“Unfortunately the vast majority of websites do not do a good job converting visitors into paying customers. The key is to plan strategically BEFORE designing your website.” — Patrick Schwerdtfeger
Patrick is a passionate and dynamic speaker who focuses on delivering valuable content and highly practical strategies people can implement immediately and see actual results. His programs consistently get strong reviews and leave attendees burning to put their new strategies to work.
I first met Patrick when he discussed social media basics to a group 0f 70+ San Francisco Bay area consultants. He was so popular the group invited him to return to talk about How to Win Social Media Victories. You can view videos from both those talks by clicking on the links.
Patrick’s easy-to-read and implement strategies have been outlined in his book WebifyYour Business Internet Marketing Secrets for the Self-Employed in which one chapter offers an 8-step action plan for using your website more effectively.
Here is your 8-step Website Action Plan
1. Understand that your website is your Sales Department.
2. Generating website traffic is Marketing.
3. Think about first-time visitors to your site.
4. Identify exactly what you want them to do.
5. Answer the following three questions for your site visitors in five seconds.
6. Why am I here? Tell them what you do.
7. Where do I look? Offer a few clear choices.
8. What do I do? Tell them what to do next.
Think about all the steps BEFORE you start building your website. It’s a lot easier to build a new site than fix an old broken one.
FURTHER READING:
Simple Answers to Six Basic Social Media Questions
PatrickSchwerdtfeger: Author and Speaker
What’s the Future of Social Media: How many of these FAQ’s can you answer?
Website Designers in Demand even with the ease of blogging software
Business will rebound when firms learn new marketing resources
10 more easy ways to improve your website
Hi Shari! Thanks for this useful steps. It gave my sales strategy a direction. However, any thought about the returning visitors? New visitors are easily bait. But the satisfaction of the returning visitors is a different story.
Great tips! but for me, being aware on what’s your purpose in building up a website could lead to an easier way to profit out of it. Google adsense is the fastest and easiest way to make money but getting sales depends on the traffic and quality of the content you offer to the visitors.
gosh, has not considered this matter before with my website.
Hey,
What an informative article there. Great way of putting down some important points, great suggestion there.
Thank you for an amazing share.
Shari,
I love Patrick’s questions. I am in the process of building multiple sales pages and just answering those questions help to convert my prospects.
That’s one of the reasons for tribes like ours — to continue learning from one another!! Right on man this article hits all the key points what you need to do to bring is customers in this electronic age! Amazingly simple and a compelling action plan kind of article here!
Researching about what people look for is so important. People tend to get lazy in that department but it can only help you in the long run. Thanks for the advice! Simple and to the point :0)
I completely agree that its important to make sure that everything is planned before building a site as it can be a lot of work and expense trying to fix a site that isn’t optimised for example. Many people do not realise the importance of planning these things in advance.
Researching and planning everything out is so important.
When I researched the most used keywords for my niche and products, it increased my sales and traffic almost straight away.
Thanks for this article.
Whatever our profession its really important to plan well our strategies so that we can execute our goals in perfection. Running a website, I feel, is like running a business since bloggers plans different types of methods to attract readers.
Hi Shari
Thanks fot this good info.
It does make a lot of sens I Need to look at the videos you are talking about it is always good to learn from people that know the how to’s.
Make it a great day.
Regards
Theuns
That’s one of the reasons for tribes like ours — to continue learning from one another!!
Right on man this article hits all the key points what you need to do to bring is customers in this electronic age! its all about finding your customers needs first by researching through social networking and then tailoring your message to there needs.
Isn’t it amazing that the word research has lost the stigma we all gave it back in high school and college.
Hey Shari,
I love Patrick’s three questions; Why am I here? Where do I look? What do I do next?
I notice that on a lot of sites that I visit I don’t get a clear picture of what the author of the site is trying to accomplish.
Keeping these three questions in mind when building your “Sales Department” both the website owner and the reader will benefit greatly.
I may have to return to watch Patrick’s videos as well!
Thanks for sharing Shari,
Kevin
Questions, i.e., the right questions help us in so many ways. And the great thing about sharing questions like these is that we can think how these particular issues may work into our personal, individual or company strategies.
Yes, that is some great advice. People need to learn how to get a really good call-to-action on their web sites to increase their conversion to sales. Maybe adding a video to the web page telling the visitor what they can do in order to help them along. I’ve done that with a few of our web pages to hold the person’s hand so they can figure out what to do and follow by example.
Robert, you’ve hit the nail on the head! Videos are the NEXT BIG THING, Really Big Thing!!!!
I like the point about identifying exactly what you want visitors to do. In my case, I want them to sign up for my list so that I can continue to build a relationship with them. Providing value and building relationships – that’s the objective.
Yes, Eldon, your comment reminds me of a favorite quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “We are all looking for someone to tell us what to do.”
Hi Shari,
Really great info and advice there!
Action plans are what everyone is looking for and this is simple and effective.
Thanks,
Kevin
good post, a good guide for those who are just starting up their sites. Brief yet concise.
Thanks for this.
I liked this article, it wasn’t on going and straight to the point. I never really grasped the concept of how people convert their websites from visitors to customers but this article gave a lot of insight on how they do it.
Is it true everytime you click on a website the person who owns it makes a profit? If so, how much of a profit?
WOW, Carolyn, I for one wish that were the case!
That doesn’t work for me, but it certainly works for some people who have a lot of readership traffic and publish advertisements on their sites.
Carolyn
it’s true some sites can make a lots of cash from people clicking on them but most make a few bucks (if that) a day. The secret is having lots and lots of these sites making a few bucks a day. When I’m not working at DateGinger I run a bunch of information sites, like medical information, recipes, home improvements and so on and each site makes between £1 and £10 a day in clicks. There are people that make way more.
Hi Shari!
Amazingly simple and a compelling action plan kind of article here!
I think this is exactly what the vast majority people fail to address, and by the time their site’s up, they’re already thick in the action to do much about the original strategy of having it in the first place.
Strategic planning would involve everything from the demographics to the psychology of visitors, which would be pretty intimidating for newbies.
Fortunately, we’ve got Patrick!
Yasser
Enjoyed your article – short and to the point. Great advice!
Marquita, are there any of those steps that are particularly meaningful to you — or that you have had experience with?