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How to Give Your Website “The Business”
By Costas Peppas
Developing websites that bring revenues has been the focus of my entire career. Throughout the years, I’ve learned there are some smart things you can do for a website, and there are some not-so-smart things. Read on to discover three ideas that are not just smart, they’re fundamental. It’s Not About Websites, It’s About Results! All of our hosting programs include top-notch statistics. They’ll tell you: If the words are well-written, then you’d get a response. However, if I took away the words and left just pictures and a phone number, would your brochure still be effective? Don’t bother testing it. Even if your graphics are stunning, words will beat pictures any day of the week.
QUESTION: How do you make your website better?
ANSWER: Fix what’s broken.
QUESTION: How do you know what’s broken?
ANSWER: Know your results!
Before you do anything, you must know your website’s current results. Guesswork won’t cut it - You have to know for sure what’s working and what isn’t.
• How many people visited your web pages?
• How long did they stay?
• Which links did they click?
• What time of day does your website get the most hits?
• And much more
But the point isn’t that you have to go with us. Many hosting companies offer stats. The point is the best stats in the world are useless unless you use them.
For example, your stats show that your “About Us” page only got 2 hits. On the other hand, your “Products” page got 3000 hits, but 2,999 people left without buying.
Do you spend money improving your “About Us” page or your “Products” page? Hello! No-brainer, right?
How many website owners would have missed out on that information because they didn’t bother to evaluate their stats? The answer? Way too many.
BOTTOM LINE: Make decisions based on facts…Get (and use) the actual stats!
Give Your Website a Second Chance (and a Third, and a Fourth, and a Fifth…)
Some website statistics are fairly predictable. For example, you will probably find that very few visitors buy your product on their first visit - Probably much fewer than you’d like to think. The average person needs 4-8 exposures to your company before they’ll feel comfortable enough to buy from you.
Now for some even more disturbing news: Once someone leaves your website, there is more than a 99% chance that they will never come back. Ever. Yikes!
What can you do about it? Very simply, you can gather your visitor’s email addresses and follow up with them regularly. Your follow up can be a simple “Thanks for visiting the site, here’s a special offer”, or it can be a monthly newsletter or other publication (i.e. a recipe of the week).
This is a very powerful strategy. You’ve probably noticed that some websites won’t even try to get your money. Instead they’ll just try to get your contact information so they can follow up with you.
BOTTOM LINE: Build a healthy list of qualified prospects. Golden Rule: Contact your prospects…but never SPAM strangers!
It’s A Website - Not a work of art!
Websites are a lot like people. It’s not what they look like that’s important; it’s what they do that’s important. Makes sense, right?
Then why is it that so many websites look real pretty, but don’t do diddly-squat for business? The reason is because business owners care way too much about their image.
Hear me on this: It’s not the “pictures”, “colors”, or “layouts” that are going to make the difference between success and failure for your website. It’s the words.
Let’s use your brochure as an example. If I took away all the pictures and left just the words, would your brochure be effective?
BOTTOM LINE: Websites are expensive. Be sure you’re investing in what really counts.
Costas Peppas
Tired of web developers who made sites that look pretty but that don’t make any sales, Costas Peppas founded Digital Charis to help businesses actually generate revenues from their websites. Costas is a website publisher who specializes in Web Development, E-Commerce solutions, and Search Engine Optimization. www.DigitalCharis.com
For more information call 1-800-356-0397 or go to:
or email him at:
costas@digitalcharis.com
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