Got What It Takes To Own A Web Site?

Should You Own A Web Biz? Here's How to Tell.

You read about the success stories and figure if those two teenagers can make a million on the web, so can you. Sorry, ain’t necessarily so – even if you’ve been in brick-and-mortar retail for a decade or two, the rules are different, the dynamics are different, marketing is different. It’s like comparing apples and applesauce. Sort of the same but not really.

So, here are a few questions to ask yourself before you decide to launch the next Amazon or YouTube. BTW, honesty counts. Don’t fool yourself as you answer, and no, this will not appear on your permanent record.

1. Are you ready to learn a new technology?
Actually a lot of new technologies. For instance, are you wiling to learn how to send out an auto-responder series and what that’s going to cost? Do you know what an auto-responder is??

The commercial web is a vicious, dog-eat-dog marketplace and if you’re going to compete, you’ll have to learn everything from keyword density to content management systems. Are you ready? If so, move on to question number two.

2. Do you have the time to run an online business?
A lot of new site owners picture a site with affiliate links and Google AdWords that magically draws traffic and returns pretty much a nice passive income each month. Ah, if only it worked like that.

But how are you going to get people to your site? They won’t find you on Google or Yahoo. You’ll be listed on page 121 of the search engine results pages so before you see some of that “passive” click-through cash, you have to get traffic to visit your site.

Think you can devote the time to run an online business? You can if you’re retired or a stay-at-home parent, but what if you put in long days at the office? Will you be eager to get to work on your real business – your online business? If your answer is yes, please move on to the next question.

3. Do you have the financial resources to grow an e-business to profitability?
The web is the last bastion for the do-it-yourself entrepreneur. However, there are expenses involved in launching and overseeing a cyberstore. There are web hosting costs, marketing costs (marketing should account for 60% of your initial capital outlay), the cost of inventory, shipping and so on.

You can get started on a shoestring and maintain a website for less than $7.00 a month – and that’s with a web host that offers a full bag of tools and a lot of other freebies (like free domain registration). But once you’ve launched, you have to market and, if you want traction quickly, you’re going to have to spend money to make money, just as you would in any start-up business.

4. Do you have access to support?
‘Cause you’re going to need it, unless you’re already a “behind-the-curtain” online commerce veteran. Sources for support?

Your kid probably knows more about computer security than you do. Your spouse may have a penchant for writing great sales copy. Your neighbor is a techno-whiz. There’s also tons (yes, tons) of information on the web – all free. Hey, reading this isn’t costing you a penny.

If you try to go it alone you may be overwhelmed by the learning curve. While you’re learning about keyword generators you’ll also be learning about content architecture, site navigation, product placement, affiliate programs and on and on.

The point is, you can learn all this stuff quickly – it’s not rocket science – but, at least in the start up phase, put together a list of sources that can support the effort. And don’t forget tech support.

You want access to U.S.-based tech support from your web host (when your server is down you’re out of business), the manufacturers of your business system, whether a single computer in the spare room or an ever-expanding network of work stations, and, of course, you want access to tech support or vendor support from the companies that produce the products you sell.

5. Do you like working with others?
You may be working alone at home but as an e-biz owner you are anything but alone. If you do it right you’ll be contacting wholesalers, drop shippers, customers, tech support personal and on and on.

An online business quickly becomes a part of your social network. You’ll make lots of e-friends and you’ll never be alone – even when you’re alone taking care of baby #2. Scared yet? No? Good for you. We’re almost to the finish line.

6. Do you have patience?
No matter how good you are, no matter how much of an SEO/SEM expert you are, success is almost always an evolutionary process with each new generation or iteration producing better and better results.

That means that you spend a lot of time on webmaster sites and designer blogs learning the minutia that’s now become such an important aspect of your site’s success. If you expect to turn a profit within the first week or two, it’s not going to happen. However, if
you can hang in there and overcome setbacks (all part of the game), your chances for success increase significantly.

7. Are you self-motivated?
When the alarm clock goes off and you’re faced with commuter traffic, you’re motivated – motivated to get to your desk at work on time. Working for someone else provides external motivation. You show up at work on time every day because you have to.

Not so when you run your own business. Sleep ‘til noon. Go see a movie or watch your stories on TV. If you aren’t motivated to get up, grab some coffee and log on in your PJs, you may have trouble getting down to business everyday.

The successful web entrepreneur can’t sleep. Her mind is racing and she’s at the computer at 3:00 AM – and loving it. You’re going to need that level of commitment, that drive and motivation to be one of the web success stories. No matter how many “How to Make a Million Bucks on the Web” books you read, you still need “the right stuff” to pull it off.

You have to be motivated to work long hours, to study new trends in web design (more interactivity, please) and to sit there over another cup of highly caffeinated coffee analyzing your site’s metrics.

And you know what? You’re going to love every second of it. Go for it and may success greet you on Digital Boulevard.

Need some help getting started? It doesn’t cost a ton of cash to start an on-line business. Drop me a line or give me a call. I’ll get you off on the right foot and follow through to site profitability. Let me teach you how to market your site yourself and save a lot of $$$>

Subscribers: Pay A Fee or Get It Free

Why pay when visitors can get it free?

A lot of new website owners add subscriber revenues to their calculations when figuring their break-even date and potential for profit. Not a good idea. Subscriber sites are fast disappearing from the webscape and for good reason. Why pay when you can get it for free?

As a site owner with expertise for which others would pay to read, it’s hard not to think about subscription revenue but the plain fact is, online subscriptions have never really taken off the way we all thought they would. The New York Times went the subscription route with its Times Select but it wasn’t generating enough revenue to justify itself, so the critical features of the NYTs are now available free online.

Even Rupert Murdoch, the much-maligned media mogul, who just bought control of the Wall Street Journal is planning to give away fresh content on the WSJ website. Every day. And that’s one mogul who knows how to make money through advertising!

What happened?
Does anyone remember 2002? Seems so long ago. 2002 is antediluvian in web years. That was a long time ago. But back then, the web had grown substantially with the advent of the search engine in 1994 (along with numerous, subsequent refinements to search engine technology), and media outlets, big and small, saw dollar signs – a whole new revenue stream.

However, in 2002, in the wake of the dot.bomb debacle, online ad revenues took a major nose dive that digital marketers are still trying to overcome. The online subscription revenue model never really took off and, today, even the big players are leaving the field.

The reasons are pretty obvious. First, the web provides so much content from so many varied sources, you don’t have to pay a subscription for the latest in gold futures. Some site is giving it away. Second, add to this the development of RSS technology – the ability of individual web users to gather news and other content of interest with 100% customization, and it becomes pretty obvious why subscriber sites aren’t doing so well.

There are other reasons people give for staying clear of subscriber sites. They’ve been scammed before by another e-book download with nothing to say. They don’t want to give you their credit card number. You use a high-pressure sales approach making untested claims, predictions and guarantees. They figure you’ll sell their contact information and they’ll be bombarded with spam. An online subscription is a tough sell, so what’s the small, self-published guru to do about that $49-a-year online newsletter that subscribers delete without opening after a week or two?

What to do?
Change your revenue model. Change your website. Change your bottom line for the better.

It starts by changing your view of site content. Owners of subscriber-based websites depend on readers’ “need to know” – whether it’s a professional financial advisory, a “top secret” stock report, or the latest news on what’s happening in China’s shoe industry – somebody needs that information. And, if this information proves useful, subscribers will stick with you.

Useful information is information that works to the benefit of the reader. It could be a self-help website with a monthly affirmation newsletter, or a pet owner site that sends you weekly tips to keep your kitty happy and healthy. If the content is actually useful a subscriber site might survive – until some other visionary comes along and starts giving away the information you’re selling.

Change your view of content. Don’t think of content as something to be sold. Give it away. Use it to entice readers to visit your site often. Daily, perhaps. Now, no doubt, there are a lot of entrepreneurs shaking their heads as they read this. These are people who have spent years learning their industry, a new system to win at poker or how to use hedge funds to fast-track your retirement years. They have knowledge.

However, others have that knowledge, too. And if web users can find that information free, they sure enough aren’t going to pay you for the same thing. So, instead of thinking of content as something to sell, think of it as bait to attract regular readers and improve links popularity.

So how do I make money with this new revenue model of which you speak?
Indeed, web-based ad revenues did decrease for a short time in ’02. But since then, there’s been a marked increase in revenue growth, closing in on $2 billion in ’07 and projected to exceed $11 billion in just five years. The web has become one of the most potent marketing tools available to advertisers.

You can pick up some of that ad revenue using the content you once sold to draw in the traffic and keep your PR high, with ad revenues to match. You can also develop affiliate partnerships with companies that want to reach your target market.

Here’s how the numbers break out. In the summer of ’06, survey respondents were asked if they would rather receive free content with advertising or paid content with no advertising. More than 70% of those surveyed opted for free with advertising. And that’s why you see ads for Coke before a music video download on AOL. AOL is giving away the content and making its money on that 15 second Coke ad. Even so, 78% of Millenials (ages 13 – 24) found web ads more intrusive. Clearly, they want the content free – free of cost and free of advertising.

e-Marketer analyst, Lisa Phillips, recently stated, “Advertisers pay up to three times more to reach print readers than online users. They’re not convinced online readers browse a news web site the way they believe print readers still browse through an entire section of a newspaper.”

Excellent point and one that clearly demonstrates why print media is so heavy on advertising and light on content. All you have to do is check today’s newspaper if you want proof.

Time for a change
If you have a successful, subscriber site – congratulations. You must have something very interesting or useful to say to your subscribers. However, if you’ve seen your subscriber list dwindle and re-ups shrink, it’s time to change your business model and use that subscriber content as the lure.

Use the online ad revenues as your reward.

What About Conversion Ratios: Why Aren’t They Buying?

What converts web site visitors to buyers?

If you own a commercial site and you’ve performed all of your search engine optimization (SEO) chores, you should be listed with the major search engines and visitors should be finding their way to your on-line boutique.

Driving traffic to a commercial site is difficult in the first place. So, once that traffic starts showing up, the last thing you want those potential buyers to do is to leave before making a purchase, especially true if they found you via PPC because that visitor is going to cost you money for that unfruitful click through.

The question becomes: once you have a visitor on site, how do you induce that person to make a purchase?

The Trust Factor

Most on-line purchases are made using a visitor’s credit card and those names and card numbers are hacked all of the time. So, before you ask a buyer to make a purchase using a credit card, you must first create trust between you and the potential buyer.

Get SSL Certified
Use SSL encryption to secure the on-line transaction. You’ll need an SSL certificate to transmit encrypted data. Sometimes, a web host will let you use its SSL certification but regardless, any savvy on-line buyer is going to avoid making a purchase unless s/he sees that little padlock in the lower right hand corner and an https in the address box. The “s” stands for secure.

Another trust building factor is the VeriSign logo. VeriSign provides SSL encrypted solutions for on-line businesses. They have an excellent reputation for security and regular on-line buyers and retailers know this. So, use the VeriSign logo throughout your site to build consumer trust.

Subscribe to the On-Line BBB
You can also build visitor trust by becoming a member of the on-line Better Business Bureau which indicates a commitment to service and honesty. The BBB logo displayed on your site’s home page and checkout pages is a comfort to new buyers.

Provide Assurances
Many visitors are reluctant to buy because they’re afraid of being inundated with spam – from you and other companies to which you sell your buyers list. Place a prominent notice on all zone pages and especially on the checkout page assuring buyers that you don’t sell sensitive, personal information. If you do use direct e-mail as a marketing tool (it’s a good one) let buyers decide whether to receive or not receive future offerings, newsletters and other digital clutter. If they click the ‘OK’ box, e-mail them. If they don’t, put them on the “Do Not Bother” list. And respect their wishes.

The Buying Process

Buying anything on-line (or off) is a process. The visitor arrives, searches for the item, reads the product description and so on. At any point during the buying process, you risk losing a potential buyer. And again, once you’ve got them there you want that sale.

Ease of Navigation
It may be clear to you. You designed it. But, if your visitors arrive on a home or zone page without a clue about how to find what they’re looking for, they’re gone. Easy and unambiguous navigation is critical to making that sale.

If you sell a variety of products, provide a product menu that takes visitors directly to the product they’re looking for. That product category menu should be available from any page on the site. Most commercial sites make it a part of the navigation bar at the top of the page.

Product Descriptions
They should provide information. Buyers want to know whether this is a product worth buying. Are batteries included? How big is it? How much power does it have?

If your product descriptions read like sales hype and you don’t provide essential information required for making a buying decision, those visitors will look elsewhere.

Product Pix
It’s always a good idea to include a picture of the product. It’s a good selling device because people like to see what they’re buying. Now, this may not be necessary if the buyer is purchasing 10 tons of cold-rolled steel, but it’s essential to the customer buying jewelry, clothing – in fact any personal or home products.

If you provide a thumbnail product picture, enable the visitor to enlarge the image by clicking on it. Again, the more information you provide a potential buyer the more likely you are to make a sale.

Offer Incentives
“20% Off Your First Purchase” or “Free Shipping” get buyers’ attention and make it more likely that they’ll (1) place the item in their shopping carts and (2) actually go through the checkout. And speaking of the checkout….

The Checkout
In a recent Market Live report called “The Perfect Shopping Cart,” researchers reported that 57% of visitors never complete the process of buying. More than half of those who put items in shopping carts fail to make it through the checkout.

Shipping Costs
One reason for this, according to the report, is shipping costs. The buyer has found the item, added it to his or her shopping cart, clicked on “Go to Checkout” and then abandons the sale when s/he sees the total cost of the item with shipping costs added.

You can do a couple of things, here. First, if you’re trying to improve your margins using profitable shipping costs, you’re losing more in sales than you’re making on shipping and handling. If you keep your shipping and handling costs down, you’ll generate more sales.

Second, offer “Free Shipping.” Of course, nothing is free. Shipping costs are built into the retail price of the item but it makes buyers feel better when they get something “free.” Keep shipping costs as low as possible and offer incentives to make one more purchase, i.e. “Free Shipping on Orders Over $50.” You’ll be surprised at the number of visitors who add that one more item to their carts to avoid paying shipping. (For a great example of how this works visit Amazon’s checkout.)

Payment Gateways
Provide as many different ways as possible to pay for an item – credit card, PayPal, check or money order – there are dozens of money transfer sites that charge a fee but it’s a convenience your visitors will appreciate.

Terms of Sale and Returns
Make your purchase and return policies crystal clear. If you charge a restocking fee of 20% you better believe buyers will want to know that, and you can save yourself a lot of headaches and time by letting buyers know how you handle returns and other terms of sale.

Follow Through
Once the sale is made, follow up ASAP. Your site should be set up to generate an automated e-mail receipt providing all details – including order number – as soon as the sale is finalized.

Indicate in this e-mail when the buyer can expect to receive the purchase. You can even indicate how it will be shipped.

Include all contact information in this important informational e-mail as well in case questions come up.

Use a CMS (content management system) or d-base to keep track of orders. And, if you realize an order is going to be late, notify the buyer. In many states there are laws that require notification if the product is going to be more than 30 days late.

Ship promptly and work to resolve customer complaints. That’s how you build repeat business – the best business you can have.

Once you’ve optimized your site for search engines, you’re only part way there. Now comes the hard part – optimizing your site to convert visitors to buyers. It takes some time and effort, but if you intend to be an on-line success, that time and effort will more than pay for itself.

Need some helpboosting your site’s conversion rate? Give me a call. Often, it’s something real simple.

Webwordslinger.com

How To Hire A Search Engine Marketer

The Right SE Marketer WILL Boost Sales

If you’ve seen a modicum and encouraging amount of commercial site success, you might consider hiring an SEO or SEM professional to take your site to the next level. (You can finally quit your day job!!)

But here’s the thing. Your Aunt Tilly could call herself an SEM or SEO professional. There are no credentials, no certifications or letters after the name, i.e., Dr. Jon Smith, PhD in SEM. So how do you know which of the thousands of SEO/SEM gurus is for real? Here are six things to look for.

1. On first contact, does the expert take the time to bring up your site on his or her screen and discuss it, maybe even providing a few free tips and suggestions? S/he should. As you describe your site and its perceived limitations, you want a potential expert to “be on the same page” as you are.

Conversely, if the “so-called” expert starts to bombard you with insider jargon “Well, Bob, I’ve developed interesting analytics that show your hit ratio increases when we spice up your meta data and add an opt-in.” Huh?

2. Find an SEM who walks the walk but doesn’t necessarily talk the talk.
Forget the jargon. Who cares? The fact is, experts in any field use jargon as a code language to exclude outsiders and SEM pros love to toss around terms like “keyword stuffing,” and content architecture.

Speak English! Search engine marketing is an on-going process but it’s, by no means, a difficult subject to master. It ain’t brain surgery. So, if your prospective SEM starts throwing insider gibberish in your direction, ask to have the information put in terms you can understand, whether you’re a first time e-vendor or own a hundred sites.

It’s like doctors. They tell you stuff only they understand. But, if you pin them down and ask for an explanation you understand (even if you have to resort to Crayola crayons), you finally understand options and consequences. Same with an SEO. You want to make the decisions.

That means you have to understand proposals, marketing campaigns and other SEM deliverables in terms that allow you to (1) turn the information into action and (2) contest the information if you think the SEM has missed a key demographic or some other oversight.

Otherwise, it’s all just a pile of numbers.

3. Can the SEM guru provide references you will contact?
A reference based on experience is the best reference you can get so, is there an SEM client willing to discuss the services provided by your prospect?

Now, don’t be surprised if the answer is ‘no.’ There’s a unspoken (okay spoken, here) understanding that client information is privileged and must be protected. However, many site owners give their SEMs permission to send visitors to the site to use as an example of the pro’s proficiency, Which gets us to:

4. Does the SEM provide reference sites?
This shouldn’t be a problem for any web pro with any kind of track record. Ask the SEO to provide sites that s/he has worked on. Then, go Alexa on each site’s assets.

Alexa.com delivers stats and graphs to show how the performance of a site has improved or deteriorated over time. Look for an increase in site traffic and lots of links. (See Connectivity in the post below). Look for improvements in page views and, by all means, employ Alexa’s Time Machine, a feature that enables you to see the evolution of the site and, especially how the site looked before and after the re-do by the SEM.

If you don’t see significant increases in the SEM’s reference sites, you are talking to the wrong SEM! Take your time, here. You’re about to sign a big check (SEM pros are pricey because of their highly-specialized knowledge) and you want to see quantifiable results that occur after the SEO/SEM optimizes the site.

5. Please don’t try this at home.
If your sites are performing well, you might think you can take yourself to the next level without the expense of a web marketing pro. Not recommended in the bang/buck equation.

You might pay $200 for a once-over lightly site review, or $20K on a tear-down and website rebuild, and still actually lose ground. Fewer site visitors, lower Alexa ranking, lower links popularity and so on. It happens thousands of times a day. The gnomes who inhabit Castle Google tweak the search algo and all of a sudden, a site that was on page one of Google’s SERPs has slipped to page 106.

So, if this is your money-maker, don’t shake it. Hire an SEM with a track record and see what s/he can do to boost your bottom line.

6. If you don’t like the results, jettison the web guru.
Do NOT sign a contract with an SEO/SEM agency. You don’t have to in the competitive consultation market, so go with a company that let’s you pay as you go or pay for play. You want results and you’re willing to pay for them. No positive results. “You are so outta here.”

It’s reasonable to ask a prospective guru to develop a plan for site growth. It doesn’t have to be long, but it must be informative, and once again, written in terms that make the gibberish understandable to you – the guy or gal with the checkbook. Hey, that makes you the boss even if you don’ t know an HTML title tag from a dog tag!

It isn’t recommended that you make major changes to your site – including migrating to another web host – without expert opinion and technical know-how behind you. Major changes can produce voodoo numbers in your site’s performance.

Evolution in site design makes it easier for search engines and clients, visitors or other site stakeholders, to access content and, in the case of customers or clients, place an order.

That’s why you built the site. You run the show. But let a good SEM help you grow to real profitability. If you find a professional who isn’t blowing smoke and provides a few dozen sites you can check out, you’ll see improvement in rankings and, more importantly, in site traffic.

Conversely, if you hire the first snake oil salesperson you come across in a webmaster chat room, you may be out a few grand as you watch site performance deteriorate right before your eyes.

Spend time finding the right fit and pay for quality consultation and services rendered. Consider it an investment. Just make sure you’re investing in a blue chip SEM not a penny stock loser.

Need to drive some traffic to your digital turf. Drop me aline or give me a call. It ain’t rocket science.

Webwordslinger.

Is Your Host Weather Proof? Than Neither Is Your Business

"What do you mean tech support is at a basketball game?

Anybody with a credit card can buy hosting services at wholesale and resell them at retail. heck, all you need is a server and router in the bedroom closet and your a web host. But, if you go with one of these low-ball, rickity services to save a few bucks each month, you may end up losing your business.

Could be a flood. A Lightening storm, hurricaine or it could be your host jst unplugged the server and walked away with your website and your database. When you get a 404 error message logging on to your own web site, you got a fistful of problems.

Weather shouldn’t be one of them. You want a bunker mentality, back-up generators and off-site back-up for you $9.95 shared hosting account. That’s why it’s worth asking a few questions before you sign that 24-month contract with “Skippy’s Web Hosting, Skippy speaking.”

Quality web hosts deliver more than their clients expect. More in the way of services, client care, education, performance and security. If these business don’t deliver higher levels of customer care, they aren’t going to remain in business when stacked up against competitor hosting companies.

Now, one of the biggest concerns site owners have is security. Most of those commercial site owners have invaluable data that simply can’t be compromised. So, good web server providers use hardwired firewalls and multiple layers of server side security. All well and good. All to be expected from a good web hosting company in a highly competitive vertical market.

What a lot of consumers don’t consider is the safety of the physical plant – the place where their servers sit. The servers could be in India or Indiana. Many of these web hosts buy disk space in bulk and resell at retail. They don’t even know where the servers are!

So, since this is your business, it just makes sense to ask a few questions about how safe your server is. If the operation is run out of a yurt and one of those infamous dessert dust storms blows through, it could take weeks for the technician (they only have one) to get the grit out of the gear.

So what’s the weather like where your server resides?

Rainy Days
Rain isn’t a problem most of the time, unless it comes down in buckets for a week. Then, you run the risk of flooding and a wet server is a dead server. Oh, and by the way, there goes your business.

However, what if the servers are elevated? What if they’re up on racks? Even if Noah’s Ark plows through the front door your server is high and dry. Not all web hosts think about the worst case scenario. Your’s should. It may not have flooded for 100 years where your server sits connecting you to the W3. But it only takes one torrential downpour to create a catastrophe. It’s nice to know your host is prepared for the next deluge.

Howling Winds
When the winds come racing “down the plains,” you know it. You feel it. And lately, it seems we’ve been feeling it more – seeing more tornadoes and other high winds. Global warming? El Niño? Who knows, but winters seem colder, blizzards more common and power outages routine. In some cases, power outages that take weeks to repair.

A good web host has its own back-up generators to handle these disasters. Remember, when you’re off-line so’s your business. You want to stay on line, even if the power is out in your server’s home city – wherever in the world that may be.

Quality hosts have built systems that automatically trip the in-house generators so there’s barely a blip on the visitors’ monitors. Your site stays on line even if the web hosting company is the only lit building in the whole city.

Off Site Backup
You don’t see this with most web hosts. Off site backup.

Most reputable hosts provide backup protection in case a server goes ka-blooey (a technical term). Unfortunately, these hosts’ backup to servers in the same office, server room or bedroom closet (Yep, some web hosts resell disk space and run a couple of servers out of the spare room.) Anybody see the flaw in this logic?

If a web hosting company gets flattened by a tornado (knock wood), the building may be leveled and servers may be six miles away, carried by tornadic winds of 180 miles per hour.

But you know what? If your web host cares about maintaining your business, your site is safe, even from a tornado that takes direct aim at server rack 12A. In this case, run, duck and cover. All clients’ sites, databases, everything – should be backed up off site. Way off site.

So, whether we’re talking rain, sleet, snow, raging winds, torrential downpours, tornadoes, earthquakes or being struck by an asteroid, it’s the web host’s job to keep your site online.

And it’s a job any web host should take seriously so you don’t have to worry. When talking to reps of hosting companies, ask about protection from natural and unnatural disasters. It’s your job to ask the right questions.

It’s the web host’s job to provide the right level of protection against any potential disaster.

Need help finding the right web host for your new on-line venture? Go to webwordslinger.com and get in touch. Let’s get you started on the right foot. Webwordslinger: On-Line Marketing.

Customer Relationship Software (CRM): Who, What, Where and When?

Each Client Or Customer Is Unique

As a webmaster, you know what’s involved in designing, constructing and administrating an online business – everything from paying the bills to syndicating content, a well-run e-biz is a multi-faceted operation. And you run the show.

However, if you try this, then re-do that, test such-and such and hire people who don’t “get it,” your online business won’t be the dream come true you’ve been planning. The key is to integrate all of your business activities into a single strategy called CRM – customer relationship management. CRM is at the heart of any growing business. The principles are simple, you don’t need an MBA and it doesn’t cost a lot of money (much of CRM doesn’t cost any money).

CRM is an important consideration for corporations, NFPs, NGOs and public sites, all of which seek to implement the basics to manage relationships with customers, clients and stakeholders (upper management, shareholders, etc.).

It’s all about the acquisition and analysis of customer data, vendor information and the in-house procedures you design to connect satisfied customer to eager vendor. Think of your website as the intermediary between buyer and seller – your customers and your wholesalers.

What Purpose Does CRM Serve?
Customer relationship management weaves together a variety of business functions to deliver the best product and retain the customer or client. Client retention is the ultimate purpose of CRM but, in the process of developing a CRM strategy, you’ll be required to consider all facets of your business including: professional development (for you and any staff you have, paid or otherwise), customer service (this specifically includes training customer service representatives, if you outsource this task), sales, marketing and promotion and, finally, compensation – who gets what.

If you’re the only participant, this won’t be a difficult decision to make. Any compensation comes back to you as either salary or operating capital to expand the business further.

The Building Blocks of a Solid CRM Strategy
In addition to your learning curve (assuming you’re a sole proprietor), which takes time and costs money in lowered productivity, you’ll need several tools to develop a workable and effective CRM strategy.

Your Database
Your business database contains all customer/client information along with inventory data, shipping dates and other order processing and marketing data. It is the focus of any CRM. In fact, without this information, there is no CRM.

This means, when designing your first website, you install a reliable, simple, automated database (MySQL, for example) to track all business activities. These activities fall into four distinct categories: (1) analytical CRM, (2) operational CRM, (3) interactive CRM (interactive with site visitors) and finally, (4) integrated client support and customer service throughout the business itself.

Analytical CRM
To undertake these CRM-based activities you’ll need some tools and some time. Analytic CRM requires software that can deliver useable stats. If the software delivers reams of indecipherable numbers, the data won’t be as useful to other members of the business team. The CFO may understand what that 250-page financial report shows, but the CEO may not.

Employ analytical software that delivers data in graphic formats – heat maps, pie charts and other visual representations. This equips your whole team (even if you’re the only player) to understand, assimilate and use site metrics with greater effectiveness.

Operational CRM
Where’s what?

The daily administration of your site is greatly simplified through the use of CRM tracking software. Using this software, you’re able to automate many routine functions such as auto-responder emails when orders are placed and news updates sent during an email blast to those customers and opt-ins stored in your database.

However, operational CRM also enables you to make the best use of the data you maintain in the system. If the bank account number of a key vendor in Korea is written on the back of a scrap of paper, you’ll spend more time looking for that information than if you were able to bring up all of that vendor’s information on a single screen via the CRM software loaded on your work station.

Tracking data – sales data, order data, site metrics, order status and other critical information – becomes much simpler when (1) it’s easily accessible in one place and (2) you’re able to automate routine functions, giving you more time to focus on more “human-oriented” tasks like developing your next marketing campaign.

Interactive CRM
A relatively new digital phenomenon but one web users have quickly adopted and now expect from sites selling goods or services.

Interactive CRM enables the visitor to customize a product search using a site search feature that delivers the desired content whether the visitor enters a product name, brand or even part number. Fast. The visitor is in and out – and hopefully you’ve made a sale and a new customer.

Forms are another use of CRM interactivity. More and more sites collect data on their visitors who don’t seem to mind providing it, especially if they’re tempted with a free eBook download.

This information provides opt-ins (pure gold) and marketing data to better define your demographic and its needs. And again, the automation of the data acquisition and generation of the download key code integrates operational and interactive CRM, creating a business synergy.

Interactive CRM also delivers the ability to the client to ask a question via email. The “Contact Us” page of a site is where you’ll usually find this feature. It’s another channel to keep your clientele happy and to collect opt-in email addresses for future messages and updates.

Integrated CRM
CRM should be the focus of all your site design, marketing, ordering and management of customer objections. Instead of dealing with sales as a separate aspect of your operation, it’s built into the master plan employing operational, interactive and analytic CRM data drawn from an up-to-date data base.

When a CRM program is designed, it should look like a flow chart with automated decision points, QC statements, data collation and other business activities functioning as a unified whole. This is the ultimate goal of developing your site’s plan for customer relationship management.

In a cosmically competitive marketplace like the web, every advantage you gain over a competitor makes your business stronger. If you can deliver an order a day faster than the competition, you win. The relationship with those happy buyers is strong and they will be back to buy again.

Using CRM software to chart the course your online business may take a day or two to figure out, if marketing and customer care aren’t a part of your professional background. But that learning curve will pay off many times over by providing data that drives solutions to online retail problems.

Looking for synergies between marketing and order taking? Trying to figure out your percentage of repeat buyers over the past 12 months? Trying to resolve a customer complaint? You want (no you need) CRM tools just to keep up.

Need some helpt tracking your clients? Drop me aline or give me a call. I’ll show you how to treat a customer right. Webwordslinger.

CSS: Keep Your Content and Design Distinct

Simplfy Site Changes With CSS

Web sites are constructed using a simple computer code called HTML which stands for hyper-text mark-up language. HTML forms the backbone of the world wide web, providing the underlying infrastructure of the millions of web sites that occupy the digital landscape. HTML is simple to learn and implement, which is one reason it’s the W3 standard. However, HTML has a couple of significant drawbacks.

First, it’s cumbersome. It requires a great deal of hand coding which is very expensive compared to automated coding.

Second, HTML lacks flexibility. Elements of design, images, charts and other common web site features have to be positioned using HTML code – on every page, even if the layout stays the same.

Finally, HTML isn’t very efficient. So, if you have a site on which content changes often, as in the “sale of the day,” you or some HTML coder has to go into the HTML code to make those changes in content every day.

To address these and other HTML limitations, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) were devised to supplement the still-standard HTML code.

CSS is intended to increase flexibility of design, make sites more user-friendly by making them much faster and customizable and, finally, CSS eliminates repetitive and pricey hand-coding, making it much less expensive to get a professional-looking site up and running. Okay, not anybody can do it, but if you have some facility with site design and construction you can employ CSS to simplify the structure of the site.

Content and Design
Every page of a web site is comprised of two elements: content and design. Content is usually presented as text but content also includes pictures and other images that are a part of “telling your story.”

The other aspect of any web page is design – how the content is actually laid out on any given page. Design includes such basics as where to position product text near a product picture (under, over, to the side, surrounding) to the motif selected for everything from background color to buttons to navigation bar.

If you think of these as two distinct elements of a web page you’ll more clearly understand the value of CSS. Using CSS, design elements are kept in a separate file, apart from content. The benefits are immediate and significant.

Design It Once
Using stand-alone HTML requires that every page be constructed (coded) with both content and elements of design being hand placed by the code writer. No problem if your site is a few pages, but what if you’ve got hundreds or thousands of pages. Having to hand code each one of those pages would be costly in the extreme because it would take so long.

Using CSS, the designer codes all design elements one time. This is the background color, these are the colors of this header, this is the size of this button – all elements of design are placed in a single, CSS file.

Then, the coder can simply reference that CSS file to apply that design to whatever pages use it. Think of Amazon.com’s product pages – all basically the same layout. The content changes, of course, but the product pix are always in the same position, product description, reviews, etc. are always in the same place. Prior to the development of CSS, each of those pages required some hand coding in addition to a lot of cutting and pasting from blocks of HTML code.

Today, a designer can make any number of CSS and reference each site page to the appropriate style sheet. Design it once, then change the content as needed.

The Many, Mighty Benefits of CSS

First, let’s start with search engines. Spiders crawl pages of repetitious HTML code. It takes longer to spider a site and it’s more difficult for the spider to identify new content. With CSS, content and design are separate. So, a spider crawls the CSS file once then focuses on the site’s real purpose – the text that delivers the site’s message.

This elevates content to a new level since spiders are always looking for fresh content in assessing a site’s quality. Text is given more weight when design is relegated to a CSS file.

Second, download time is reduced anywhere from 20% to 80%. Why? Because instead of having to download dozens of pages of HTML design code, you now download a single CSS file with all design elements in one place. The text may be the same but downloads are much, much shorter, providing visitors with a better on-site experience.

CSS are more friendly to a variety of media – everything from cell phones and Blackberries to screen readers for the visually impaired who no longer have to sit through written descriptions of page graphics via an HTML tag.

CSS enables the visitor to design the site to his or her needs and/or preferences. Don’t like that type font? Click here for any easier one to read. In other words, by accessing different CSS, visitors can create screen settings that they like or need due to vision problems or just personal preferences.

Next, CSS cuts down on the costs of site design. Using CSS, programmers design it once and apply where desired. And remember, the designer can create as many CSS as required so there are no design limitations. In the same vein, updating a site is much less costly – very important to sites that sell a lot of different products with constantly changing inventory.

Finally, a site owner can easily create printer-friendly versions of all pages by creating a text only CSS. Very useful in sites that provide a great deal of hard content or print out invoices.

What Should I Do?
If you haven’t started the design of your site, go with CSS programming all the way. There are lots of on-line tutorials and many web hosts provide CSS software for easy style sheet creation.

If your site is already up and running, consider taking the time and/or incurring the expense of converting to CSS. Any one of the benefits listed above should be enough to motivate you but if not, how’s this: your competitors have already converted to CSS or soon will be. You’ll be the last black & white TV on the cyber block.

Faster downloads, user-customized pages, lower design and maintenance costs, easier reading by spiders, much less hand coding and flashier, more professional-looking sites. Those are the benefits of using cascading style sheets.

So, what are you waiting for? Go CSS and make your site more attractive, more visitor-friendly and much, much cooler much, much faster.

Need some help pumping up your site’s performance? Yeah, it’s a headache. Give me a call. I’m the cure. Webwordslinger.

Accessibility: It’s What A Web Site Is All About

KEEP IT SIMPLE TO GET THE MDA

Accessibility, when discussing web sites, includes a number of factors: easy navigation, understandable site text, no dead ends requiring a browser back click to escape (lots of users don’t even know browsers HAVE a back click).

Let’s start with the bottom line- yours: the easier it is for a site visitor to perform the most desired action (MDA), the more times that MDA will be performed.

Let’s Start With Navigation
Whether you go with a navigation bar at the top of the screen or a menu list in the first column far left, your navigation must be:

• simple
• unambiguous
• truthful
• always available
• always in the same location

Avoid numerous tabs, drop-down or flyout menus. Keep it simple. If visitors are faced with too many choices too soon on arriving at the site, chances are they’ll bounce.

Keep the navigation unambiguous. It’s routine to have a “Contact Us” page on a web site. If you label the contact link “Company Authority,” visitors are going to be totally confused. And again, bounce.

Truthful is just what it says. If the link says “Product Descriptions,” don’t make the visitor read through another landing page of sell copy. Deliver what the link says and go directly to the products.

Always available is an aspect of keeping visitors on site longer, and the longer they stick around, the more likely they are to perform the MDA. So, the navigation bar or menu should be available from every page so the visitor can surf at will, unencumbered by what YOU think the visitor wants to know.

Finally, keep the nav tabs in the same place. Don’t move them from bar to menu and back to bar. The last thing you want is a visitor trying to figure out how to return to the contact page to make contact.

Keep it simple. The fewer clicks required to get the visitor to perform the MDA, the better. So, go through the process and eliminate every unnecessary side road, dead end and yet another landing page.

Accessible Content
If your client site is for a professional medical dispenser, you can assume that the visitors have some knowledge of the subject, i.e. you don’t have to start from square one. But you still have to stay on target pointing out the benefits of buying the client’s medical products.

On the other hand, if you’re writing text for a hearing aid retail outlet, accessible text is understandable by the reader. So first, toss the thesaurus. Find the simplest, shortest way to say what needs to be said about products and services.

Be helpful and supportive to the new visitor. Make things simple to find, simple to learn and simple to bookmark. Returning visitors are gold. Eventually they buy something so earning a bookmark is a very good thing.

Skip the hype. Educate the visitor using simple terms, no jargon and listing benefits rather than features. This is the stuff site visitors want to know.

Finally, lay out the text so it can be scanned rather than read. No big, long paragraphs. Visitors scan from upper left to lower right so put your most important info upper left on the screen.

The easier it is to buy something, opt-in for a newsletter, or to complete a form, the more often those MDAs are performed. So make it as simple as possible (why do you think Amazon offers a one-click checkout? How easy can it be?).

Accessibility benefits both site owner and site visitor – a win-win. Also a no brainer.

Need to make your site more accessible? Dropme a line and give me a call. Let’s have a look at what ya got. Webwordslinger

Content Syndication: Get Linked In

Get Linked In

Do a little Google research and you’ll quickly discover that there are a million e-books, seminars and webinars about building links to your site. If your site isn’t plugged into the grid – a stand-alone – you’re all but ignored by search engines because your site has no context. Search engine spiders can’t determine your site’s taxonomy – the categorization of the site into a class or group based on the site’s topicality.

Search engines look for links to and from your site. If you have a lot of reciprocal links (link exchanges), you score some points but you’re not knocking ‘em dead. Spiders know a link exchange when they encounter one so a reciprocal link has less value than a non-reciprocal link – an in-bound link without an outbound link connecting back.

The Value of the Non-Reciprocal Site Link
Spiders crawl a site and assess what they find based on top-secret formulae called algorithms. These algorithms are complex weightings of various site components. So, for example, content that changes often (green content) is a plus built into the search engine algorithm. Thus, a site that provides fresh, informational content scores higher than one that’s as stale as last week’s doughnuts. Spam – useless gibberish created just to attract search engines – loses you points in the SEO Sweepstakes, too.

Now, there are plenty of search engine optimization (SEO) pros willing to take your money to show you how to improve or optimize your site so that it moves up in the search engine rankings. Less face it, if your site is entombed on page 68 of Google’s SERPs you won’t generate much organic (search engine driven) traffic.

One thing that spiders look for in assessing the quality or usefulness of a site is the number of non-reciprocal links connected to that site. Why? Because it’s an indicator of quality and utility. That’s why other site owners are recommending that their site visitors click off and go to your site. Quite a feather in your cap, eh? Collect enough non-reciprocal links and search engines may come to “see” you as an authority site. This coveted designation moves you right to the top of search engine results pages.

Bottom line: spiders use links as a measurement in site assessment. The more quality non-reciprocal, inbound links there are, the higher the site ranks (page rank or PR).

Content Creates Links
Good, fresh content is a highly-prized commodity on the world wide web because search engine spiders like to see up-to-date, relevant information for their users. Spiders take snapshots of each website they visit. It’s called the cache view on SERPs. When a spider crawls a site, it compares the cache with the current content. If nothing has changed, your content will ultimately be considered stale and, as a result, you’ll fall in the SERPs.

Every site needs new content and one way they get it is through article syndication.

Web Article Syndication
If you’re an expert on the subject of your web site, you can develop non-reciprocal in-bound links through article syndication. It’s perhaps the least expensive, most effective means of improving your site’s search engine ranking.

There are sites like goarticles.com and ezine.com that syndicate content within a wide variety of categories. This content (articles) is posted by the author and is free for the taking by any web site for display.

The way you benefit? Part of the deal is that any site that uses your article must provide a link back to your site. At the end of an article on antique watches you’ll see an author’s box that says something like:

Author John Smith is an authority on antique watches and offers free
appraisals at johnsmithantiques.com

That’s a non-reciprocal link which is given more value than a simple link exchange.

The Benefits of Web Content Syndication
The most obvious benefit, from the SEO perspective, is that every site that picks up John Smith’s antique watch article must provide a non-reciprocal, in-bound link to Mr. Smith’s website. So, if Smith’s article is picked up and used by a couple of dozen web sites, he’ll end up with a number of inbound links from a single article.

Now, if Smith then writes an article on antique sideboards, posts it on goarticles.com or some other content syndicator and gets picked up by more sites, the number of non-reciprocal inbound links continues to grow.

Onceagain, these inbound links are considered more valuable by search engine spiders than plain link exchanges. The fact that a site has linked to you without a reciprocal link is an indicator that your site is worth visiting, at least according to the referring site owner. In addition, you’re becoming a recognized authority on the topic pf your site. A two-fer!

Some Precautions
Perhaps the most important precaution is to limit the number of sites that post one of your articles. One thing spiders don’t like is duplicate content so if your article currently appears on 20 different sites, you’ll get credit for the in-bound links but the value of those links will be diminished because of that duplicate content. It’s all over the web!

Make sure you track the sites that are picking up your articles. Just Google your name or the title of the article to see what pops up. Visit each site to make sure that the promised link back to your site is there. Also make sure that your content isn’t being used for illegal or unscrupulous purposes. You write a piece on options investing and all of a sudden it’s being used as a “testimonial” by some sleazy scam artists selling options contracts to little old ladies. You have the right to request the removal of your article and most sites will comply. If they don’t, notify the syndicator who may deny additional content to the offending site.

What If I Can’t Write?
This is one links-building strategy that works. There’s enough cyber world evidence to prove that. However, if you can’t string words together to create a useful, informational article, find someone who can.

Your spouse, neighbor, even your kid might have a hidden writer just waiting for the chance to blossom. Or, you can find SEO copywriters on sites like guru.com and elance.com. Some of these professional writers (be careful who you choose) know how to craft an article that’ll get picked up by lots of sites that are topically related to your site. Keep track of how many sites run the piece at one time so you don’t overexpose it. You can find that information on the syndicator’s site.

Finally, to amortize your costs in money and/or time, re-use articles. After you’ve removed a piece from the syndication list, wait 12 months and repost it. You’ll pick up a bunch of new sites willing to publish the piece and you’ll have a bunch of new, non-reciprocal, inbound links that’ll make your site shine in the eyes of search engine spiders.

Whoever Said, “There’s No Such Thing As Bad Press” Was An Idiot!: Reputation Management

 

YOU'RE AN IDIOT!!!

Whoever said, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity” was certainly not talking about the world wide web. Today, more than ever, disgruntled consumers can trash your product and/or your site using blogs, forums and on-site reviews! That’s right, take a look at Amazon’s product pages. You buy something, don’t like it, you can write a review that will appear on that product page. Now that’s useful information.

 

Of course, you can also write a rave of some product but either way, Amazon leads in customer reviews – a good thing when the reviews are good, the death knell when they’re bad.

What many site owners don’t realize is that bad press can hurt you with lower search engine rankings so it’s not something you want to ignore.

What happens if a dissatisfied customer is talking trash about your site all over the w3? Or worse, what can you do about a competitor who posts slams and slander on blogs about your horrible customer service and overblown prices. Well, it isn’t easy (a good reason to always keep the customer satisfied) but there are things you can do to make a bad situation better.

Ask Nice
Let’s say someone’s posted a slam of your site on another site’s blog. One thing you can do is contact the site owner, explain your side of things and ask that the blog entry be removed. The site owner may take pity and do you favor. On the other hand, if that site owner is your #1 competitor, chances are he’ll rub his hands with glee at your misfortune. But it’s worth a shot.

Tell It Like It Is
Make positive posts about your site to counteract bad press. There are plenty of sites today that let you tell the world about who you are, what you do and why you’re the best choice. Checkout aboutus.org and post the positive. There are other sites that give you a chance to show your best side.

Social Book Marking
Not only is this a great way to spread the word to counteract bad press, it’s a great way to increase site traffic for zero dollars. Sites like del.icio.us enable you to create an account after which you can post pretty much anything you want – a great way to counteract bad press from other sources. Social book marking is a significant aspect of the new Web 2.0 drive to build a more interconnected online community and every webmaster should take advantage of social book marking sites, like craigslist, to tell the world just how great his or her site is.

Build Your Own Blog
Blogs help sites rank better in the SERPs. It’s fresh content and it’s easy to add a blog to your site. First, see if your web host offers blogging software as part of the toolbox some hosts provide to their clients. The better ones do. If not, visit squidoo.com. Here, you can create your own site blog. Make entries, acquire free content from sites like goarticles.com, upload product pixs and make a name for yourself – a good name!

Your online reputation can be crushed by a few negative comments posted on blogs and forums. The w3 is partially driven by the gossip factor so counteract the bad gossip with positive, helpful entries on your site blog. It’ll make a difference.

Become an expert
Yahoo and Google both have features that allow people to post questions which “experts” then answer. Experts are volunteers willing to share their knowledge and experience with the world.

Do you have a specialty? One related to your web site? If so, sign on as an expert in that area and establish your creds.

Write, right?
If you can write a few articles about aspects of your business, industry, services or products, you can syndicate those articles, each of which will have an arrow pointing right back to your site. This is a great way to build links. Even more, if you write enough of these articles, you come to establish yourself as an expert in your field.

So, how do you go about syndicating? There are websites that provide free, downloadable content to websites with the stipulation that the link back to your site must appear along with the article. Get a few dozen articles out there and you’ll soon discover that you have a lot more inbound links than you had previously.

Add your site to directories
Google has a directory (based primarily on the Open Directory Project at dmoz.org). Yahoo maintains a site directory. Even Microsoft maintains a small business directory. Once you’ve launched your site and it’s been indexed, you’re eligible to seek inclusion in one or more of these directories. It’s a good move to boost web site credibility.

Track your reputation
This is so cool. Google offers a free Alerts service that notifies you every time your site’s name comes up – anywhere on the world wide web. Blogs, forums, press releases – Google covers the entire digital landscape and reports back to you each time your site is mentioned. The free service covers the top 50, most relevant results. If you want to go deeper, you can subscribe to Google’s Alert services which will deliver the top 200 most relevant mentions of your site (or you or your competition). It’s the easiest way to keep track of your on-line reputation – and what the competition is saying about you.

The Power of SEO
Search engines like Yahoo and Google rule the web – at least the commercial aspects of the web. If you have a commercial, on-line business, the better optimized your site is for search engines the better you’re going to rank on the search engine results pages.

There are about a million books that’ll tell you how to improve your site’s SEO and lots of free articles to show you how to improve your page rank (PR). If you have the time and the inclination, read as much as you can about current SEO practices and tactics to discover ways of improving your site’s page rank.

If SEO isn’t your cup of tea (too many numbers) hire an SEO professional to optimize your site for search engine spiders. This involves a number of factors and may also cost a few bucks. Additionally, it may take up to six months to actually see any significant results. But, if all else has failed, hiring an SEO expert may be the only way to go to regain your search engine status.

Fast Track to Good Press?
Sorry, there is no fast track to undo negative press in search engine results pages, whether it’s deserved or not. It’s a process but a worthwhile one, especially if you’ve spent a great deal of time and money to build up your e-biz.

However, the faster you get to work on article syndication or getting your site listed in a directory, the quicker your reputation will improve.

Things move quickly across the web and a bad reputation – whether true or not – is not going to help your site or your business. No, you can’t eliminate the problem of bad press but you can go proactive and generate some good press to counteract the negative.

The key is to move quickly and decisively to protect your hard-earned reputation.