We do a lot of work driving visitors to websites through various means. Our forte is of course SEO but certainly they all contribute to getting eyes on your website…PPC, online adverts, email marketing etc…but what happens once they get there?
It seems one of the most neglected pieces of real estate these days is the website. Those who have seen what a website is capable of know the power and the benefits that a good one can reap. You have very little time to convince a visitor that you are what they need so it really needs to reflect that message quickly.
If you have a website, here’s a couple of things that you might want to consider doing:
Ask – sometimes you know your business a little too well and may miss some key elements that your visitors may need. Ask around. Your mother, brother, neighbor, friends can really give you some key insight. If you use twitter or facebook, ask your network. Trust me when I say that most people, because they have seen a lot of websites, consider themselves quite the expert so they will most likely jump at the chance of ripping your website apart. Be prepared for that but know that there may be some golden nuggets. I remember building a website years ago and a quick review by a friend noticed that I had neglected to include a phone number.
Analytics – are a great resource for checking through trends and some of the best ones even give you overlays and heat maps that will tell you where your visitors are going. Try get into the habit of checking these regularly.
Consult – confer with a professional. These should be folks who live and breathe websites. There are plenty out there so don’t be afraid to use them.
With all this talk about twitter and digg and facebook and plurk and stumbleupon, it’s easy to lose sight of other things that contribute to your bottom line. Your website is one of those so make sure to maximize its impact.
PaulFleming is co-founder and VP of Interactive Services for Dinkum Interactive. A trained teacher, Paul has worked in a variety of forms of Internet Marketing but with a focus on SEO. Originally from Australia, he now resides in Philadelphia with his wife and 2 ankle-biters.
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February 8, 2012. Posted under: Blog.
In the past two weeks, I attended two conferences that were world’s apart but linked. One was focused on large, profitable companies. The other involved nonprofits. They both discussed social media. The first conference featured CEOs, many of whom are grappling with the use of social media within their organizations. Each CEO had a bit of a different take on
Am glad I “stumbled upon” your blog and site here. Is great to see local Philly busineses here. After writing this comment, will subscribe to your blog feed.
You are right. You can have the best SEO in the world and the best marketing to drive traffic to your site, but if the site is lacking and the content is weak, than what good is it ?
We have worked hard to keep our site fresh and unique in the Philadelphia Real Estate world. We have our blog linked in to our site as well.
Will look forward to more of your blog posts,
Chris Somers
RE/MAX Affiliates
Realtor / Owner
I’m running a few sites on my own and I think you posted really helpfull tips.
Most time you don’t recognize the simple ways to improove your website because you already know what you are trying to tell you readers.
Right now I am working on a project where some feedback would be helpfull so I guess I need to ask a few buddies.
As a web writing trainer it is music to my ears to hear you say, “one of the most neglected pieces of real estate these days is the website.”
The way we write and structure our web content can have a big impact on how our visitors respond.
One of the key messages I preach is that before we write a word we need to think about the kinds of missions our readers are on, and the questions and concerns they have, and then try to allow for all of that in our content.
The website is a tool to deliver the information and some website like a blog is to to tell the experience in the day live.
So many people are talking about “social marketing” stratgies such as twitter, facebook and so on. However, if you don’t have your message right on your website, I wonder what use it is to concentrate on these other areas. I think that your website can be viewed as another marketing campaign similar to a radio or TV or a magazine campaign. There are 2 primary differences:
- Your website is there for everyone to read 24*7. This makes it extremely powerful as a primary business growth tool.
- People will not come across your site unless they are researching something – if you have your keywords correct they are well qualified and are looking for you as opposed to other forms of advertising where you are “hoping” someone reads, sees or listens to your ad.
Getting your message or proposition right is fundamental. Understanding a little on “heat maps” can also help you understand people’s behaviours when looking at websites, where your images and key message should go on your page.
Analytics is also great to understand behaviours. If you set up sales funnels in Google analytics that match what you want the visitor to do, you can see where things break down and visitors stop going further in your site. You might then review that page, fix it and measure the changes.
Google Analytics is a great took to real measure what your site does well and what area’s it can be improved upon.
Wonderful tips!
Yeah many people actually ignore their website but now-a-days new starters and old ones alike, if they SEO themselves, try their best to make their website better and Blogs are full of tips so they not only make it better but also attract potential customers to their sites from all over the world. That’s the beauty of doing business on the Internet.