| To be successful online, you must change the way | | | | formulated website, how are you supposed to maintain |
| you think about your website. As a matter of fact, | | | | strong client relations? |
| your website is no different than an online cold-call. | | | | Some tips to decrease your bounce rate and increase |
| With cold-calls, you only have a few seconds to | | | | your sales conversion rate: |
| impress or connect with the individual on the opposite | | | | 1. Give the end-user access to resources related to |
| line or you'll end up losing the account. | | | | your product such as articles, videos and just about |
| It's no different with your website. If you don't have | | | | anything else that will peak their interest. Articles will |
| what the visitor wants in a clear, readily accessible and | | | | show the visitor that you are an expert on the |
| aesthetically pleasing manner, your online cold-call is | | | | particular subject you are discussing. Conversely, |
| going to fail and you will end up losing business. | | | | scraping content from the New York Times does not |
| Online competition is fierce. The Internet has become | | | | look as appealing. |
| absolutely massive and is growing by the day. You | | | | 2. Pictures of the employees and company |
| would be hard pressed to find a company that does | | | | management with a brief bio make up for not making |
| not have a website. Making yours stand out from the | | | | face to face connections. People want to know |
| crowd is a crucial part of your business's success. | | | | whom they are buying from. In my opinion, it is best not |
| The problem with having an average website | | | | to wear a suit; business casual will do. You want to |
| 1. You cannot effective implement a PPC or | | | | come across as friendly and personable. |
| pay-per-click campaign because people are going to | | | | 3. Make your website easy to navigate. The less the |
| visit your site. You will be billed for the initial click | | | | visitor has to hit the "back button" the better. Have |
| through, but if your customers leave your sites after | | | | clear links to various sources on each page and make |
| only a couple of seconds if looking at the homepage, | | | | sure to link to related content in each article or page. |
| you are never going to see any return on the | | | | 4. No outbound links including to a blog. |
| investment. | | | | Since you're going to heed my advice and write the |
| 2. If your selling a B2C product and your website is not | | | | articles yourself, you're not going to have to link to the |
| pristine, visitors are going to question whether or not | | | | site that you got it from. Keep the user on your site. I |
| you can actually deliver on your promises. | | | | think I have 5 outbound links on our site of more than |
| 3. Again, if you're selling a B2C product, a bad website | | | | 200 pages. |
| may make the visitor think you are halfway across the | | | | Lastly, I beg of you to get away from the blogging |
| world, thus prompting them to look elsewhere. | | | | world. The articles should go directly on your website. |
| 4. Regardless of whether it is a B2B or B2C, the | | | | Blogs, unless you have 100s of people commenting, |
| consumer or corporate decision maker is not going to | | | | look barren and it gives the visitor a reason to flee. |
| feel comfortable about the level of support you can | | | | Instead, dedicate your time to building up your website |
| possibly provide. After all, if you can't maintain a well | | | | and attracting all the online customers you can. |