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DOTCOMOLOGY AND PROFIT GLORY
GETTING STARTED
MAKING YOUR WEBSITE ATTRACTIVE, INTERESTING, ENGAGING AND
INTERACTIVE Build It for Speed, Target your Market, Focus the Site, Credibility Is Crucial, Navigation should be simple, Consistency is the key, Content is King, Make your website interactive and personalized.
NAVIGATION
Objectives of a Navigation System
Navigation, Location Indicators, Navigation Controls And Leads to obvious content.
DEFINING A USABLE SITE
Good Content is Critical,
Ease of Access to Information,
Quick Access to Information,
Cleanly Designed Pages,
Download Status And
Usability Problems
BUILDING INTERACTIVITY AND PERSONALIZATION
Graphics And Web Copy.
CHOOSING A DOMAIN NAME
Using Expired Domains to Skyrocket Your Traffic
Building Interactivity and Personalization.
Make your website interactive. Add feedback forms as well as
email forms that allow your prospective customers to ask you any
questions they might have pertaining to a product. Personalization
of
your website is another key element that can build a visitor’s trust
and
increase your sales. Personalization technology provides you the
analytic tools to facilitate cross-selling and up-selling when the
customer is buying online.
Personalization tries to restore to the online business the magic of
personalized attention which is one of the chief reasons why many
people still prefer in-store purchase. You can use personalization
to
match your customer with the right products through either
rulesbased
or customer analytics-based processing. Thus as your software
stores customer information and preferences, it can help categorize
them into groups. At the same time, observations over time can
suggest products to cross-sell and up-sell. Thus when a person buys
a
subscription to a fitness site, exercise equipment is also offered.
Amazon pioneered personalization on the net – when you a buy a
book, it shows you other books in the similar genre saying “people
who bought this book also bought these”, inducing you to buy more.
A consumer survey from the Personalization Consortium found
that 56 percent of respondents say they are more likely to purchase
from a site that allows personalization, and 63 percent are more
likely
to register at a site that allows it.
Graphics
Your site has to be aesthetically attractive with visually appealing
organization and enticing images. Fashions change fast on the
Internet, so when you come to choose a designer, make sure you take
a good look at their portfolio. You want the user to just glance at
your
homepage and understand immediately who you are and what you can
do for them.
Web Copy
Your website content should convince visitors that your service is
either unique or superior to that of your competitors in terms of
quality, and is competitively priced. It should show your potential
clients that you can provide the solution they are seeking. Your
product or service will solve their problems, answer a dream, enrich
their lives, and/or improve their businesses. You are the dependable
expert that they want and need!
Your website copy plays a major role in establishing and growing
your customer base. Website copy creates the “voice” of a company,
just as the look and feel of a site put a “face” on the company and
on
otherwise intangible products and services.
On an ecommerce site,
the
copy plays a key role in closing sales as well as in up-selling and
crossselling
products and services. Good website copy delights first-time
visitors, encourages return visits and propels both customer
acquisition and retention.
People read a web page differently than they do a brochure or a
newspaper. They scan, scroll, click, hit the back button, and hit
the
forward button. “Reading” is about moving around and being in
control. You have one chance to make a first impression – to quickly
convey the benefit of staying on your website. I can’t overstate the
importance of first impressions, which in web-time are measured in
milliseconds.
The layout, functionality, message and overall look
and
feel of your web page determine who stays – and who clicks away.
Your story should be clear and to the point. The goal of any web
page should be to get the visitor to DO something: to move on to the
next step in a purchase sequence or to click for more information
about a product or service. Without readable, compelling copy and
clearly organized hypertext links, visitors are much less likely to
complete a transaction – and return to your site again.
Writing for your web page should always start from your visitor’s
perspective. What is your website visitor looking for? Why is she
here?
How can you make her visit as quick and efficient and positive as
possible? You should take the time to clarify the goal of each page
before starting to write. If the page is part of a transaction
sequence,
identify what may be hindering the buying process. Be sure
instructions are clear and easy to read.
If you are selling a service on your website, your Unique Selling
Proposition (USP) is your service’s most powerful benefit, in
combination with a strong, unique feature of your business. It
answers that most difficult question.
Why should someone do business with you?
Tell your customers what service you are selling and explain what
your service provides. What is the key benefit(s) to your customers?
What pain does it cure, what solution does it provide? Compare your
service with that of your competitors and highlight what makes you
stand out from the competition? Keep working on this until you can
clearly separate yourself from the field. As stated earlier there
must be
a convincing reason for doing business with you, instead of your
competitor.
Summarize the above into one tight, powerful, motivating phrase
that will persuade your customer to do business with you and to
trade
their money for the benefits delivered by your service.
As you start to work through the above four steps, you may find
this to be a lot harder than it looks. Don’t blow it off and give
up! You
must have a USP.
If it was easy, everyone would have a great USP!
Come up with a tight, sharp USP that sells your service to your
customer.
Write tight, get right to the point, be keenly aware of the
audience for the page, and don’t use a three-syllable word when a
one
or two-syllable word will do. Use call-to-action language and be
interesting. The page should be so clearly organized that, in
seconds,
visitors can understand and get convinced to buy your product and be
able to anticipate where a hypertext link – or a “Continue” button –
will take them. Studies show that “ease of use” is the winning
factor
on an ecommerce site.
If you’re going to promote your service and expand your customer
base using your website, potential clients have to be able to trust
you.
Their confidence in you and your products has to be boosted.
Endorsements on your website from a valued friend or colleague, or a
referral from a strategic partner are the types of “leads” that
boost
your credibility. You and your service must be perceived as being
trust-worthy before your visitor will be confident enough to contact
you or even buy your product.
Show prospects that you have their best interests at heart and
that you can adapt or customize your service to meet their
individual
needs. Foster an ongoing relationship that steadily increases their
trust
levels and cements a view that you are an “authority” in your field.
Another important aspect of convincing prospective customers is
to keep abreast of recent developments in your field. Check on what
your competitors are writing about, and watch for new trends.
This will
keep your website current, razor-sharp and unique. By keeping your
eyes open, you will be able to grab an angle or niche that hasn’t
been
well covered yet by your competitors. Portray this angle or niche on
your website.
Finally, be wary of broadening the theme of your site too much.
Try not to dilute your product or service’s targeted niche simply to
expand your base of merchant partners. Remember; focus on your
selling your service. That’s where the “meat and potatoes” of your
business will come from.
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Next:
Choosing a Domain Name In the physical world, you can distinguish a business because of
its structure, window displays, or signs. You can tell that a bank
is a
bank, or a clothing store is indeed a clothing store.
In the Internet, however, it is an entirely different story
altogether. Your domain name is the only clue to your online
business. |