Make Your Website Sell

Jed Wylie

Sujets

• Marketing et communication

Informations

• Publié par: Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) PTE LTD
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789814382601
• Langue: English

Extrait

Make Your Website Sell
The Ultimate Guide to Increasing Your Online Profits







JED WYLIE
For Julie, Elise, Aaron and Theo
Copyright 2012 Jed Wylie
Published by Marshall Cavendish Business An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International
PO Box 65829 London EC1P 1NY United Kingdom [e-mail]
and
1 New Industrial Road Singapore 536196 [e-mail] www.marshallcavendish.com/genref
Marshall Cavendish is a trademark of Times Publishing Limited
Other Marshall Cavendish offices: Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited, 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196 Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 99 White Plains Road, Tarrytown NY 10591-9001, USA Marshall Cavendish International (Thailand) Co Ltd, 253 Asoke, 12th Floor, Sukhumvit 21 Road, Klongtoey Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand Marshall Cavendish (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Times Subang, Lot 46, Subang Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Batu Tiga, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
The right of Jed Wylie to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Requests for permission should be addressed to the publisher.
The authors and publisher have used their best efforts in preparing this book and disclaim liability arising directly and indirectly from the use and application of this book. All reasonable efforts have been made to obtain necessary copyright permissions. Any omissions or errors are unintentional and will, if brought to the attention of the publisher, be corrected in future printings.
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
eISBN 978-981-4382-60-1
Cover design by Matt McArdle Author photograph by Edward Moss
Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by TJ International
Contents
Introduction
CHAPTER 1:
Get Into the Web Owner s Mindset
Owning the Internet
Thinking Like an Online Entrepreneur
Time: Friend of the Website
Delays: Enemy of the Website
Confidence
Running a Website in Bad Times
Lessons From History
Getting Your Website s Priorities Right
The Strategy
CHAPTER 2:
Find the Right Web Design Partner
Introduction
DIY or Professionally Developed?
A Brief History of Web Designers
Where to Begin Your Search
Getting to Know Them
Getting to Know Their Technical Prowess
Getting to Know Their Business Sense
Location, Location, Location (Or, Does Geography Really Matter?)
Working with Freelancers: The Low-Cost Solution
How Much Should Your Website Cost?
Writing a Brief
The Strategy
CHAPTER 3:
Plan and Build Your Website
Introduction
Legal Nasties
Planning and Time Scales
The Specification Phase
The Design Phase
The Site Build
Testing
Entering Content
Usability Study
Going Live
Project Management
The Strategy
CHAPTER 4:
Discover the 7 Principles of Internet Marketing
Introduction
Principle 1: Customer Profiling
Principle 2: The Many Pillars of Marketing
Principle 3: Testing
Principle 4: The Doubling Mindset
Principle 5: The Internet Equation
Principle 6: The Success Pyramid
Principle 7: The Real Customer Value
The Strategy
CHAPTER 5:
Get Instant Traffic to Your Website
Introduction
How Does Google AdWords Work?
Setting Up Your Account
Selecting Profitable Keywords
Writing Compelling Adverts
Landing Pages
Conversions and Analysing Results
Tracking Offline Conversions
The Ultimate Google Strategy
Why You Should Use AdWords Before SEO
The Strategy
CHAPTER 6:
Build Lasting Relationships with Your Customers
Introduction
Your Email Strategy
Knowing Your List
Building a List
Building an Online Relationship: Getting Started
Building an Online Relationship: Crafting Powerful Emails
The Strategy
CHAPTER 7:
Turn Visitors into Customers
Introduction
Which Webpages Should You Focus On?
Split-testing Your Landing Pages
Writing Winning Copy
Conversion Tactics
Ecommerce Sites
Organising Your Content
Action Thinking
The Strategy
CHAPTER 8:
Get Lasting Traffic to Your Website
Introduction
What is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?
How are Your Website s Rankings Calculated?
The Target Page
Picking the Perfect Keywords for SEO
Onsite and Offsite SEO
Onsite SEO Techniques
Offsite SEO Techniques
The Strategy
CHAPTER 9:
Analyse and Grow
Introduction
Getting the Most Out Of Your Analytics
Setting Up Google Analytics
The Anatomy of Reports
Visitor Reports
Traffic Sources Reports
Content Reports
Goals Reports
Ecommerce Reports
The Strategy
CHAPTER 10:
Lights, Camera, Action!
Appendixes
Writing a Brief
Sample Project List
Specification Questions
Negative Keywords
Acknowledgements
Your VIP Invitation
Introduction
THE STRATEGY
You ve come to the decision to invest in improving your website at exactly the right time. You have, quite rightly, recognised that the Internet is a very complex selling space, and in order to be effective, to outsmart your competition and to take your business to the next level, you need to find out what works and what doesn t. And that is exactly how this book will help you.
Together we are going to unlock the potential in your website so your business can achieve rapid and sustained growth for the months and years ahead, no matter what the economic weather.
For over a decade I have been at the coalface of web design and marketing as the managing director of a web design company. I ve also spent the last five years intensively researching and testing the very best online techniques used by the top-performing companies.
I have taken all that knowledge and combined it into this book, along with a healthy measure of research and creativity. Plus I ve packed in as many strategies, approaches, ideas, tips, and step-by-step guides as possible in order to give you the most powerful and practical advice available to turn your website into a financial success story.
However, whether you are building your website or growing an existing one, having a strategy will be fundamental to your success. In fact, you simply cannot expect to be successful without it.
Why?
Well, many web owners struggle; and struggle is a very clear message. It s the message that something is wrong. After years of working with hundreds of web owners I have noticed that the struggle is often the result of dabbling: they do a little bit of Google AdWords, have a brush with Search Engine Optimisation, flirt with improving their sales copy, 1 some even dump their entire site in the hope that their web designers will wave magic wands to make them millionaires overnight. Then they wonder why their website never really gets top-flight success.
Often this is down to the hope that by doing something different (anything different) their website will perform better. However, without a strategy - an overview of the sequential (and sometimes simultaneous) steps that need to be taken - most web owners are left floundering on the rocks.
My aim is to give you the strategy to make your online business flourish. It s not complicated, and it s not technical, so please enjoy the sense of relief that you may feel that the route to success is easier than most believe. (You are welcome to get a bit excited at this point.)
Now as soon as most people mention strategy, I get nervous, as it s usually succeeded by endless business plans, policies and meetings. That is not the kind of strategy I mean. In fact, this strategy is incredibly simple because it relates to a process which, taken step by step, will build your success.
Step 1: Get Into the Web Owner s Mindset
Owning a website is more like owning another business, with all the complexities and work that entails. In fact there are so many elements to it you could easily be overwhelmed with stuff to do ; many web owners end up suffering from information overload to the point they are debilitated into inaction. Knowing how to run and develop your website is more about how you think than simply doing things on a list, so it s important for you to get your mindset right from the outset. Think of this as the same mental exercise an athlete might do before running a race - your mindset sets the foundation stones for your future.
Step 2: Find the Right Web Design Partner
Finding a good web designer can be as hard as finding your life partner. Your web designer will need to mesh with you, your business, your website s needs and even your values and principles. They will have to get inside your business and your head in order to connect with what you want. And you have to do likewise. After all, if they are about to help you represent your company online, you ll want to be sure they are right for the task.
Step 3: Plan and Build Your Website
Having got the right web design partner, it s time to build your online empire. But get it wrong here and the repercussions will be expensive and time-consuming. That s why you need to break down your web project into manageable chunks. It begins with the specification, which is where you do all of your groundwork thinking and where the website takes shape on paper. Next, those plans are fashioned into a design you can see, then turned into a working website, and finally tested and put live on the Internet.
It sounds simple but it isn t! It s a complex and detailed process, and one which typically takes a lot longer than you think. The biggest risk to you is believing that your web designers will do it for you. In reality they can only provide you with the framework for your site; its organisation, content, sales capability, testing and marketing are all down to