You have five seconds.
That’s all the time you have to keep someone on your website or lose them to another. How can you win them over? The number one thing you can do, according to Search engine marketing expert Matt Bailey, is use analytics to truly understand your site and how people interact with it.
Matt Bailey presents Advanced Internet Marketing
If you want to cut to the chase, here’s a link to his presentation, Advanced Internet Marketing. If you want the recap, read on.
1. The Power of Words
First step… understand how people search for sites like yours. What words to they use? For example, is the word plural or singular. Even small variations can make a big difference. Use tools such as KeyWordDiscovery.com and WordTracker.com
This research is critical to your SEO success!
Call things what they are!
Stop using industry speak. Use the word your visitors use and they’ll respond.
2. Clarity of Words
Be accurate. Be descriptive. Be concise.
Our eyes naturally look for areas of high contrast. What do they find on your site when they look there? Is it easy to scan your web page in five seconds and immediately know who you are and what they will find if they visit you?
3. Old Fashion Marketing
Just because its online doesn’t mean the rules of marketing don’t apply. Here are six rules to remember.
- Find the pain.
What will people miss if they don’t visit your attraction or location? Tell them and explain how only you can make the pain of missing it go away. - Anticipate the objections
For example, do you have to create an account before you can buy? Or even look around? If they must, sell them on the benefits. - Ask for the sale.
Make the calls to action clear, consistent and obvious. And put them above the fold. If the page is long, put them at the bottom too. - Close with a commitment.
If they won’t buy, will they signup for a free travel guide or subscribe to an e-newsletter? Offering a phone number doesn’t count… the commitment has to take place online. You have to collect their email address at the very least. - Don’t muddy the water.
Don’t make it more complicated then it needs to be. Get the sale/commitment first AND THEN offer the upsell options. - Shut up and listen.
Once your site is up and running, study the analtics, test and listen. A website is never done. It should be in a constant state of improvement based on data. Don’t make decisions based on emotion.
4. Learn the Language
Analytics – learn to love them!
Analytics isn’t about numbers. It’s about understanding your customer’s experience.
Sources
Analytic reports can come from log files (collected on your web server, ClickTracks for example) and/or page tagging (collected on someone else’s server, for example Google Analytics).
Accuracy
There is no program that is 100% accurate. Pick the one your going to use and stick with it. If you’re running two different programs, remember the numbers will never match!
Common Terms
- Visits – the total number of times people visit your site. If someone returns multiple times, the number of visits goes up each time.
- Unique Visitors – the number of people who visit your site. If they return multiple times, a person still only counts for one unique visitor.
- Page views – how many total pages do people look at?
- Search Engine Refferals – who’s sending traffic to you? What words and phrases are driving traffic?
- Exit Rate – number of people who come to your site, look at one page and leave in five seconds or less. Also known as the Bounce Rate.
- Conversion Rate – the number of visitors who do what you want them to do. (Book a trip, signup for email… whatever you want the action to be.)
1.8% is average but we can do a lot better.
5. Where is the Gold?
It’s in your site… how do you find it? Here are some guidelines.
Set a Goal.
Determine the purpose of your site.
What do you want them to do on your site?
These questions must be answered first!
Information
Add context to your analytic data again and again until you get to a number that delivers visitor knowledge.
Understanding
Knowing what to do with the information. No analytics program will give you recommendations. It requires human intervention, thought and consideration.
Segmentation
Not every visitor is equal. Don’t treat them the same.
Which ones met your site goals? Why? Who are they and how can you change your website to help even more convert?
Keep asking questions like this.
When you have this information, you can make significant improvements.
Matt predicts the money you spend on a quality analytics and analysis program will pay for itself in three months!
Only 11% of companies are taking full advantage of analytic reporting and segmentation.
In Summary:
Remember the 3 C’s of analytics: Context. Comparision. Contrast.
Resources:
Find more information about search engine marketing by visiting Matt’s web site… he has a page dedicated to the SD Tourism Conference! He also recommends the books Don’t Make Me Think and Web Pages That Suck.
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