Design considerations for effective websites:
- Highlight your company’s features and benefits on the home page, in a manner designed to reflect the needs and wants of your target market.
- Adopt user-friendly, consistent navigation throughout your site.
- Avoid long page loading times, and time-wasting “intro” pages.
- Beware of anything- art, images, color palette, text, or general clutter- that distracts from (rather than enhances) the logical flow of your message.
- Utilize effective, succinct copy written from the viewpoint of your customer’s interest.
- Simplify both the sales and the contact processes on your site.
- Consider offering an incentive to begin the dialog of turning prospects into clients, such as a price discount or a special report.
- Anticipate your client’s questions and/or objections, and provide answers in an easily accessible format.
- In summary, respect the value of your prospective client’s time, make it easy to do business with you, and establish a credible, engaging presentation.
Evaluating your site for simplicity and focus:
Increasing the amount of traffic to your site is always a worthy goal, but turning more of your site traffic into leads and customers (“conversion”) is the ultimate aim of the marketing process. Your online presentation should be simple and focused, leading the site visitor to take action as a result of a clear, convincing message. In evaluating that message consider:
- Providing a reason for visitors to remain and explore your site. Sometimes called the “stickiness” of page content, pare your message down with a less-is-more philosophy, eliminating excess “chatter” and focusing on your core benefits, including examples, testimonials and time-sensitive calls to action.
- Reducing and consolidating the number of site links, and making important links more visually prominent than other navigational options.
- Replacing lengthy areas of text with a “positioning or market statement” that describes your organization’s value in fewer than fifty words.
Getting site visitors to opt-in
Consumers safeguard their personal information, and are often reluctant to join an opt-in list unless you give them a valid incentive. The incentive you offer should relate to your product or service, provide specific benefits, and keep visitors anticipating your emails or making additional visits to your site. Opt-in benefits can include newsletters, a specific course, an ebook, articles, a contest or coupon, a discussion board, and members-only price incentives.
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Internet Research
These sites offer information on a wide range of Internet-related issues, including search engine submission, traffic patterns, user statistics, security, and software updates.
Data Analysis, Demographics and Statistics
Comscore
This leader in global Internet data provides statistics on top sites, search engine market share, and ad rankings in the Press section in its Data Center.
-www.comscore.com
Forrester Research
A leading source of research and marketing data, consumer trends information, and analyst insights.
-www.forrester.com
Pew Internet
The high profile American Life Project (see the Data Sets section) offers key information on demographics and site usage, as well as emerging trends.
-www.pewinternet.org
Nielsen/Netratings.com
The Resources section contains a Global Index Chart of consumer viewing patterns, popular ad dimension data, and International web statistics.
-www.nielsennetratings.com
News, Product Reviews and Research
ClickZ
A hub for interactive marketing news, commentary, research, and reference on topics from search to e-mail, technology and trends.
-www.clickz.com
Silicon Valley
An insider's view of the high-tech economy, including news, legislation effecting the industry, and innovations.
-www.siliconvalley.com
PC Magazine
From Ziff Davis Media, a perennial favorite with product reviews, software and hardware news, and helpful information for both home and work computing.
-www.pcmag.com
Search Engine Watch
Statistics such as top global web properties ranked by unique visitors, search engine ratings and reviews, ad placement by industry, and tutorials.
-www.searchenginewatch.com
CNET
Technical product reviews, online courses and newsletters, downloads, and equipment cost comparisons.
-www.cnet.com
Online Advertising Resources
Google Analytics
Resources for determining ROI, and for tracking keywords and online campaign stats from multiple referral sources.
-www.google.com/analytics
Yahoo
Information on sponsored search, budgeting tools, and targeting online consumers.
-searchmarketing.yahoo.com
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