Five Steps to a Web Site That Sells

By Adam Urbanski, The Marketing Mentor

It's mind boggling people spend months and pay thousands of dollars to develop their website only to have it sit in the cyber space without generating any new leads or sales.

If you hired a sales person for your business and they didn't perform, what would you do? You would fire them faster than they could say "but, I tried", wouldn't you?

So why do you put up with a web site that doesn't sell?

Oh, I can hear you scream, "but I don't know what to do!"

Let me share with you five simple tweaks you - or your maverick webmaster - can do today to make your web site give your more bang for your buck.

1. Make your site collect visitors' contact info

Typically, when I meet new potential clients, within the first 30 seconds they spontaneously whip out their wallets, hold up their check books and yell out "I want to buy your stuff right now!" Then... I usually wake up!

In real life it takes multiple contacts to entice someone to give me some of their hard earned dough! But how can you contact them if you don't know who they are?

Use your prime "cyber real estate" - the top part of your web site people see before they even scroll down - to get your visitors to willingly give you their name and email.

Call your web master right now and tell them to place a "sign-up" form of some sort on your home page. On second thought, you better wait until you're done reading these tips, so you can take care of all the changes in one call.

2. Make your site load faster

Do you still have a lot of flashing buttons, rotating graphics, or worse - do you still have that "cool" flash intro guarding access to your web site? Get rid of it now!

There is a place for all this stuff on the internet - but it's not on your web site. Most people will only wait a few seconds for your web site to display on their screen. If it doesn't - they will move on and never come back!

Plus, unless the graphics communicate an important point about your product or service - you better of making them disappear! Oh, and listen - the nineties are gone - step into the 21st century and kill your "cool" flash intro.

3. Use effective page titles

Are you speaking in riddles? Unless you're trying to give Harry Potter a run for his money open each web page with short, benefit-oriented headlines that entice visitors to take the time to read more.

Let me illustrate this...

Would you rather read "about our services" or how "an ex- baker turned millionaire reveals his helpful small business marketing secrets"?

How about this - which headline would really grab your attention: "collateral design" or "how to create killer brochures and fliers, and postcards in three simple steps"?

Don't make people guess what they are about to read. Believe me, they won't take the time. Take a look at your web site; does each of your web pages doesn't have a good headline - fix it as fast as you can!

4. Don't hide the goodies!

The famous WIIFM (what's in it for me) has become such a clich� but it's so true! Recently a Japanese publisher of a man's magazine produced an entire issue using only photos of attractive women and "blah, blah, blah" as text for all the titles and articles.

What's the point? Come on (guys especially!) Do you think guys buy those magazines for the deep, thought provoking articles? Conversely, do you think your potential clients come to your web site to read your dissertation about "what is coaching" or "your consulting philosophy"?

Your web visitors want to know how they can solve their problems and if you can help them do it. Don't hide this stuff where no one can find it.

- Highlight the benefits your product or service offers.

- Make it easy to find your informative articles.

- Present case studies.

- Allow downloads of simple guides, forms or assessments.

- Provide links to more resources.

Make your site useful and your visitors will reward you with their business.

5. Build credibility

We all like to do business with people we know, like and trust. So how do you do make people feel like they know you and can trust you just by visiting your web site? Here are a few things that will give your credibility a boost:

- Use testimonials. When you tout your own horn people question your information. But a positive comment from a past client can instantly build your credibility.

- Display your contact information on every page. Don't hide behind an email address. Tell people where and how to find you. List your address and phone number.

People are more likely to do business with you if they know how to find you if something goes wrong.

- Display case studies and articles. They provide useful information and position you as authority on the subject.

- Post pictures of you and your key team members. You can post your bio but looking at your picture makes people feel like they actually know you. I can't tell you how many times I run into people whom I've never met before and they feel like they've known me for years - because they've seen me on my web site.

There is a lot more tweaking that could turn your web site into a marketing magnet. But these five will give you a good start. OK, now you can call your web person!

If you don't have a good web person, and you want a great tool that can help you - step by step - build a highly effective website watch this informative video: https://www.AdamRecommends.com/make-your-site-work

To get an idea of what people search for online and find out what kind of key-words you should be using to position your site higher in search engines, use this free tool from Yahoo https://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion

� 2002-2007 Marketing Mentors. All Rights Reserved.

The Author, Marketing Mentor, Adam Urbanski, works exclusively with Independent Service Professionals who want to grow their business, attract more clients, and increase sales and profits. Visit his website for more free tutorial articles and how-to tips to creating a winning Marketing Action Plan

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