Make Every Page a Landing Page
Web site pages that fail to make a connection with visitors may drive them away from your site, possibly for good.
That’s especially true about landing pages, which visitors reach through either online links, paid or otherwise, or specific URLs displayed in print advertising.
eMarketingandCommerce.com’s May/June edition focuses on Landing Page Optimization 101 in an article with the same title.
“So when that clickthrough visitor that you’ve paid dearly for lands at your front door, you want to make sure that she or he feels welcome, and finds compelling reasons to become engaged with your content and stay awhile.”
This is the reason I’ve dedicated a maximum of two hours daily to review each of my sites’ pages, reading the text and looking at the overall structure.
I’ve added large and/or small photographs on the all-text pages to create a more-visual site, something that I’ve realized visitors want to see. How did I realize it? By analyzing my site’s statistics. Visitors stay on the pages with photographs more often than pages without pictures.
One site’s “what’s new” page is very popular, so I treat it as a landing page, updating it at least every two weeks.
Consider every page on your Web site as a landing page so that it encourages each visitor to stay, connect, and buy.
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Marketers are Leaders or Followers. Which One are You?
One of this week’s news stories in Crain’s New York Business is about HarperCollins and their decision to stop publishing their book catalog.
“HarperCollins said it will cease publication of its paper book catalogs - distributed to bookstores and libraries twice a year - and instead make a list of upcoming book releases available online…”
Book publishers, like firms in other industries, are reviewing processes to determine whether or not the “old way of doing business” contributes to profits or if an alternative will provide the same result with less work and waste.
By discontinuing its long-standing catalog, HarperCollins leads the charge (I haven’t read about other industry participants doing this to date) that other publishers will probably follow. Similar effects happen in the airline and banking industries.
What about your business? When you research and launch a marketing initiative, do you lead the charge or follow a leader? You might decide to act first (I often go this route), and other times you watch what another industry player launches and position yourself to go one step better than them so that you reap extra rewards from the action.
I can understand HarperCollins’s decision, especially if customers are frequently online. I’d password protect the access area so that competitors cannot readily view my upcoming publications, and I’d add additional marketing details and support in that section. That’s how leaders stay in front.
In your industry, do you consider yourself a leader or follower?
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Music Industry Forecast May Help You Succeed
“No more $15.98 CDs. No 99-cent iTunes. Instead…artists should use recordings to build a brand so that they can make money on concerts and T-shirts.”
This is how MTV founder Bob Pittman sees the future of the music industry. His barometer, dissected in Free For All in the June issue of Conde Nast Portfolio, is a blueprint that explains how he’s come to this conclusion.
Most of all, he shows each of us how to forecast the industries in which we participate to make smart decisions that fuel our long-term marketing power.
The comments at the end of the article’s online version provide opinions on why this business model may not work for music, but my focus for you is how an entire industry is viewed in order to draw conclusions.
From there it’s possible to determine what type of information is best to distribute for free in order to convince prospects to buy healthy-priced products and services.
Writing a blog is one example of free marketing, which leads to selling information too valuable to give away.
Review the article and see if you can begin mapping the past, present, and presumed future for your selected industry in order to understand which direction is right for you.
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New Rules Won’t Matter if You Market Right
A law recently began in New York City mandating restaurants to disclose the caloric content of all menu items.
I recall reading some customers’ feedback about this when seeing the calorie count for their favorite lunch.
One person said that she doesn’t order the over 900-calorie sandwich every day and won’t stop buying it.
Another person, after seeing the astronomical number, also said it won’t change her order because she enjoys the meal’s flavor.
We want all of our customers to experience the same satisfaction, even if a law mandates that we reveal a layer of business that might persuade them to stop buying.
By the time that layer is unveiled, we’ve already hooked customers through taste, benefits, convenience, or great service.
By you provide a terrific experience, customers will return with an appetite for more, and they’ll bring their friends, too.
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Shirley George Frazier - Solo Business Expert, Author, College Mentor
When you hire me to speak at your conference, college or special event, attendees will thank you for a great program. Media interviews also welcomed. Call or Email me. 973-279-2799 or shirley@shirleyspeaks.com.
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