Web Design, Development & Online Marketing - Serving the Central and North Texas Markets

Sequencing Copy for Maximum Conversion

Whether its online copywriting or offline, don’t “sell” on your pages.  Rather tell a story to get significantly better results.  This method is referenced from Marketing Experiments.  The case study showed 200%+ conversion improvement using this sequencing process…just by changing the copy. 

Tell a story.  People respond to stories.

Each part of the conversion process is tied to the ideal story progression.  It’s a process of transitions from set up to confrontation & rising action to climax then resolution.  The following will help to outline the structure for your own writing. 

1.  THE HEADLINE   - setup  

The “story” might start with your paid ad, for example, that sets up the promise leading them on the next step to your landing page.

Start with the “why” they may be on your page, what is driving them to look and confirm that in the title and text.

Action/goal:

a.  Attention grabbing headline that will resonate with the target audience

b.  Get them to click through or read on to the next paragraph

 2.  THE SUPPORTING PARAGRAPH/S - confrontation, rising action intensifies

 On your landing page, continue emphasizing the pain/problem you can solve with your very specific value as unique solution.  Several transitions can occur on the landing page.  Keep clarity to the viewer’s level of understanding.

First paragraph  (do NOT skip this):

a.  Where am I

b.  What can I do here

c.  Why should I do it

Body paragraph/s:  (Intensify with these elements now)

Proof  (data)

Benefits (before features)

Features  (only AFTER benefits)

Incentives  (offer)

Urgency   (today, save $200)

All of these can appeal to the external and internal motivators

Example: Boss wants you to gain/solve xyz (external) vs. advance your career by gaining experience leveraging the Internet for lead generation (internal)

3.   CALL TO ACTION  - resolution, climax

The Call to Action is the request for physical action or interaction by the reader.  It can encourage a phone call, a form completion, view a video, add-to-cart and so on. 

The Call-to-Action (CTA) must:

Be VISIBLE

Apply VALUE

Encourage IMMEDIACY

COME IN THE RIGHT TIME IN THOUGHT SEQUENCE

Call to action is presented such as  “Add to cart”, “complete the form”.  But use text in the action buttons that reassure that their action will deliver on the value promise.  Do not put “submit” or “click here”; instead use words to further the promise.  (Ex: “to receive info…”,  “Learn the xyz”, “Get the product to improve your life”, etc….)

Getting started

This is easy and it’s not easy.  As with most things, the hardest part is getting started.  With practice and ongoing experimentation with your web copy writing, the data (analytics) will prove the results of structuring your content for clarity and connection to what the viewer wants.  In doing so, in the right sequence, you will get what you want.

We are uniquely able to help you evaluate and take action on the breadth of factors influencing conversion:  Web design, website development, Internet marketing, driving traffic, conversion tactics, applying business intelligence through data.

We are here to help you achieve great things online.  As for copywriting services:

1.  We can write for you or help guide you (or your designated writers) to ensure you have the greatest opportunity for conversion success with your text & graphics.

2.  We can technically SEO (search engine optimization) your copy so it will gain better visibility on Google and other search engines.

3.  We can strategize a plan for content topics and delivery channels for strong “inbound” marketing.

Contact us today and together we’ll evaluate your most important website pages.

If you haven't had a chance yet to learn about WSI's amazing Online Business console, WSI EFusion, I suggest you take a look at a quick demo here.

WSI EFusion is an amazing platform to enhance any online business and help you keep track of your leads, manage your own website, create custom modules, and much much more to help increase your internet marketing strategy.

July 2011 Enhancements

Modules within Modules

WSI EFusion has many different modules built-in including Blogs, Photo Galleries, Webforms, Custom Web App modules, and many others. Now we are bringing the ability to include a module within a different module. IE. the ability to include a photo gallery within a blog post, or insert ANY module into a Web App. This will allow for extreme customization of the tools built into WSI EFusion. We have also include a Module Manager into the WYZYWYG for easy access to add in modules.

Device Specific Templates

We continue to help enhance the ability to provide the best access to your website no matter what device your site is being viewed on whether it's a desktop/laptop, smart phone, or a tablet. WSI EFusion now includes a two extra versions of every sitewide template, one for smart phones and one for tablets. When EFusion detects what device you are on, you have the ability to have a mobile version of your site and tablet version of your site to direct them too. This will greatly enhance the user experience of your website.

SEO Friendly URLs for Web Apps

One of the most powerful tools of WSI EFusion is the ability to create your own custom web app. Web Apps are extremely powerful and let you create custom modules for your website with no additional programming charges. We are now excited to say that WSI EFusion has the ability to have a custom SEO friendly URL. For instance: http://www.yoursite.com/webapp-name/webapp-item-name This will let you have complete control of the URL. Let's say you use a Web App for a real estate website for homes located in Dallas Texas. Your Web App for each home can now be http://www.yoursite.com/Dallas-Texas/Homes-In-Plano and this can be modified however you see fit!

July 2011 release

The new update will be taking place on July 6th, 2011 at 11:00AM CST. The deployment time will take a few hours, but there will be no major disruptions to service during this time.

We'll keep you posted!

Not convinced that blogging should be mixed into your marketing mix?

The trend numbers speak for themselves and our customers have found quick benefits by applying strategic blogging.   So can you.

Let’s face it, you will have to do it for self preservation at some point anyway, so businesses should jump on board now rather than try to catch up later.

E-Marketer reports the steady growth in the chart below.

Content Marketing

The reason why blogging is important is because consumers going online are first looking to consume content, educate themselves about a topic of interest and then take action based on an informed decision.  Blogs are subject rich content.  They are especially helpful for marketers wanting to gain visibility for “long-tail” keywords.

How to plan your blog topics

Of course you can just blog away with no specific purpose.  Sometimes this can be effective in driving traffic as many relevant keywords come naturally in your text as you write about a subject you know well.   But, if your have a more purposeful marketing objective, strategizing and planning your blog topics and technically optimizing them with each post is much more powerful at getting results.

Ideas for planning your blog topics:

Get help from an Internet Consultant who can perform in depth keyword research which will reveal actual “units of demand” for keywords relevant to content you can supply.   So get blogging, because someone is wanting your knowledge and perspective.

It is interesting when this question comes up early in my initial conversation with a prospect.  It is a question more common from a first timer or mom-pop type business.   Business owners who have already lived with a website for a while have a baseline experience and are more focused on what a website’s return on investment is than the cost of the project.

So, what is the cost of a professional website?  For the short answer, skip to the end.  For a better understanding, read on.

The cost of a website is like the cost of transportation

Think of it like this.  Asking “how much is a website” is like asking, “How much is transportation”?   This sounds silly but it’s quite similar.  How can you know the price of a website until you know what must be delivered to get you to your desired destination in a way that meets your requirements, timing, availability and such.   

Using the transportation analogy there are parallels when thinking of potential website investment costs.

Just like the purpose of the travel is not the travel itself,  “having a website” is not the purpose, is it?   It’s what happens once you’ve “landed” that matters.   For business owners, that purpose is normally more profit and better customer experience.

Use an advisor to get best value

A good Internet consultant or full service website developer is like a good travel agent.  She is someone who will take the time to educate you and understand the whole experience you are going for.  She has an inside view of the industry and will steer you clear of costly mistakes and advise you toward the best options.   When working in sync with a specialist you are more likely to get a more personalized solution for your budget.   Think of it as a more affordable direct flight.

It’s all about getting great value (return on investment).   The value your website project delivers to you may be:

In either case, the website project should pay for itself quickly and continue to deliver.  Do it right and you're sure to be really going places. No planes, trains or automobiles required…or black out dates restrictions. 

Answer:  If done right, the “cost” of a website will be zero.  Do nothing and you will be paying the price.

Is Your Website Missing the Grocery Bags?

This may be a nit picky thing from an A-type personality, but it drives me nuts at the grocery store when I have to search for bags in the produce department.  It spoils the joy of my grocery shopping experience (those who know me will laugh at that comment) when I have selected the perfect handful of apples and can’t find the darn bag dispenser anywhere close by.   Close by to me means, within 1 step.  The level of frustration is enhanced because I’m normally in a hurry.  But, isn’t everybody?

When you’ve invested in building website traffic, you want them to turn into leads and customers.  If a visitor is interested in taking the next step with your business, you don’t want to frustrate them or make it hard for them to know what to do next.   They are probably in a hurry and if the site is confusion or there are too many steps, they are likely to just jump to another website that is easier to understand.

Internet Conversion – keeping the bag within 1 step

There are a lot of factors to consider when implementing a good visitor to conversion strategy for your website.  But for simplicity here, once the visitor is persuaded and interested, you’ll want to clearly offer next step guidance so your visitor will flow easily toward your next step call-to-action.  Don’t make them search for “the bag”.  Of course this is obviously important for e-commerce sites, but it is just as important for all business and service websites who may want to build an email database or encourage a phone call inquiry in pursuit of lead acquisition.

Adjust, Measure, Repeat - for more successful conversion rates

Our recent white paper on Conversion Architecture goes into detail on experimenting and testing for conversion improvements.  But some of the on-page factors that influence flow toward action which can be critiqued include:

Depending on your business, you may want to get an Internet Consultant to interpret your analytics and make recommendations.  But don’t discount opinions of a few valued customers who may be willing to offer onsite ease of use suggestions.

With improved conversion fundamentals in place for your website, success is in the bag!

This month WSI will be holding a webinar on how to drive more business online with Local Search.

In case you are unfamiliar with local search, almost every major search engine now lists local results when someone searches for something.  This is most apparent when you ‘geo target’ your search.  For instance “Dallas icecream shops”

What does Local Search mean for you?

Part of almost every business’s internet marketing strategy should be a Local Search strategy.  Local searches can help you become found online when someone searches for a particular keyword, even if you don’t rank organically for this keyword.

In my example photo you will see Marble Slab Creamery appears in the local business results, but they aren’t actually listed in the natural organic rankings on the first page of Google.  This means customers are potentially finding a Marble Slab near them through just Local Search.

There’s many many factors and features of how Local Search can help enhance your online business, so come check out our August 18th Webinar “Drive More Business with Local Search”.  Make sure to enter “Patricia Jordan” as your Internet Consultant Contact.

Webinar Register: http://bit.ly/WSILocalSearchWebinar
Date/Time: August 18th, 12:00PM – 1:00PM CST

We’ll see you there!

WSIwebSMART.com reveals the 5 pillars of successful website marketing that are often overlooked by even the biggest agency “experts”.  The new website allows small and medium sized businesses to tap into the global expertise of top  Internet Consultants and get help applying current best practices of Digital Marketing, Internet Advertising and website development.   http://www.WSIwebSMART.com

Dallas, TX   July 26, 2010 -  Patricia Jordan-Hinojos, a Dallas internet marketing expert says, “It’s time businesses, large and small, have a simple way to think more strategically about their websites and online marketing.  When S.M.A.R.T. principals are applied, significant money can be saved and results are achieved faster. We’re launching this site and other interactive resources to make this an affordable reality for small business.”

WSI Web SMART helps businesses, large and small, consider five areas when deciding on Internet marketing options, choosing an Internet Consultant or investing in website enhancements. These are easily remembered by the acronym S.M.A.R.T.

Valuable whitepapers are available for free download off the new website on some of the hottest topics in “S.M.A.R.T.” Internet marketing and website development.  These are written in layman’s terms so the tactics can be adopted easily.  New white papers are added monthly. For a direct access to these, go to White Papers and Webinar page at http://wsiwebsmart.com/White-Papers.html

Patricia Jordan-Hinojos has been helping small and medium businesses with their online marketing and web presence since opening the Dallas area (Plano, TX) office location in 2003.   In 2009, her peers recognized Patricia as a top 25 revenue consultant world wide and top ten in the USA.  Patricia has been a featured speaker at WSI’s Global Excellence & Innovation conference in Las Vegas speaking on how to leverage the WSI resources for better profitability.  

See examples, case studies, and videos of successes with local and national companies and get more information   at www.WSIwebSMART.com  or contact us at 972-208-0926.

Contact:

Patricia Jordan-Hinojos
972-208-0926