  |
The Seven Deadly Web Site Sins! Does your small business have an "effective web presence?" First off, let me define effective web presence: If your web site is accomplishing it's objective, then it is effective. EXAMPLE: If the objective of your site is to provide technical support to your customer base and you have happy customers, then it is meeting it's objective. However, the number one reason that most small businesses build a web site is to increase company profits by generating new orders. Unfortunately, about 80% of sites with this goal are NOT meeting their objective. Why are they failing? Lots of reasons. Among them are "The Seven Deadly Sins!" In other words, mistakes that can be fatal to your web site. If your site is not meeting it's objective, you may want to print this issue and take the following quiz. WARNING: You may not like what you learn about your site. This quiz is not designed to make you feel bad. It is completely up to you what you do with the results. Read the following questions and answer them honestly. For every Deadly Sin your web site is committing, you get saddled with a point. The object is to keep your score as close to zero as possible. For every YES answer you give, score ONE point. For every NO, score ZERO. (Each question comes with a short explanation of it's relevance and importance. Be sure to consider these facts carefully.) At the end, I'll let you know if your site has a passing grade. SIN #1. Does your site contain LESS THAN 50% FREE, VALUABLE information about your area of expertise? ___ Too many web sites are merely sales letters and nothing more. The best sites offer genuine, quality assistance. Links to other helpful sites do NOT count. The information must come from YOUR company. It is a simple fact online, that businesses who willingly share valuable information with their visitors are more likely to keep people at their site longer and earn repeat visitors. Moreover, if you are trying to sell something, this will earn your potential customer's respect and confidence. SIN #2. Is your site using someone else's domain name? ___ In other words, is the first impression you make, coming across as "www.somefreewebspace.com/user/"? Or is it a more established "www.yourcompany.com". Hey, let's face it, free web sites can be great as an extra way to attract visitors, but if your company won't spring for it's own domain name at $50 a year, many potential customers will think twice before they buy from you. SIN# 3. Is your entry page or home page more than 40K? ___
Some home pages literally take minutes to load! Most people
simply will not wait this long. Here's a prime example of
the importance of this: Recently my own bizweb2000.com home
page grew to over 70K because of too many graphics. A test
at SIN #4. Do you offer your web site visitors only one or two ordering methods and NO secure credit card ordering? ___ This is one of the biggies! Secure credit card ordering is a MUST at every business site. In addition, be sure every page containing a product or service has a link to an order form that can be printed and then mailed, emailed or faxed. That is a minimum of four methods right there. You'd be surprised how many people prefer specific options and will not order if you can't accommodate. SIN #5. Are you failing to offer a free email newsletter or product update to all your web site visitors? ___ An electronic newsletter is a cost effective way to stay in touch with your prospects. It's more effective than a print version because you save on printing and distribution costs. Even if you offer mail catalogs to your visitors, you should be emailing them occasionally. It will keep your site traffic up and increase your business. (Don't ask a million questions when people subscribe either. They may be interested in your e-newsletter but may shy away if they have to reveal too much information about themselves. A lead is a lead. Don't scare them away - they may never be back.) SIN #6. Are there pages within your site that fail to offer a single click to your home page AND to your email address? ___ You'd be surprised how many sites overlook these important factors. When prospects are browsing your site, they need simple navigation and a fast way to ask questions. These two components are a key part of any effective web site. SIN #7. Is your site catering only to users of speedy modems and the most current browsers? ___ Just last week I took down my brand new spiffy "hover buttons" because the Java applets caused problems with folks using Netscape 3.0. If your site is overloaded with large or animated graphics, Java and sound, not only will it lag on slower modems, but some visitors simply will not be able to view it, due to incompatible browsers. If you simply must have the latest technology, be sure to offer "text only" pages for viewers with time constraints or older hardware and software. So how many deadly sins is your site committing? If you scored a 2 or more, YOUR SITE IS FAILING! That's right, answering yes to just two of these deadly sins can be costing your company a bundle of lost revenue. Remember, I didn't write this to upset any small business owners out there. Quite simply, I know from experience why many sites fail, while others flourish. If yours isn't doing so well, time is on your side. Now that you know what it takes to establish an effective web presence, save this quiz and get busy fixing your site one step at a time. I promise you'll be pleasantly surprised with results! Tip by JIM DANIELS of JDD Publishing Company. Home of the tools your small business needs to cash in on the internet: 1.BRAND NEW: JDD Publishing is now offering new Web Hosting Services! Before you even think of joining another web host, come get the facts in this brand new report - http://www.bizweb2000.com/virtual.htm 2. "The Book" - "Insider Internet Marketing" - Come see why we've been featured in publications by Inc. & PC Novice! email insider@infoback.net or go to: http://www.bizweb2000.com/insider.htm 3. Innovative Cybermarketing Software! Come see our newest FREE Download - The Automatic Meta-Tag Creation Tool! http://www.bizweb2000.com/software.htm
|
 |
 |
|
|
Click Here to Email Bob Smith