Web SolutiOns

The guy with a 40.9% Click Thru Rate‏

2009-12-22T03:12:00.000-08:00

What Perry Marshal Says.....

When most of us write Google ads, we quickly get stuck in
one or two ruts. We think we're testing 20 different ads but
really we're testing 2 different ads 10 times, only with slightly
different words.

Every time you bust yourself out of one of those ruts, your
checks get FATTER.

Best way to escape the rut: Get a swipe file.

Raiding your swipe file to test new Google ads is the
easiest $1,000-per-hour work I know of.

I've been keeping my own AdWords "Jet Stream" swipe file
for 3 years now. It's so precious, I only give it to
Roundtable Members and folks who come to 4 Man Intensives.

Markus Roman has been building an AdWords swipe file that's
10X bigger than mine, and he's been using more powerful
tools to do it. As a result he's got CTR's of 27.2%, 36.7%,
40.9%.

Killer AdWords ads work because they operate at the
*subconscious* level. They activate hard-wiring in your
brain and they're almost PRIMAL. Markus has primal
Google ads at AdWordsSwipeFile.com.

You should check out his sales page... even if you just do
it to steal some of the ads he's got in his exhibits. He's
got 10 ads on his sales page. His product has 1,000.

Remember: The #1 factor in raising your Quality Score is
still CTR. But you don't have to figure this out all by
yourself. Let Markus' examples culled from billions of
Google searches do the work for you:

http://www.AdWordsSwipeFile.com

I was going to mention.... when I was a young marketing pup,
the first thing my mentors taught me to do was build a
"Swipe File."

Wow, what a geeky concept. Collecting good specimens of
"junk mail."

Being an obedient estudiante, I did. My wife and friends
even started collecting stuff for me. "Perry I saw this an
immediately thought of you."

NICE. Soon I had an entire filing cabinet of letters and
ads!

Now I've got huge folders on my hard drive full of emails
and ads and web pages and all kinds o' cool stuff.

I've now added Markus's ingenious collection to my library.
I suggest you do the same:

http://www.AdWordsSwipeFile.com

Website Design for Customers

2009-12-22T03:07:00.000-08:00

Yes, believe it or not, your website design should not concentrate on what you want or what you would like to see in your website, but it is about what your customers want from your website and its design. You can get website designers to make great looking website for yourself, however you cannot get customers to visit and re-visit your website just because you have got a great looking website or you cannot convert visitors in customers just because you have a great looking website design. Neither do you need a website that offers a lot of functionality if your customers don’t need that functionality. If you are selling flowers, the functionality your customers desire from your website will be different to the functionality available on a tyre manufacturer’s website. So in simple terms you need to develop a website design and functionality that your customers expect from your type of business.

What should I be aiming at?

Even before you go to a see a website designer to undertake website design for your business, I would recommend that you do your fieldwork.

It would be useful to understand:

• Who your audience is: This probably is the most important step before you go and see a website designer to develop a website for your company. You have to understand who your audience is. Try and estimate who are the people who would regularly come to my website?
• What does my audience expect: once you identify your audience, the next step is to understand what your audience expects from your website design? Understanding this will not only help you understand the path you should take with your website design, but will also help you explain your requirement to your website designer.
• What will bring my audience back: An important aspect of a good website design and a successful website is the ability to bring the visitors back. In marketing terms, it is like customer retention. For any business it is important to retain customer loyalty, similarly for any successful website, the ability to bring back your customers is paramount. Customer loyalty leads to increase in traffic. Look at some of the successful websites around you: amazon.com, Youtube, myspace. The success of these websites is an example of the power of customer retention and referrals. If you analyse the website design of these sites, it is fairly simple but it offers its visitors what they need: products and services that matter to their audience.

If you think through the above points, you will realise that a lot of information is already available to you (especially if you are an established business). Your website in many terms is an extension of your physical business. The above mentioned information should be available to you in terms of corporate knowledge. Talk to your sale people, look at your customer files and your sales pattern, try and source information from your suppliers. For a new business, it could include analysing your competitors.

In conclusion, I would remind you that try and understand your market before you undertake any part of website design or website development process. Without knowing your market you won’t be able to communicate your requirement to your website designer. It is important to go through this process before you start website development instead of re-inventing the loop after your have developed your website and realised after one year that you are not getting enough leverage from your web design. At the end of the day you will only achieve from your website design what you tell your website designer.

Article resource: http://www.sigmainfotech.com.au/articles/designforcustomers.html

Error 404 – Conceal It With Humor!

2009-12-04T04:41:00.000-08:00

The message: “Sorry – The requested URL was not found on this server” is the most annoying statement that users encounter while surfing your site. This may be due to the web server’s inability to locate a specific link either because it’s a broken link or because the link address no longer exists.

You can convert the irritability of this error into smile. How? Simply by humoring it up a little. Below I’ve listed some of the funniest 404 errors, tactfully made by webmasters to retain their users smile and not let it turn into a frown. Check em’ out and try spicing up your 404 page with the same trick.

HTML 5 – Are We “REALLY” There Yet?

2009-12-02T02:07:00.000-08:00

It doesn’t seem so, particularly after HTML 5 Editor Ian Hickson’s interview in which he evokes that HTML5 will reach its final stages sometime in 2022, which makes 13 years from now!

I’m doubtful if this is even a real life statement made by its originator or is it just a plain joke to play on the ever-changing world of web. We don’t even know if by 13 years from now the name would still be HTML, least we start talking about its innovation and additional features! I was reading Jeff Croft, and loved the statement where he says: “I care about right fucking now. My clients care about right fucking now. Our users care about right fucking now. The only people that really give a damn about two thousand twenty two are people who write timetables for a living.” The one thing he brings about here is to focus on specs and technologies supported by the browsers real people use, not some upcoming tales that are yet to come!

But this remains a fact that however hard we try to ignore, HTML 5 certainly has something in it for us to talk about. No matter they say it’ll release by 2022, but inside our instincts pinch us that it’ll be out and workable soon. That is why the major browsers like Chrome, Opera, Safari and Firefox already support HTML 5, and many serious designers and developers are anxious to dig in their hands and get the most out of the information available on HTML 5. HTML 5 defines the fifth major revision of the core language of the World Wide Web, HTML. It’s more of an innovation than an invention, and therefore, it shouldn’t take much time to come to the fore.

For me, HTML 5 might turn into one of the most long awaited event in the history of web design! Now should we just wait and watch for the Show time to begin, or should we try and bring the change now rather than waiting for all these years? What have you to say? Please leave in your valuable feedback.

Hottest Web Marketing Tools You Can Ever Find!

2009-12-01T01:11:00.000-08:00

If you have a brand new website designed and developed that you have to market from scratch, these tools will help you a GREAT deal. From basic tools as reviewing your website to complex tools as optimizing your website for social media, you’ll find all kinds of tools in this article. Now you don’t have to go anywhere, as these tools are a complete package for your entire web marketing campaign.

Search Engine Optimization Tools:

• Website analysis tools: SeoQuake, Foxy SEO Tool, WebPosition. These tools are Firefox add-ons and are extremely workable.
• Keyword research tools: Free tools like Google Adword Keyword Tool and Wordstream Free Keyword Tool or paid tools like WordTracker or Keyword Discovery
• Content analysis tool: I Business Promoter
• Link building tool: WebCEO link building

PPC Management Tools:

• Manage your PPC campaign through the “PPC Management” Firefox add on. You can download it from here and also understand its complete working.
• To reduce PPC click fraud, Click Forensics can help a lot.
PPC Management Tip: integrate your identified keywords in your entire PPC Campaign. Add keywords in Headline, Description Area, PPC URL, and on landing page of the advertisement.

Social Media Marketing Tools:

Here is a complete list of Social Media Tools. But to simplify it for you, I’ve picked up a handful of main social media optimization tools below:
• Social Networks: LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Tagged, Hi5, Ning, Flixster to start with.
• Social Bookmarking: del.icio.us, digg, reddit, StumbleUpon are some renowned and effective ones. You can find more social bookmarking sites here.
• Blogs: Wordpress and Blogger.
• Micro Blogging: Twitter Microblogging.
• Wikis: List of Wikis.
• Forums: Digital Point, Webmaster Talk, Sitepoint are some major forums.
• Email Newsletters Marketing: Constant Contact, which helps you generate professional looking emails for clients, and you can effectively carry out and manage your entire email marketing and newsletters campaign.

Use these trial and tested tools, and I’m sure you’ll be happy with the results. And don’t forget to leave in your feedback and comments.

Website Templates – The Benefits

2009-11-20T02:15:00.000-08:00

Here I’ve listed some potential benefits involved in using web templates. If you’re confused on whether you should hire an expensive web designer to build you a website, or simply go for a free web template, these benefits will surely make your decision easier. See if it helps!

· Cost benefit: admit it, getting a full fledge website designed from the scratch costs thousands! And especially for newly established businesses, this much amount is either not available or too risky an investment to make. So if you’re looking to establish your business website within the strict budget restrictions, you better not miss out on ready-made free web templates.

· No technicalities involved: if you have limited knowledge of software and its functionality, using a template is by far the easiest way for you to get started. All you have to do is download the template that seem best to you and start working on it.

· Wide choice: you can find a variety of web templates on the web, so it’s really not difficult to find the one of your own choice. It’s not like you’ll have a limited choice of templates and you’ll be forced to choose from it, instead there are hundreds and thousands available on the web.

· Easily customizable: another good thing about using web template is that you don’t have to accept it the way you find it. In simple words, you can choose a template that suits the kind of layout you want for your website, and then drastically personalize it to your requirements. You can change its colors and fonts to match your logo and brand identity, add content and images of your choice, and even modify the layout if you prefer.

· Convenience: if you have a website already done by some web designers and developers, you must know how irritating it is to run after them. Missing deadlines, high budget, and constant confusions in their interpretation of what you want may drive a normal person insane. So save your money and mind, and choose the ease of using a web template.

We all know that presenting a professional looking website to the world greatly increases your credibility, which will in return increase your sales. So don’t take a chance on your time, money and professional look – get a free website template today.

Website Design – Little Things That Matter, But You Miss Out!

2009-11-19T04:44:00.000-08:00

Putting up your website on the internet may expose your business to a large audience base, but it also means you’ve stepped into a tough and vast market competition if you wish to make that audience your long term customers. The solution to win this battle lies in crafting such a web design that instantly appeals every visitor landing on your website. Offering perfect services to your visitors and having valuable content on your website will remain worthless unless you boost them up with a stunning web design.

If you happen to be a logical person, you must also know how important a design means to your website. But you may not know that there are many little things that you may overlook in all the “I want a good design” hype - and end up having a not-so-good design for you users.

How to identify these little details? Here I’ve listed a few things related to a website design that never go unnoticed by visitors…so why should they be missed by YOU! Read along and make your website design a knock-out.

What’s the website about?

A failed website is the one that gives your visitor a feeling of “what is their business anyway?” or “how may I contact these guys?” Your visitor should instantly know what you are offering when they arrive at your website, and this is exactly what’s going to earn you some credibility in their eyes. If these basic elements are missing from your website, you seriously need to whack up your web designer!

What’s In It For Them?

Honestly speaking, users have no interest in what YOU are, as they have their OWN problems that need solutions. If your website succeeds to provide them the solution they are looking for, half of your problems are solved. The “you” element can be boasted in a separate “About Us” page of the site, which is yours in every way to use and the interested visitors can view if they really want to know about you and your successes.

Where’s the search option?

Do you have a search option on your website? No? Well you better be kidding me. Normally a user does not have enough time to click on every link to reach their desired destination, and seek the help of search options within the websites. If you don’t have one, you’ll be missing on a great deal of customers landing on your website.

I’m pretty darn lost :(

Keep the navigation (link structure) very very clear, simple and intuitive. Don’t mess up your visitor with complex navigation because if they don’t find something easily, they have every right to dump your website and move on to another.

Why isn’t it loading?

Extensive loading time is the biggest turn-off you can give to your visitors, and I’ve witnessed many wonderful sites suffer because of this very aspect. If you keep those flashy images to the minimum, you’re done sorting this issue for good.

Keep these few tips in mind, and I’m sure your customers will be much more satisfied with your website design, and you’ll be able to gain more credibility among your potential visitors. After all, it’s the people that matter the most!