One of the best revolutions to happen in the marketing world is online or web site marketing. The cost of developing and hosting a web site is infinitely insignificant to the amount of money it can generate. Unlike other advertising mediums like direct mail, yellow pages, networking, etc., a web site works 24/7/365, the results are instant, and you can make changes in moments rather than days, weeks, or months.
Here’s another extremely important point about web sites…
They are the best way to fuel referrals and word-of-mouth advertising. Think about this: When you hear about a company from a friend, what is the first thing you do? You check out their web site. If you’re unimpressed, you may or may not buy or come back.
When your clients tell others about your services, will they be equally unimpressed with your site? Will they have a reason to opt in or join your mailing list? Will it be absolutely clear to them what you do and why you are a better option than any of your competitors?
With so much of your marketing riding on your web site, it’s a mystery to me why more computer consulting firms DON’T have a web site, or they have a boring, amateurish-looking couple of pages linked together that give no reason to stay, revisit, or more importantly, buy something.
If you want your site to generate more revenue, here are 5 things you can do to instantly improve its effectiveness:
1. Put a compelling, interesting headline on the home page that, ideally, identifies who your best customer is and what you can do for them. I can’t tell you how many web sites I’ve been to that, for the life of me, cannot figure out what they do. Make sure you don’t make the same mistake with your site. For example, here’s a headline that I’ve used with several clients that is highly effective: “Are You a Small Business Owner That is Tired of Waiting Around for Your Current Computer Guy to Call You Back, Follow Up, and Fix Your Computer? Are You Concerned About the Security of Your Data? Would You Like to Find a Way to Offload the Headaches and Frustration of Computer Problems Finally and Forever? Then You’ve Come to the Right Place!”
Don’t worry about the length; the headline on ANY marketing campaign accounts for the majority of the response. Clients won’t mind reading long headlines as long as they are interesting. I can beat a short boring headline with a long interesting headline any day.
2. Make the fonts are easy to read. If you actually want visitors to READ your site, then don’t make the font grey or light colored, don’t use reverse copy (dark background, light letters), don’t use tiny fonts, and don’t put pictures behind the text.
3. Put a FREE offer on your web site and SELL it as if it costs money. Not everyone who visits your site will be ready to hire you on the spot. Some may be casually looking because someone referred them. That being the case, you want to do everything possible to get visitors to opt into your web site and give you their contact information so you can follow up. My favorite is a free report, but you can use a free recording of a teleseminar or interview with you or a good client, a free service (first service call free, free spam filtering for a month, etc.).
4. Use lots of testimonials and client success stories. Visitors will not only be more likely to read those than a bunch of boring text about what you do, PLUS the benefits of your service will be easier for them to comprehend when wrapped into a real-life case study of HOW you applied your skills and expertise to help other business owners.
5. Have an easy way for visitors to reach you. I’m amazed at how many computer consulting firms only have a “contact us” form on their web site. What about those people who need IMMEDIATE help? I strongly suggest you have a “computer crisis” hotline that, if nothing else, goes to an answering service that can screen and forward calls to you. Remember, lack of responsiveness is the number one reason why business owners fire their current computer consultant and look for someone else.
