Collecting Web Leads

Once you start getting visitors to your website, then it’s time to concentrate on capturing their contact information so you can market to them. There are many ways to set up simple web forms to capture this information depending on how technical you are or how much you want to pay a 3rd party solution.

Remember these basics. The most effective way to get someone to give you their email address is by offering something of REAL value in return (e.g. an article, newsletter, etc). Keep your web form short and basic. Asking for too much initial information is a sure way to kill your response rate. Offering visitors something of value ensures you get people who actually have interest in what you do and therefore they agree to ‘opt in’. Having a long list of names that don’t really have any interest in what you offer is a waste of time and effort. Quality is much more important than quantity.

Your objective is to not give out anything until you confirm their email address. This is usually done by simply letting them know that you will be emailing them further instructions on how to download the promised information. If they don’t give you a legitimate email address then they won’t get the information! Try not to send documents as email attachments. Many people have problems receiving them. Instead point them to a website location where your document is being stored. You can either store your document on your own website hosting server or use a 3rd party online storage solution (usually free) from Windows Live Skydrive, docstoc, or Google Docs.

There are basically 3 ways to to use web forms to collect this information – the main difference being how lead information actually gets into your contact management database.

1. Manual and Low-Tech:  Simply add a ‘Contact Us’ form to your web site or a button that triggers their local email program to send you an email requesting the information you’re giving out. Nearly all website development tools can do this. There should be no HTML code or scripts to write. You respond by sending them an email with a link to where they can find the document. After that, you manually add them to your contact manager (e.g. Outlook). This approach is easy and inexpensive but only for low volumes of responses. If you want to use a 3rd party contact form, check out formspring or emailmeform. They usually offer a basic service for free. Google Docs also offers basic forms for free. Check out my FREE Coaching Session form.
2. Semi-Automated and Low-Tech: If you plan to collect a lot of leads and want everything handled automatically then I would suggest using a 3rd party email marketing service. These can send out mass emails or fancy newsletters depending on your preference. The approach is basically the same as before except they generate the sign-up forms. All new leads are automatically sent a confirmation email (to verify their email address) and then automatically added to your email list database. These services are inexpensive and typically the best solution for most small businesses. The big players in this field are Constant Contact, aWeber, iContact . There is even one service (EliteEmail) where you only pay for what you send out (i.e. no monthly fees). When using this approach you usually end up exporting the lead list to an excel file and then importing back into your contact manager (e.g. Outlook).
3. Fully-Automated and High-Tech:  If you are using a CRM application like Salesforce.com, SugarCRM, or ZohoCRM then they offer (at no extra cost) basic ’web-to-lead’ form generation utilities. In this case, they generate a form for you to put on your website which collects visitor information, automatically sends a confirmation email, and then directly puts the lead information into your own CRM database. This approach requires you to be somewhat comfortable with cutting and pasting HTML code but is the preferred approach for small-to-medium sized businesses.

It is rarely worth the effort to try anything more complicated that email confirmation before sending out your material. Forget about usernames/passwords since they are not worth the hassle and don’t worry if people don’t give you real names either. Having a valid email address is the most important item. Your goal now is to market to them in a manner they feel comfortable with so, they gradually give you more information and never ’opt out’.

- Steve (www.SPMsolutions.NET)

10 Easy Ways to Grow Your Website – FREE eBook

 
I’m always a big fan of free things and also firmly believe that most businessess do not take full advantage of their website.

For helpful tips on planning and designing your business website, download this free e-book on “How to Build a Website That Sells”.

Microsoft Office Live Small Business and Entrepreneur Magazine are working together to help entrepreneurs start and nurture their businesses by providing solutions that can be put into action immediately. 

This 54-page downloadable e-book (in PDF format) includes tips, techniques, and tools to help you design an effective and engaging Web site.

Download the e-book via;

   Build a Website That Sells: 10 Easy Ways to Grow Your Website

- Steve

PS – Get more information on our Websites and Internet Marketing

Basic SEO Strategies You Should Be Using – Part 1

 

The Holy Grail of website performance is to come out on top of a Google search (90% of searches are done on Google) when your prospective customers are ready to buy and are looking for your product or service.  

This goal is so sought-after that it has spawned a whole industry of so-called ‘SEO experts’ who claim to know the secrets of SEO optimization and, for a small fee, can guarantee that you come out on top of a Google search. You certainly can’t blame people for all the interest since there is a reported 400 million searches done every day!

 The truth about SEO seems to be that the specifics of Googles’s search algorithm are so well protected, and constantly changing, that any attempts at exploiting them will (at best) be temporary. Google is constantly updating their algorithm specifics so any attempt to exploit them will certainly lead to changes to elminate any unfair advantages.

So what should business owners know and understand about SEO to make sure their websites get their fair share of the search engine results? First throw out any idea of trying to use any ‘secrets’ to gain a competitive advantage. It is a waste of time and money, and any gains are only temporary until Google catches on and changes things. Let’s get real - there aren’t any real secrets in this world-wide-web. In fact, Google will tell the basics of what you need to do to come up on their search engines (see the links below) so why not play by their rules?

The best approach is to simply follow the basic objectives of all search engines – that is to 1) provide the user with websites that are most relevant to their search criteria, 2) list websites that are content-rich and 3) only suggest websites that seem to be popular among others who have searched for similar items.

So there you have it. Create a site that has clear keyword descriptions, has lots of valuable content and is popular within the web community (e.g. lots of links to it). That’s great for a general statement but what should you do or have your webmaster do?

In Part 2 of this post I’ll explain the 4 basic strategies you (or your webmaster) should be implementing. Basically you should;

1. Know and Use Your Keywords
2. Make Your Website Search Engine Friendly
3. Ensure Your Website Has Valuable Content
4. Let the Search Engines Know You Are There

To better understand what Google uses for it’s search engine you might as well go to the source (i.e. Google). Here are a few good links for background reading.

     Google Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide

     Google Webmasters/Site Owners Guide

 - Steve   (www.SPMsolutions.NET)

 

Are You Sure You Own Your Website Name?

Are you sure you are the registered owner of  your business website name? Do you know when your domain name registration expires? If you aren’t sure then read this article to learn how to avoid the possibility of actually losing your own business website address!

 

As a small business owner you should be aware of two common risks to your website domain name (commonly called its web address).

 

1. Losing your domain name because you simply failed to renew it. Do you know when your URL registration expires? You should! The worst case scenario is you accidently let it expire and someone else immediately registers it and you’re SOL.
2. You aren’t the registered owner of your business website domain name. It’s very common for website developers to register your business domain using their name. The problem with this is if you ever have a disagreement they (or your hosting company) may freeze your site until resolved. If this happens you can basically be held hostage. 

Luckily, it’s easy to find out who the registered owner of your domain is and when it actually expires. Simply visit this site that uses the internet function WHOIS:

    

   http://whois.net/whois_new.cgi

 

Enter your website name (without ‘www’ at the beginning). If you look under the Domain Name section you should see the ‘Expiry Date’. If you fail to renew your domain by this date you risk losing it. There are people out there waiting to jump in and register domain names that expire and resell them so don’t let this happen to your business.

 

Now look under Organization Name to see who the registered owner of the domain is. Hopefully it’s you but if not, at least somebody you know. You may see the name of the firm that manages ‘private’ domain registrations and keeps your contact information private (to avoid SPAM, etc).  This is OK if your name is there also.

 

So what should you do? First, take steps to make sure your domain name doesn’t expire accidently. This can be done with your hosting company or 3^rd party services. Secondly, make sure you are the registered owner of your domain. It’s OK to use a respected company to manage it for you (and keep your info private) but be concerned if someone else is the registered owner of your domain.

 

There are numerous 3^rd party ‘domain management’ companies (just do a Google search) that allow you to keep all your domain names in one location and prevent some of the issues discussed. This is highly recommended if you use many different domain names and/or if you use more than one hosting service.

 

For a review of domain registration and management services check out this site:

     

   http://www.consumersearch.com/domain-registration/domain-registration-reviews

 

- Steve   (www.SPMsolutions.NET)

 

 

 

 

 

What’s the Purpose of Your Website?

Have you ever asked yourself why you have a website anyway? 

The mere fact that you have one hasn’t been a differentiating factor for small businesses for many years. So is your website serving your business needs like it really should? Are you getting more customers from it? Are you transacting business on your website? Is your site promoting your products/services and encouraging visitors to take action?

Take another look at your site and see if it falls into one (or more) of the following types.

1. Business Card Websites - display basic text and graphics (similar to a business card) that highlights what the business does.
2. Educational Websites - try to educate the viewer using extensive text, videos and down-loadable reference documents.  
3. Creative Websites - leave a distinct impression or branding by the use of highly-creative graphics, animations or flash videos.
4. Lead Capture Websites - entice the viewer with free items in exchange for their name and e-mail address (for future marketing efforts).
5. Store-Front Business Websites - highlight the business product/service but redirect the customer to the store-front for purchasing.
6. E-Commerce Websites – generate an on-line shopping experience from product information all the way to shopping-cart checkout.
7. Community Websites - are social websites that encourage viewers to participate in generating and/or commenting on website content.

Now think about all the different ways your website can better serve your business and share them with your business coach or web-master. While you are at it you should write down the specific goals you would like to achieve. Some examples might be;

1. >10% traffic growth per month
2. <20% bounce rate (visitors who immediately leave)
3. eNewsletter sign-up rate of >30% 
4. >$2000/month of on-line business transactions
5. >10 document downloads per week
6. >20 new in-store customers who visited your site

To realize the full potential from your website requires that you have interesting and valuable content, that you market and promote your website, and that you keep score of how your site is actually being used by visitors (i.e. using Google Analytics, etc). 

If you aren’t achieving your website goals then you need to change things. Otherwise your website ends up sitting there serving no real purpose. Creating a productive website that takes advantage of the many internet marketing strategies doesn’t have to be expensive and can be one of your most productive marketing strategies!

- Steve  (www.SPMsolutions.NET)

Take Advantage of FREE Business Listings

If you haven’t already done so, make sure to enter your business information in the free on-line business directories. You’ll need a business address and website to sign-up, since most of these directories actually check to confirm that you are a legitimate business.

The most popular business directories to use are;

1. Google Maps
2. Yahoo Local Listings
3. Yellowpages.com
4. Yellowbook
5. Superpages

After you have your business listed then the next step is to get some customer testimonials. I would recommend making it very easy for your customers to do this by sending them an email with the specific links to use.

Hopefully this will help you be found a little easier when customers are looking for you!

- Steve   (SPM Business Solutions)

Does Your Website Allow You to ‘Be Found’?

So how do you know if your website is effective at allowing people to find you when they are on-line and searching? Well, there is certainly the technical approach using web analytics to track how many visitors you get, which keywords people use to find you, how long they stay on your site and which pages they visit. This is the best approach but the job of a internet marketing expert or business coach. Alternatively, you can try this simple non-technical approach and evaluate your website effectiveness yourself.

First you need to determine the top phrases that people might use to find you. This is a little tricky since not everyone thinks alike so it’s always best to come up with your best guess and then ask others what they might use. Without making this process too complicated and time-consuming, I’d suggest the following strategy.

1. First determine the top 3 (multi-word) phrases that new prospects might use to find a business like yours (in your same city) with similar types of products and services .
2. Next determine the top 2 (multi-word phrases that your current customers might use if they were searching the web to find you (hopefully to refer you to someone else).

This will give you five key-word search-phrases to test out using the top search engines.

For example if you are a local dentist you might use;

1. “dentist family san jose”
2. “dentist invisalign san jose”
3. “dentist braces blueshield san jose”
4. “dr smith dentist san jose”
5. “my smile dentistry san jose”

Or if you are a local restaurant you might come up with;

1. “italian food san jose”
2. “italian restaurant romantic san jose”
3. “italian lasagna san jose”
4. “original luigi’s san jose”
5. “luigi’s reservations san jose”

Now go ahead and enter these ‘key-word’ search phrases in the top search engines and see how you come out. Luckily, the top three sites account for over 85% of the internet searches.

1. http://www.google.com/
2. http://search.yahoo.com/
3. http://www.live.com/

So did you or your business show up as expected? Ignore any ’sponsor links’ or ’shopping cart’ sites since these are usually paid for. Did you show up on the first page? Did you show up at all? If not, you should consider having someone investigate your site to see if it contains the right key words and is search engine optimized (SEO). If people can’t find you (when they are actually looking for you on-line) then your website is ineffective and should be improved. Otherwise you may not be achieving your true business potential. 

For more info on SEO you might <try this post>.

- Steve   (www.SPMsolutions.NET)