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21 Pointers to Sharpen Your Website

This guide gives it to you straight. It presents a series of concise, to-the-point pointers to help you understand how to develop a highly effective website.

barryjfeldman
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21 Pointers to Sharpen Your Website

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  1. 21POINTERS TO SHARPEN YOUR WEBSITE

  2. DULL WON’T WORK. Hello. Goodbye? • Visitors decide to stay or go in seconds • Engage them immediately • Or off to Google they go

  3. [1] Start smart. ‣ No need to start from scratch ‣ Survey your competitors and sites you like ‣ Allow the effective ideas to inform parts of your plan ‣ Mix, match and make these strategies work for your site 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  4. [2] Know who’s there. ‣ Who do you want to visit? ‣ What’s their purpose? ‣ What’s their pain? ‣ Understand their point of view ‣ Point the way to the solution 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  5. [3] Generate something. ‣ Create a specific purpose for your site ✓Generate visitors ✓Generate leads ✓Generate sales ‣ Define your goal and ask your visitors to do it 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  6. [4] Build on a simple platform. ‣ Select a content management system (CMS) ✓WordPress ✓Joomla ✓Drupal Gardens ✓HubSpot ‣ Make it easy to update content without HTML skills 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  7. [5] Say hello to SEO. “Your search strategy is your business strategy.” Vanessa Fox, author “Marketing in the Age of Google” ‣ People are trying to find you ‣ School yourself in SEO ‣ Choose keywords carefully 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  8. [6] Make it easy to navigate. ‣ KISS concept ‣ Place important links first and prioritize their order ‣ Embrace the conventions ‣ Make the interface uncomplicated and uncluttered ‣ Limit the user’s choices ‣ Point the way to the solution 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  9. EASY DOES IT. In a recent study by HubSpot, 176 participants were asked “What is the most important factor in the design of a website?” 76% SAY “EASY PLEASE” An overwhelming majority responded by answering: “Make it easy for me to find what I want.”

  10. [7] Provide clear instructions. ‣ Create a compelling call-to-action ‣ Make it map to the user’s needs ‣ Make it easy to find ‣ Lead the way 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  11. [8] Create magnetic content. ‣ Content is your reason for having a website ‣ Get it together early in the process ‣ Use a variety of media ✓ images ✓ video ✓ audio ✓ presentations ✓ articles ‣ Serve up new, topical and timely content often 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  12. MORE CONTENT, MORE LEADS. 60 50 40 30 ★ On average, B2B marketers employ eight different content marketing tactics ★ 90% expect to grow their business through content marketing ★ Success is measured with the criteria charted here: 20 10 0 Source: Content Marketing Institute & Marketing Profs survey of over 1,000 marketers 1: Web traffic @ 58% 2: Sales lead quality @ 49% 3A: Direct sales @ 41% 3B: Sales lead quantity @41% 4A: Customer feedback @ 40% 4B: SEO rankings @ 40% 5: Inbound links @ 30% Web traffic ranked #1

  13. [9] Use the power of you. ‣ Most common mistake: fixating on yourself ‣ Your visitors aren’t there to read about you ‣ They have problems they seek to solve ‣ Nix the “I,” “me” and “we” ‣ Put the power of “you” to work 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  14. [10] Publish and push. ‣ Publish a blog ‣ Feature content users value ‣ Make it fun and informative ‣ Encourage comments ‣ Offer RSS (really simple syndication) and email subscription options 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  15. [11] Give your customers a voice. ‣ Get your customers talking ‣ Achieve the most powerful form of advertising ✓ word of mouth ✓ a.k.a. word of mouse ‣ Invite visitors to speak up ✓ surveys ✓ polls ✓ user forums ✓ questions ✓ product reviews 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  16. [12] Be social and share. ‣ School yourself on ✓ Twitter ✓ Facebook ✓ LinkedIn ✓ Google+ ✓ YouTube ✓ SlideShare ✓ Bookmarking ✓ Pinterest ✓ Q&As ✓ News ✓ And... tomorrow’s hot service ‣ Identify where your customers are and engage them there ‣ Use share buttons/services 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  17. You’re either or you’re out. Social media.It’s not a trend. It’s your friend. Like it. Follow it. Get into it. It’s simply not optional. Your customers use it. Your competitors do too. If you’re not interested in joining the conversation, you’re not as committed to making your online marketing work as you need to be. 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  18. [13] Tell customer stories. ‣ Your customer wields credibility and clout ‣ Deliver their stories to showcase how your products and services deliver satisfaction ‣ Be truthful 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  19. [14] Perform pay-per-click tricks. ‣ “Field of Dreams” was fiction ‣ If you build it, promote it ‣ Use Google AdWords ‣ Advertise on targeted sites ‣ Syndicate your content 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  20. [15] Make mobile meaningful. ‣ Most sites are not optimized for mobile—big mistake! ‣ Fast growing population shopping on smart phones and tablets ‣ Use one of the many inexpensive mobile site creation and hosting services ‣ More traffic + better experience 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  21. [16] Don’t keep the guests waiting. ‣ Your user has very little patience ‣ Avoid high overhead, slow loading assets of any kind ‣ Trash flash ‣ No need to show off 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  22. [16] Keep your eyes on the F. ‣ Studies indicate users fixate their eyes in an F-shaped pattern on the page ‣ Apply this knowledge to showcase your logo in the upper left of your pages ‣ Place navigation, contacts, shortcuts and important elements in this path to increase visibility 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  23. [18] Trust professionals. ‣ Yes, you want to decrease the cost and speed the development of your website ‣ Using amateurs is not the answer ‣ Hire professional writers, designers and programmers ‣ Allow them to do their jobs 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  24. [19] Count on your metrics. ‣ Your website is a business tool designed to deliver results ‣ You can’t manage what you don’t measure ‣ Use analytical tools to pinpoint metrics such as visitors, leads and sales ‣ Make ongoing adjustments 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  25. [20] Test and compare. ‣ A/B testing is valuable, especially for landing pages ‣ Compare and contrast copy and design executions ‣ Refine accordingly ‣ Enjoy higher conversion 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  26. [21] Keep on keeping on. ‣ Your site is never sharp enough ‣ There’s no finish line in website development ‣ Keep... ✓ Measuring ✓ Refining ✓ Creating useful content ‣ ... and your site will become more valuable to your business 21POINTERS TO SHARPENYOUR WEBSITE

  27. PENCILS OUT, PLEASE. SITE-SHARPENING QUESTIONS YOUR ANSWERS HAVE YOU SURVEYED YOUR COMPETITOR’S SITES? DO YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHO WILL BE VISITING? HAVE YOU ESTABLISHED YOUR OBJECTIVES? A quick review of 21 Pointers to Sharpen Your Website ‣ Make a few notes ‣ Give yourself some assignments ‣ Get to work HAVE YOU SELECTED A CMS? ARE YOU READY TO GO WITH SEO? IS YOUR NAVIGATION SIMPLE? IS IT CLEAR WHAT YOU WANT CUSTOMERS TO DO? ARE YOU CREATING MAGNETIC CONTENT? DOES THE COPY FOCUS ON YOUR CUSTOMER? DOES YOUR SITE FEATURE A BLOG? ARE YOU ASKING CUSTOMERS TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION? IS YOUR SITE ALL SET FOR SOCIAL MEDIA? HAVE YOU PUBLISHED CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORIES? WILL YOU BE USING PAY-PER-CLICK ADVERTISING? DID YOU MAKE A MOBILE VERSION OF YOUR SITE? ARE YOU USING SLOW-LOADING STUFF? ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS IN THE F-ZONE? Good luck DID YOU, OR WILL YOU, HIRE WEBSITE PROFESSIONALS? ARE YOU MEASURING AND ANALYZING? ARE YOU TESTING THIS AGAINST THAT? WILL YOU EXPAND YOUR SITE REGULARLY?

  28. Point your browser to FeldmanCreative.com for all your online marketing needs. Owner Barry Feldman has been a copywriter and creative director since 1988. A seasoned storyteller, Barry will help you create an ultra- sticky website, deliver persuasive copy, execute strategic content marketing, and offer pointers to sharpen your site, attract and engage prospects, nurture relationships, generate sales, and build loyal brand advocates. www.feldmancreative.com

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