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Archive for December 3rd, 2007

Great Web Design Can Kill Your Conversions

by Sharon Gantt

The internet is filled with beautiful web sites. Created by web designers with credentials and accreditations a mile long, these sites often look amazing. However, these great-looking sites are likely losing money. When you lift the hood, expose the ugly underbelly and take a look at the advertising numbers behind the web site, a different story emerges.

Design does not motivate a person to buy a product or service. A beautiful site may cause someone to admire how creative your site looks, but turning your visitors into customers requires much more attention to the marketing and advertising process. Proven techniques of converting targeted visitors into customers have little to do with beautiful or creative design.

Rather, other key elements work to turn a targeted prospect into a customer. A majority of people use Google and Yahoo! to find what they are looking for online. Some are simply doing research on a product or service they want to purchase, but are looking for the best deal. Others want to buy something quickly and are ready with credit card in hand. Still others are simply gathering information.

Each prospect is at a different stage of the customer buying cycle. They are looking for something different. Because of this, it is critical to approach and target each prospect on Google and Yahoo! differently. Doing this effectively and profitably can require the help of a trained and experienced search engine advertising professional.

Stories of those who used Google and Yahoo! to advertise their sites and failed desperately are easy to find. The people behind the failed advertising campaigns often were not experienced, not able to analyze numbers and not in possession of the tools and knowledge that it takes to succeed on Google and Yahoo!

Many small and large business owners have found that turning the advertising chores over to a professional search engine expert has made the difference between hemorrhaging their advertising budget and running a profitable business. But, finding someone who truly knows what they are doing is often difficult.

Google and Yahoo! each have respective certifications that they award trained individuals. People who are experts in advertising on Google can become what is called a Google Certified Professional. Those who are experts in advertising on Yahoo! are called Yahoo! Search Marketing Ambassadors. These titles are given to men and women who have an intimate knowledge of how to advertise on Google and Yahoo! and can do so successfully. Each has a training program that they require candidates to complete. Further, search engine tests the knowledge of each candidate to ensure only qualified individuals are awarded this designation.

Remember, the internet is littered with stories of beautiful, creative, or original web sites that had to close down because they could not run a successful advertising campaign. If your web site has been designed with a focus on these things and you are struggling to make your site profitable, it is time to hire a professional. Look for those experts who have been awarded Google’s and Yahoo’s professional seals of approval.

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Pictures Alone Are Not Enough If You’re Looking For Big Bucks

by Sharon Gantt

It’s true that it’s said a picture is worth a thousand words, because it can cover nuances of detail at a glance that words simply cannot describe as easily. However, it’s not true that pictures are worth everything. When you’re selling a good product, you need both a good image so that the customer can see what they’re buying and good copy. Too often, web entrepreneurs these days are trying to sell products on image alone, and they’re getting lax on having good copy, since high quality images have become so easy to produce. However, if you pursue this as your only venue of advertisement, you’re likely to see yourself suffer in sales, as most people do.

It’s true that pictures are wonderful, and you should never have copy alone without a picture beside it if you can help it at all. Simply put, people want to see what they’re buying. However, even though the “a picture is worth a thousand words” adage may be true, you need to have good sales copy to supplement it. In essence, the two play off each other and become greater than the sum of the two parts. The pictures play to those who desire to see what they’re buying and bring in browsers, while good copy actually makes the final sale. This in essence is what is going to make you either succeed or fail in your business.

Pictures Tell While Benefits Sell

Just as with the adage, “A picture is worth a thousand words come” it’s also true that pictures “tell” but benefits are what really sell the product. It doesn’t even really matter what you’re selling. It’s still true that you’re going to need at least some copy and a good picture or two, no matter what. Various entrepreneurs have different strengths and weaknesses themselves, and they can and should play with their copy and images to their advantage. Those who are more visually attuned can rely more on images and supplement with copy, while those who are more linguistically attuned can focus on the copy and just provide a good image or two so that the customer can see clearly what he or she is buying. However, you’re going to have to have some of each in your product listing no matter what. When you do, of course, you also play to customers’ strengths and weaknesses; some prefer pictures more, while some prefer copy, and vice versa. The same is true of the product itself. Some products are visually interesting and need to be shown, such as a beautiful vase, while others need more written description, such as the latest innovations in computer technology, for example. Only you know your products and strengths well enough to know just what mix you should have in your listings. Regardless, though, people are going to want to know exactly what they’re buying before they do, especially if they’re going to invest a lot of money in a particular product.

Of course, not to be outdone, if a product has reached a certain price, you’ll need some good images of your product. Even solid buyers need to see what they’re buying.

So think about this for a minute. Think about why your product is special and why the customer should want it. Is it a special type of 14 karat gold jewelry with a unique embossed design? Is it an exact replica of the crown jewels? Is it warrantied for a lifetime? Do you offer 100% money back with no questions asked if customers are unhappy with their purchase? This is exactly what your sales copy should say, and it should compel both your browsers and your serious buyers to buy; customers should not just feel that they want the product, but they should feel that they need it. If you appropriately sell them on the benefits of your product, this type of good copy will make you more sales than a great picture, even though, of course, a great picture is still part of the package.

Sell the Benefits

If you’re selling a particular product, remember that the features of a product are important to describe, but it’s really the benefits that are going to interest the customer most. Benefits are what the customer can expect when they buy the product that will do them some good. For example, if a particular type of shirt is made of 100% cotton while a competitor’s is 100% polyester, your copy might want to say why the cotton is the better buy. This is where you extol the virtues of cotton in your writing, such as that it’s all natural, a renewable resource, and so on. Whatever the benefits, make sure you detail and extol them so that customers know exactly what benefits they’re getting from the product.

Pictures are, of course, very important too. After all, if you’re buying a cotton shirt, it’s all well and good to be extolling the advantages of 100% cotton, but you still want to see what you’re buying. This, along with good sales copy, is what will sell your product. Of course, a picture without sales copy is also no good at all, and needs to be included so that customers not only see the benefits and features of a product, but are persuaded to buy.

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Pictures Might Be Worth A Thousand Words But Is That Enough?

by Sharon Gantt

They say that pictures are worth 1,000 words, and that may necessarily be the truth. Pictures have the ability to say a lot of things that words may never be able to get across, but that doesn’t mean that pictures are worth everything. When it comes to selling a good product, it is true that the importance of a good looking image is often underestimated but it is not everything. These days as quality pictures are increasingly easier to come by, it seems that web entrepreneurs are trying to get by on pictures alone. This is not the best idea; many people who fail to pursue quality web copy may see their sales at an all-time low, and it is not difficult to wonder why.

Pictures are great. Everybody wants to be able to see some image of what it is they are looking into purchasing, and while pictures may speak 1,000 words it is important to have something backing that up and this is where compelling sales copy comes into play. Good sales copy drives home sales; pictures bring in lookers but good copy turns these people into buyers and buyers are what can turn your business into a success or failure.

Pictures Tell While Benefits Sell

As with the phrase, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” it’s also true that while pictures tell, benefits sell. It doesn’t really matter what you’re selling; it’s really true that you’re going to need at least some copy and a good picture or two. Though various entrepreneurs have different strengths and weaknesses, you as an entrepreneur still need to include at least some of each element in your presentation in order to get customers. Some products do better with lots of pictures and just a little copy, while others need a lot of description and will do well with just one or two pictures. It really depends on the product and only can you can really know what the balance has to be. However, one good rule of thumb is that the higher the price tag on the product, the more you’re going to need both good pictures and good copy. People want to know exactly what they’re buying if they’re going to invest a lot of money into it. So if your business offers high end products that customers need to spend a lot of money on, it’s a good bet you need to provide a good balance between the two.

If you are going to sell an image for a certain price and feel that you have some great, compelling images of the product you may very well be right. People love to see good pictures of what it is that they are going to bring home, but a solid buyer is firm in their decision to choose a product and make it their own. W

What is it that makes your product so special? Is it 14K gold? Is it 18K gold? Is it a replica of something true royalty wears? Does it have a lifetime guarantee? Is there a no-hassle money back guarantee? Create sales copy that makes your site browsers think that your product is something that they not only want but need as well. Appropriately selling the benefits will get your product sold better than a great picture any day; let your customers know what this product will do to make their life easier.

Sell on Benefits

Many people mistake the features of a product for the benefits that potential customers need to hear about. Benefits are the result of features, things that a product brings to the table that could do a person some good. For example, a feature may be the fact that an item is made of 100 percent cotton, but what good does that do a person? It may keep them very warm in winter so they don’t need a coat-this is a benefit.

Here, again, pictures are also important. Because customers are on the Internet and they want to see the product they’re buying, a picture is the only way they can do that. It isn’t as though they’re going to a brick-and-mortar store where they can pick up and handle the product, in order to see it firsthand. After that’s done, though, the copy is what is going to enumerate benefits and features, to bring the sale home.

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Top Payperclick Internet Advertising

by Article24.info

As Pay per click’s name suggests, you only pay for actual click through to your web site. Inexpensive Pay per click internet advertising lists your web site according to your bid for a certain search keyword. Of course, Web sites which pay more are ranked higher.

Due to the considerable growth in figures of internet users and because of the inexpensive internet advertising solutions, it has more capability for multimedia subject matter. It could capture texts, images, video and audio. The advertisers could produce logos, moving banners, animated and 3d imagery. With these in hand, advertisers mix these forms to produce successful and low cost internet advertising solutions.

1. Web design agencies These are focused on building web pages for a website. Many web developers are now offering affordable services if you just know how and where to find them.

2. Logo services Production of web site logos is the main concern of these agencies. Hundreds of pre-designed logos could be purchased or even customized to complement your website better.

In determining good quality and affordable pay per click internet advertising service, make sure to run very carefully planned and structured promotions in order to boost the targeted traffic to your web site and increase guest conversion rate.

These companies analyze and modify websites in order to achieve the highest possible search engine ranking. They improve your website’s design and content to better attract more traffic. Link building could also be employed by these e-marketing agencies to benefit your business. They are actually a combination of all the services mentioned above. Sometimes they also go by the name of Internet marketing consultancies or something of that sort. 5. Domain registration companies

Your business’s name in the web is the business of these companies. Looking for the best amongst a wide array of these agencies is like looking for a needle in a haystack. But if you are determined enough to do your homework with these marketing services, results would be more than rewarding. Just make sure that you don’t register with those whose only intention is to rip off those who can’t afford the most reputable domain registration agencies.

These are just a few of the Internet advertising agencies that a web marketing newbie could turn to. Examining your needs first will better your chances in getting in touch with the cream of the crop of these Internet marketing agencies minus the hefty price tag.

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