Flash, Frames & Blinking Banners – Avoid building an entire site in Flash. Search engines cannot find or read a site built totally in Flash. A good alternative is to create an html site and implement Flash elements inside this type of site. Frames are difficult for users and search engines can’t read sites built in frames. Avoid frames completely! Too many blinking banners, moving text or images can be distracting to the visitor and give the wrong impression. Too much bling is not a good thing for a website.- Poor Content, Too Much or Not Enough – What you say on your site is extremely important. Be brief and get to the point with effective, powerful words. If a visitor has to scroll multiple times to read all the text they and move on. People are typically in a hurry and want the info fast. Have you been to a site with no text and wondered what they were all about? Text on the home page is important for the visitor and for the search engines. Don’t make them guess what’s behind door #1, tell them what you are about so they will want to explore further. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Small Business Owners’ Category
Five Web Faux Pas to Avoid
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009Search Engine Demographics
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009
Whenever I do a workshop or speaking engagement I ask the audience, “What search engine do you use for finding sites and information?” I’m often surprised at the responses and almost always learn about one or two search engines that I’ve never heard of before. Google, MSN & Yahoo remain in the top three so I’ll summarize some of the data for those.
Google is preferred by males and Google users are 43 percent more likely to buy online over other Internet users.
MSN is preferred by females and those 55 and over prefer this search engine. MSN users are 48 percent more likely to purchase than other Internet users.
Yahoo! users make up the 18-34-year-old segment and are 31 percent more likely to make online purchases.
As a web marketer how will you use this useful information?
Savvy Web Marketing in 5 Minutes
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
I often hear from weary website owners that they just don’t have the time to market their websites. Thinking about doing this in large chunks of time can be overwhelming. Just the thought of it may discourage you from taking any action at all. So here’s a challenge for each of you. Do you have 5 minutes? Here’s what you can do in 5 minutes:
- Go to any website – just pick one out of the blue. Preferably someone you don’t know. Be brave. Pretend I’m there holding your hand (grin).
- Send the owner a friendly email and compliment him/her on a great site.
- Indicate that you are looking for help. Remember people LOVE to help. Your single question may look like one of these:
- I need your help. I wonder if you could give me one idea for getting more clients in the area of _______?
- Would you mind giving me some advice? I’d like to know some techniques you’ve used to attract your ideal customers.
Diversify with Multiple Profit Centers
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
I grew up on a farm in Nebraska and my dad was a diversified farmer. This meant we had cows, pigs, chickens and a variety of crops. With this type of diversity we were always insured of multiple profit centers. If it was a bad year for soybeans then the price of corn may have been higher and carried us through. If hail wiped out an entire crop then we had the beef or pork to rely on.
Every business owner is similar to a farmer. Here are my top 3 analogies.
- Are you putting all your eggs in one basket? In other words, relying on one big client or one method of marketing for all your business income? This is very risky. What if it’s a bad year for soybeans?
- Are you giving away the farm? Do you continually give away free information and unpaid consulting time to help others? This practice cuts into your time and directly impacts the flow of income. People who take advantage of you this way are not ultimately whom you want to work with.
- Are you trying to do everything yourself? This is the biggest mistake entrepreneurs make. They try to feed all the chickens, plant the corn, bale the hay, do the books, work on the website and still spend quality time with the family. It’s impossible to do it all WELL and it’s exhausting. This is the best recipe for burnout and failure that I know of. We can only “do-it-ourselves” with the help from others.
Offline Marketing to Bring Visitors to Your Website
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
It’s baffling to me when people put up a website and expect people to just find it. If you read these suggestions and smack your forehead saying, “Oh, I can’t believe we ran that $3,000 magazine ad without our web address! “ You are not alone! Businesses every day are frequently overlooking offline marketing to bring visitors to their site.
How many people are going to find out about your website off-the-web before they are online? Print your web address and e-mail on every piece of paper and promotional material that leaves your office. Your web address and e-mail address should be on business cards, brochures, letterhead and envelopes. The recipients of these items may not know you have a website and will be prompted to take a look. If they know about your website, maybe they haven’t been back to visit and will place your business card by their computer as a reminder to check it out.
3-Step Website Action Plan
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009Are you confused about what to do and when with your website? Does your website need a facelift? Has the focus of your business changed? Take immediate action today with these 3 easy steps.
Step 1. Remove or change old dates pertaining to:
Workshops, events, seminars, specials, sales, coupons.
Copyright information.
Holiday hours or schedules.
Nothing screams neglect more than old dates on a website.
Step 2. New Look
Just as cars and fashions change so do the look and feel of websites. Technology continues to advance quite rapidly. What is available to web developers now for design and functionality may not have been available 2 or 3 years ago. Visitors spend less than 6 seconds on a home page. That’s how fast they make a decision to explore your site further or surf on. This instant impression is based on color, look/feel of the layout, navigation and clickable links to other pages in the site.
Pre-Qualify Potential Clients with Your Website
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
Prequalify clients with your FAQ's
A great way to pre-qualify potential clients that visit your website is to add a FAQ or Do’s/Don’ts page. This will help fine-tune the types of clients who will contact you for your products or services. To develop your own FAQ page, think of the top questions your ideal clients ask you. Browse your emails for the most commonly asked questions and your responses. When people are shopping for a product either on or offline, the FAQ can help close the deal.
Here is a short example:
Just like each client is unique – every web company has unique offerings. Here’s what we do and don’t do:
We Do:
- Create customized web designs.
- Work virtually with companies outside of Colorado.
- Respond to every phone call and email within 24 hours.
Think about what makes you stand out from your competition. Put the top 3 on your website, you might also include one of these benefits at the end of your voice message.
