As you may know, search engine marketers often focus on building new content and new “windows of opportunity” by increasing the visibility of a Web site in the major search engines.
In this article today, I would like to share a few thoughts about how you can also increase your business or improve your business, even before those new windows of opportunity take effect. After all, search engine robots run on their own schedule, so we want to think about how we can make other small changes to a Web site to improve business in the short term, while we may be waiting for those robots to come index our content. So let’s look at a few alternative (non-SEO) things you can do right now, while waiting for your latest optimization strategies to kick in.
What are you doing with the traffic you have now?
1. One way to increase “business response” with your current traffic is to offer a special promotion. This could be a seasonal promotion, a special offer or a discount on a product featured prominently on your home page. Offer something that is popular at the right price but don’t offer too many choices. Something priced for the spontaneous buyer.
2. To increase “business response” with your current traffic you could analyze your current traffic trends with attention to your busiest pages. Identify the ideal locations for placing a seasonal promotion, based on your busiest entry pages. If you don’t ever test your ideas you’ll never discover how powerful small changes can be sometimes.
3. Give your current audiences a reason to come back again over and over again using a sequential auto responder like www.aweber.com. You might offer readers a free report, a newsletter or a series of lessons or something else of value.
4. Are there products on your site that could benefit from a little emotional content? Remember the Web has multi-media potential to offer. Have you ever thought about spicing up your content with a video tutorial or something fun using a product like Visual Communicator from www.seriousmagic.com
5. Are there some new useful “tool related” resources you could offer your current audience? People are always looking for things like “mortgage calculators” or “distance calculators” or other tools.
6. There is the age old, but ever effective bonus of offering free shipping on a product.
7. Have you revisited your various products� sales pages and thought about beefing up the emphasis in your sales copy on the “benefits”. A little change in dialogue can go a long way. Test your ideas and learn what works most effective for you. Sometimes it’s the tiniest changes that make the biggest difference.
8. Have you tried writing a product’s sales copy to appeal to a “specific” niche audience? One of the most powerful things you can do is write dialogue for a niche audience and build relevant, valuable content that presents your product or service as a solution.
9. Have you gone into Wordtracker.com to explore your target audiences searching behaviours to look for new niche opportunities? Have you read Wordtracker Magic ? Now that you have researched new keyword combinations, begin to shift your mindset and begin studying your buying audience’s search behaviours.
10. Have you ever consider offering some complimentary affiliate related products that would appeal to your existing audiences. (You would just take the commission and let your affiliate partner handle the shipping and customer service). Very popular strategy with search engine marketing professionals these days. Have a look at a place like www.cj.com
- Can You Change Your Visitor’s Response by Becoming More Creative?
- There are plenty of ways to improve the way you deliver information to your visitors.
- Are there ways to better demonstrate the benefits of your products or the value of your services?
- Are there ways you can present your information with a more original spin?
There are lots of (non-SEO) related resources which you could use as building tools to test your ideas, involve your visitors more interactively or demonstrate value.
Let’s explore a few creative fun things:
11. Have you thought about the power of using audio testimonials to your Web site with a service such as www.instantaudio.com which provides you with unlimited potential and they even give you your own 1-800 Toll free numbers so your customers can talk about your business. The power of the spoken word is powerful!
12. Instead of creating a boring Flash Movie or sales commercial, have you ever though of creating an educational animation that teaches your visitor something useful and original? If it is useful enough and original enough, don’t be surprised if people start linking to it.
13. If you’re looking for professionally made Flash Movies try looking at www.bigshotmedia.com or at the same resource you’ll find complete “footage cds” which reflect lifestyle type video under different categories.
14. How about building some humour into your site if appropriate? You might explore software that allows you to make any photograph talk: http://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk
In Summary:
These are just a few ideas and suggestions which may help you. There are plenty more too. Just remember that as important as gaining visibility to the right audience is, so can you also gain more business and profit by thinking about the response factors and triggers that result in someone taking action at your Web site. You need both visibility to the right audience and you also need that audience to respond or take action. If you get that same identical audience to respond “more often”, it’s perfectly good business too.
Why should you not enjoy more business, while you are growing and improving your visibility?
By John Alexander