<BR>You've just spent good money on your first business
website. You have invested in search engine optimization,
researched your keywords, bought paid inclusions. You have read
every article promising unlimited success carried to your front
door on the back of mouse clicks. You are confident that you've
used every website traffic technique there is.
And you're getting traffic, but it's not boosting business. So
what's wrong?
Especially as a professional service provider, it is not enough
to simply direct traffic - web surfers are extremely unlikely to
purchase your services based on a single visit to your website.
They will research, they will compare. They will only approach
you once they have reason to trust you, and trust themselves for
choosing you.
Your true website prospects are the <B>return visitors</b>; for
marketing purposes, everything else is background noise. Use
these techniques to cut through that noise, by providing an
online resource worthy of repeat traffic - a website that your
clients will love:
<B>Don't sell. Provide.</b> It is important to understand that
on the Internet, the user is in complete control of the
transaction: hard selling will not work, and will probably
antagonize your prospects. Skip the pitch, and instead <A
HREF="http://www.rswarren.com/articles/web_content.php">build a
website that serves as a true information resource.</a>
Write and post articles that directly relate to your expertise -
if you are a CPA, consider writing articles about financial
planning or the importance of tax records; a dentist might write
articles about the myths of gum care or the differences between
common filling types. Provide a public place where you answer
the questions of website users. Keep your website content rich
and timely.
<B>Write short and lean.</b> Website users don't casually ease
themselves into online reading: they want the facts now and they
don't want to spend a lot of time finding them. This means that
your content must be written in a lean and compact style that
can be quickly scanned by the eye.
Keep your text pieces under 500 words, and preferably in the
250-350 word range. Use simple and direct sentences, in the
clearest language possible. Don't make your readers wade through
a sea of worthless prose, just to arrive at a small island of
information: <A
HREF="http://www.rswarren.com/articles/5keys.php">get right to
the point and deliver the goods.</a>
<B>Think navigation.</b> The best content on Earth means nothing
if it can't be found quickly. Carefully organize your website in
hierarchical format, with plenty of internal links - make all of
your important pages only a mouse click or two from the top
page. Deliver your content with as much convenience as possible
to your visitors.
<B>Appreciate context.</b> Strong navigation design helps the
left-brain surfers who know what they want, but many of your
visitors will browse your site more creatively: they surf by
context rather than placement.
Provide links within the content itself, pointing to other
related information on your website. Develop clusters of
associations in your content that allow readers to find
information intuitively as well as logically.
<B>Build community.</b> Savvy Internet marketers are now
learning what technologists have known for years: that the
Internet is primarily a social medium. The most popular and
profitable websites are those that foster community among their
visitors. Provide facilities - forums, newsletters, mailing
lists - for your clients to communicate with each other.
Be creative - help your clients turn your website into a
favorite meeting place, a place to return to, time and again.
Develop a website that your clients will love.
About the author:
<B>Robert Warren</b> (<A
HREF="http://www.rswarren.com">www.rswarren.com</a>) is a
freelance copywriter in the Orlando, Florida area, specializing
in providing for the marketing and communications needs of the
independent professional private practice.
