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Sherry Gordon
--TOP WEB BUSINESS/SUCCESS BUILDERS--
Hello again! -- This is Day Two of six of the e-seminar you
requested...
--In the first day, we covered, of The Progression...
1.Starting with a populous, in-need, and willing-to-pay niche
market that isn’t saturated by other webmarketers (and that you
can enjoy)
2.A powerful, "hands-off" website
--TODAY, we go on to the next two numbers in The
Progression...
3.Great website set-up and copywriting
4.Well-targeted keywords
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3.GREAT WEBSITE SET-UP AND COPYWRITING
Even if you aren't consciously aware of it, you know what works
best in a website...
---Quick page-loading
---Usable with many browsers/PCs
---Intelligible even if a visitor has graphics turned off
---Uncluttered, easy on the eyes and brain
---Clearly and simply organized
---Written so that it's understandable
---Containing valuable information
---Not hypey and overtly sales-pitchy, but -convincing- the
visitor to click/buy
---And where all the links work!
In other words, make it easy, painless, even a delight to use!
..So that even the people who don't find what they need there
are impressed.(Because maybe they'll need it later; or maybe
their friends will.)
FEAR OF WRITING?
Before we go further, let's address the "fear of writing" that so
many people have...
You -can too- write!And writing for the web is easier than--and
different from--writing "for offline".
That's two reasons why I recommend you let the e-book "Make Your
Words Sell!" (by Joe Robson, with Ken Evoy) into your life...
MYWS! -will- turn a non-writer into a writer... and a writer -or-
non-writer into a -web- success writer.(The free "Netwriting
Masters" e-course--send a blank e-mail message to:
mailto:twmsgranite@sitesell.net --is a good place to start.But
I have to say that MYWS! offers -far- more than what you'll read
there.I write a lot, and I really was glad I got the book.See
an overture to it, or order it, at
http://myws.sitesell.com/granite.html .)
TIPS ON ACHIEVING WHAT WORKS BEST
Now for some quick tips about those what-works-best features
mentioned above.Missing anything?...
---QUICK PAGE LOADING:
Your webhost's bandwidth and line access should be (very) good.
The lack of such is a compelling reason to switch webhosts--slow
connections and downtime lose you business.
Your graphics, and the sizes thereof, should be minimized (unless
great graphics are the -purpose- of the site).If you can do
with a lesser -quality-, you can reduce the number of colors used
(using graphics software like PhotoShop or Paint Shop Pro), or
use one of the free online services that compresses graphics
files:try http://www.gifwizard.com/ or
http://www.gifoptimizer.com/ or http://www.jpegwizard.com/.
WYSIWYG editors tend to really bulk up the HTML coding.
Removing the excess (unnecessarily repetitive) coding can reduce
it by up to 25%.
"Bells and whistles" that mean longer loading time probably
aren't worthwhile...People who are looking for solutions aren't
looking for entertainment; that's just distracting.
Frames take longer to load (and cause other problems as well);
consider doing without them.
Tables, though they add a little bit to overall loading time, can
help a lot with longer pages...If you have several tables, they
load from the top down--so there's something for people to read
at the top of the page while the rest is appearing.(Just
remember that if you put a link from a top table to one lower
down that won't load for awhile, the link-clicker will find that
annoying.)
Then there's the option of breaking really long pages into two or
more.(Why don't people do this on those long, long sales
letters?--so that they don't run the risk of losing the people
who would be annoyed to have to click once more. ...Weigh the
advantages and disadvantages accordingly.)
You can also consider an optional shorter version of a long page,
for those particularly in a hurry!
---USABLE WITH MANY BROWSERS/PCs:
Ask your friends to check out your site for you, or do it
yourself on their PCs.Just because it looks perfect to -you-
doesn't mean it will look the same to someone else.(Boy, was I
unpleasantly surprised to see my first site on my neighbor's
computer!)
Some HTML and WYSIWYG editors may let you view your work
via different browsers and in different screen widths.
This tool will let you view your pages in different screen sizes:
http://www.jimtools.com/windowopener.html.
---INTELLIGIBLE EVEN IF A VISITOR HAS GRAPHICS TURNED
OFF:
Some surfers save themselves time by turning their graphics
option off...If you don't use Alt tags with your images
(particularly the linked ones), they won't even know what they'll
miss if they don't click on them.
Perhaps you'll want to offer a graphics-free version of your
site, to make things really easy for those hurried folks.
---UNCLUTTERED, EASY ON THE EYES AND BRAIN:
No banner farms!!--tacky as all get out, and not effectual for
you.
Whirling, "nuke"-colored graphics, etc. are -not- conducive to
your selling efforts.(Yes, they get my attention--and drive me
-away-.)
A "busy" background is distracting...Always use white or a
light-colored, not-much-textured background for text, and keep
the graphics/colors for the edges.(And did you stop to think
that if you use white lettering... it doesn't print on white
paper?)
"White space" around the different elements of your pages is very
important.That room between columns, and headings, and graphics,
and paragraphs, etc. lets the eyes rest and helps people organize
things in their brains. ...Don't cram things too closely.
For that matter, short sentences and paragraphs are de rigueur
onscreen.Reading online is more tiring--keep it simple.
---CLEARLY AND SIMPLY ORGANIZED:
The home page should show people where to go for whatever main
options come next.Don't make people bumble around on your site...
And make sure they can see right away whether it's likely to
contain what they're looking for.
Each page should link to every other page that it's directly
related to (i.e., whatever's appropriate--but not -everything-!)--
and to the home page.Make sure that the visitor can get -back-
through the pathway that brought her to wherever she finds
herself!
Keep the navigational links ("navbar") in the same position, and
in the same font and color, on every page.
Select a simple color and font scheme and stick to it--it'll
greatly help people with navigation, and help you with
organization.
Use whatever basic textual tools are needed for organization:
tables of contents, searchable indexes, subheadings, bulleted
lists, etc. ...Don't allow people to get bogged down or lost.
(Get friends to critique your site and find the "iffy" spots.
Or maybe enemies would be better!--they won't just try to find
good things to say.)
---WRITTEN SO THAT IT'S UNDERSTANDABLE:
Keep your audience well in mind...
Don't use slang or technical terms that won't be understood by
your target audience.Unless your audience consists of people
immersed in a particular industry (e.g., suppliers or
distributors, salespeople, academics, etc.), assume that you
ought to define any specialized terms!
Even if -you- think you know who your target audience is, -find
out- who's coming to your site. ...Foreign guests might be
particularly unexpected--and might be particularly subject to
confusion if your language isn't well-chosen.(Avoid using too
many idioms--phrases whose words individually mean other things.)
Read through your site from the perspective of another person--do
this for each type of person who is likely to visit.Again,
getting others to help you with this can be very effective.
---CONTAINING VALUABLE INFORMATION:
What's valuable -to your visitors-, not to you.
..Keeping in mind that even in a narrow target market, there are
people with differing tastes and informational pursuits.See how
you might accommodate different personal styles...Provide -both-
the overview and the details, -both- the emotional and the
practical considerations, -both- the long copy and the short
version, the order or affiliate link -both- sooner and later on in
the copy.Give people choices--they'll honor you for it.
What's valuable -can- all fit onto one long page...But it's far
likelier that to differentiate yourself from the mass of sites on
the web, you'll see the sense of providing -lots- of good content.
(We'll get into another good reason for that in #4, "Well-Targeted
Keywords".)
---NOT HYPEY AND OVERTLY SALES-PITCHY, BUT
-CONVINCING- THE VISITOR TO CLICK/BUY:
Embed your affiliate links in "editorial content"--your personal
reviews and recommendations on a particular topic, or of the
product or service itself.This works -much- better than stand-
alone banner ads!--that can't be stressed too much.
Focus on the -benefits to the reader-, not on the -features of
the product-...-How- will the features of a product or service
benefit me (solve my problem, cater to my self-perceived need)?
Prepare your visitor appropriately..."Sell" only when you
actually have something to sell--otherwise (with affiliate
programs), -PRE-sell-.That means, -enticing-, -recommending-,
-adding to- but not duplicating the sales effort on the
merchant's site.This is important!--to see why is another good
reason to take the "Affiliate Masters" e-course...Send a blank
e-mail message (if you haven't already!) to:
mailto:tamsgranite@sitesell.net
Use lots of testimonials!--especially for your own offerings.
People just have an ingrained skepticism about what you say if
you're selling them something--you know how -you- are.
..Endorsements from believable third parties are -very-
powerful salesmen.Select those that mention benefits, not just
"this is cool".Sprinkle them around strategically--and provide
"More" in a testimonials page or java thingy, for those who like
to dig deep.
Consider offering -multiple- means whereby people might gather
information from you at their leisure...Fax-on-demand, auto-
responder courses, pre-recorded teleseminars, free e-books,
audio/video tapes.(Some marketers who can communicate a -very-
strong benefit prefer to do a little more tantalizing in their
initial messages and just -point- to a selection of other sales-
closing information sources.)
Offer a completely anxiety-removing guarantee for anything you
sell.(You can even -personally- guarantee the guarantee of an
affiliate merchant you endorse--double whammy!)
Use special bonus offers, certainly; make them time-sensitive if
you like.But make it so that the reader convinces -himself- to
take you up on your link or sales offer.
---AND WHERE ALL THE LINKS WORK!:
Check them!All of them.Every time you change anything, check
again those that could possibly have been affected.(If you
don't, you'll feel like a fool when kindly visitors tell you
about the "bad spots"--take it from me!Of course, it's one way
of meeting nice people...)
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4.WELL-TARGETED KEYWORDS -- for great content,
better search engine placement, and to cast a wider net for
websurfers
("Keyword" here means a word -or a phrase- that a person uses to
indicate what s/he's looking for.)
You need to target your keywords as you target your website
audience...What words will those folks be using to search for
information that you have?
Yes, there are still a lot of websites out there that simply list
every conceivable keyword related to their topics (and then some!)
in their meta tags... and do very well.That doesn't mean you
should imitate them.
That's the -old- way, from the early days of the web.And the
"do very well" part is largely left over from those sites'
earlier search engine success...Now augmented by their e-zines,
links from other sites, and other non-keyword-related success
boosters.Take those away, and their SE positions would plummet.
And while meta tags aren't nearly so important as they once were
in search engine ranking, -keywords- are.
The new ways most of the search engines rate sites are by keyword
-effectiveness-, a strong theme intelligible throughout the site,
and (as we'll discuss in the next section) links into your site.
..In other words, it's your content, and how it's valued by
others, that's at issue--not simply how you throw keywords at the
SEs.
So now you need...
---A site that revolves around a clear theme, rather than several
disparate elements in one site.(Got two themes going?--transfer
one to a second site!I did that... and later dropped one of the
themes altogether to concentrate my energies on the "extra" bit,
"The Affiliate Marketing Primer".)
---Pages that emphasize only one or two keywords--so that the SEs
can tell that the page is an excellent answer for the person
using that keyword to search under. ...It will earn a higher
ranking amongst competing websites.You score much better for a
keyword if there aren't a lot of other ones "diluting" it.
---Those keywords in your meta keyword tags, your page titles,
and your meta description tags.And especially since some SEs
don't pull your meta descriptions into their results...
---Those keywords at the very top of the page (in a heading, in a
mini-table of contents?, in an introductory paragraph, perhaps
also in a graphic's Alt tag) as well as sprinkled throughout.
(Ever notice how the descriptive portion of a search engine
listing might not be related to the website's topic? ...That's
because the author added some extraneous element--an extra line
about a banner ad, usually--to the top of the page, not realizing
that their meta description wouldn't be used.Don't make that
mistake!)The top few inches often take precedence, even for
meta-description-using SEs.
---Those keywords used often, but not -too- often...Not keyword
"spamming", but judicious repetition where it makes sense in the
text.(Most of the SEs use "keyword density" algorithms to check
each page.)
---Many pages?...With each one focused on one or two keywords,
having many pages allows you to focus on -many- keywords--
gathering in more visitors (each one using a different term to
look for something you have).This is that other great reason to
develop multiple pages of content.
---The -right- keywords.If you -don't- have many, you'd better
start with -the most profitable- ones... adding in others--in
other pages--as time goes on, if you wish.
How do you pick the "right keywords"?Again I'll refer you to
the free "Affiliate Masters" course (send a blank e-mail to:
mailto:tamsgranite@sitesell.net), which explains it thoroughly
and walks you through the steps of determining which is used how
often.
One of the most innovative and really revolutionary features of
"Site Build It!" (http://buildit.sitesell.com/granite.html) is
the "SBI Manager", proprietary software that Site Build It
customers can download for free...
It "brainstorms" keywords -for- you using a few online sources
(you can add to the list as well).Then it searches the web for
sites using those keywords and, comparing their number to the
number of times people use those words/phrases to search with,
comes up with a priority number for you... whew!Having done a
not-so-thorough version of that "by hand", I can attest that
using the SBI Manager saves a -lot- of time!
That's a great way to get up and going on a new website, or a new
theme-related subject you're adding in.Not only will it tell
you which keywords to pick for the pages you've already written...
It will give you an idea of which other pages you should write!
You can also do it every so often to keep tabs on how people are
searching amongst the topics of your website's theme...Word
usage does change--as does so much online.This is one way to
"flex" for success... as we'll be discussing more in the last
section, "Thinking Creatively, Experimenting, and Being Ready to
Flex and Innovate".
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That's all for this session.In the next day of the seminar,
we'll look at the next four items in The Progression list...
5.Getting links in to your site
6.Automating everything in sight
7.Adding in some (more and more?) of The Notable Extras
8.Focusing - economizing - persevering - and intensifying
See you then!
Sherry Gordon
www.AffiliatePrimer.com
www.ThinkJointVenture.com
mailto:topwebcourse@affiliateprimer.com
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