Words to the Wise

For me, a new year brings renewed drive and determination to give my clients the best copywriting, marketing and public relations I can at affordable rates. And that also means attracting new clients to my websites and blogs to learn more about me. Which means adding content and making sure that content is relevant to prospects and search engines alike. I’m going to give a little bit of detail about my five website suggestions for 2008 below. If you want the in-depth version, you’ll have to tune into This Hour has 22 Widgets on Wednesday, December 20th at 10:00am Eastern Time. Let’s just say I have a lot to say, and typing it would take all day.

Here are my five favorite ways to make 2008 an even better year for your website:

1. Fix the ‘little’ things in your site. Did your site designer give your website title tags like this: “About Us”, “What we Do”, “Contact Us” and “Page 5.html”? If your pages have title tags that like those, it’s time to change them. Title tags play an important role in search engine rankings and in overall marketing. When (and if) a prospect sees a page in your site listed in a bunch of search engine results, do you think “What we Do” is going to entice them to click on the link your site? Titles should be no more than 70 characters long, including spaces and your keywords or key phrase should be as close to the start of the title as possible.

Also, do you have description copy for your website pages? This is another very important tool for your online marketing.

2. Plan an online PR campaign. Got company news that you want to get out to the world? While I never discount true, person-to-person PR practices, planning an online-only PR campaign can really boost your traffic and send you qualified leads. Google the term NC Based Copywriter and you’ll see some releases from me. While the releases are not part of my site, they each link to me or describe my news and services in some way. I suggest planning on two press releases per month depending on relevant company news you have available. Obviously if you don’t have relevant news, you won’t be putting out a press releases. As for distribution, tune in to the show and I’ll give you a bit more info about that.

3. Start a blog. This couldn’t be easier, yet it is STILL seen as a daunting task for many business owners. The first major question you need to ask is where you will host your blog. Your blog acts very much like a website. With WordPress blogging software (my particular choice for two of my blogs, including this one), you can choose to have WordPres host your blog (yourblog.wordpress.com) or you can host it with a separate hosting service (www.yourblog.com or www.yourwebsite.com/blog). The difference between the two is very important. WordPress does not allow commercial information to be posted on WordPress-hosted blogs. This is why I moved my blog to my domain: jasonpedey.com/blog. This is not hard to do. Again, the blog creates relevant links to your site and products and also provides an avenue for you to create relevant content both easily and often.

4. Podcast. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Stop the sucky podcasting. I’m serious. There are still PR firms out there who think it’s cool to sit an intern with a script across the table from a C-level executive with a script and let the two read to each other while the conversation is being recorded. I don’t know why this still happens. When you podcast with me, you get interaction. Sure I’ll send you an outline of the topics we’ll cover in a podcast, but no word-by-word soap opera scripts. When you podcast with me, listeners get information with an element of entertainment, interaction and excitement. And again, podcasts are a great way to add relevant content to your site while giving people an inside look at who your company is. It’s easy and affordable and the best part is that I do most of the work. I’m talking 95% of the wrok here. All you have to do is read the overview and dial a phone number.

5. Dream big. I know each of the above counts as one idea. One blog. One podcast. One Ppress release, etc. But, that’s how big, powerful sites with lots of content are born. Imagine blogging twice a week for a year. That’s over 100 pages of relevant content for your site. Then post some press releases, articles and podcasts to your site and you have the nutrients your site needs to grow.

All of my suggestions for 2008 are within your reach. I can even help you set them up and make them happen. Don’t let another year of wanting to blog, or wanting to podcast, or wanting to do a PR campaign pass you by. Now is the time.

Ask. Nicely, of course.

You’d be surprised at how many people simply don’t ask for the order. They bury it deep inside copy, or in a weak image . Your call to action has to be loud, clear, and easy.

Something like “Pick up your phone and call 1.800.123.1234 now to order your own two week supply” makes it clear what the reader needs to do.

One particular area where I’ve seen weak calls to action is in political campaigns. In fine print, at the bottom of a postcard, is where the campaign genius decides to put the instructions on how to show your financial support.

You have to be clear on what action you want people to take and how they should take it.

We see it every day - outstanding web design, breathtaking graphics, a wonderfully-crafted message, and stellar use of SEO tactics.

But what about the sale? You can have all of the above and STILL not get a single new client or make a single sale.

Today I have five tactics to help you convert visitors into buyers on your website:

1. Give something away. A free report. A free item. Free shipping. Free money.

2. Get them to sign up for a newsletter. I dislike the term “newsletter” since the idea has evolved so much. Regardless, have a way to maintain contact with people - even if they don’t buy the first time. Make it easy for visitors to sign up and give them a reason to buy. Put your free offer from item 1 above in your communication. See number 5 for more details.

3. Have a sale that’s not really a sale. Pick an item or a service. Now give it prominence on your site and say “Now Only $249.99.” Nobody but you knows that it’s always been that price. Sounds like a deal. People like deals.

4. Bundle your offerings. Do you have two products or services that were made for each other? Do people buy the two separately often? Bundle them, reduce the price by 5 or 10 percent and capture more sales.

5. Give away a coupon or savings offer the moment someone signs up for your newsletter or catalog…give them a reason to buy when you KNOW they at least have interest in your site. Not an hour later, not a day later….5 minutes at most…set up an autoresponder and get that offer into your prospect’s inbox.

Last week, I met with my clients, and neighbors, from Out of the Box Party to talk about some things that could make their online presence a little more robust. After discussing ideas for content and layout, I asked how things with their new StatCounter were going.

Kim, the Marketing Director, said she couldn’t believe the power such a small (and free) piece of code could provide. She realized that much of what they had done online up to this point was truly guesswork - guessing about how people found them online, guessing what their popular pages were, guessing what keywords they should be focusing on, etc.

Now, the sister duo at www.outoftheboxparty.com has powerful insight into their website that allows them to market more effectively through their online catalog.

For example, it turns out that the most popular keyword phrase used to find their site is “party in a box,” which is light years from what they had previously thought.

Bottom line is that you can’t have an effective website strategy if you don’t know how people are using your site. If you’re unsure about how to install StatCounter’s code, email me.

One of the most common complaints I get from clients when I suggest that they start a blog is that they don’t have the time to sit in front of a computer and ‘talk’ to their customers.

First of all, in my experience, potential clients don’t want to hear about your trip to Cameroon or what’s going on with your dog. There’s a way to write that is conversational, yet still manages to incorporate important selling points about your products and services.

My solution takes you less than one hour per week, and the I do most of the work.

Here’s how it works: You and I have a conversation where we discuss one or two topics that you would like ME to blog about for you the following week. It’s just like ghostwriting – I write in your tone about your products and services, add relevant links back to specific pages on your site and make you, once again, look like a subject matter expert.

I do a maximum of two blogs per week, and use WordPress as my blog service of choice.

This type of work is very affordable and pays off because of the relevant links and content. If you’re not sure blogging is for you, give me a call or send me an email and we’ll talk about it.