Know Your Prospects.

So many people are so concerned about the amount of web site traffic that they are receiving, they want 20 bagillion unique visitors, etc. but they don’t seem to care about the conversion rate on those clicks.  If your web site is getting tons of traffic but you aren’t selling anything, you are probably attracting the wrong audience OR your web site needs some tweaking / redesign. Here are some pointers on getting the RIGHT people to your web site:

* Take the time to listen to your prospects and what they need.  If you sell a product on your web site, offer customers an opportunity to review the product on your site, offer them detailed instructions on how to use the product, offer them other possible uses for the product.  The more you focus on keeping your web site all about your prospects and less on you and your company, the more successful your web site will be.

* Take the time to identify the keywords / key phrases that your prospects are using to visit your web site.  Review and pay attention to your Google Analytics to see where your traffic is coming from and what keywords you could focus your efforts on for ongoing seo.

* Invite your web site visitors to participate in surveys to know and understand what is important to them. Use that data to revise and tweak your web site accordingly.

* Begin a blog and reach out to your prospects.  Discuss issues in your industry, discuss your product plans for next year, discuss possible improvements to your product and let them talk back.

* Start a twitter account and start following industry leaders and your clients.  Interact with them and offer customer service options through your twitter.  Most importantly, engage people, begin discussions, be a leader, start a tribe.

Need help with your Internet Marketing plan? From SEO, to web design to social media, On Target Web Solutions is here to engage your audience.  Call us at 407-830-4550 today for a free no obligation consultation.

You’ll often hear Internet marketers discuss the term conversion rate when it comes to your web site and traffic.  The conversion rate is simply the amount of web site visitors that take the desired action (i.e., fill out contact form or buy something from your store). We all obviously want a high conversion rate for our web site, but time for a reality check: Not everyone visiting your web site is out to buy your products or services, not everyone is there to learn about your new services, not there to price out your latest offerings, etc.

The reality is this: People are nosy, they visit web site after web site, they may be doing research which MAY pan out down the road, they may be your competition scoping you out, they may have just accidentally stumbled upon your web site and decided to linger.  The point I’m trying to make: it’s important to consider conversion rates, but it’s also important to realize that you aren’t getting 100% accurate data. Here’s a great article to consider about the mythical 100% conversion rate.

Do you pay attention to your web site analytics? Does your web site even gather analytics? There are some many businesses out there that don’t have a clue what their web site is doing.

What’s happening behind the scenes?
Do people stick around on your web site?
What pages are they gravitating towards?
What pages do they ignore?
What keywords did they use to get to your web site?
How many people clicked through from Twitter or Facebook this month?

A true Internet marketer lives in their analytics, whether it’s Google Analytics, Awstats, your raw data logs, etc., we must know exactly what’s happening, who is hitting our web site, why they are hitting, how they found it, etc.  If you don’t get analytics reports from your existing web company, it’s time to ask.  If your existing host can’t provide you with analytics, go over to Google, sign up for an account and get the analytics code installed on your web site.  You can then start getting a true picture of what is happening on your site and then start making intelligent decisions about the future course of your marketing efforts.

Need some help interpreting your analytics? Give me a call: 407-830-4550.  My company is all about educating our clients, if you need a hand, don’t hesitate to call or visit our web site: http://www.ontargetwebsolutions.com and learn more about Internet Marketing.

With online video and you tube, it’s easy for any company to crank out a video about their company and get it found in Google or Youtube.  People, being curious, love to watch videos.  One caution before you site down with all of your office and marketing staff to brainstorm about your promotional video: It’s NOT About You.  The video needs to be about what your company can do for your prospects, so, here are some things to avoid:

1.) No one cares about your beautiful new facility in upstate New York.
2.) No one really cares about what the CFO has to say about Q3 earnings and how it impacts the global economy.
3.) No one really cares about the ‘message from the CEO’. Snooze Fest.
4.) No One is that concerned about Jennie your secretary and her views on the production process.

Create your video for your prospects and customers, not you.  Get them to laugh, get them to see the value in what you do, get them to understand, you are different.

Seth Godin wrote an excellent blog article this morning about MSN and it’s new search engine, BING.  BING is scheduled to be launched on June 3rd and is for all intents and purposes, Microsoft’s response to Google.  They have spent 100 million dollars in marketing dollars to PUSH their new message. As Seth points out, now is not the time to PUSH a message about your product, NOW is the time to create something amazing and unique and let people spread the word.

Read Seth’s article here:

I have been looking at some sport fishing boats, drooling, more than looking, but I was interested in one particular model.  I googled the name of the manufacturer and found their web site.  I then found the model I was after and they had a video of the boat! I was excited as I was dying to see the features, the motor, maybe a tour of the instrument panel, etc.  I clicked the video only to see a 10 second movie of a boat in the water driving. No sound, no commentary, no view of the instruments, the motor, etc. What a waste of digital bandwidth.

If you are compelled to use video on your web site, be certain that it DOES SOMETHING and compels people.  Hire a professional company to shoot your company commercial, or invest in a good camera, microphones, etc.  Used with purpose, a video can be a great tool, used just to use a video, it can be aggravating and pointless to the viewer / prospect / boat shopper.

On Target has added an additional FREE Internet Marketing Class to it’s list: We will be offering Internet Marketing 101 on May 20 as well as June 16, 2009.

The Internet marketing classes are FREE, but we do ask that you register online or via phone at 407-830-4550. You can register online for the classes here. Course Description is below:

Internet Marketing is constantly changing as new technology emerges. In this class, we will talk about what Internet Marketing is and why its important; latest trends of Internet marketing and how it can help your company. Learn about Social Networking (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn), SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Google, Web Site Design and more.

Register here : Orlando Internet Marketing Classes or call 407-830-4550. We hope to see you there.

Is your web site remarkable? Is it instilling confidence in people? Is it providing a value that no other web site in your industry is?

On the Internet there are way too many choices, there is way too much competition to throw up a mediocre non remarkable web site.

Provide quality information, provide expert advice and opinion, provide something that no one else in your market does. On the Internet, it is truly about ME. Your web site needs to speak to ME when I need your products or services.

Need help being remarkable? Call On Target Web Solutions at 407-830-4550 today and let’s discuss your online marketing plans.

It never ceases to amaze me how much thought people put into EVERY word of their web site, they hire freelance writers, obsess over this detail or that detail, make countless revisions to the same paragraph, etc.  While we understand why people do this and understand that they want their web site to be perfect, web site owners need to understand this: IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU or Your company. 

The sole purpose of your corporate web site should be to instill confidence in your prospects, offer them educational articles designed to help THEM, offer them EASY ways to contact you, offer them great content if they opt in and ask for it.  Once you start obsessing over what your clients want and not what Bob from the marketing department wants, your web site begins to serve a purpose, serving others.

While this may be a bit off of the Internet marketing and seo circuit, there is some huge relevancy here from Seth Godin’s latest marketing blog article: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/05/can-you-change-everything.html

You can change your company today, you can start listening to audio books in your car, you can reinvent your web site, you could move to Thailand.  What can you do to grow your business online today? Here’s a few quick ideas:

1.) Start a blog and stick to it.
2.) LEARN about social marketing and devise an online plan.
3.) READ other people’s blogs about marketing, Trust, but Verify the information.
4.) BE the expert. Your expertise is what people are hungry for. Share a little.
5.) ENGAGE your peers, competition, etc.