Here’s the quick way to determine if your website is under performing. Ask your self this…

1. is my business website creating leads for my products or service
2. is it delivering the information my prospects are wanting
3. is it selling my product or service

Now… if you answered “No”… maybe even “Not Really”… to any of these questions… then YES, your website is underperforming.

Now you’re not alone! 95% of business websites are just the same… so congratulations… you’re in the majority group.

Now is that a good thing? Well actually, when it comes to your website performance, you want to be in the Minority group.

And that’s only going to happen if you decide to take the right ACTION.

Now here’s the problem with most business websites. When they get a visitor to their website, they have no idea how to entice their prospects to take any action.

That can be a huge problem. Why? Well let’s say that the website gets lots of traffic (ie. visitors). If that visitor does not do what you want them to do and just leaves… there’s a strong chance they will never return!

What do you think they’ll do next… probably go to your competitor.

So whatever you’ve done to get them there… and that could have cost you a fair amount of money… has been wasted!

I shouldn’t need to tell you this, as you should have just realized… It needs to be fixed… NOW!

Before I give you the solution, I just want to mention this.

The majority of business owners (probably you) create a website, have an idea that it’s crappy and then just leave it. And the reason they leave it is that it’s not costing any money so it’s not a real priority.

Well… think again. If people are visiting your crappy website what do you think it’s costing you in;

• lost business
• credibility
• market growth

I’d say it’s probably been costing you LOT’s! And if you’re competition has got it right, they are leaving you for dead… leaving you to pick up the scraps while they pluck the low hanging fruit.

OK… the solution. Here’s what you need to FOCUS on:

1. Decide on what action you want your website visitor to take when they come to your website. I’ve written about this before in one of my earlier posts – Goal of Your Business Website
2. Once they visitor takes that action, what information do you want them to receive. Now the beauty of this is that it can be delivered on auto-pilot through the strategic use of an auto-responder.
3. Continue to create good quality content based on your product or service that creates your business as the authority in your particular niche. This can be delivered through your website using print, audio or video media.
4. Your website and the online marketing strategy you use will build credibility and trust in the eyes of your prospect and they will respond by buying your products or services.

Look… if you’re keen to pursue this path then you need to get in contact with me. You can do that through my Contact Form. Tell me what you want to achieve and I’ll suggest what ACTION you should take to achieve it.

In a very short time you could go from having a crappy website to an automated money making machine with MORE traffic, MORE clients and MORE sales.

Let’s talk soonSimilar Posts:

• Goal of Your Business Website – What Should It Be Doing?
• Best Blogging Sites For Business – Day Spa Example

How confused are you around this internet stuff? When I talk to my clients I discover that many of them are totally confused about what websites are all about.

You show them a Sales Letter Site (direct response style) and they ask where is the website, you show them a Blog and they wonder what that’s all about.

So let’s take a look at what it all means. Which type of website should you be focusing on? What’s the difference between them.

It could make the difference between you spending a LOT of money on your website and not getting sales (isn’t that the objective of any website?), verses getting heaps of sales from a website at a fair price to create it.

The “traditional” corporate style of website were the main option businesses looked at for presenting a positive image to the internet world. Now, I’m not a fan of this style or website… but this has been the common strategy in the past… but it’s not the only option you should consider – and may not get you the result you are searching for.

So first you need to understand each particular type.

Corporate traditional style of Website

This is the one you see that has the traditional company information such as products, About Us, Contact Us, and an overview of all facets of the business

• Is about the business – written in more formal language
• You describe your products & services & this only changes when your products or services change.
• Is designed to provide an overview of your entire organisation activity
• Is designed to impress the reader and build credibility for your business

In fact… I call it the “Business Card” online. Looks exactly like one and doesn’t do much more. And it doesn’t quite interact with your client.

Sales Page Website – the Direct Response style

This is the long form sales page website – focused on getting the reader to make or take an immediate direct response

• Starts with an attention grabbing headline
• Might include lots of testimonials from satisfied clients scattered throughout the page
• Is conversational, speaks directly to the person buying the product
• You can buy directly from links that have been included on the page
• Stands alone… Is not necessarily linked to other parts of the business.
• Is designed to sell one product or service only – you are seeking ONE outcome

I use this style of website quite often. It has a purpose and that is to get the Sale.

Blog Websites

So what’s a Blog? In simple terms, a blog is a web site, where you write stuff on an ongoing basis. New stuff shows up at the top, so your visitors can read what’s new. Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Or not.

It’s just like this website!

So, unlike the traditional style of website, a blog is a collection of articles, content, catalogued and archived, based on your chosen niche.

The challenge here is to create a blog in such a way that it enhances your business… helps you get the reader, your clients, to come back more often to your website, creates more “traffic” to your website and makes you more money.

• Blogs are dynamic – blogs are usually updated on a regular basis, daily, weekly.
• Blogs can be interactive – people can leave their comments and participate in a conversation on your blog.
• Blogs rank very highly with the search engines as the content is regularly updated – Google loves blogs because of this!

Not all web designers understand or have invested the time to study marketing… getting the client to buy from your website. And not all web designers will know how to guide you to get the best results from your website – most look at how to make your site look like a piece of art… with flashy bits and little tricks.

So make sure you work with a designer who understands marketing… websites that are designed to sell!

So, ask yourself this question… “what type of website design will work for me – a company website, a blog or a direct response online sales letter?”. I’d recommend that you make use of all THREE!

Feel free to leave your comments below and tell me what you think.Similar Posts:

• Blogging For Business – How You Can Dominate Your Business Niche Online
• Video Landing Pages That Improve Conversions
• Goal of Your Business Website – What Should It Be Doing?
• Best Blogging Sites For Business – Day Spa Example

As a business owner, have you ever asked yourself what is the number 1 Goal of Your Business Website? That’s a pretty straight forward question. And I doubt many of you really get the answer.

Let me explain… I’m not that into theory or technical stuff. To me, it’s simple… a website has to do it’s stuff… it needs to PERFORM!

It needs to make you MONEY! Forget about anything else.

Sounds pretty simple… but the fact is most business owners have no idea how to go about doing that. And the funny thing is… NEITHER do most website designers! Mind you, they’ll try to convince you that it must be a showcase for your business… something you’d be proud to show off to your friends.

It’ll have pretty colours, maybe even a FLASH presentation, fancy graphics… stuff like that. In my opinion, they’re missing the point!

OK, listen in, because I’m going to start revealing the secrets of high PERFORMANCE websites… the one’s that make their business owners a lot of money!

When a visitor comes to your website… they have to do whatever it is you want them to do! And it has to be clearly obvious what ACTION you want them to take. And you DON’T want to distract them from what that is. Anything that doesn’t push them towards the ACTION you want them to take is a distraction. And on most websites I look at, there is a ton of distractions.

Now… there are only 2 possibilities for the ACTION you want them to take.

1. Hit the BUY button so that they can instantly buy your product or service
2. Get them to give you their NAME and EMAIL address.

That’s it! Nothing else.

Let’s take a quick look at Option 1. This will work if you have a cheap product or service… let’s say up to $50 or so. You would be using a strong selling sales letter, not too lengthy… that instantly convinces the visitor to BUY Now!

Now for a dose of reality! That ain’t going to happen too often. Why? Because most people buy on emotion… and it may take a number of contacts from you to get that to happen.

Now Option 2. If you’re selling a more expensive product or service it’s going to take a bit more than a glossy looking website for them to decide to choose you straight away. You need to get their name and email address so that you can continue to market to them. Fact is… studies show that it may take upwards of 7 contacts before they decide to buy from you.

So what can you do to get them to leave their name and email address. The secret is to offer the visitor an “ethical bribe” that to receive, they must “opt-in” and leave their name and email address.

Here’s an example… The Beauty Salon that offers a FREE gift voucher. The Plumbing business that offers a FREE report “10 things you need to know before you choose a Plumber”. The Carpet Cleaner that offers a FREE report “Cleaning Carpets Made Easy” and so on.

It’s stuff like that that converts the website visitor to a prospect that you can market to.

And then what do you do? You use effective “automated” email marketing to follow up with your prospect. You create a sequence of follow ups… maybe 5 to 10 emails. You use an intelligent autoresponder service to automatically send out the emails over the next 2 weeks or so. You don’t need staff to follow up, it works for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

And if you do it right you will convert them from prospect to paying client.

And that’s what I don’t see the majority of websites doing! It’s what I call Direct Response Marketing… a website that has a clear course of ACTION for your website visitor… a website that is designed to SELL!Similar Posts:

• Is Your Business Website Under Performing?
• Traditional Website, Online Sales Letters, Blog. Which Strategy Works For You?