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!

What should I write about today?

If you're a blogger or if you've been told that you need to be blogging for your company you have probably encountered the question of what to write about.  So this is a blog for people who should be blogging or anyone who needs to develop content for websites, social media and etc.

First - don't think so hard! It's not about coming up with some mind blowing idea.  Most of the time when you write about the first thing that comes to mind you'll do fine.   Unfortunately, the thought of "what to write about" often causes immediate writer's block.  I know, it happens here all the time.

When you need to come up with items for social media think small, quick, easy to grasp:

• Quote of the day
• Unique "national day of" (find them on the Hallmark website)
• Tips on using (or related to) your product / service
• Link to specific pages of your website
• Links to articles related to what you offer
• Links to your other social media outreach sites: Facebook, Google+, Pinterest etc.
• What's new in the company: products, services, people, projects etc.

Now that won't help you when it comes to writing longer posts so I came across a cool little tool to help you get "unstuck."  It's clever really.  Go to this website and download the Google spreadsheet.  Be sure you log into your own Google account and "save a copy." Now in the top left cell type in whatever subject you want to explore and the spreadsheet does the rest.  You'll get immediate links to all sorts of articles, information related to the topic which can help you get a start on your next blog post.  Still need help? Contact us!