Tue_Feb_12_15:00:08_PST_2019

74 crucial to earnings, then you may want to use a fixed width design to better control the ad integration into the site. When you design for different types of users, you not only avoid offending these people, but you also are given extra consideration since you are one of the few who addressed their needs. Placing text in an image is typically a bad idea since it may appear illegible (or overly large) when the user sees the page on a platform different than the one on which it was designed. Think of search engines as visitors with exceptionally poor vision— they cannot read the text in images. Consistent Site Design People expect to see things in certain places. The upper left corner usually has a logo and a link to your home page. (Oftentimes the logo is the link.) Search is either right beneath it or in the upper right-hand corner. Remember, people like to feel comfortable. The most successful ideas are usually just re-packaged successful ideas from the past. Clear navigation also makes it easier for the user to develop comfort and go where you want him to go. Even if you try something risky, at least be consistent with it from page to page. Site-Level Search There are hoards of people who love to search for information. It is well worth it to include a small search box on every page if you have a larger content website. If you do not know anything about dynamic coding, you can get a third party search engine from Atomz, FreeFind, or Google. Many popular content management and blog software providers also have free built-in site-level search. On small sites you should not have a site-level search, as many of the searches will fail to find the desired information and frustrate the searcher. It is far easier to actively guide site visitors than to let them enter random text in a search box. On top of helping visitors navigate your site, a site-level search can also help you find out what terms and ideas your visitors are interested in that your site may not yet have content about. You can create content around their needs and use these terms for refining your pay-per-click keywords. With large sites, especially large forums, it may be helpful to highlight the search terms on the page if site visitors arrived from a search engine. Use Standards Where Applicable People know "blue underline" means "hyperlink." Whenever possible, it is a good idea to follow standards. Sometimes deviations may be necessary for site design, Many sites fail because they do not create substantial value and appeal prior to trying to extract profits. Many non-commercial sites make greater profits than commercial sites because it is far easier and cheaper to build links into non-commercial sites.

Tue_Feb_12_13:00:08_PST_2019

72 I drove off to find another gas station. I then realized there were no other close gas stations. I went back. I almost got into a wreck on my way back to the gas station. Now I was enraged. I arrived at the gas station and waited in line again. The car in front of me would not back up to let the person who just finished pumping, out. I had to wait until the van on the other side was done. I then had to wait for the guy who would not move to finish. Negative Advertising I was finally ready to pump my gas. I tried to use my credit card, but after about a minute of processing, a warning flashed up at me: "Please See Cashier…System Down." On the pump it stated "pump then pay." So I tried to pump. It did not work. I went inside and asked the cashier what was up. While snacking on his food he said, "(crunch) Sorry, I had not got around to turning your pump on yet." Mind you it said pump THEN pay. I had been trying for a few minutes at this point. I went back outside and pumped my gas. I left vowing never again to visit that gas station. It was a Mobile in Mystic, Connecticut (just off the interstate), and I still vividly remember the sign in my head as well as the cashier who was snacking while he should have authorized my pump. If That Gas Station was a Web site What was the point of that tangent about a gas station? It took longer to tell the story than it will take to make my point. I was reading Designing Web Usability by Jakob Nielsen about the same time I had that bad day, and this nugget of truth came to me—there is no page that is so important that I cannot go elsewhere. If that gas station was a website, I would have left. Many people find your website through search engines. Other sites may link to your inner pages. There is no way to tell where traffic will come from. I never see the shopping cart on many sites because they make it a challenge just to get there. I have abandoned many shopping carts. Most websites have miserable usability. I must admit some of my sites needs some work in this area too…it is one of the most neglected aspects of web design. Web Example This comes from a usability/design example story found on page 69 of Taking Your Talent to the Web by Jeffrey Zeldman. I left my baby daughter in the car while I went to buy dope. Then I drove away. I'd gone about five blocks when I realized my daughter wasn't in the car anymore.

Tue_Feb_12_12:00:07_PST_2019

71 If you write too broadly, or try to make too many people happy, then your ideal prospects will not convert as well, as they may become disinterested or offended by attempts to write to less-targeted prospects. The lower quality prospects are going to convert poorly no matter what you do. The reason many hyper-focused sales letters are still a mile long is because the people who are most interested in the topic are more inclined to want to keep reading. I did SEO for a customer where we increased his monthly sales from $3,000 to around 2,000. I then tuned his page copy for his ideal client. With the same marketing spend and same rankings, we increased his sales from 2,000 to over $40,000. Even better yet, he was making greater profit from fewer customers by targeting the larger spenders. Sales Letters Some websites are exceptionally transparent in that you can tell they are all about making as much money as possible. By reading through the sales letters of various written-to-sell websites, you can see some of the tricks they use to sell. A hard sell does not make sense for all people (and may offend some of your customers), but I could probably increase my income by about 50% if my sales letter was harder selling. Sometimes it is a bit hard to balance profitability and being easy to link to. Clarity is Key Many organizations aim to manipulate language to make it lose its meaning. If you are small, one of the biggest advantages you have over competitors is that you can put yourself into your brand and ensure that your writing is clear and easy to understand. Since you have fewer stakeholders, it is easier for your writing to more clearly represent your thoughts. Usability Real Life Example Memorial Day weekend of 2003. I decided to take a risk. I drove my car until the gas was just about gone. The engine was sputtering when I pulled off at a gas station near no others and went to fill up. I pulled up to the first pump and it had a "credit cards do not work" sign on it. I went in to pay cash and the cashier explained it was full service. There was no service man out there. I got rather angry seeing the long line of cars waiting to use the few pumps that worked.

Tue_Feb_12_11:00:07_PST_2019

70 Quality content is conceptually unique content that people would want to read and link at. If you want people to pay attention to you it is important that your create content that is conceptually unique. The following article by Sugarrae explores this topic more in depth: http://www.sugarrae.com/permalink/when-unique-content-is-not-unique/ Writing Ideas to Spread Rather than being so focused on search that you try to match keywords, you can also market certain ideas with the intent to spread. By writing a headline that is juicy, intriguing, or controversial, you stand a much better idea of seeing that idea spread. Search engines follow people. If you spread good ideas then search engines will trust you. Brian Clark's CopyBlogger offers great headline tips in his post titled "Magnetic Headlines" at http://www.copyblogger.com/magnetic-headlines/. Multiple Customer Types I need some people to want to buy my e-book. "Buy my stuff" is not an easy message to spread though. I also need other people to link to my site. Just like I need to sell my e-book to have a business model, I also need to give others a reason why they would want to link to my site because that will market my book. Working From Your Strengths I am typically a bit goofy in the things I say or do. It is why I have created many funny or fun-type websites. It is far easier to be myself than to pull off some sort of act. I am not the best copywriter, and I do not write the best sales letter pages. If you read the 33 Days to Online Profits e-book that comes as a bonus, it will include lots of content about copywriting. Many of the links are not worth buying from for most people. Much of his information in his report about search engines is inadequate or incorrect. However, I still note this document because it shows some copywriting techniques that may be helpful. You only need to be great at one thing to be extremely successful on the web. Yanik Silver is good at selling people stuff with compelling copywriting. I do not suggest that you buy most of the stuff he links to in 33 Days to Online Profits, but I do recommend you glance at how he writes copy. Write Content to Target the Ideal Prospect When you write content, you do not want to create something that makes everyone happy. You want to write to the ideal target customer because your writing will have the greatest effect on the people you are trying to target.

Tue_Feb_12_09:00:10_PST_2019

69 GapingVoid.com is a weblog (some might find offensive for cursing and being blunt), but it talks about creating smarter conversations, and I find his cartoons and copy refreshing for their bluntness. You can get away without being the best copywriter if you are honest. Rapid Feedback Loops Blogs and websites such as Epinions and Planet Feedback make it easy for customers to see what others have to say about you. Google Groups, Yahoo! Groups, and MSN Groups are additional havens for complaints. A large portion of the value of the Amazon experience is user reviews and the "X people recommended blah instead of this" area. People have told me they have bought my book due to it being mentioned on book lists on Amazon. Just be honest. If you are not the best, work to improve! Work from your strengths and focus on something you are the best at. You should also occasionally look and see what others have to say about your service by checking search results. If you solve problems and turn complainers into happy customers, you lower your marketing costs. Customer interaction should be personal, not corporate-speak driven. Sometimes you will fall short (as I have many times), but honesty goes a long way. If you find your way into the conversation and are human about it, you curb the rants and may even spur on a few people who believe in you. An amazing book on how markets are conversations is called The ClueTrain Manifesto by Christopher Locke, Rick Levine, Doc Searls, David Weinberger (ClueTrain is available free online). Quality Content Lots of people will tell you to create lots of quality content without ever giving a legitimate definition of what quality content is. The web is a big social network, and the trick is to get your messages to spread further and faster than your competitors. Usually, creating more pages does not do this as well as creating a better idea. The Web was designed to save people time or give away useful information. The closer you can align a portion of your business model or website with those concepts, the better chance you have at achieving extreme success. While many SEOs hold back their secrets so they can profit from them, I give this e-book free to charities and post most of what I learn to my blog. I not only help people, but my syndicated network grows. I have been found by prospective customers from word-of-mouth in forums I have never heard of. One day I got a thank you e-mail from a person from a religious forum and about ten minutes later got a thank you from a person from a pornography forum. What is Quality Content?

Tue_Feb_12_08:00:07_PST_2019

68 Sell Upward McDonald's asks, "would you like fries with that?" Most major corporations know it is easier to sell again to a person than it is to find a new prospect. After a person contacts you or orders something, send them to a thank you page. Give them small free gifts, strengthen their bond with you, make them feel good about their decision, or try to sell them something else. It does not need to bring in money to be a gain. If they subscribe to your mailing list, you have increased your exposure FREE. Consider giving them options to read other journals that cross promote you. Or, you could reference affiliated companies. These links can hold discounts that appear as gifts, when in actuality, they make you money. I recently purchased ink cartridges and got 5% off for adding their site to my favorites list. It is much cheaper to give me 5% off than to try to find me again later. The possibilities are endless. Focus on the User The user focus must be on benefits offered to them. Writing the word you instead of we is a must. The simpler and easier it is for users to see benefits from an action, the better off they are and the more conversions you make. Some techies might like features, but to general audiences it is usually best to rank your priorities in the following manner: 1. Audience 2. Benefits 3. Features (if you are selling to a techie audience they may want the features before the benefits). Make it a Conversation All the above tips pale in comparison to the following tip: • Write in a conversational tone, as a person, not a company. Fake fluffery does not go well on the web. People can smell it a mile away. Since the Web started as a non-commercial entity, there are certain etiquettes (or netiquettes) that dictate how we should act. When we go outside these basic ideas, we not only avoid conversion, but also are likely to offend our readers. Many of the people who have bought this e-book told me they bought it because I sounded honest and real. Some of my blog posts are somewhat random, personal, or humorous, and some people like that.

Tue_Feb_12_07:00:07_PST_2019

67 Include a Call to Action Many beautiful websites have no call to action. It is a great idea to guide the user. Some people use flashing text, excessive red coloring or highlighting, or other over-the-top techniques that distract the user away from what you want them to do. Sales pages may want to play off of the emotions certain colors bring out, but with informational or general product pages, the focus should be on ease of use. I recommend avoiding using random misplaced bright colors on most web pages; instead, make it obvious what action you want the user to take. The one exceptionally large blue button on the page… The one that is centered inline in the content area…that's it, that's what I want you to do. Users should be able to do the action you want them to without even thinking! Both The Big Red Fez by Seth Godin and Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug are books largely devoted to this simple concept. Page Layout Error Even if you keep the sales copy exactly the same, trying a slightly different page layout can result in a tremendous increase in profitability. For example, when I first started the SEO Book site, I only promoted this e-book off to the side. I switched to promoting this e-book on every page right below the page content posts and overnight the sales more than tripled. Another good example of how page layout can really make a difference in a web campaign is Howard Dean's presidential campaign. During Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign, they used their blog to cast a vote on whether or not their campaign should accept matching funds. After people voted, they were sent to a ramthoughtsing page. The first day saw 100,000 voters and raised $248,000. They looked at the vote return ramthoughtsing page and noticed that the donate button was at the bottom of the page. They moved it to the top of the page. On the second day, another 100,000 people voted, but they raised $4,500,000. Make it Flow Small sentences and paragraphs with common words make writing flow easily. In addition, you can make the text easy on the eyes by setting a line height (the area of a line of text and the space above or below it) to at least 120% of the text height, and by using the maximum contrast between your text and background. Since you have no sales person on your site, the text is the sales person. It needs to answer questions and arouse appeal toward your products.