One of the things that I find that most entrepreneurs drop the ball on is basic seo for the images on their websites. The reason why this is a BIG mistake is that Google sends websites traffic from images too. In fact, when I check my website statistics I can see what images are sending me traffic, and there are quite a few! The images that are sending me traffic to my sites typically are ones where I got the keyword phrases REALLY right. Watch this video to see how to get it done in under 4 minutes!
The content you create this year is more important than ever. The big brands like American Express and Coca-Cola have caught on now. Instead of spending a lot of their dollars on interruption marketing (commercials, etc.), they are paying consultants like myself big bucks to create compelling content campaigns for them that build brand trust and brand loyalty. Does your content do this? What is the first impression that your content makes?
In my work with clients, I do a LOT of website content evaluations a.k.a. makeovers, with which I use a 17-point criteria system. Over the years, I have consistently found five factors that site owners drop the ball on and so I thought I’d share them with you today…
Reason #1 – I Can’t Find Your Blog!
One of the biggest areas that site owners drop the ball on is basic search engine optimization. First, you have to start thinking like your ideal client. How would your ideal client search for your what you do in the search engines? What type of language would they use? Now you have to optimize your blog post titles to reflect that language so that when people do a search that your article shows up in the search results.
So for example, if you are a wedding planner and you are writing an article on wedding planning tips, I can’t tell you how many biz owners I have seen that title those articles something cute like “I Do” or generic like “Your Beautiful Wedding” — when the reality is that you need to be very specific and use terms that REAL people search for if you want to get search engine traffic like “How To Plan A Wedding On A Budget”. The key to getting this right is doing keyword research in your niche to make sure you are targeting phrases that people are typing into Google. I use the keyword research tool Market Samurai for this type of research for myself and when I create editorial calendars for clients.
Reason #2 – Your Blog Screams To Me That You Are An Amateur
As a solo entrepreneur, our resources may be limited as to how much we will invest in the aesthetics of our website, but we can make up for it in other areas. That’s why it’s really important that we do. So if your blog screams “amateur” then I’m afraid you are two seconds away from losing yet another possible client.
You are hosting your blog on a 3rd party blogging platform such as Blogger, Wordpres.org, LiveJournal etc. — While these are great resources and very user friendly for newbies, a blog hosted here does not say that you are serious about your business. Serious enough to invest a few dollars on your own domain name and a self-hosted WordPress blog. When I see a blog like this, I don’t think serious, I think “newbie” — and I’m not going to invest my money with a newbie or with someone who appears to be a newbie.
Your blog looks straight out of the package. While you do not have to spend a lot of time or money on this, I think that it’s really important for your website to look like you’ve spent at least a little energy in making it “different” than the many other blogs that use the same template you use. It shows that you are serious about your business and that you want to provide a good user experience.
Reason #3 – Your Blog Gives Me A Headache
If your blog is too cluttered, it will turn off and turn away potential clients. A good way to give your blog “room to breathe” is to make sure that your articles have a lot of white space between paragraphs, photos, etc. You also need to take a good long look at your sidebars. Do you have too many slow loading social media widgets? (Dear Facebook, can you fix that?) Do you have too many advertisements? Is there just too much junk in your sidebars that leave your readers about where to go first? Consider what you can eliminate from your sidebars that will improve your visitors user experience? A simple and clean blog is best.
Reason #4 – There Is No YOU In Your Blog
This isn’t typically a newbie mistake, but one that many intermediate marketers make. A trend that has started which I fully support is the use of guest blog posts. Many bloggers are featuring other writers and experts so that there is more “fresh” content on their site without having to create it all themselves. Totally fine strategy, except that many bloggers are overdoing it to the point that I don’t know what the point or message of the blog is. There are so many different points and strategies being made on the blog by different writers, I’m not really sure what I’m suppose to be learning and more importantly what to do next. If this is you, remember that this is YOUR business and at the end of the day people have to be able to trust YOU in order to make a decision on whether or not to invest with you. Using too many guest bloggers will dilute your message, so be picky and selective about who you feature. Make sure the message of the guest articles are in alignment with your overall marketing message.
Reason #5 – You Haven’t Invited Me To Come Back
While I may do a search, and find your blog articles, AND actually read one, I probably won’t ever come back and visit your blog again because you haven’t asked me to. The #1 call to action that entrepreneurs should make in their blog is to ask for an email address so that the reader can continue to read more content. The reality is that trust doesn’t come easy in today’s world! Visitors need to have additional exposure to your message in order to make a decision to trust you and invest in you. So ask invite them to experience more of you. Make sure to add optin boxes on your blog. The best 2 places for these optin invitations are top right-hand corner of your site and at the end of your individual articles.
Your Turn!
I’m sure you’ve visited many blogs on your travels around the web, what are some things that make you “click away”? Share them below in the comments area, because I’m sure that we all can learn from each other.
About two years ago, I worked with a client who wanted help with positioning himself as a go-to authority in his industry. He initially found me through an article I had written somewhere (as most of my clients do) and wanted me to basically perform miracles for him. Okay — I’m a miracle worker sometimes (dusting off my shoulders:), so I took on the challenge.
My first job was to take a look at his business and one of the first things that I took inventory of was the types of content he had created and in particular if he was creating content that resonated with his ideal clients. He wasn’t, and at first, he didn’t get it. He would occasionally write articles and publish them, but never with any purpose or rather enough purpose. Never strategically. He really just wrote what he thought was important for his ideal clients to know, titled them what he wanted, and waited for them to come. They didn’t come.
And that’s my point here.
If you are going to spend your valuable time creating content such as articles, wouldn’t you like to make sure that they are working hard for you, and pulling more of your ideal clients towards you? Of course you do!
So here are a few points you should consider when sitting down to write an article this week. Think about your ideal client during this entire exercise – not yourself:
1. What is the point of this article? Is it to entertain your ideal clients? Am I solving a huge challenge for them?
2. Did I write this in a way that my ideal clients can understand and relate to? Am I using language that they use or am I talking above their heads or to the lowest common denominator.
3. Have previous clients asked you about this topic? That’s always a good indication that you will attract more ideal clients with content designed around the same topic.
4. Are you publishing the articles places where your ideal clients visit? Why are you guest posting at a home business site if your ideal clients are frustrated and burned out CEO’s?
The key to filling your business with not just clients, but clients that you LOVE working with, is to ensure that you know who those ideal clients really are and that you create content that they are looking for. I’ll be talking more about how to create client attracting content like this in my upcoming teleclass, “The 5 Biggest Shifts You Must Make When Writing, Publishing & Marketing Articles That Attract Clients!” . Register right now!
How To Create A WordPress Comment Thank You Page & Redirection
by Lisa Angelettie · 8 comments
I talk a LOT about how to attract new clients but today I’d like to pay attention to how we are going to “convert” those prospects into paying clients. Well there are a lots of strategies for this, my primary one being building a “trust relationship” with readers. Yet that takes some time to nurture and cultivate, so here is a strategy that works quickly and produces immediate results — the art of saying thank you. A thank you goes a long way, especially on the web where things can get really impersonal. So today I want to show you how you can “thank” people who graciously take time out of their day to leave a comment on your blog.
Step 1 – Create A Thank You Page
The first thing you need to do is create a page in WordPress where you speak specifically to people who have left a comment on your blog. People who have left a comment on your blog are interested in you and your content, so it’s a good idea to ask for them to take the next step and subscribe to your updates/newsletter. You can also talk a little about yourself and start building a “connection” with your readers that’s a little more personal. Here’s a chunk of my thank you page, but if you want to see the entire page and it’s your first time leaving a comment, just leave a comment below so you can see what my page includes as well as well as the ”magic” of the redirection:)
Step 2 – Create The Redirection
There are a few ways you can do this. Pick which one works best for you and is easiest to implement.
Option 1 – Create the redirection in your functions.php file by adding this piece of code. Special Thanks to Paulund for this tip. This avoids you having to download yet another WordPress Plugin. If you use the Thesis template, then add your code to your custom_functions.php file.
Option 2 – Use the Comment Redirect WordPress Plugin by Yoast
This is probably the easiest solution to implement. You can download the WordPress plugin simply by going to the “plugins” section in your dashboard and searching for “Comment Redirect By Yoast”. Download and activate the plugin.
I use quite a few plugins on my site and am trying to be very selective about anything I add, it’s better for my site (any site really) if I can perform many of the “tricks” I want by adding code rather than plugins. Therefore I have gone with option 1.
Check It Out!
If you’d like to test drive my site out first, feel free to leave a comment of any length to this post, and watch how it works.
Questions? Ask me over on Facebook.