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"You and your team provided a truly goal-oriented and focused approach when assisting me in not only defining new opportunities, but enhancing our existing marketing strategies."
John Newcombe
Proprietor
Island Park Esso Service
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Articles
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Originally presented to the brokers of R.G. Packman & Associates on October 10, 2007.
1. THE WEB IS A NEW AND VERY DIFFERENT MEDIUM
It’s not a TV ad … so why does your homepage play like a commercial?
It’s not a print ad or a brochure … so why does your site read like a very long direct sales letter?
The web is its own medium. The same techniques used in your other marketing and advertising efforts will not work on the web!
2. MAKE A STRONG FIRST IMPRESSION
Your office is a professional working environment – a place that you’re proud to show off to your clients. You’ve spent time and money making it look as inviting as possible. So why should your website look like this ...
First impressions are everything – your image and corporate branding are just as important online as they are in the “real” world!
If your website looks less than professional – sub-par design, hard to navigate, spelling and grammar mistakes everywhere – then it doesn’t matter if you’re selling the best product ever created with the most experienced team ever assembled.
The moment a prospect lands on your site, they make a snap decision as to whether your firm is reputable and of high-quality – a decision that will greatly influence whether they buy from you or not.
3. CONTENT IS KING
Of course, web design and layout isn’t everything – your content also goes a long way in establishing a professional image in the eyes of your web visitors. In general, your web copy must highlight your:
• Uniqueness
• Experience
• Professionalism
• Advantages of Your Products and Services
The words on your site need to answer the following question: why should somebody buy a product or service from you instead of somebody else?
The answer to this question is vitally important in the insurance and financial services industry, where often the experience and personality of a broker are the only things that make a broker stand out amidst the sea of competitors!
4. TREAT WEB LEADS LIKE GOLD
Customer service over the Internet is just as important as it is over the phone. A prospect might send an email query to many companies at the same time. Will you let that email collect dust? Or will you follow-up on it before your competitors do?
It’s so simple to do … the mere act of responding to an email within a reasonable amount of time will greatly impress your prospects (who are probably used to waiting for days on end before getting a response back from a company).
5. MAKE THE WEBSITE PART OF YOUR MARKETING MIX
Your website cannot stand alone. It must work together with all of your other radio ads, print campaigns, seminars and conferences, etc.
Be sure to reference one in the other. For example, always remember to include your web address on your print materials. You could even mention your website in your company voicemail, effectively giving a prospect an alternate way to contact you if all the lines are busy.
It is also important that your website has a consistent look with your other marketing collateral. If your print ads and your website use a completely different colour scheme or visual layout, “alarm bells” will be triggered in the prospect’s mind.
6. DON’T “SET IT AND FORGET IT”
It’s extremely important to keep your website fresh and interesting … if you don’t, your web users won’t ever feel the need to come back to your site or pass it along to their friends or co-workers.
An online Content Management System (CMS) is a quick and easy way to update your site, with just a few simply clicks. No knowledge of web programming is necessary … if you can use a word processor, you can update your website and add both texts and pictures to your pages.
7. GET THE TOP RANKING ON GOOGLE … FOR FREE!
It’s all about the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) … unfortunately, most firms have no idea where to begin when it comes to getting their site noticed by Google and the other search engines.
It’s not complicated – it just requires a sound keyword strategy, writing your web content based on what people are actually searching for on Google … and a little patience (reaching the top of the Google mountain won’t happen overnight).
8. OUTMARKET YOUR COMPETITORS … FOR THE “RIGHT” PRICE
Paid services such as Google AdWords can be very useful in getting search engine exposure and boosting traffic to your site – but you need a proper strategy in order to take advantage of these services, as they require a different mindset than traditional print or web advertising. A lack of planning when it comes to paid search engine positioning could quickly result in your investment disappearing.
9. CAPITALIZE ON THE METRICS, TRAFFIC AND CONVERSIONS
It’s easy to track and analyze your web traffic with services such as Google Analytics. This specialized software lets you monitor every aspect of your website, including how many people are visiting your site, how they are reaching it, what part of the country they are coming from and what pages they are clicking on once they get on your site.
By looking at the trends in your web traffic and figuring out where people are (and aren’t) clicking, you can determine what sort of changes need to be made to your site so you can turn your web visitors into real dollars.
10. CHOOSE THE BEST WEB PARTNER
Your website is too important to let your I.T. guy decide how your firm will present itself over the Internet!
You need a solid, experienced programming and development team that gives you a higher quality website (in less time) and a far better ROI.
Remember, cheaper is not always better – experience is everything. Your ideal web partner should be knowledgeable in all aspects of website creation, from graphic design and persuasive copywriting to savvy web marketing and search engine optimization techniques.
Does your web copy need improvement? Can't break into the top ranks of Google? We can help. Follow the links to learn more about our Web Marketing and Ssearch Engine Optimization services. |
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