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August 2005 Monthly Newsletter :: Anduro Marketing
Increase Response Rates
Visitors Are Coming but Not Responding – Now What?
You’ve been operating under a successful Search Engine Marketing strategy for a while; traffic has increased and visitors are closely evaluating your products and services. At this point, you may be wondering how to get those to respond, thereby increasing your ROI.
A well designed website should entice and motivate visitors to take a specific type of action. The sections contained below outline a variety of ways to create “response hooks” and encourage visitors to initiate direct, guided interactions with your website – taking them from visitors to qualified leads or customers:
Flow-through Path
- The Flow-through Path is the route that your visitors use when looking at a website. Generally, the fewer distinct paths the better – more paths means that visitors are randomly looking at your website and may not see the pages that they should see. This may lead to confusion and quicker exit times. Try to direct visitors as much as possible using content and navigation elements.
- Review your web logs in detail to determine the total number of different paths taken by visitors historically. If this is a large number, say over 250, then you may want to consider redesigning your website to encourage visitors to follow one or two tracks.
- For an example of a very clear flow through path, visit Alienware.com.
Surveys and Polling
- Polls and surveys can be effective tools for gathering feedback as well as keeping visitors on track.
- Types of surveys and poles that can be used include:
eNewsletter/eMail Sign-up
- eNewsletters are easily one of the best ways to create exposure and community amongst your core audience. You can develop them on your own, but there are many online solutions that can improve your distribution efforts immensely.
- If you publish a regular eNewsletter, subscriptions and electronic confirmation are crucial to avoiding spam trouble. Be sure to add a subscription link to a sign-up form on your website.
- For an example, see our web site: www.anduro.com (bottom left).
Lead Generation/Contact Form
- Many websites have a Contact Us page but most do not include a lead generation form – a useful tool that can help you easily gather data on potential customers and qualified leads.
- A form generally more effective than email links, as it makes input less of a chore for the user. Forms encourage visitors to add their phone number, web address, or anything else you specify – giving you helpful information to review before contacting the visitor, which is certainly helpful to any sales team.
Demo or Screen Shots
- If your company is selling software then it only makes sense to offer a demo or presentation of screenshots, thereby giving potential customers an actual look at your product(s). This encourages interaction and tends to generate response. It also provides an excellent gateway for conversion tracking.
- For an example of an excellent presentation of screenshots, go to http://www.projectarena.com/tour/.
These suggestions make up an effective toolkit for improving visitor interaction with your website. There are a few important principles to keep in mind, however, before moving ahead with implementation:
Know Your Target Audience
- Although this may seem obvious, many websites do not lead visitors down a specific path based on who they are or their specific needs. An intimate knowledge of your target audience affects every facet of your Internet Presence while allowing visitors to feel that you know who they are.
- Our favorite example is www.dell.com. Notice the navigation icons for each product line at the bottom of the page and the links for each target market on the right hand side.
Merchandize Your Products
- Feature key product(s) on the Home page.
- Add time limited specials to create a sense of urgency.
- Use images related to the product if possible.
(e.g. www.chefscatalog.com)
- Add as many response features as possible on the Home page.
- Include the company phone number on every page.
- Sprinkle customer testimonials throughout the website.
More Strategies for Increasing Response Rate
- Anduro Marketing is currently offering an analysis of your website from a response perspective. We can review the following points and send you a report with our recommendations:
- User interface: layout and usability
- Online sales process
- Problems and needs clarification
- Competitor review
- Management of marketing and sales data
- Customer motivation and metrics
- Conversion metrics
- Persuasion strategies
- Best practices for merchandising
- Access to and clarity of features and benefits
- Call to action
To find out more about our Internet Marketing solutions, please call one of our sales representatives at 403-410-3803 or email us to discuss possibilities.
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