Lost in Translation
It's the World's Wide Web, and you're just living in it—Get fluent in the Internet, fast
May 2009 By Christen GruebelImmersion technique #1: Get three to five people together and watch them navigate your site. Don’t help. Instead, take copious notes and have them detail where they get tripped up. “Put this information together into a cohesive list for yourself [that includes] exactly what you think needs to be done, and exactly what you discovered from watching potential visitors [surf] your site,” Williams said.
Untangle the Web
For distributors, websites are mainly used as lead-generation tools—ways to put the company in front of potential end-buyers in the hopes they will like, and subsequently choose, their services. As with all marketing collateral, every choice is important. “We can’t help it—we judge the quality of the product based on the quality of the website,” revealed Williams.
But planning in a vacuum can lead to what Ian Lurie, president of Seattle-based Internet marketing agency Portent Interactive, calls ego-driven design. “Too often, businesses insist on a feature because they think it is important,” he noted. “But it’s only important to them.” Often, the person in charge of the site is simply too close to the business and knows too much about its services to be able to see things from a customer’s perspective, added Finck.
Reaching out to a third-party designer can help circumvent these issues, even if it only results in a framework of solutions. To remain budget-conscious throughout the process, Finck suggested prioritizing a list of problems with the site and doing the redesign in stages (even if over the course of a few years) in order to have enough capital to completely solve a few problems, rather than stretching the cash and only marginally addressing all of them.
Although, Williams said, “Anyone can create a simple site with individual pages and links and make it look perfectly great,” bear in mind that, as features get more complicated (e.g., adding registration pages, calendars that need to be updated, etc.) site maintenance will become a full-time job.
A good Web developer can properly position a company to accomplish this task internally, she said. Ask to be pointed toward a quality content-management system (CMS), such as Drupal or Joomla, that will ease upkeep. CMS is typically a Web-based tool that allows an in-house administrator to easily change text and/or graphics by generating the necessary HTML codes automatically.
Immersion technique #2: Put a lot of time initially into your site’s organization and hierarchy (i.e., how each page links to the next), Williams suggested. Use sticky notes to shift and rearrange pages so the navigation follows an intuitive order.
The Search Starts Here
No matter how good your site looks, nothing will matter if people can’t find it. “Search engines currently generate 75 percent of everything that happens online and I don’t see that changing any time soon,” Lurie maintained.
Implementing quality search engine optimization (SEO) tactics on your website will help improve your rankings when a customer searches on Google and the like. Simply, “People aren’t going to click through 199 results just to find you,” said Heather Lloyd-Martin, president and CEO of search marketing solutions provider SuccessWorks in Bellingham, Wash.
According to Lloyd-Martin, you can split your game plan into three areas of opportunity: technology, content and link strategy. Starting with technology means going back to your website’s design. If your site is password-protected, primarily image-based or built on an older CMS system, these things could affect how the search engines read your pages. Lloyd-Martin related a good rule of thumb to keep in mind: “When you have a site that’s good for search engines … it’s good for users.”
From a content standpoint, both the caliber of the copy and the addition of keyphrases (the search terms by which you’d like your company to be found) helps your pages rank well. Deep, rich content, such as white papers and executive bios, clues search engines in to the fact you’re a quality site with quality information.
Finally, the integrity of links within your own site, as well as those external pages that point to you, helps search engines find you. Each page on your site should be as cross-referenced as possible. As for external links, if respected sites are directing their own visitors to you as a well-regarded service provider, Lloyd-Martin likened it to a positive “vote” for your site. Just remember, “always use descriptive text for links,” Lurie said. “Writing ‘Learn more’ is great, but writing ‘Learn more about widgets’ is better.”
Immersion technique #3: With SEO, if it sounds too good to be true—it is. Read Google’s Webmaster Info section for the specific no-no’s, but a few include keyphrase stuffing, using invisible text and participating in free link exchanges.
Social Graces
The rise of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter as well as the popularity of blogging have given marketers many more ways to connect with their audience. But collectively, social networking tools are an animal all their own. “These platforms are not places where you should market to someone,” Finck emphasized. “The idea is to build followers and respect within your area of business.”
Basically, your website is the place to sell your services. Conversely, “On Facebook, create a group page and entertain visitors, while also offering useful, non-branded information,” Lurie said. “On Twitter, offer customer support,” he added.
On the other hand, a blog is (slightly) more forgiving in that it’s less stringent in terms of the “right way” to dialogue with customers. Holly Berkley, Internet marketing consultant and author of Marketing in the New Media, explained: “It puts a personal feel on your website, which can make potential customers feel like they know you better, and possibly trust you.” Yes, you can throw in a special offer every now and then on a blog. However, the rest of the time “provide all sorts of information about what you do,” Lurie said. “The stuff that seems simple to you is arcane to your audience.”
Immersion technique #4: With social media, a long-term approach will guarantee success. “Companies should stay away from these sites unless they’re ready to invest six to 12 months adding real value to the community,” said Lurie.
Analyze This
There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle that lead to an engaging, user-friendly, good-looking, effective website. “Don’t expect all site changes to pay off immediately,” Lurie said.
Knowing how to find what works and what doesn’t is an invaluable tool in achieving quantifiable results. Site traffic-reporting tools such as Google Analytics can help you determine what turned people off (“top exit pages”), said Berkley, as well as how many people visited and how long they stayed.
Nevertheless, reports must be put into context, noted Lurie. “Did a radio station have a feature about you last week? Maybe that’s why online sales jumped, which means radio is a good medium for you.” By using the analytics to track your key performance indicators (KPIs)—i.e., the amount of leads generated or time spent on the site—you gain a practical knowledge of how the site is helping you in your sales strategy, he affirmed.
Immersion technique #5: In the end, save your time and your sanity when it comes to Internet marketing. Setting firm, reachable goals; prioritizing problems; and being realistic about time frames and cost concerns can make this not only a lucrative project, but an interesting one as well. “If users visit the website, achieve what they were hoping to get done and leave happily after engaging with your business—then that is a success,” Finck concluded.
For your complete website overhaul checklist, visit www.promomarketing.com/sales_outlook.
(This article originally appeared in the 2009 Sales Outlook supplement from Promo Marketing, a sister publication of Print Professional. For more information, visit www.promomarketing.com.)
Page 1 | 2
