Free-Reprint Article Written by: Willie Crawford
See Terms of Reprint Below.
*****************************************************************
*
* This email is being delivered directly to members of the group:
*
* internet_marketing_articleblaster@yahoogroups.com
*
*****************************************************************
We have moved our TERMS OF REPRINT to the end of the article.
Be certain to read our TERMS OF REPRINT and honor our TERMS
OF REPRINT when you use this article. Thank you.
This article has been distributed by:
http://Article-Distribution.com
Helpful Link:
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act - Overview
http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/iclp/dmca1.htm
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Article Title:
==============
12 Reasons Your Website Is Failing
Article Description:
====================
With the sites reviewed on my calls, and with the sites I look at
for other reasons, I notice many of the same mistakes. Here are
12 of the most common:
Additional Article Information:
===============================
1849 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line
Distribution Date and Time: 2006-09-13 11:24:00
Written By: Willie Crawford
Copyright: 2006
Contact Email: mailto:willie@williecrawford.com
For more free-reprint articles by Willie Crawford, please visit:
http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/d/index.shtml#Willie_Crawford
=============================================
Special Notice For Publishers and Webmasters:
=============================================
If you use this article on your website or in your ezine,
We Want To Know About It. Use the following URL to let
us know where you have used this article, and we will
include a link to your website on thePhantomWriters.com:
http://thephantomwriters.com/notify.php?id=3535&p=load
HTML Copy-and-Paste and TEXT Copy-and-Paste
Versions Of Article Are Available at:
http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/db/c/why-your-website-is-failing.shtml#get_code
---------------------------------------------------------------------
12 Reasons Your Website Is Failing
Copyright � 2006 Willie Crawford
Willie Crawford Incorporated
http://WillieCrawford.com/ezine.html
Most Saturdays, I conduct a free networking and brainstorming
call, where we critique and give makeovers to 2-3 websites. On
the weeks that we don't review websites, the calls are generally
"open discussion" of Internet marketing issues.
These calls are just another tool in my very effective marketing
arsenal, and you can join them by registering at:
http://WillieCrawford.com/free-brainstorming-calls.html
During most weeks, I get dozens of joint venture proposals, and
several potential new clients who want me to evaluate the
potential of a project that they're working on.
Many of the joint ventures that I turn down, and many of the
clients that I reject, are for the same reason. Their websites
are so poorly written that I know that the websites won't
convert. I rarely do outside copywriting, but I often suggest
revamping their websites before they move forward.
With the sites reviewed on my calls, and with the sites I look at
for other reasons, I notice many of the same mistakes. Here are
12 of the most common:
1) The site has no focus. A website should be designed with its
primary purpose in mind. You should have ONE thing that you'd
really like most visitors to your page to do. Almost everything
on that page should lead the visitors toward deciding to take
that primary action. Nothing on the page should distract them and
"lead them off down other trails."
Common primary actions that you'll want your visitor to take are
to join your list, buy your product, download a free trial
version, or join an online community. Make sure that you know
what you want your visitors to focus on, and get rid of the other
distractions. It's been proven that if you give your visitors
too many choices, or confuse them, they will simply choose to
leave!
2) The site has no email capture mechanism. Most honest
copywriters will tell you that in most Internet marketing type
niches, a 1-2% response rate to a sales letter is VERY
respectable. You've worked very hard to get visitors to your
site, and if you completely ignore the 98% who don't buy you're
not going to be in business very long.
Incorporate a form into your website that gets them into an
autoresponder so that you can follow-up with them. Offer them a
free report, access to an MP3 on the topic, or access to an
exclusive community. Get them to opt-in, and then you can follow
up with them on their topic of interest.
Your opt-in form can be set up "in-line" as a part of the
webpage, and even take them back to the point on the webpage
where they were reading before they stopped to opt-in. You can
also have an exit popup, or pop- under, that offers them a
freebie as they're leaving your site. Once they've decided to
leave, you'll probably NEVER see them again unless you have a
way to invite them back. An autoresponder is the perfect way to
do this automatically.
3) The owner is "hiding behind the website." Web surfers are
skeptical and distrusting. You need to let them know that there
is a real person behind the site. Give them contact information,
show them your photo, and even let them hear you. You can easily
add audio or video to your website, and allow it to "touch"
your visitor on such a deeper level. When people hear your voice
or see you talking, and get to watch your body language, you
communicate so much more effectively than just the written word.
To add audio to your website, all you need is a microphone
plugged into your computer. To add video to your website, all you
really need is a webcam plugged into your computer. There are
services that will take this audio or video, allow you to edit it
with a few clicks of your mouse, and then stream it from their
servers or upload it to your server.
A totally amazing service that I use is called Audio Acrobat. I
use it to have customers, subscribers, etc., call in and leave
testimonials. I use it to record some teleseminars, interviews,
product recommendations, and for dozens of other purposes. I do
record video from my webcam to this service too. You can also
upload video recorded on a regular video camera to this service,
and then stream it from their website.
As I said, I LOVE Audio Acrobat. If you want to check it out,
you can get a free 30-day trial from here:
http://williec.audioacrobat.com/ It's where I have dozens of
testimonial lines, dozens of audios, and a few videos. It's also
how I save on my web hosting bandwidth ;-)
4) The owner of the site offers no credentials. The very first
question I ask when reading a magazine article, watching a
television show, or reading a web page, is "What makes this
person qualified to teach ME this topic." Most web surfers
don't trust you, and believe that most Internet sites are out to
rip them off. You need to show them that your experience and
training makes you qualified to teach them the topic. In
addition to formal credentials a professional looking website
also shows that you are a serious business person. Don't skimp
on your website's design!
5) Not offering proof of statements. It's natural for you to
say how great you and your product are. Therefore, that means
nothing to potential customers. Get other to share how your
product improved their lives. Use media interviews, and
statements by officials in professional organizations, to provide
third-party validation.
Testimonials with photos, audio, or video, are very powerful.
Testimonials with just a set of initials, or a with just a first
name, have NO credibility.
6) Offering the wrong payment options. The majority of Internet
users prefer to pay via credit card. If your product allows you
to do it, and still make a satisfactory profit, consider taking
orders through an answering service or call center, via fax, via
snail mail, and through third party processors such as Paypal as
well. Evaluate each of these options and decide which of these
make sense for you.
As an aside, I once considered even offering my customers the
option to order C.O.D (cash on delivery). My local postmaster
strongly suggested that I NOT do that and also pointed out that
it's almost never done these days. He convinced me that it was
more trouble than it was worth :-)
7) Using the wrong or too many fonts. When you use different
sizes and colors of letters on your webpage you need to have a
real reason. When you highlight or underline text on your webpage
you need to have a logical reason.
As your site visitor reads your webpage, he will subconsciously
ask himself why you emphasized a certain word or sentence on the
page. If you had no logic reason, you pull him out of your
message as his mind "wrestles with the why."
You page should be structured such that a "skimmer" could just
read the headlines and sub headlines and get the message. He
should be able to read just the highlighted text and get the gist
of your webpage. He should be able to just go to the bottom of
the page, read the "P.S." where you've restated your offer,
and order without being forced to read the rest of the page... if
he's in a hurry.
8) Using header graphics that distract from the message. Your
header graphic should spell out or emphasize the main benefit of
your product. It should be simple enough that the visitor is not
forced to waste time trying to decipher its meaning.
Sometimes, it's better not to even have a header graphic. This
is something you should test. You want to get your visitor
reading the text on your page, and discovering how your product
can help him, as soon as practical. This is what will sell him...
not cute or fancy graphics.
9) Not focusing on benefits rather than features. Don't tell
your visitor how great the product is, tell him how it will
improve his life. Your testimonials should also provide
concrete, and very specific, examples of how it improved someone
else's life.
10) Focusing on "I" rather than "you!" Look at your webpage
and make sure that it talks about the customer and his problem
more than it talks about you, your company, and your products.
Your customers don't really care about you. They care about how
you can help them! Read through you copy and make sure that it
answers that question. Make sure that you're not talking about
yourself too much, and that when you do talk about yourself,
it's answering the question of how you can help the reader.
11) Not emphasizing the guarantee. When a customer purchases
with a credit card, or through certain third-party processors,
the guarantee is implied anyway. So, why not make your guarantee
a selling point? If a customer goes to Visa or MasterCard and
states that they are unhappy with their purchase from you, they
will get their money back in most cases... and you'll pay an
extra fee for the "chargeback." If a customer goes to
Clickbank or Paypal with a complaint, they will end up issuing a
refund in many cases.
Make it easy on yourself by offering and honoring a guarantee. It
will increase your conversion rate, and unless your product is
total JUNK, it won't increase your refund rate.
12) Not using a P.S. Many busy surfers will jump right to the end
of your webpage and read the P.S.(s). If they were somewhat
pre-sold before they arrived at your page, many will go ahead and
purchase at that time. Use the P.S.(s) to restate your offer,
emphasize the guarantee, showcase your bonuses, and to emphasize
any scarcity factor in the offer.
The bottom line is that, if your sales page is horrific, it's
pointless to drive traffic to the site. Fix the page before you
do anything else, or you're just wasting time and frustrating
yourself.
A well-written webpage is so pivotal to the sales process, that
many professional copywriters will often rewrite bad sales
letters. When they discover great products that they KNOW would
sell if the products' owners just had better copy, they will
often rewrite bad sales letters, pre-sell the products, and then
send the "ready-to-buy" customers directly to the order form.
My friend and colleague, Dr. Mike Woo-Ming, recognized the value
in revamping bad sales letters so much that he went as far as to
set up a membership site, offering members rewritten sales
letters for Clickbank products in hot niches. You can check out
what Dr. Mike has done, and join his site, if he hasn't already
closed memberships, at: http://FixingTerribleWebpages.com Tell
him that I sent you.
Fix the 12 common errors covered above, and your website will be
more effective than 99% of direct sales websites out there.
Don't fix these mistakes, and your sales won't increase, but
at-least now you will understand why.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Willie Crawford has been teaching Internet marketing
for over 9 years. Take advantage of his uncanny
insights and unusual candor by subscribing to his
free, information- packed newsletter. Also visit
his top-rated blog. Do both at:
http://WillieCrawford.com/ezine.html
--- END ARTICLE ---
Get HTML or TEXT Copy-and-Paste Versions Of This Article at:
http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/db/c/why-your-website-is-failing.shtml#get_code
.....................................
TERMS OF REPRINT - Publication Rules
(Last Updated: May 11, 2006)
Our TERMS OF REPRINT are fully enforcable under the terms of:
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c105:H.R.2281.ENR:
.....................................
*** Digital Reprint Rights ***
* If you publish this article in a website/forum/blog,
You Must Set All URL's or Mailto Addresses in the body
of the article AND in the Author's Resource Box as
Hyperlinks (clickable links).
* Links must remain in the form that we published them.
Clean links should point to the Author's links without
redirects having been inserted into the copy.
* You are not allowed to Change or Delete any Words or
Links in the Article or Resource Box. Paragraph breaks
must be retained with articles. You can change where
the paragraph breaks fall, but you cannot eliminate all
paragraph breaks as some have chosen to do.
* Email Distribution of this article Must be done through
Opt-in Email Only. No Unsolicited Commercial Email.
* You Are Allowed to format the layout of the article for
proper display of the article in your website or in your
ezine, so long as you can maintain the author's interests
within the article.
* You may not use sentences from this article as an input
for any software that steals sentences from others in
order to build an article with software. The copyright on
this article applies to the "WHOLE" article.
*** Author Notification ***
We ask that you notify the author of publication of his
or her work. Willie Crawford can be reached at:
willie@williecrawford.com
*** Print Publication Reprint Rights ***
If you desire to publish this article in a PRINT
publication, you must contact the author directly
for Print Permission at:
mailto:willie@williecrawford.com
.....................................
If you need help converting this text article for proper
hyperlinked placement in your webpage, please use this
free tool: http://thephantomwriters.com/link-builder.pl
=====================================================================
ABOUT THIS ARTICLE SUBMISSION
http://thePhantomWriters.com is a paid article distribution
service. thePhantomWriters.com and Article-Distribution.com
are owned and operated by Bill Platt of Stillwater, Oklahoma USA.
The content of this article is solely the property
and opinion of its author, Willie Crawford
http://WillieCrawford.com/ezine.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/internet_marketing_articleblaster/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/internet_marketing_articleblaster/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:internet_marketing_articleblaster-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:internet_marketing_articleblaster-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
internet_marketing_articleblaster-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
No comments:
Post a Comment