Frequently Asked Questions About Web Promotion, Web Marketing & Effective Web Sites
answers provided by Brian Norris, 414-899-1905

Please help solve an argument between my designers and my marketing department! Our designers want a site with all the bells and whistles and lots of graphics. Our marketing people insist on lots of copy. Which is best? Is there a happy medium?

Before you get too focused on graphics, or the absence of them, I suggest you focus on your copy. The fundamental rules of selling apply to the web too. Do you know what your features are vs. your benefits? Do you know what your Unique Selling Proposition is? Do you know how to create a compelling offer that motivates your visitors to stay, read and go beyond the first page of your site?

Copy and content matter most. So before you worry about on which design program to use (such as FrontPage or Dreamweaver) focus on creating words that massage the readers senses and creates that connection. As in direct mail, longer copy is better than short, emotional copy pulls better than pure logic, and unless you tell a great story or position yourself in an extraordinary way, your web site will fizzle.

Don't get me wrong. Looks are important. And so is interactivity. Work with your designers and be sure that every graphic facilitates a response. Stress the importance of pages that download quickly. If Yahoo's primary entry page loads in .09 seconds, how quickly or much quicker can you make your pages download? Finally, beware of graphics or animation overkill. Macromedia, Flash, Shockwave and FrontPage effects get passé real quick. Speed ... Speed ... Speed. As I tell my seminar attendees, load quickly or perish!

We don't sell tangible products. My company offers services. Should I bother getting a web site? If so, what's the most suitable use of the site?

If you offer products on your site then you have a right to expect people to purchase those items. That's ecommerce in a nutshell. There's nothing wrong, however, in using your web site as a relationship builder. Since not all businesses are conducive to reaping direct business off of the web, consider using your site as a secondary or tertiary outlet through which you (and your organization) might communicate your value and the benefits you provide.

This formula is especially relevant when the decision you're asking your visitors to make is to invest a large sum of time or fiscal equity. Use your site to make prospective buyers more comfortable with the prospect of investing thousands or hundreds of thousands in your services.

Don't forget that quite often, the biggest and most relevant use of your site will be lead generation. After all, most often, people aren't going to hire you, invest in your services or buy high end products based solely on the content of your site.

I've signed up with all the search engines and directories I can find. It's been three months and hits to the site are still minuscule. What's wrong?

Depending on your expertise and niche, the mega-hits aren't likely to come through search engines. According to studies, you can expect up to 60% of your business to come through engines and directories. That number, quite honestly, is high. It's assuming that your pages are optimized, you have multiple splash pages created for each of the major search engines and that the traffic is composed of qualified buyers.

Have you considered the possibility that buyers aren't deliberately shopping for what you provide on the Web? That will change in the years to come as more people become more web savvy. In the interim, you must promote your site proactively by mentioning it in conversation, including it on your marketing material, introductions and ALL of your off-line campaigns.

Our marketing division will help you to optimize your pages for the top search engines and to develop off-line marketing and PR strategies that push qualified prospects to your site again and again.

I keep hearing about the need for great content. On the same hand, I've been told that I should invest in a good copywriter before I start playing the content game. What do you suggest?

Good question! Maybe I'm just jaded from 10 years as a copy writer, but I know plenty of brilliant people with great content who are struggling just to get by.

Meanwhile, I know plenty of average people with mediocre content (and average products) who have to turn down work because they can't accept new clients. Why? Because their marketing copy turns browsers into buyers. Focus first on powerful copy. Content comes in handy for loyalty and brand building. Great content and being prolific are essential in positioning yourself or your organization. But copy is the sugar that attracts the bees. In this respect, the Internet is no different from the real world.

One company I spoke to said, that as part of their search engine strategy for customers, they load the pages with keywords and phrases that everyone is searching for (words like, s*x, warez, Brittany Spears, MP3 and free). Although this make sense on the surface, is this a smart practice? Is it something you advocate to your own clients?

First, this is a dumb practice which we would never advocate for our clients or you. In fact, I suggest you don't let that company come within 100 miles of your site.

Over the years, many of our clients have initially come to us with their singular focus being on getting millions of hits (or more correctly, page views). Some of them get frustrated because they lack the time and monetary resources to compete with an Amazon, Dell or Microsoft. So, they are tempted to use this deceptive strategy (and others) to lure anyone and everyone to the site.

Consider these questions. If you're looking for Brittany Spears or Jennifer Lopez and you click on my site because I have those words embedded in my HTML, what are the chances that you're going to buy my product? How long are you going to even stick around? And now that I've tricked you once into coming to my site, what are the chances you'll ever come back ... even if you needed my product?

When it comes to volume and traffic, I'd rather have 10 qualified buyers visit my site than 3000 wanderers who have no interest in my services or expertise. The quality of traffic to my site is much more important than quantity. Rather than throwing in random phrases that are totally unrelated to what you do, invest the time in finding out what phrases and keywords your potential buyers are using.

Our workshops and seminars can help you to implement the changes on your own. Remember to always keep browser-to-buyer conversion ratios in mind....

What's the best software to use to design graphics and create my web pages? Every software company claims that their product is the best. Can you help me decide?

In our seminars, this is one of the top five questions we get. I answer this one in a few different ways. First, the best software programs for any project are the ones which allow you to the work the quickest without compromising your creativity. The best software tools are also the programs which you have the highest degree of proficiency using.

One of the key questions that you must answer in choosing the best software for you is, "Am I a hobbyist or web professional?" If you're a web professional, then you need to invest in software that allows to create whatever your mind can conceive with the fewest keystrokes. This means investing in software created for professionals by professionals so that you can earn professional fees. If you're a hobbyist, go online and download some of the shareware and freeware programs available.

The professional software I recommend for for graphic design and photo and/or image editing is Photoshop 5.5 or the new 6.0 version . It's packaged with another robust design tool called ImageReady. These two tools will automatically slice your images, manipulate their appearance, compress them to tiny, web-friendly sizes, write roll-overs and other HTML code for you and enhance any image you can import, scan or create. A new version will cost you about $600.

Regarding web page designers, the best program on the market is Dreamweaver from Macromedia. It writes the cleanest HTML code, instantly generates beautiful JavaScript, automatically support layers, DHTML, plugins, database integration and everything else you need for a world-class web site. It creates animated timelines, fixes proprietary code generated by Microsoft products and tons more. This excellent software will cost you only about $300.

The dot-com bubble seems to have bust. Was the thought of making a profit on the Internet just a pipe-dream?

The dot-com glory days are far from over. What we are experiencing is marketplace evolution -- in Internet Time.

That simply means that like a child growing into a teen, ecommerce is experiencing some very sharp growing pains. Without the nourishment of the rivers of venture capital that flooded dot-coms in the late 90s, the Law of Survival of the Fittest in coming into play.

Those dot-coms that don't survive probably weren't viable and thought through to begin with. So good riddance. And those that remain are going to be stronger and more resilient than ever. We'll see the reemergence of two supercritical traits in the months to come -- Creativity and Discernment.

If you follow certain principles of the brick & mortar world you can be extremely successful on the web. These include:

• Testing to see if a new product or service is viable and worth investing in;

• Niching to specific industries or demographics, and creating multiple niches to avoid having all of your assets in a single sector;

• Good products sold at a competitive (not lowest) price or offering a premium service that is perceived as invaluable;

• Strong, low-hype copy (as long or short as necessary) to market and sell your goods or services;

• Multiple promotion channels. The Web is just one of hundreds of those channels and print is far from dead. Online companies must go off-line and use all the options available to them;

• Solid order fulfillment and distribution systems;

• Outstanding customer-service (hint: someone live answers the phone and the emails get returned promptly,thoughtfully);

• Constant refinement of the product or service;

• Realistic business profit models.

What can you do for my web site and how much do you charge for your services?

First, build your site. Do it yourself, hire the kid next door or your average designer. Then, give it a week, maybe a month at best. Nine out of ten times you're not going to be happy with the original design, layout, wording, functionality, etc. Then come to us to fix it or show you how to fix it. Our customized seminars and consulting options show you how to make your site polished, professional and profitable. We can make the changes for you, or give you the specific recommendations for you to take back to your designer or marketing department.

Not all web sites have the same needs. Some load too slow. Others aren't browser or platform compatible, while others need serious help aesthetically. You may need a hand in making your site A.D.A. compliant. Perhaps your navigation system is hindering visitors from exploring the most relevant parts of your site.

One of the biggest ways we can help your site is to rewrite or improve the existing copy so that your phone rings more often and your e-mailbox begins to fill with potential clients.

Our fees are based on the condition of your site and what you do or don't feel is most essential. Generally, you will be quoted a project fee that includes a comprehensive review of your current site, suggestions for improvement and specific timeline indicating when and how these changes will be made.

Please call us at 414-899-1905 today if you need immediate attention and you simply can't bear the thought of another person viewing your site in its current state.

Can you teach me how to fix my own web pages?

Not at this time. We will be happy to review your web copy and look at your site for a fee, but we no longer teach web coding or web site fixing web seminars.

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