Category Archives: eMarketing

How Can I Target Home Page Traffic?

eMarketing, , ,

Most of the traffic (over 70%) of my clients’ web site lands on the home page. For example, the traffic comes from directly-typed-in URLs or natural search results. Home pages are mostly “generic”. How can we target the traffic better so these un-targeted traffic gets to the right page and so it increases conversion rate?

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  1. If someone types in your domain name to get to your home page, you only have a couple of options: improve your home page or use cookies to track repeat visitors and present a targeted message to them.
  2. If someone is coming on an inbound link (which you mentioned is organic) and the home page isn’t relevant, either the home page is stuffed with keywords or the inbound link isn’t targeted well (if you can influence the inbound link to point to a better page, do so).
  3. If you’re targeted with PPC (etc.), then these paid links should be better targeted.
  4. If your home page is generic, then spend time fixing the problem. Who is your target audience? Identify the key problems you solve for your audience, and clearly guide them to that area of your site.
  5. You can improve your website itself, creating better content/internal linking. This will help longer-term with the organic search. Once again, you’ll need to understand what search terms people used to find you, and then build your site to better serve them.

How To Start Your Online Business For Free

Creative Business Ideas, eMarketing, Starting Out, ,

Let me first answer the common questions:

I’m not a computer whiz. Creating a website isn’t much harder than creating a document in your word processor.

I don’t have a lot of time. Spend more time selling your products (services) and less time setting up your business using the detailed steps.

Is this really free? Yes.

Why? By giving you a free website, companies build your loyalty.

Why do professionals charge $1000s? Anyone can create an online business. Making the website look “sharp” is a job for the pros. If you don’t have thousands of dollars to spend, create something functional now and improve it later.

The “catch” is that for free you won’t get your own domain name (www.MyBusiness.com) . Instead, you’ll have to have a name like: MyBusiness.googlepages.com. From a professional marketing perspective, this isn’t ideal. However, if you have no budget but want a website, then this will work wonderfully. There are a number of companies that will provide you a free website. I’ve found that that “Google Pages Creator” is the best – they don’t insert advertisements onto your website.

  1. Go to: pages.google.com
  2. Create a free Gmail account (if you don’t already have one)
  3. Websites are all about visual appeal. Gather images that highlight your product (or service). Make sure that the images are yours to use (either something you created, is in the public domain, or have licensed).
  4. Design your “Home” page. This page should answer the question, “What problem does your product (or service) solve?” Don’t clutter it with lots of details. The home page is all about getting someone interested enough to read further. Make sure that the home page has your contact information (name, address, phone, email) on it (note: you want contact info on all your webpages).
  5. Design your “Contact Me” page. Make it easy for someone to find you.
  6. Design your “About Me” page. Add a picture of you. This page should answer the question, “Why are you the best person to sell this product (or service)?” or “Why should I trust you?”.
  7. Design your “Store” page. This page should answer the question, “How much does it cost? What are the details? What proof do you have? How can I buy it?”
  8. Go to: www.paypal.com
  9. If you don’t already have a (business) checking account, go to your local bank to get one. Link the account to Pay Pal.
  10. Choose for your Paypal “payment solution” Website Payments Standard. Create Buy Now buttons and/or PayPal Shopping Cart for each product you’re selling. Insert the buttons at the proper locations on your “store” webpage.
  11. Get feedback from your business associates. Does the site look acceptable? Is the information on the site accurate?

The site that you create will be a full-fledged online business. People can find more information about you and your products. They can order from you online. You can gradually improve the look and feel of the website over time.

I’m Sorry

Creative Business Ideas, eMarketing,

Last month I got a personal lesson about making a public mistake. While emailing the September issue of this newsletter, I had a technology meltdown resulting in an email containing my address book being sent to everyone. I got a number of emails from people who were understandably angry/annoyed. A number of people requested to be opted-out from future emails. I responded to each email personally. It was a personal disaster for me, since I’m quite tech-savvy and such things should “never” happen to me.

When I realized the mistake, I had a couple of options: 1) ignore it and hope that if I didn’t bring someone’s attention to it then perhaps no one would notice or 2) email everyone and tell them what happened, why, and why it should never happen again. I chose #2 (but some part of me wanted to close my eyes and simply pretend it never happened) believing that if I honestly apologized people would realize that mistakes do happen and forgive me.

It seems that technology continues to be a double-edged sword in business. On one hand you can send one email to hundreds of people with a single button press, which is very efficient. However, with this power comes a responsibility to ensure care. Years ago I used an email program that allowed you to un-send emails (if they weren’t yet read) – it was a feature that allowed me to “save face” on occasion. It’s a feature sorely missing in “modern” email programs.

As a business owner, you’re very busy answering the phone, correspondence, email, etc. Your attention is split between the job at hand and the 10 more you need to do by days’ end. You’re trying to do it all, do it perfectly, and …. something slips. Perhaps it’s a small goof. Now what?

With the acceleration of modern life and prevalence of multi-tasking, the creep of imperfection increases. You can’t help it – there’s simply no way to do more in less time and still get perfect results (whatever that means).

What I’ve learned is I need to do less, not more. If you do less, you can focus better on the fewer things that need doing. But it comes at a trade-off, fewer clients, fewer phone calls, less time reading emails.

Life is about balance. So is work.

Top 10 Rules: Corresponding With Clients

Creative Business Ideas, eMarketing, Starting Out,

Here are my rules for corresponding with clients (these rules work for either email or postal letters). If I choose to read a letter (from a company) I’ve made a decision how to spend my time. If I find that the letter wasn’t valuable, then I’ll gradually learn to ignore (or worse, distrust) other letters from that company. Once someone ignores (or distrusts) you it’s very hard to regain their trust. Think before you write!

  1. Make it obvious who it’s from – Do you read all your mail in your mailbox or do you automatically eliminate the junk mail? Let people know the letter is from you.
  2. Keep the letter to one page – When I see a multiple page letter, my first thought is how much time do I have to read it. If I’m busy, I might lose it in my “to-read” pile.
  3. Say the important thing in the first paragraph – When I’m busy, I’m not willing to invest a lot of time to find out what this letter is about.
  4. Make the letter personal – In all your correspondence, you need to build people’s trust in you. Tell a (true) anecdote to illustrate the point if possible. People remember stories.
  5. Make it sharp – Keep it easy to read, even without glasses on! Lots of white space helps. Check your spelling and grammar. Minimize words.
  6. Clarify what you are asking – My rule: one letter = one request.
  7. Specify the time frame – Those “you must respond by midnight to receive your free gift” letters work. If there’s no urgency, why should I read this letter now (if at all)?
  8. Motivate the reader – How does (what you’re writing about) affect them? Does it save them money? Save them time? If you’re unclear about it, so will they. If you don’t know what the reader needs, ask them!
  9. Gain their trust in you – Every communication from you builds on previous messages from you. It takes a while to build trust and a very short time to violate it.
  10. Respect the reader’s intelligence – Don’t repeat the same message many times. Start your letter with your message, give details, and wrap up highlighting the message.