Displaying posts for June 2006. Show all posts
Lawrence Jones, June 21st 2006, 5:55PM
How to attract more visitors to your site is relatively easy. Attracting the right visitors who have a higher potential of converting to customers is an art. I start with a simple question.
What are my clients looking for?
It sounds simple enough, however the majority of websites assume you know all about the product and miss out on the essentials. This is often because the person doing the promoting often is too close to the product.
I then have to second guess what search terms clients are most likely to use when searching for my product. If I am selling accountancy recruitment I would focus on 2 elements, attracting clients and candidates alike. A client search term may be “need accountant FCA Manchester.” A candidate’s search term might be “need job in credit control.”
Once you have found your keyword this is your starting point. You can use tools such as Overture’s Keyword selector tool. This is a fancy description for something that tells you how many people are searching on the specific words and their variations worldwide.
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
This is a great tool because you want to avoid wasting time. If you find that the search terms you are using only have 10 visitors per month and your product is £12.50, you know that you are going to need to find some more effective phrases.
Once you have your keyword, you need a landing page. This needs to written with the keywords in mind. Focus on one service per page. Devote the entire page or as much as you can to giving your visitors very targeted information.
Why?
Put simply, visitors don’t like surprises. Make your content relevant. If you give your visitors exactly what they are looking for they will thank you for it. They will probably use you there and then.
There is a slight problem with this. You have just entered into a race that never ends. Once you start competing on the internet for customers you will have fierce competition. If you make a change and directly affect someone elses leads, they will react and counter with a more effective response.
The overall affect is very addictive. Why, because we all like winning business. It is exciting and it drives us forward. Once you start winning leads through this simple process, it stands to reason that you will want to amplify your success and do it more.
Lawrence Jones, June 12th 2006, 11:59AM
Just how important is customer service on the internet?
I have very definite views on this subject which are reinforced by my own buying traits. To me the very first stage when creating an online strategy is working out "how do I want to be perceived by my customers and am I prepared to deliver on my values?"
The answer to these 2 questions will probably determine the success or failure of your venture. To attract new business it is imperative that you demonstrate that you are a helpful organisation, so a well written site that has a clear navigation structure and helpful information is an essential ingredient. It is also a great investment and one that can save time and money in the long run. Make sure you show your address and include directions to show to prospective clients that you are proactive communicators. Are you yourself more likely to buy from a site that has all the information readily at hand?
Promising excellent customer service is one thing, now you have to deliver. Winning new business is important but keeping existing clients is even more so. It is important to treat your clients how you want to be treated yourself. So many businesses are great at winning contracts but then do not value the clients once they have them. Research shows that it is much more expensive winning new business as opposed to keeping existing clients happy. To ensure you deliver on the customer care aspect, I recommend you pay particular attention to staff training and motivation. A happy team will generate far more energy and positive communication which results in happy clients, than a mediocre or demoralised one. Unfortunately most business men and woman normally learn this lesson at the cost of their business. If you are able to learn this lesson early on in your business life, it will accelerate your growth.
Employing the right candidates in your recruitment process is also very important as it will be your team ultimately carrying out your customer service strategy. We have a very strict recruitment policy at UKFast, which includes a psychometric test which hones in on a candidates strengths or weaknesses. I am often asked, "is this a fair way to access staff?" I believe so, it is one of a number of points in quite a long process, however I believe it is important to help a prospective candidate find out about themselves too. There is no point putting someone into a position even though they have applied for it, when they are unable to perform the task. It will only create unnecessary conflict and stress in the long run. I have been in the fortunate position to be able to guide people into a career path which is more suited to their personality, giving them evidence explaining my findings. I have never been met with anything other than a positive response for my contribution and the overwhelming majority thanks me for pointing out something they already knew deep down.
So in short. Get the right staff from the outset. Train them to be passionate and diligent and make sure your marketing material online reflects this core value. It is rare in today’s business community and customers will thank you for it.
Lawrence Jones, June 8th 2006, 11:24AM
How do you create a successful business online? That is the question I was asked last night at a seminar on Optimising your Online Presence. The event was commissioned by Manchester Digital and organised by Don't Panic and was attended by around 70 marketing professionals from the North West.
I break down true online success into 3 categories.
1. Invest in the right infrastructure
2. Respect the search engines
3. Put your web site at the heart of your business
1. As the managing director of a hosting company, I am in danger of looking biased when I say that your hosting platform is a key ingredient, but I am well placed to give this advice. Since 1999 we have seen the rise and fall and the rise again of this fantastic industry. With over a thousand successful clients we are in a good position to analyse what companies are doing right and also what they are doing wrong.
There are some definite trends emerging. Out of every successful client we host, each one of them takes their hosting environment very seriously. Why? Because customer experience is important to them. They have learnt that fast web pages mean happy customers.
Have you ever gone to google or yahoo, typed in something and then clicked straight back because it took too long? Of course you have. You do it every day. Well there is a danger so are your potential customers. You might think your site is acceptable, but then again, is it cached in your machines memory? So wherever you host, do it right.
2. Respecting the search engines is a complicated conundrum. It was described by one of my fellow speakers yesterday Clare Johnson from Adoofa, as a “dark art.” She is absolutely correct when she said that no one can promise to put you top of the search engines and guarantee it. The reason being is that you would come across someone equally competitive who potentially will knock you off your pedestal. All you can do is treat it as a race that never ends. Once you are committed, you see the benefit and you are hooked.
There are so many pitfalls to SEO (search engine optimisation) that I cannot do the subject justice, so I will be revisiting this topic regularly, and inviting others to contribute.
3. Put your web site at the heart of your business and give it the resources that it needs to survive. I went on a solicitors site yesterday as I am moving house. I knew who I wanted to use, I just needed their phone number. I gave up looking after clicking through about 5 or 6 pages. The irony is that firm of solicitors has clearly spent a lot of money developing its online brand. Yet they are able to make fundamental mistakes which will frighten off prospective clients. I would never do business with someone who does not clearly show their contact details on a web site. I also prefer to do business with people who are passionate so this needs to come across in every aspect of your business dealings. Again there is much to discuss on this topic too and I am keen to explore this in great detail and hear from other marketers about their experiences.
To get a brief summary about last night from Jonathan Bowers communication manager at UKFast click on Jonathan's link
So what questions do you have? Where do you need help?
Tags: hosting, marketing, search engine, seo
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