anoadmin - Old City Web Services

Every Page On Your Website Should Have a Call to Action

August 16, 2010 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

That’s what makes it a landing page.

In fact, when you understand that each and every website should be working for you to get new customers or keep track of what current customers want, then deciding what content to include on each webpage gets easier and easier.

When in doubt, about what you should do to make your website at landing page…include a sign-up form for your newsletter.

Questions of the day:

Do you have a newsletter you send out to clients/customers on a regular basis?
Is every page on your site a landing page?

Do You Blog on a Regular Basis?

August 11, 2010 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

If you answered yes, then take a bow because you are doing your followers and your business a huge service. Trust is built when you blog on a regular basis. Much like a television show that comes on at 8pm on Thursdays each and every week, your blog can become a regular part of your followers’ lives. On the other hand, if you blog sporadically then that teaches them not to come to your website on a regular basis.

So how often should you blog?

Well, that is up to you, your style and the amount of time that you have. The most important thing is that you are consistent so that you can set precedence and the expectations of others. With that said, if you are new to blogging then start blogging one day a week for a couple of months and see how that works out for you. You can always add more days later if you find necessary.

Sidenote: One woman I know told me that she made the decision not to cook from the very beginning of her marriage because she didn’t want him to expect her to cook on a regular basis. And he doesn’t!

Questions of the day:

If you could only blog one day a week what day would you choose to blog?
If you had to give your customers/clients 13 success tips what would you choose? Why is this tip important? (answer this question set and you will have 13 blogs done in a flash)

How to Use Landing Pages to Build Your Email Marketing Database

August 9, 2010 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

How large is your company’s email database? Why do I ask? Because size does matter. The size of your database has a direct correlation to your company’s bottom line…to your company’s cash flow. According to research from the Database Marketing Institute, every email address captured adds $10 to your company per year.

Simply stated, if you have 12,000 email addresses in your database that adds $120,000 to your company.

Now, there are some people that earn more than $10 per name. Matter of fact, I know of one business owner that generated close to $1.25 million dollars last year with a mailing list of 13,000 that he brings tremendous value to on a regular basis!

How did he do it?

He used highly targeted landing pages to capture qualified, legitimate email addresses. He didn’t just want anybody on his list. He wanted a specific type of person on his list. With that in mind he worked to design a compelling landing page to attract the right people.

You should do the same. Either do it yourself or find someone to help you get it done. Here are a few things you can do to get the job done.

Design a Landing Page With One Clear Intent

If you want to build your email database then you need to create a landing page specifically for that reason. Don’t try to sell them a product or service just yet. You are just trying to get the relationship started.

Give Something Away for Free

To spice things up a bit, and entice them to give you their information, you will want to offer them something of value such as a free white paper, special report, tip sheet, software download,video, mp-3, or demo. Make sure that it is something that they can receive immediately.

Promise to Send Them Great Stuff on a Regular Basis

In addition to a free offer, you will want to let them know that you will be emailing them on a regular basis. You want them to give you permission to continually market to them at the minimum once a week. Make sure that what you send them is of value so that they will continue to stay on your list and open your email.

Ask for As Little Information As Possible

Let’s face it, to send something online all you really need is an email address. So you will want to make sure that you have a form that collects their email address. You may also choose to capture their first name. Resist the temptation to ask for too much information too soon. Instead, use a progressive profiling approach that helps you gather more information from them over time and as your relationship deepens.

Add a Button That Tells Them What to Do

If you want your visitors to download the free report then your call-to-action button needs to say just that. Use phrases such as, “Send my free report”, “Download now”, “Sign me up right now”, and many others. You get the idea. Avoid using generic words such as “submit” and sign up.

Final Thoughts: Your email marketing landing page doesn’t have to be long, but it does have to be clean in design and clear in copy.

Questions You May Want to Ask Yourself:

How large of a list do I want to have?
How often will I communicate with my list?
How fast do I want my landing page up and running?

Can Google Find Your Website?

August 4, 2010 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

If it can’t then you are missing out on a huge amount of traffic that should be coming to your site. The way to get Google to see you is through Search Engine Optimization, also known as SEO. To understand the value of SEO it is important to understand how Google works. May we suggest that you watch the video below? It’s straight from Google.

Landing Pages: A Business Owner’s Best Friend

August 2, 2010 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Chances are that you have more than one type of customer…which means that you must communicate with different customer groups in different ways. This necessity is easily accomplished by using targeted landing pages which automatically segments your marketing list for you. In other words, landing pages give your customer a chance to raise their hand to let you know exactly how and why they want you to market to them…and what they are in the market to buy right now or in the near future.

What’s a landing page?
Landing pages are highly- targeted, highly-focused web pages that are designed to let visitors know that they are in the right place and to ethically persuade your visitors to take a specific action. This action could be anything from signing up for a newsletter, registering for an event, downloading a white paper, as well as purchasing a product.

When properly designed, landing pages transform your website from “one of thousands of Google search results” into an interactive, engaging experience. The result being:

Trust from the visitor
Collection of visitor contact information
High quality leadspermission for ongoing marketing
Lower cost acquisition of new customers
And much more!

Basic Landing Page Elements
There are four basic elements that make a landing page, well… a landing page.

Identifying Headline: Visitors need to know that they are in the right place and that you have something they want.

Compelling Offer: if you want your visitors to gladly give you their contact information or their money then you need to offer something that gets their heart racing and their mind charged with anticipation.

Social Proof: Testimonials, quotes, number of newsletter subscribers, number of clients and more. McDonalds puts up signage that says “billions served” for a reason.

Easy to Fill Out Form: only gather the information that you absolutely need to deliver your compelling offer. Offering a free white paper or newsletter… then try asking for only an email or email and first name. The more work the visitor is asked to do then the less compliance you will have with your request.

Two Simple Questions:
What type of customer or client groups do you have?
Does your website market directly