type of blog solves two problems. It encourages readers to leave comments, and it gives a brief look into the lives of the people who read the blog. Knowing who reads a blog is the first step to writing a blog that solves their problems.
Once you're online business website is live, generating targeted traffic is your next hurdle. But to maximize your online success you need to go beyond traffic generation. You need to focus on web site conversion. Many online marketers spend lots of time and money on traffic generation. And they fail to pay attention to website conversions.
Big mistake!
Here are 7 website conversion secrets to help you get more customers and make more money. Period. Lets start...
Conversion Secret #1: Pay attention to the buying experience. Put your self in your buyer's shoes. How would you rate your site? The most important rule of thumb is to make everything drop-dead easy. No hoops allowed! Minimize the number of clicks in your ordering process. If they have to register... make it a one-step process. I recently read that up to 40% of ecommerce shopping carts are ABANDONED without an order because the order process was confusing.
When your customers get confused, they get frustrated or angry and then they leave. Not sure how you're doing? Be smart. TEST. That's the only way. Or contact your customers and ask them to rate their buying experience at your site. Just find out and you'll know! Very simple.
Conversion Secret #2: Optimize your site structure. Sounds easy enough. And it is! But you'd be shocked to know how many marketers DON'T. Make it well organized and stupid simple to navigate. Prioritize your themes and sub-themes and structure accordingly. You have less than 6 to 8 seconds to capture your visitor's attention and get them interested. Most people don't sit there and analyze. They respond to unconscious feelings and the famous 'gut' feeling.
Conversion Secret #3: What is the goal of your site? Your conversion goal? What is the purpose of the page they're on? I hope you have thought about this. If not... do it now! Do you have 12 options for them to click on? Ever consider they might get confused because there ARE so many options? You can have many options for them. And if you do then it's critically important to have a very clearly defined navigation structure.
Conversion Secret #4: Make sure your site or page loads fast! The faster, the better. You know how impatient we've all become. Your site needs to be fully loaded in less than 6 to 8 seconds! Fully visible. Research shows again and again that up to half of your visitors will LEAVE if your site is more than 6 to 8 seconds to load.
Conversion Secret #5: Do you have an effective and clear call to action? Here's something that has been known for many decades. Courtesy of direct mail pioneers who came way before the internet. But it's still true! People need to be told what to do next.
Absolutely still true. Don't be afraid to 'politely' inform them of what to do next, or just what to do! Tell them! Don't expect the website visitor to know what to do next. You can alleviate fears of the unknown by telling them, in some fashion, what their next action will do. Click to order your product... click here to register for your free download, etc. People need to be reassured and you'll do that by telling them what result will happen from their next action.
Conversion Secret #6: Do you have a strong message? This is different from call to action. I'm talking about a clear, strong, and consistent message throughout your page. If you're talking about a particular product, theme, service... whatever it is, stay on topic and focus on it.
Conversion Secret #7: Test, test, and test again. Increasing your conversions takes time and is an ongoing process. There are lots of programs available to do this. Find out how much time people are spending on your pages. What do they click on? Find out what's strong and improve on it. See if you can expand on it. Find out what's weak and see if you CAN improve on it.
Your profits will soar if you do only half of what I've shown you here today. But why would do that? Do ALL of them. And there's even more to be learned. Failing to work on your conversions is like running on half empty, or running on misfiring cylinders. So don't do it!
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