|
2. Search Engine Friendly
Search engines try to list sites that contain
good content, so you need keywords and phrases on your pages that best
describe your service and products. For example, if you are a
florist, use the words such as florist, online florist, virtual
florist, wedding florist, florist in Sydney, florist on line, flowers,
floral, bouquets, floral arrangements etc as many times as possible to
ensure high search engine ranking. To find out what keywords your
customers may be searching on ask your family and friends or go to:
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
http://www.wordtracker.com
Once you decide on the keywords, use them in
(a) Your website’s domain name
(b) The title of your page – This is displayed in the top bar of your
browser window
(c) The heading of your home page
(d) The first paragraph of your home page
(e) Meta tags – Keywords, page title, description
(f) Titles of your graphics
Whilst it is important to use keywords as much
as possible, it is also important you use them only if they are
relevant and do not sound awkward. If you spam your keywords you may
be penalised or even banned by some search engines.
3. Informational vs On-line Store
One of the first decisions you need to make is
what type of website to have. Will it be informational only or will
it be an on-line store or a combination of both? An informational
website is like having an on-line brochure. It does not sell products
directly to customers, but rather provides details of your business,
its products and services and occasionally features a printable order
form.
The other type of website is an on-line store.
It is a virtual salesperson who potentially never stops providing
presales information to your prospects - and then making sales to
them.
4. Create a Plan
Before you start thinking about what to write
on each page of your website, it is important that you create a plan,
which lists all the pages you wish to include. Below is a list of the
most commonly used pages:
(a) Home Page (First Page)
(b) Products / Services
(c) Contact Us
(d) Pricing
(e) Testimonials / Product Reviews / Before & After
(f) Frequently Asked Questions
(g) Response form such as “Subscribe” or “Enquiry” form
(h) On-line Magazine or Newsletter
(i) Resources/Articles
(j) About Us
(k) Guarantee
(l) Survey
(m) Events Calendar
(n) Search My Website Feature
(o) Return/Refund Policy
(p) Privacy Policy
(q) Site Map
(r) Copyright Information
(s) Links
(t) Media Information
(u) News
(v) On-line store
5. Cross-sell / Up-sell as part of your
content
If a customer is looking for a particular
product, offer them details of related products. By recommending
other products, your customers will learn what else is available and
in many cases it will translate to additional sales for you.
A company that does this exceptionally well is
Amazon –
www.amazon.com. Search for a particular book and you will find
information on what other people who ordered this book also bought.
Make it as easy as possible for customers to
complete an order by providing clear instructions. Ensure delivery
costs are outlined before a customer begins the ordering process.
6. Focus on the customer and their needs
Rather than trying to “sell your business”, let your prospects
know how your product/service is going to benefit them. Emphasize the
benefits and solve problems. Make this the focus of everything you
write on every page of your site. Don’t try to sell visitors your
products or service, help them.
7. Remind your visitors
Remind your visitors they can print out your content. They may browse
around your website while it’s printing.
8. Use headlines and sub-headlines to grab
visitor’s attention
9. Offer value
Offer bonuses, free trials, discounts and
prizes. List the dollar value beside each bonus. People will feel
they’re getting a good deal and it will increase the value of your
product.
10. Spell check and grammar check your
website
Ensure there are no spelling or grammatical
errors. Check that all links are working and graphics displaying
correctly.
If you are still struggling with where to
start, visit your supplier’s or competitor’s websites. Be careful
that if you use copy from their site that you do not infringe
copyright laws. If in doubt, contact the author or copyright owner
and ask for permission.
Your ultimate goal is to turn a visitor into a
customer. On your website, this is done by providing premium
content. Each page should be its own mini site. As you have no
control over how a visitor enters your website, it is important they
are able to easily work out what your business offers and navigate to
other pages within your site.
|
