Dramatically Increase your Sales with Sites, Search & Social

Harness the power of the internet :

Make Sure Your WebsiteDoesn’t Suck

Tap into the opportunity…

● There are hundreds of people searching for what you sell online, everyday.

● Your website is open 24/7 and can become your hardest working salesperson

● Your website is either working for you or against you

What could my website be doing for me?

● Show up when users search for what you sell● Increase your credibility by displaying

endorsements, experience, skill, education, awards● Capture prospect information and generate leads

and sales

Hello!

Thanks for checking out my ebook. I've included all the information you'll need to ensure your website is a hardworking part of your business.

If you find this valuable, feel free to share it with your network,

And if you need some help making sure your website doesn’t suck, I’d be happy to discuss working together.. Sincerely, Laurel Lindsay

President and Internet Marketing ConsultantThe New Media Group Inc.

www.thenewmediagroup.ca

Let`s connect! Follow me on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIN:

Website Do’s: 11 points for a successful site

❏ Make it easy to use- Make it very clear where you are in the website and how to navigate elsewhere

❏ Make it easy to read- skip the fancy fonts, or light text on a dark background

❏ Make it easy to contact you- each page should have your contact information

❏ Ask for what you want- people to contact you, sign up, buy now etc.

❏ Show proof- testimonials, case studies, portfolio, pictures etc. Show that you do good work for real people.

❏ Social Media Links- consumers expect to be able to reach you this way. Provide the ability to continue the conversation

❏ Capture Information- trade email addresses via an ethical bribe ie: a free ebook. Then you can market to them in the future.

❏ Stand out- Share what’s unique about you vs your competition.

❏ Compatible- Make sure your site works on multiple web browsers and on mobile devices.

❏ Media- Images and Video are better than text for telling your story. They also capture attention faster and better.

❏ Build Trust- Showcase logos of associations you’re affiliated and endorsed by. Or show real pictures of real people that work with you.

Are you taking advantage of what your website can do for you? Check out these 5 things your site can do for you.

5 reasons why your website is your most valuable marketing tool

1 Credibility:Often, people will type your business name into Google before or after they interact with your company.

If they can’t find a website, or worse, find one that’s poorly maintained or outdated, it reflects badly on your business.

Sales Tool:By displaying all the information a prospective customer would need to know about your business, your site is selling for you..

Here is where, 24/7, you can educate your customers on how you can help them solve their problems, what services you offer and why they should choose you.

Measurable: Because you can access information and statistics about your website visitors, you can also use your site as a tool to measure other marketing efforts that send traffic to your website.

Now you can know for sure which marketing dollars are working.

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4 Adaptable and affordable:

Things can change quickly in business and print materials and ads are expensive and time consuming to update.

Your website can be modified quickly and affordably, in fact, today’s technology even allows for most non technical people to update their websites themselves.

In fact, you can grow your website in an almost unlimited capacity for no additional charge.

Acknowledging the change in consumer behavior.

If you can make it easy for your customers to buy from you, they will be much more likely to.

Studies have shown that the use of the internet in consumers is only growing and is expected to continue.

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Website Don'ts: The 11 worst website mistakes:

75% of Americans take their mobile devices to the washroom- SlickText.com“ ”

Mobile compatibility

1. Hard to navigate- make sure your site is easy to use- the menu is the same on every page and it`s easy to go back to where you were.

2. Loads slowly- you have 3-5 seconds to deliver before your visitors are gone.

3. Links that take you away from the site- all links should open in a new window so you still have the site open

4. Fancy fonts - they’re hard to read- stick with Arial 11 or so5. Too much text- even if you do have a lot of text, try to

break it up into pieces. Short sentences work best.6. Flash animation or any intro page- this is very old

technology and turns people off.7. Auto play-videos or music that start playing very loudly as

soon as you open the site- most people hate this sort of thing.

8. Side scrolling- don’t make your user scroll to the right or left.

9. Old Dates: Have anything dated on your site that isn’t within 90 days, unless you’re producing content regularly. Anything older and you don’t look like you give a damn. This goes for blogs and the Copyright Date at the bottom of your site.

10. Generic Information or Images- what makes you different, special and a great choice? Don’t try to please everyone or you’ll please no one.

11. Obscure, hard to find or hidden contact information- it should be on every page.

Is your website mobile compatible?

Mobile internet usage is quickly surpassing desktop usage.

What this means is you should consider either a mobile only website or a responsive website that scales to the device it’s being viewed on.

At the very minimum, test your website to make sure everything works on mobile devicesl.

The 5 basics of building trust online:

Building relationships take just as long if not longer online than they do offline. Creating enough trust with your prospect to get them to buy means you need to mindful of the following when you’re developing of revising your website strategy.

1. Consistency- Keep your messaging and look and feel the same or similar through everything you do.

2. Expertise- You're an expert in your field. Give away your information for free ! This demonstrates more than anything else that you know what you’re talking about. Also this triggers the law of reciprocity, the more you give, the more you can expect to receive.

3. Proof- Other people have bought from you and it didn’t go terribly wrong. Portfolio, Testimonials, Case Studies etc. go a long way to creating trust.

4. Credibility- Pictures of you and your establishment, products and services , staff or even just your smiling face go a long way to establishing yourself as a legitimate business that can be trusted.

5. Respect- You can’t ask for the sale in the first encounter. You can present what’s available and they can choose to buy right away, but for best results don’t be too aggressive. You need to be respectful of the consumer’s buying process.

It’s only after you’ve satisfied the consumer’s questions and earned their trust

can you ask for the sale.“ ”

About the Author:Laurel Anne Lindsay

Described as ” a grass roots, get ‘er done web wrangler” and “a fiery dynamo”, Laurel is passionate about harnessing the power of the internet to help business owners succeed.

She’s an internet marketing consultant and President of The New Media Group.

When she’s not online, she’s adventuring outdoors with her big red dog.

You can reach Laurel through her website, or connecting through social media:

www.thenewmediagroup.ca