Take advantage of the traffic you have . . .

The following question was posted on Manta community (you can find me there answering questions if you're too shy to ask them here) and I thought it might be helpful to post the answer here as well:

How can I get more people to notice my website?

I've put samples of my products on websites like slideshare and docstoc to try to bring traffic to my website, but it's not working.

This is the website as it appears currently:

My background is in Human Factors psychology so I look at things from the stand point of how people would interact with your website - taking advantage of the traffic you do have will be more cost effective and help with search rankings. I also used to have a child care about 25 years ago so I am familiar with NAEYC and your subject matter. Taking things from a "so what?" point of view here are my recommendations.

• The layout is a bit confusing, it's hard to tell where you want me, as a novice visitor to your website, to look. We've all been trained to read left to right, top to bottom and we look at websites in a type of "F" pattern. If you reorganize to fit this pattern and eliminate the confusion you'll get a better flow through.
• The call to action conversion (free give away) is lost in the mix. It needs to be more clear what I am getting and why it's important.
• Curriculum is an important part of quality child care but what sets your company apart from others? You need a unique value proposition and clear benefits. Changing the focus from the company to the visitor will have a positive impact on your bottom line.
• Why is your contact information hidden below the fold? Make it super easy for people to contact you by putting your phone number in the 'golden triangle.

These are just a few of my immediate thoughts.

I've taken the liberty of "reworking" your front page - feel free to use the changes to your advantage if you feel they are appropriate.

Remember, it's easier to double your conversions than to double your web traffic. Hope this helps!

Caring Ties

This morning I received an email from Peter who owns the company behind a new mobile app called "Caring Ties."  He asked me to take a look at his website and give him a call.  I thought it might be interesting to write about the suggestions I gave him to increase the number of conversions, or in this case downloads.

To start, I read the website over and I can honestly say I like the product.  As families become more involved with the care of aging loved ones and even with youngsters it's hard to keep track of all the important information like medications, medical needs, vaccinations and the like. Communication can be missed or misconstrued.  The Caring Ties app is great for keeping everyone in the family on the same page.

Now, on to the website:

The first thing that strikes me is the almost universal sign for remembering with the string around the finger.  The design is clean, makes great use of white space and the image is striking.  The thing that isn't apparent is why I need this app, what problem does it solve.  It's a simple question of motivation - why should I look any further at this website? Doesn't Facebook, email, cell phones and the like tie families together?

The second panel of the rotating banner doesn't really give any further reason to get the app.  Just more features.  

My advice: 

• Focus on the problem and how the app solves the problem.
• Use real people, faces, families to convey the problem and the secure feeling the solution can provide.
• Forget about features, tell me the benefits.  Why is it important to have the reminders? 
• Use the blog and testimonials to give real life examples of how this app will help.

In addition, the text on the website is very sparse and doesn't really have any words people would use to look for anything similar.  I suggested that while rewriting the text to focus on the problem, solution and benefits the natural language will be better for people searching for tools to help them in caring for family members.

I am anxious to see the changes in place and find out how well the changes work towards increasing the app downloads.  It's a great concept!

First Impressions

The internet is really great at positioning your products / services. So much so that when a visitor arrives at your site you can be sure they are already interested in your product or service.

New visitors to your website come from many sources: search engines, paid search ads, comparison sites (comparing your offerings against other companies), and social media referrals. Each one of these visitors is ready to make a buying decision. All you need to do is remove any fears, doubts, roadblocks, or anxiety that comes with deciding to buy from your company.

Possible questions new visitors have:

• If there is a problem with my order, how will you solve the problem?
• Is this the best price for the product / service I will be receiving
• Is what I am reading / seeing really trustworthy? Do the photos accurately represent products? Are the services actually as listed?
• How do I know that this is the best company to work with?

In addition, here are a few of the most common roadblocks which prevent people from doing business with you:

• Asking for too much information on contact forms
• Too many "clicks" to get to the information they are looking for.
• Poor navigation structure.

By the way, all of the above is applicable to every website whether it's Amazon.com or JCPenny.com to a local law firm website.

It's easy to gain leads and make sales via the internet, just show your visitors what they want with a good first impression that will make visitors return over and over again. Need help? Contact me!

What do your web visitors really want?

Harvard Business School Professor emeritus Theodore Levitt once said, "People don't want a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole."

The visitors to your website don't want a product, they want a solution. How do you find their needs? Normally you have a dialog and ask questions to uncover their needs. On the web you may not be speaking face to face but you can still provide the answers to their questions through a "frequent questions" page or by just directly integrating those answers within your text.

It's not about what you're selling--it's about how what you're selling can help the customer. Focus on benefits. Give your visitors a reason to do business with your company by showing them the value behind your product or service.