Internet Marketing Tips, Tools and Strategies

Even though the internet has grown into such a powerful tool, there are still some businesses that put very little value into their own website or just don’t understand how to position the site correctly online for what they are offering.

Proper web development has rapidly changed over the past few years, but many of the fundamentals are still the same, but believe me when I say this, very few “web designers” understand anything about how to build a website that performs for a business. Why don’t most web designers know how to develop a site correctly? – Many web designers come from graphic design backgrounds and know next to nothing about business. Unless you can give them very clear instructions on what you want, you are going to miss the boat. Make sure if you are considering hiring a company for web development that they have a strong understanding of marketing principles and understand how your business operates.

The more time you spend enhancing your website for conversion and making it user friendly the better return you will get from any online traffic you are driving to it.

Understanding the role of your website is key to successful web development.
For most the main goal of their website is to act as a sales tool for their services and products. But your website can do so much more then process leads/orders.
 
Here is a list of things your website can do if the web development is done properly:
1. Act as a forum for discussion and a resource for consumers.

2. Engage customers and build their interest in your company and product.

3. Collect names and email addresses for interested consumers to build a relationship with.
4. Take those leads and build a database of targets to communicate with.

5. Encourage and partake in sharing information through blogs, social media and RSS feeds. Reach out to people and encourage them to reach back.

Building the number of prospective leads builds the value of your business. Creating a website during the web development stage that's set up to grow your business will benefit you forever.

Use your website to share promotions and discounts and pay attention to what works using analytics data. Measure their effectiveness and calculate the income generated from these types of incentives.
When done correctly web development can create an extraordinary tool that will grow your business. Thinking big in the development phase can set the bring success in the future. This all sounds great but it can be complicated for a small to medium sized business to implement on their own. Consider hiring a quality internet marketing company to handle it for you. If you chose the right online marketing company, it will be the best investment you have made in your business in a long time.

Understanding the term 'conversion' and how it applies to internet marketing is very important for anyone running a business with a website. There are lots of internet marketing tools to drive traffic to your website. The trick is turning that traffic into sales and customers and that job falls on your website.

Here are 7 tips for improving your website's conversion rate.

1. Deliver Your Message - If you're walking around the mall and see a great outfit in a store window you may take a second look and consider going in. However it is the store across the way with the large 40% off all woman's boots is probably more likely to entice you into their store. You need to do the same thing with your website. When consumers are searching for products make sure your listing shows up with an appealing call-to-action.

2. Shorten Your Copy - People who are searching the web are not interested in lengthy copy. Be short and keep copy in short sections. This will help decrease your bounce rate.

3. Make Yourself Accessible - You don't want customers hunting for a way to reach you. Put your phone number on every page and use a contact us form with less than five entrees.

4. Utilize Auto Responses - Put a contact us form on every page of your site. Then when someone fills out your form you have their email address as well as the information of what page they were on when the filled out the  form. Use this to follow up with an auto response back to them.

5. Design For Your Audience - The overall layout of your site needs to be pleasing to your target audience. Design your site to enhance their experience.

6. Make Color Work For You - There are many studies out about how people react to certain colors. Get some information on color psychology and fill your site with colors that will speak to the mood you want your customer to be in while viewing your products.

7. Use Images Wisely - When planning your website don't focus so much on layout and content that you forget to choose great images. Photos can make a big difference in keeping your visitor on your site.

Conversion Architecture™ is based on the principle that every website, regardless of industry, should be targeted to a specific customer profile. Our job as Internet Marketing Consultants is to analyze your customers and come up with these customer profiles, based on consumer behavior and objectives, and integrate them into your website. The goal is for every element of your website to persuade visitors on your site to take the actions you want them to - which will lead to a conversion.

Many business owners have a hard time wrapping their head around the concept that your "average customer" does not, in fact, exist. It is necessary to take a closer look at your customer base and really analyze them using audience profiling, segemented needs analysis, and other tools to increase the number and quality of your sales leads. Otherwise, by focusing on everyone, your site may not appeal to anyone.

The next step is to monitor and measure your results. Look at every click on your website as a step towards conversion. You want your visitors to build confidence in your site with every click, until they finally convert into a customer.

Every company uses different Internet marketing methods like pay per click advertising, custom landing pages, social media, and many others. But no matter what your Internet marketing mix looks like, your website is your primary marketing vehicle and your Internet marketing strategy begins and ends there. Conversion Architecture™ is an invaluable step in solidifying this important building block of your marketing plan.

At WSI, we specialize in Conversion Architecture™  to help you reap enhanced Internet profitability.

Get in touch with us today to develop or revisit your Internet Marketing plan.