More engagement doesn’t always mean more conversions.

One of the biggest mistakes site owners make when they are first starting out is focusing on high traffic volume as a way to make sales.

While there is definitely nothing wrong with high amounts of traffic, if you are not looking at the right engagement factors it can be a curse rather than a blessing.

Think of your engagement to conversion rate as a recipe- more ingredients are not necessarily going to get you a better product. It’s all about getting just the right balance of ingredients that will lead you to the highest conversions.

Common Mistakes When it Comes to Engagement

Too Many Options: here is another case where less is more. When users have too many places to click, they become confused and potentially end their quest through your sales funnel right then and there. Give your customer choices, but not too many choices. When they come to your home page or first point of preference, keep the path that you want them to follow lit up like a beacon.

Slow Site Speed: If your pages are loading slow chances are your customers are going to get frustrated and close the page. In takes only seconds to lose customer engagement online, so run a site speed checker frequently and remove any slow-loading features.

Social Sharing: Studies have shown that when you offer more sharing options such as a link to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn, users are less likely to share than if you only offer two options. This is another classic example of less is more. When you offer too many choices, the most likely action from your customers is to not take any action.

Site Interactivity: When you have many things to interact with on your page, or you offer too many moving graphics, images and sounds, users can become distracted and move away from what you want them to do. Stick with your intention- what point are you trying to get across? A good example here are the Google Doodles which, studies have confirmed waste hours of productivity.

Case Study

Lets look at two similar companies- Hotels.com and Airbnb.com. They bother offer accommodation services around the world and they are both comparatively priced.

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Online Marketing Review #1 – StickerMule

We are going to take you step by step through the design, optimisation and onboarding of StickerMule, an online store that allows you to create and design your very own stickers.

Through this example you will be able to see first hand how your website compares and what changes you may, or may not want to make.

First, lets start with…

The Homepage:

They say you should never judge a book by its cover but when it comes to your Homepage or Landing Page, first impressions mean everything.

Take a look at StickerMule’s opening page. It is clear, easy to navigate and offers a little quirky style and personality.

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The storm clouds are rolling in, people are running for cover, it’s the end….no, its “Mobilegeddon”. 

Google has announced that starting April 21st mobile friendly sites are going to be given search ranking preference. This means that if your site is not mobile friendly, it will potentially be wiped from page 1 to page 100 of Google’s search results.

In a nutshell, having a mobile friendly page is now crucial if you want to maintain and increase your traffic.

Google is usually pretty secretive about their algorithm updates, but perhaps seeing as this is the biggest update in history, the tech giant found it appropriate to warn users-

“We will be expanding our use of mobile friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact on our search results.”

 

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The secret to writing good sales copy starts here:

1.) Indirect Marketing Vs. Direct Marketing

Working out whether you are going to market your product or service directly or indirectly will have a huge influence on what sales copy you choose to include.

Indirect marketing is basically writing content that helps to capture the attention of your audience and potentially lead to sales. Often indirect marketing offers a lot of free content that persuades the reader to enter their email address, allowing marketers to re-target them. This format is usually beneficial for building a brand and establishing a relationship with your customers.

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Sure, having lots of traffic and a large social media following is helpful, but unless your sales page or website is converting into actual sales, does it even really matter?

Buying traffic and blasting all over social media is one thing, but at the end of the day it really comes down to quality.

When traffic finally does come to your site, do they like what they see?

Especially in the beginning when you are still building up a following, having a thoughtful and well-designed website is essential. Here are the 8 most crucial steps to getting your website sale-friendly:

1.) Remove all Conversion Barriers:

Everyone has their own idea over what will and won’t convert well, but some of the things we can all agree on is this-

• No typo’s or incomplete product descriptions
• Up to date images and products
• No difficult to read fonts
• No slow page loads
• Avoid clutter

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When you’re saying goodbye to the old and welcoming in a new one, it’s only natural to ponder and write about possible things happening in the coming New Year. Even if you’re not a prophet, it can be easy to spot the signs of big things happening for Internet marketing in 2015. There’s no doubt it will be an exciting year for those of us online!

In fact, it’s almost a given that if you are investing in online marketing, it’s very possible you’ll see some big wins in the next few months. This isn’t just a gut instinct, it’s based on facts. When looking at the statistical data, and charting it out, you can find your way into big gains in 2015 as well.

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Chances are that you have eagerly devoured native-advertising content—many times. Maybe you realized it for what it was, or perhaps you did not. In any case, pre-sell pages are a valuable piece of this concept. If executed correctly, those pre-sell pages accomplish several goals.

First, a few words on native advertising. Basically, it is designed to conceal advertising inside valuable content that benefits readers—content that readers, or viewers, often actively have sought out. Pre-sell pages are what make native advertising shine.

A pre-sell page is the first page a viewer sees. It appears like content. In fact, it IS content—important content. Its aim is to entice readers to click on links to a more-direct sales page or a page for lead generation. Pre-sell pages serve as an inducement. You must not skimp on them because if you do not get them right, customers do not click on the sales pages anyway.

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There is a new ‘ahead of the curve” form of online advertising: Native Advertising. It’s a very innovative marketing approach that top businesses are using – from media buyers to direct marketers – to get results. If you haven’t heard about this approach, let me tell you what it is and how it can benefit your online business. This information is for newbies who have never heard of Native Advertising, but who want to explore the possibilities. (more…)

Conversions are in the eye of the beholder. Some marketers with longer sales cycles will call a successful email opt-in a conversion. Although, technically it is a conversion, the fact is that an opt-in doesn’t equate to a sale. A real conversion, for most online businesses, will involve cold hard cash or a credit card number. If you want to land conversions that increase your bottom line, learn the art of the autoresponder. (more…)

Are you still mystified about how to generate leads from your content marketing? Why not take a bulletproof and scientific approach to your content marketing strategy to generate those leads?

80% of B2B marketers admit that lead generation is their top concern when adopting new content marketing strategies, according to a report done by the Content Marketing Institute. Do you know the steps they take to make that goal a reality? (more…)