Website Blueprint

Is Your Website a Sales Funnel?

Posted in February 2010

There’s a really big concept that’s important to get your arms around when it comes to your small business website. Yet, very few small business owners know it (which means there’s a big opening for you). In fact, what’s really wild is that even a majority of website pros, including web designers, web developers, and agencies don’t take advantage of it either.

What is it?

Your website must act as a sales funnel if it is to be a profitable, money-making marketing tool.

There are two types of websites, those that make money and those that don’t. After all, why waste your time with a website unless you’re going to make more money. Understanding the sales funnel concept will help you build your business with the help of your website as a marketing tool.

The website as a sales funnel concept is universal to nearly all small businesses: fitness centers, insurance agents, printing companies, house-cleaning services, funeral homes, and on and on and on.

Once your website is online, it has one primary function as a marketing tool. And that is you want the visitor to take some kind of action. Right? That could be learning something specific, picking up the phone, filling out a form, deciding to visit you, or buying something. Any of those outcomes are good outcomes.

Visit some local small business websites (and even local web designer websites). As you’re browsing, look for four elements that will indicate if that website is just an online business card or a true marketing tool.

These are the essential elements that turn “just a website” into a sales funnel.

1.    Does their website have proper Google SEO elements (including page titles and relevant content)?
2.    Is there a place on every page where visitors can sign up to receive tips and/or company news via email?
3.    Is there a blog or news page that’s updated at least every few weeks with fresh content?
4.    Does it display an icon or link to at least one form of social media?

Once your website is online, or if you already have one and you’re wanting to make it start working for you, be sure that your website have these essential elements that will turn your small business website into a sales funnel.

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Free Google Tools for Small Business Websites

Posted in January 2010

Small business owners need a lot of help creating and maintaining a successful website. Thankfully, Google has some amazing tools out there that are free (many of which I use on my website and most of my client websites).  Start incorporating some of these tools for your small business online presence.

Step one is to get a Google account:

If you have a website domain name for your business, click here to sign up through the free standard Google Apps service. There’s also a $50 a year Premium Apps Service you can get here – I like the paid version because of the availability of phone support. There are also Google Apps options for Educational, Non-Profits, and Government.

If you don’t have a domain name for your business, just get started with a traditional Google account here (you’ll still be able to access their free website tools).

Let’s take a glance at the free Google tools I recommend for nearly all small business websites:

Local Business Center – aka Google Maps (You don’t need a website to appear on Google maps.)
Ever notice when you do a search that a map sometimes appears at the top of the page with local businesses? This is how they get there. You can create a business listing that displays your address/location, a link to your website (if you have one), as well as your phone number, hours of operation, coupons, photos, videos, and more. Very helpful for Google visibility and your SEO (search engine optimization) strategy.

Google Analytics
This is how you get amazing free web stats. After you sign up, you get a piece of HTML code that’s inserted into your web pages. Within days you can have access to insightful reports that give you detailed information on your website traffic and visitors.

Webmaster Central
A great tool that will help improve your site’s visibility online. It can also show you other websites that link to yours, as well as dead links and “pages not found” on your website.

YouTube (yep, Google owns it)
If you want to have video on your website, this is the best way to do it if you want to keep things simple for yourself.

Google Site Search
If you have a larger site, you may want to have a search box on your site so visitors can easily find information.

Feedburner
Without getting too far in the weeds, Feedburner is used to distribute information from your website’s blog (and yes, you should have a blog). See these two articles for more info about blogs: Why Small Business Owners Need a Blog and I Have a Website, How Do I Get a Blog?

AdWords (Advanced Users Only)
Ever notice the “Sponsor Ads” on Google? They’re the ones that are highlighted on the right side (and sometimes top) of search results? These are Google AdWords’ ads. After you’ve maximized your website’s natural/organic/free SEO, you may want to look into buying some Google ads. This can be costly if you don’t know what you’re doing, so get started with the AdWords for Dummies book.

Support Center
Help with all of Google’s services, including SEO (search optimization) tips.

Here are a few non-website related free Google services I use that you may find helpful:

Google Reader
I add sites that I like and Google Reader accumulates those site’s new blog posts that I can access in one place.

Google Voice
If you’re on the road, you can get a central phone number that can route your calls, send you voicemail transcriptions, and more.

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Email Marketing for Small Business Owners

Posted in December 2009

For everything shiny-and-new in the media about social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, the tried-and-true method of email marketing continues to lead the pack of new media advertising alternatives. In fact, Datran Media’s annual survey of Fortune 1000 executives and agencies listed email marketing once again as the strongest performer of new media marketing. And the new “2010 Marketing Trends” survey from StongMail indicates that email marketing leads the list of marketing tactics in which business executives plan to increase spending in 2010.

Both big companies and sole proprietors still count on email marketing as a simple way to stay top-of-mind with prospects and customers. Businesses that utilize email marketing effectively find it one of the most cost-effective solutions to stay close to contacts while increasing sales in the process.

Despite the reality of spam filters and overflowing inbox’s, email marketing is very effective for small business owners ⎯ it’s inexpensive, the people you’re emailing (subscribers) have shown an interest in your product/service, and its ROI remains strong. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing generated an ROI of $43.62 for every dollar spent in 2009.

Effective email marketing always begins with the right service provider. Thankfully, there are many good options these days to choose from; including Constant Contact, Aweber, iContact, MyEmma, and GetResponse, among others. I use Aweber (www.aweber.com) here at Website Blueprint and have no complaints. Their service does everything I need and they have great video tutorials and phone support, which is always important.

Once you have a form on your Web site that connects to your e-marketing service provider, you can begin to put the power of email marketing to work for you. Let’s take a look at some important things to remember so your email marketing is running on all cylinders.

1. You Need a Persuasive Invitation
   Rarely does just having a form on your Web site that says, “Sign-up for our e-Newsletter” produce maximum subscribers (or as I call them, “potential customers”). You need to offer something of value in exchange for a visitor to give you their email address, and that usually means a special report/article relevant to your business with helpful information they would like to read. Another helpful giveaway to include is a coupon or special offer.
2. Don’t Abuse Your Relationship with Subscribers
   Once a potential customer has filled out your web form and given you their email address, pay attention to how often you’re seen in their inbox. I recommend one or twice per month. Anything more may get them thinking about unsubscribing or clicking their spam button. Either way, you’ve lost a potential customer.
3. Don’t Oversell-Be Helpful.
   It’s appropriate to inform your subscribers about an upcoming promotion or sales event, but it’s even more important to provide special tips and advice that makes your business a source of helpful information. You can opt for one sales pitch and one tip each month, or you can include both the sales pitch and a special tip in each of your eblasts. Just make sure you never send two sales-only emails in a row.
4. Understand CAN-SPAM Rules and Regulations
   Don’t use false or misleading header information, no deceptive subject lines and remind recipients how to opt-out of receiving future emails from you. Be sure to get a copy of all the rules and regulations. There’s a link to the complete “CAN-SPAM Compliance Guide” at: www.websiteblueprint.com/can-spam
   
5. Extend Your Brand to Your Email Messages
   The look, feel and content of your email messages should complement the rest of your business and marketing persona. When subscribers receive an email from you, be sure that your brand is recognized in an inbox, just as it is on your Web site or your traditional marketing.
6. Keep Subject Lines Interesting
   Grab your subscribers’ attention in your subject line, otherwise your chance of them opening and reading your email drops dramatically. Avoid hype, and opt for creative or straight-forward subject lines that not only grab attention, but also describe what they can expect from your message.

More potential customers will visit your Web site than will ever pick up the phone or visit your physical location. And in the best-case scenario, they’ll probably only be at your site for a minute. But, by having an email marketing form and a smart offer to get them to sign up, you’ll have an opportunity to stay in touch with those subscribers over-and-over…until one day they become a paying customer. By incorporating email marketing, you’ll give yourself a great opportunity to stay top-of-mind and build your business in the process.

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