Websites Under Your Control Blog

Google is about to roll out one of the biggest group of changes in its history -- and it will affect how millions of websites show up in Google search results.

(If you want to impress people at the next networking meeting, just tell them you are preparing for Google's plans to incorporate semantic search algorithms in the very near future.)

In short, Google will be trying to answer the user's questions in the same way a human might -- understanding that informative pages that address the topic are far more valuable to the searcher than a page full of keywords.

Here is the short version about how to prepare for the new search engine changes:

1. Don’t dwell on keywords. Google’s next algorithms will not concentrate on keywords, but on the meaning of those words. That means you can use synonyms instead of the same old dreary, overused keywords. That will make your website more enjoyable to read. It won’t seem as redundant. People won’t cringe every time they see an overused keyword, and you won't need to try and cover every separate entry in the thesaurus.
2. Set up an FAQ page. Google says their new system will place more importance on finding answers to specific questions. By setting up a FAQ page, your content will naturally address the questions you include, and thus contain exactly what Google is looking for to satisfy users seeking info on related topics.
3. Use your website to inform, not sell. With Google seeking to provide informative responses, pages written to educate your potential customers will score higher than pages written to push products and services.

Get the idea? Put yourself in the mindset that someone just asked you about (insert likely search phrase here), and then write your pages and FAQs the same way you would answer that person.

These changes will benefit those that switch to the new style of thinking quickly. The sooner you get your house in order, the sooner the changes will pay off for you.

If you need help, contact us right away.

"Quick Response Codes" -- commonly known as "QR Codes" have become popular ways for letting smartphone users get to a web page quickly and without keying in the web address.

These images are showing up on real estate signs as a way for people to view a listing and virtual tour online, in magazine ads to get people to a page with product details and perhaps a coupon, and even business cards and name tags.

Want a QR Code quick? Here's how: 

1. Go to goo.gl
2. Enter the web address where you want to send visitors
3. Click on "Details" for that address
4. Right-click to save the resulting QR Code

It shouldn't take more than 30 seconds... watch this (silent) video demo that just takes 25 seconds...

Getting website visitors to
actually do something

We talked earlier about how ineffective it is to get someone to come visit, and then make them do detective work to find what they are looking for. 

Any link to your site from any other site on the Internet should point directly to a custom page -- these are called landing pages.

Why is this important?

Your advertising Return on Investment (ROI) will be highest if you deliver exactly what was promised in the topic of the link when someone clicks on those external links.

It's not enough to merely lure people to your home page through pay-per-click ads, e-mail campaigns, social media marketing or ads on TV, radio or print. What are they supposed to do when they get there? Start searching?

No, you want them to take action.

A landing page should result in new customers. It should provoke action from the visitor, such as giving their contact data, having them sign up for a special offer or encouraging them to make a purchase. 

To maximize your landing page's effectiveness, follow these tips.

• Use an obvious call to action. Don't make visitors read several pages of text. Keep it simple. Use large type with clear instructions. Put the directions in a box with lots of white space around it. Use graphics to direct attention to your call to action. Be sure to detail what will happen when they fill out your form.
• Don't mince words. Say what you mean. If you're having a sale on glass widgets, use a headline like "Huge Savings on Glass Widgets!" Use a subhead to further support the headline like "Lowest prices on glass widgets in the USA!" Then briefly explain the sale.
• Don't give the visitor too many options. Don't put links to other sites or other offers, and minimize the links to other pages on your own site. Concentrate on the main offer. After the visitor acts on your offer, then forward them back to your website so they can completely check out your site. Limit any distractions on your page. Dedicate your landing page to your call to action.
• Don't overwhelm the visitor with too many words or images. Keep images small so they load quickly. Don't advertise or self-promote on your landing page--only use text that encourages action on their part. Reduce the distractions as much as possible.
• Be sure your landing page says what the prospects are expecting. Don't bait and switch. If you lured them there with an ad for glass widgets, don't try to get them to buy stainless steel widgets instead.
• Add reviews or recommendations that will make your clients feel secure when they respond to your call to action. If you are associated with any well-known organizations or companies, use their logos to create trust.
• Implement a tie-in with social media like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. These sites can increase the number of visitors exponentially. (Here is how we suggest you do this...)
• Keep your forms short and simple. Don't ask for anything you'd be reluctant to offer to a stranger. If you're making a sale, emphasize that your site is safe and you use encrypted data transfer. Add a feeling of urgency to the offer. Don't forget to offer a guarantee of satisfaction so visitors feel safe spending their money.

The main thing to remember is that people will be more likely to follow through on your offer if your landing page makes it easy for them. The fewer hoops they have to jump through, the more people will jump.

Wonder where we have been since mid-Summer? 

In late July, we embarked on a joint effort with one of our clients - an advertising agency (Propaganda Methodology). In the new arrangement, all the sales, support, and admin for both firms ran through a shared team of people, and we stayed in the background, doing the website stuff.

It's been a wild ride. Not surprisingly, sometimes bigger, newer agency projects came in and pulled us away from our core business. At the same time, since agency staff were handling sales and support, we almost never spent time with the clients, and didn't even meet them in many cases.

Our new arrangement added layers of people and processes between us and our customers — and while it worked for a few clients, it didn't work for many. We realized we had lost something — we weren't nimble anymore.

And that just didn't sit right. Our success grew the way it did because we could provide a high-quality website at a good value, we had a good understanding of our clients' businesses and goals, and when you wanted to talk to Bill or Kim, you got us right away.

So we and the ad agency decided to change back to where we were before. We still have a great relationship with the folks at Propaganda. We will still provide web services to them, as a vendor, and they will still provide the other ad agency services if we need them, so all the same talent is available to all our clients.

But by returning to two separate businesses instead of trying to operate as one, we can better control the customer service that our clients receive, and we can have a much better understanding of our clients' needs when we work directly with them before ever starting a project.

We were pleased to receive the opportunity to grow our business to something new. But we are also satisfied now — with our decision to return to what we do best, once we realized that the new arrangement wasn't working the way we had hoped.

We're back now, and more nimble than ever!

Google has recently started testing a way for their users to vote for search results they like, either from the search results page or from the page itself. 

They call it the "+1" -- see www.google.com/+1 for more information from Google.

When someone with a Google account is logged in (and most people with such accounts just stay logged in all the time), they will see a faint icon next to some* of the results, and a slightly more obvious icon when they hover over the result with their mouse.

If the Google user clicks on the icon, they will be endorsing that web page.

* - Why only some of the results? Owners of websites who want to participate will have to add a snippet of code to their websites. They also have the option to add the clickable icon to their website.

Want this for your website? Google tells you what needs to be done -- see the short version or the detailed description. If you are comfortable editing the HTML of your website, you can do it yourself.  (If you are one of our Online Business Partner users, just go to the "tracking code" content holder, click "HTML", and add the snippet before or after anything that is already there.)  Otherwise, check with your webmaster.

Imagine you pick up the phone, call the listed phone number, and ask to order the "special" being advertised.

From the other end of the line, you hear a salesman rattle on about the history of the company, how great the team is, that they are members of the association of blah blah blah blah blah blah...

You have certainly tuned out by now, and only politeness keeps you from hanging up without another word.

Imagine you are the business owner, and hear your sales people turning away business that way? (And you pay them to do that?!)

Chances are, that's exactly what you are doing with the most promising visitors to your website!

Say what?

Someone who has never heard of you, but is looking for exactly what you offer, hears about you from some source of their own. Maybe it is Facebook, a professional association website, a Google ad, or the website of a related business.

They click on the link... and see all that blah blah blah blah blah blah.

You have just wasted all the effort in getting those links and building those pages.

Instead, try this...

Every link to your website that you control should point directly to a custom page that talks directly to the topic of the link.

• If the link is on the site of one of your suppliers, the page should talk about how you do what you do, with that supplier's products.
• If the link is about you as a supplier of widget adjustments, have it go to a page about your widget adjustment services.
• If it is a link from the Chamber of Commerce, let the page talk about specials you provide for Chamber members.

You get the idea. When someone clicks on a link and goes to your website, their first reaction should be, "This is exactly what I was looking for!"

And it's really easy...

If you are using our Online Business Partner^® service, just log in and find the current page on your site that most closely matches the interests of those prospects who would likely click to get more information, then select "Copy This Web Page". On the copy, revise the title, headlines, and text to focus precisely on the topic. Save this new page, and provide the link to it to those who will be linking back to your site. Repeat as necessary for other topics and link sources. (No need to add this new page to your navigation menu if you don't want. The automatic sitemap updates will inform search engines of your new page.)

Next issue... optimizing these "landing pages" for best results.

While it’s true that a picture may be worth a thousand words, your website can’t be only graphics. You need the right well-written text to deliver your message.

In fact, the best looking site won’t be the best-performing site on the web, unless you have solid content that reaches your audience and propels them to action.

You want your site to entertain or educate, but not at the cost of sales.

Here are several tips that will punch up your text, making it easier to read and understand.

• Rather than writing in long paragraphs, use bulleted lists. Visitors to your site may get put off by the sight of long paragraphs, and they won't read them. The only person likely to wade through a white paper on your background is your mom.
• Keep each topic focused. It’s better to have one page on shipping and one on receiving than a combined page on shipping and receiving. That way, your visitors can read the only the parts they need. (It is better for your search engine results, too.)
• Use subheads. Subheads make the text look nicer and give it a more organized feel. Readers can go right to the part that interests them.
• Avoid bragging or hyperbole. Save that for the ads. Your website should be an objective take on your services. Make it a gentle read.
• Don’t try to "stuff" your content with keywords. Search engines are too sophisticated to fall for that old trick. It’s better for you to have well-written content that delivers to your audience. That way your visitors will get your message completely, and take action.

If you don’t feel qualified or don't have time, hire a pro--like ours. We have a ghostwriter in captivity who is ready to write some great content for your website. And if you need a newsletter, press release or blog article, our writer will compose it quickly and well.

It can be humorous, instructional or informative. You can have one article written or one every week or month. The more work we give this guy, the less noise he makes.

Hiring a professional writer is a good idea if you don’t feel like dusting off the old English 101 textbook, or you'd rather be on the golf course in the little free time you have.

But whether you write your own content or hire a ghostwriter, follow the above steps to make your website more readable, more persuasive and more frequently read.

Unless web geeks are your best customers, keep it simple, avoid the costly flashy stuff, and never, ever, have a starting page that says "click to skip intro." And write for your customers, not your own ego!

One of our oft-repeated messages to our clients is, focus your web site toward those people and businesses you feel are most likely to become your best customers.

Some want a website that tries to be all things to all people. That may sound like it would get more potential business, but you are diluting your appeal to your best prospects, and inviting time-wasting inquiries you don't want from people you can't help.

You are also dramatically weakening your Google appeal.

If you have a site that proclaims "anything for dogs" but you only sell jackets for dachshunds, you’re going to compete with a vast number of other sites for Google ranking.

Great Dane owners will find nothing to buy, and  your best customers will probably never find your site.

However, if you aim your site specifically toward wiener-dog owners, you’ll be more likely to get prominent Google ranking, even without any other special efforts.

But there's more to life than Google...

How much time do you want to spend with the wrong people? How about, precisely zero?

So in addition to what you say, make sure that you keep your best prospects in mind when you decide how you say it.

By way of example, since you are already here, look around our new website  (update long overdue, but you know about the shoemaker's children...)

Rather than design a garish, overblown site with fireworks and an organ grinder just to prove we can, we designed it as we would for any of our customers. We kept it simple, easy on the eyes, and informative.

Our decision to keep the tone light was based on our own personalities, plus our preference to work with people who think like we do. We want to inform, not preach. We’d rather joke than complain.

This is who we are, not who we want you to think we are.

We think a web site should be individual and personalized. It doesn’t have to scream to be heard.

Sometimes people listen more closely when you whisper.

Need help? That's what we are here for.

Interested in being at the top of Google when your local customers search for what you offer?

Here, we typed "home cleaning frisco" into Google, and were presented with listings with a map, labeled "Local business results," showing nearby services.

Google's local search results -- which happen automatically when Google detects that people are searching for something in a specific geographical area -- will display the closest matches on a map on the first page, before even the top-ranked "organic" search results.

Where do they get these matches?  Google gathers all sorts of information to populate this portion of their search results, and they may already have your business listed. Business owners can also list their businesses.

Whether you are listed or not, go to Google's local business update page and add or update your information. There, you will be able to add your contact and business details, links to your website, a description, images, videos, key words, categories in which you want to be listed, and much more.

You will have to do this yourself, because Google will "robo-call" your listed phone number to verify it is really you making the updates, but it is easy.

The best part?  It's free! No need to pay anyone, since all you do is fill out a form, and you are done.

Two weeks ago, we wrote about the benefits of writing something interesting to your customers and then using social media such as Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter to alert your customers and friends, and their networks, to your new interesting information.

The key word is "interesting."
Think WIIFM.

If you broadcast something via email or social media that your audience finds useful, then your message will be welcome.

If you aren't sure, measure your response.

If you send something with a coupon or special offer, are a reasonable number of coupons being redeemed?

If you send a teaser to a blog post containing a useful tip, do you see a reasonable amount of new traffic to your blog post?

If you just send news, a thought to ponder, event reminders, or even just something that makes your current and future customers laugh, do you get positive feedback?

If you send occasional messages informing your audience about a new offering, that's fine too.

But if all you send are messages saying little more than "hey look at me" then you are spamming. 

If no one says they are glad you sent those messages (and you really wouldn't expect them to), we suggest you are sending the wrong messages.    

Spamming your customers and prospects will only get you blocked, "unfriended," or at best ignored.