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Believe It Or Not! You Can Get More Leads Without Generating Web Traffic

Believe It Or Not! You Can Get More Leads Without Generating Web Traffic  by Judy Caroll.  Available from <http://www.business2community.com/digital-marketing/believe-not-can-get-leads-without-generating-web-traffic-01662809#zQQH8SPYH3YhRdrF.97> [September 23, 2016]

In B2B marketing, perhaps no two words are as important as Traffic and Conversion. These two spell the difference between being in the black and being in the red. But you probably already know this by now: More web traffic does not always mean more leads. Traffic that does not convert is useless. That’s really unfortunate. Luckily, you can still increase your leads production without necessarily increasing your web traffic. Convenient, right?

Here are surefire ways to increase your conversion – meaning, turning traffic into leads – without actually increasing your web traffic.

Amplify your Unique Selling Point

I said amplify. Not just state or declare or put it there for all to see. Maximize and optimize it by making sure it grabs the viewers’ or readers’ attention the moment they see it, or at least, creates a strong connection with them. A convincing declaration of your unique selling point can build trust and keep prospects on the page longer than they originally intended.

Pro tip: Use “action” words, not just passive words. And yes, sell the solution to their problem, not your product. Don’t be too salesy like a snake oil salesman.

Simplify your Home Page

Really, just KISS it, or “Keep It Short and Simple”. Or “Keep it Simple, St****.” The simpler your homepage is, the easier for the viewers to navigate through it and find what they need and want. Just make sure it answers these questions:

#1: What does your product or service offer?

#2: How will your product or service solve my problem? Explain the benefits you provide, not the features.

Don’t make the common mistake of talking about yourself at length. Harping about your accomplishments will bore, if not totally turn off your viewer.

Pro tip: Remember, the homepage is yours, but it’s about the customer or client or guest. If it’s about them, they’ll stay longer.

Make your Headlines & Contact Information Visible

It’s the goal of the webpage to at least generate inquiries. If your headlines can’t be seen, what do you think would make any visitor want to learn more from it? Make sure your headlines attract the visitors’ attention as soon as their eyes land on the page. And that “Contact Us” page? It’s not just for display. You really have to make an effort to make it as user-friendly as possible – make it visible and easy to read. No fancy fonts, please. If can make your contact number(s) so conspicuous the visitor doesn’t have to look for it, so much the better.

Pro tip: You have to make the visitors feel confident in you, in your product or service or whatever you’re selling.

Offer Incentives

What sounds better than freebies? Rewards! Incentives! Bonuses! Use the psychology of free stuff. I don’t know, but there’s something about those words that give them a really nice ring when spoken. Positive reinforcement almost always works, and it’s true especially in marketing. When you add something extra – like a reward or bonus – to your unique selling point, it’s easier to close the deal with the visitor. Offer a “money-back guarantee” or “free replacement” or “lifetime warranty” and chances are, you’ll clinch the sale.

While you have already effectively differentiated your product or service from the competition through your unique selling point, the incentive to bonus or reward adds value to the whole thing, and even builds a deeper client-business relationship.

Pro tip: Your message should be “You can’t get from others what I’m offering you.”

Focus on Outbound

The previous four tips focus on optimizing the webpage. This last one is a no-brainer in terms of increasing leads without increasing web traffic volume. Why not try some of the most effective outbound marketing strategies?

Event marketing is a simple and easy way to interact with prospects and turn them into leads. Experiential event marketing is even better, as it goes beyond the mere physical presence of people at an event. Here are some unconventional event marketing campaigns, find out why they totally worked.

And of course, there’s good old targeted telemarketing if you want fast results. Whatever medium you choose, the most important thing is choosing an efficient and effective third-party service provider.

Pro tip: Do not settle. When you’re outsourcing, you simply do not settle for mediocre results.

Conclusion

One key takeaway here is, when you implement something new, make sure it’s measurable so you’ll know what works for you and what doesn’t. More importantly, don’t stop trying testing new things. Observe what your competitors are doing successfully that you may apply to your own. If you don’t think imitation is the highest form of flattery, then just make it your inspiration.

This post originally appeared at The Savvy Marketer’s Blog

Believe It Or Not! You Can Get More Leads Without Generating Web Traffic  by Judy Caroll.  Available from <http://www.business2community.com/digital-marketing/believe-not-can-get-leads-without-generating-web-traffic-01662809#zQQH8SPYH3YhRdrF.97> [September 23, 2016]

The importance of multiple domain names and web addresses

The importance of multiple domain names and web addresses by Lucy Wayment.  Available from <http://startups.co.uk/the-importance-of-multiple-domain-names-and-web-addresses/>. [Updated: Sep 26, 2016 Published: Sep 23, 2016]

Are you doing all you can to drive traffic to your website? Chances are you won’t have tried some of these handy tips…

Creating a solid foundation is vitally important when building your business’s online presence

The first step is to choose and register the right domain name. A .com domain name is especially valuable if it’s time for your company to go global and sell to different markets. If you register a domain name for your business’s main website in an internationally recognised top level domain (“TLD”) such as .com, you won’t need to register a domain name in a TLD that’s suited only for a particular country.

In addition, the familiarity and dependability of .com inspires trust in customers. After all, for more than 19 years, Verisign has maintained 100% operational accuracy and stability for .com and .net.

Once you’ve registered a .com domain name and established your business’s main website using the .com domain name, you’re ready to expand your business’ online presence. Registering multiple domain names will not only help you expand your business’ online presence but will provide you with a variety of other benefits as well.

Registering your company’s name as a domain name in other TLDs, like .net or .tv, can help protect your online space by preventing competitors from using the same domain name in the selected TLD and stop internet traffic otherwise intended for your website being sent to a competitor’s website, thereby helping you reduce customer confusion and challenges in finding your business online.

Capture misspellings and keep the competition at bay

Registering multiple variations of your company’s name as domain names in one TLD, such as .com, can help your customers reach your website even if they misspell your company’s name. Instead of visiting an error page, you can use URL redirection to redirect customers from the improperly spelled domain name to the properly spelled domain name with your business’s main website. As an added benefit, you will also prevent others from registering domain names that are similar to your company’s name.

More marketing opportunities

If your business intends to launch a marketing campaign, you can register domain names to align or support the campaign.

Take comparethemarket.com, for example. The company’s ‘comparethemeerkat’ campaign was a huge success. To complement the campaign, the insurance company registeredcomparethemeerkat.com, an additional domain name with a website that provides quotes and links to the main site.

Whether you direct customers to a promotional landing page or to your main website, additional domain names can help promote and drive results for an existing in-market campaign.

Highlight your company’s niche

Additional descriptive and memorable domain names in the .com TLD can highlight the unique aspects of your business, such as location or speciality.

If, for example, your main website is plumberjones.com but you’re eager to target customers in a specific area, you could register plumberinbrixton.com as an additional domain name and redirect customers from the additional domain name to the domain name with your main website.

Alternatively, you can use descriptive terms to help ensure that potential customers looking for plumbers can reach you – such as registering a domain name like stopleakypipes.com.

Registering multiple domain names in multiple TLDs, like .net or .tv, doesn’t mean you need multiple websites. For example, you can use URL redirecting to redirect internet traffic intended for one or more of your domain names to your preferred .com domain name with your business’s main website. With URL redirection, it will be easier for you to collect, measure and analyse all of the internet traffic destined for your online business since it’s all being redirected to one domain name. Setting up URL redirection with a registrar, such as GoDaddy, 123-reg,names.co.uk or 1and1, is typically an easy process.

Registering multiple domain names in multiple TLDs and/or in .com, with your main website on a .com domain name, is a smart, cost-effective way of increasing your company’s online presence while also creating a variety of other benefits for your business. Use our Find a Domain Name tool to register a domain name.

This article is a part of the ‘Getting Online’ series sponsored by Verisign. For more information from Verisign on how to get your business online, click here.

The importance of multiple domain names and web addresses by Lucy Wayment.  Available from <http://startups.co.uk/the-importance-of-multiple-domain-names-and-web-addresses/>. [Updated: Sep 26, 2016 Published: Sep 23, 2016]

Top content marketing tips: Writing for Mobile – Converting in 3 Words

Top content marketing tips: Writing for Mobile – Converting in 3 Words by Gareth Bull - Director at Bulldog Digital Media - Bulldog Digital Media.  Available from <http://www.netimperative.com/2016/09/top-content-marketing-tips-writing-mobile-converting-3-words/>. [September 21, 2016]

Mobile is the future but where does ‘responsive copy’ fit in? Writing for a tiny screen means getting to the point in an instant and converting people with succinct copy. Gareth Bull from Bulldog Digital Media, offers some essential considerations for copywriting for mobile websites.

Mobile is the future but where does ‘responsive copy’ fit in? People often talk about mobile as if the design was the only thing that mattered, but content is key too. How do you adapt your copy and content creation process to mobiles? Writing for mobile means getting to the point in an instant and converting people with succinct copy, but it also means giving them valuable content and a user-experience that’s comparable to desktop. Here are some essential considerations for copywriting for mobile.

Mobile content consumption

Nowadays, people are actually reading (shock horror) on their mobiles. Technology habits are changing, and the latest smartphones are increasingly powerful and optimised for web browsing. Good mobile content should be a continuation of web content, not a second-class platform that frustrates with its lack of information. A bad mobile experience is bad for a brand.

Despite the need for clarity and succinct copy, it’s wrong to assume a ‘dumbed down’ attitude to writing mobile content. See your mobile readers as savvy content consumers. Give them the good stuff, but give them the option to have it as a takeaway snack if they want to.

Shift to adaptive strategy

There are so many content platforms, with smartphones differing wildly in their capabilities. You need a strategy for how your content will be consumed across ALL different platforms, not micro strategies for every device. This is known as adaptive content: content that will adapt to a customer, situation, and device. Content that is smart and freed from design constraints. Content that doesn’t care so much about where it is, but about where it is best deployed.

Writing adaptive content is about breaking content down into blocks that can then be used by different platforms. Think smart, structured, and adaptable. Write in blocks, ideas, and nuggets, rather than paragraphs and pages. Use structure and metadata to mark up your content for devices. Adaptable content success boils down to proper content auditing, user-testing, refining core messaging, and shifting content strategies away from older desktop-based models.

Content audits

Survey all the content you have- what is being used by people? What is turning them off? What can be re-purposed? Approach your content audits analytically, breaking down content into key ideas, audience, engagement metrics, and possible future value. It’s a good idea to get a few different people involved in the evaluation process to avoid copy blindness. Don’t be afraid to cull useless content. You want to be left with only the essential content that matters to your audience.
Create a connection fast, but don’t be afraid of the scroll

You have three words to impress, seconds to sell- or do you? The mobile copy experience is more about giving people information fast and engaging them…then inviting them in for more if they want to. It’s not about stripping everything way.

You have to make sure that the first words above the fold are compelling and that they put the user first.
Don’t use a phrase “because you like it”, think about how a user will use it to get to the next step.
If you want users to make a choice quickly, lay out all the different pathways for them. Use simple phrases or visuals.
Include long-form content on mobile too- people will read it if it’s relevant.

Appeal to mobile user priorities

Information architecture is absolutely key for a mobile website. It’s important to give people key information quickly to make their journey easier, avoiding too much tapping and scrolling. Rejig information architecture to fit around user priorities. Prioritise this over fancy visuals or animations, as it will have a big impact on user-experience and your site’s engagement metrics.

Copy challenges & work flow

Writing for mobile is an opportunity to better your writing across the board. The focus on user priorities, succinctness and functionality should help refocus all your content. Writing for mobile should also help you redefine your copy workflow, seeing copy as adaptable and multifunctional, rather than treating pieces as discrete entities. Embrace spreadsheets and metrics to help you break down your copy into different formats.

Break it down

Often brands and businesses get bogged down with complex brand messaging, positively smothering the user with USPs and selling points. Sometimes breaking an idea down into its simplest form is the most effective way to create a genuine connection. To make an idea stick better, use the tried-and-tested SUCCESS principles. Making ideas sticky and simple is a great mobile copy strategy that will have positive effects across the board.

No easy answers

After all, ‘mobile experience’ means many things- it could mean a small screen and a dodgy WIFI connection on a train, or it could mean a huge screen in a company boardroom. Mobile is just the latest in a long line of digital transformations, and it’s one that businesses and brands need to embrace to compete in the current digital market. Karen McGrane’s e-book on mobile contentstrategy has a lot of fascinating insights into mobile content and writing for mobile if you wanted to explore the topic further.

Top content marketing tips: Writing for Mobile – Converting in 3 Words by Gareth Bull - Director at Bulldog Digital Media - Bulldog Digital Media.  Available from <http://www.netimperative.com/2016/09/top-content-marketing-tips-writing-mobile-converting-3-words/>. [September 21, 2016]

How to Protect Yourself After the Yahoo Attack

How to Protect Yourself After the Yahoo Attack by The New York Times.  Available from <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/technology/personaltech/what-to-do-if-hacked.html?_r=1> [UPDATED September 23, 2016]

Yahoo said on Thursday that hackers in 2014 stole the account information of at least 500 million users, including names, email addresses, telephone numbers, birth dates, passwords and, in some cases, security questions.

Even if you might not have used a Yahoo account for years, security experts say the incident could have far-reaching consequences for users beyond Yahoo’s services.

Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about how you can protect yourself.

How do I know if my personal information was stolen?

Assume it was.

Yahoo said it had begun notifying potentially affected users, but its breach was huge, and similar attacks and smallerthefts happen all the time.

Should I change my password?

The first step, as always, is to change passwords for sites that contain sensitive information like financial, health or credit card data. Do not use the same password across multiple sites.

Changing Yahoo passwords will be just the start for many of you. Comb through other services — especially those for which you provided a Yahoo email address to create an account — to make sure passwords used on those sites aren’t too similar to what you were using on Yahoo.

And if they weren’t doing so already, they’ll have to treat everything they receive online with an abundance of suspicion, in case hackers are trying to trick them out of even more information.

How do I create stronger passwords?

Try a password manager like 1Password or LastPass.
These sites create a unique password for each website you visit and store them in a database protected by a master password that you create. Password managers reduce the risk of reused passwords or those that are easy to decode.

If you must create your own passwords, try creating long, complex passwords consisting of nonsensical phrases or one-sentence summaries of strange life events and add numbers and special characters.

Examples:

My favorite number is Green4782#
The cat ate the CoTTon candy 224%
Or, if you’re extra paranoid, consider mimicking this setup:

Jeremiah Grossman, a web security expert, memorizes only a few passwords, including one to unlock his computer, and another to unlock an encrypted USB drive containing a file with a list of all his passwords for dozens of services. None of his passwords are memorable because they are random.

“I select them quite literally by banging on the keyboard a few times like a monkey,” Mr. Grossman said, adding that his setup is “a bit more paranoid” than that of the average person.

Create the strongest passwords for the sites that contain the most sensitive information and do not reuse them anywhere.
Are passwords enough?
Passwords are not enough. If a site offers additional security features, like secondary or two-factor authentication, enable them. Then, when you enter your password, you will receive a message (usually a text) with a one-time code that you must enter before you can log in.

Many bank sites and major sites like Google and Apple offer two-factor authentication. In some cases, the second authentication is required only if you are logging in from a new computer.

How can I stop my information from being stolen in the first place?

Increasingly, you cannot. Regularly monitoring your financial records can help minimize the damage if someone gets your information. But only the companies storing your personal data are responsible for securing it. Consumers can slow down hackers and identity thieves, but corporate computer security and law enforcement are the biggest deterrents.

What if you have changed your password after the breach happened but before it was disclosed?

The Yahoo attack happened two years ago but was disclosed only this week. Even if you changed your passwords recently for other websites, chances are at least some of them are similar to the password linked to your Yahoo account two years ago.

To play it safe, you should change your passwords, starting with your most sensitive accounts, including your online banking account.

Forget about security questions

Sites will often use security questions like “What was the name of your first school?” or “What is your mother’s maiden name?” to recover a user’s account if the password is forgotten.

These questions are problematic because the internet has made public record searches a snap and the answers are usually easy to guess.

In a recent study, security researchers at Google found that with a single guess, an attacker would have a 19.7 percent chance of duplicating an English-speaking user’s answer to the question, “What is your favorite food?” (It was pizza.)

With 10 tries, an attacker would have a 39 percent chance of guessing a Korean-speaking user’s answer to the question, “What is your city of birth?” and a 43 percent chance of guessing the favorite food.

Jonathan Zdziarski, a computer forensics expert, said he often answered these questions with an alternate password. If a site offers only multiple choice answers, or requires only short passwords, he will not use it.

“You can tell a lot about the security of a site just by looking at the questions they’ll ask you,” he said.

Photo: By Yahoo! Inc. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

How to Protect Yourself After the Yahoo Attack by The New York Times.  Available from <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/technology/personaltech/what-to-do-if-hacked.html?_r=1> [UPDATED September 23, 2016]

5 Email Pre-header Tips that Boost Open Rates

5 Email Pre-header Tips that Boost Open Rates by Carolyn Nye.  Available from <http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/127407-5-Email-Pre-header-Tips-that-Boost-Open-Rates>. [September 20, 2016]

The sender name and subject line are primary drivers of email open rates. Almost as important — if not more important — is the pre-header, the text that appears just below the subject line in the inbox of most mobile and desktop email clients.

In this post, I’ll offer five pre-header tips, to encourage your recipients to open your emails.

1. Avoid Repeated Words

There is no need to repeat the “From” text in either the subject line or the pre-header. And there’s also no need to repeat subject line text in the pre-header.

This sender — Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Seattle — repeats its name in the subject line (in blue), wasting space that could be used for something meaningful.

This may seem obvious. However, I frequently receive emails that have repeated content in the subject line, the “From” line, and the pre-header text. Recipients see your company or brand name in the From line. There is no reason to repeat that in the subject line or in the pre-header. In addition, many senders simply repeat their subject line or a variation of the subject line in the pre-header. Again, that is redundant and a waste of valuable real estate.

La-Z-Boy has many repeated words in the subject lines (in blue) and pre-headers.

The example above, from La-Z-Boy, has two errors. First, there are repeated words from the subject line to the pre-header. In the first email, La-Z-Boy the word “Super” is used four times, “Savings” two times, and “Saturday” two times. It’s too much to read and comprehend when presented so close together.

In the other email example, La-Z-Boy repeats the exact first two words — “You’re Invited” — of the subject line again in the pre-header, thus wasting the opportunity to tell subscribers something different that may prompt them to open the message.

The second error from the La-Z-Boy examples is using a “View in web browser’ link.” These links were used as best practices years ago for email clients that did not render content well. Few, if any, people need or click on these links now, in 2016.

If a sender believes it should keep the “View in web browser” link, the sender should move the link down so it does not display in the inbox preview, as the recipient cannot do anything with that information until after she opens the email. It’s best to use that space to tell the recipient something new that will entice her to actually open the email.

2. Pre-headers Are Extensions of Subject Lines

Writing subject lines is difficult. The objective is to get recipients interested so they will open the email. Fortunately, pre-headers help with this. As an extension of the subject line, pre-headers allow senders to convey more information, including an entirely different topic or promotional copy, to really encourage opens. This is how Discovery Senior Living uses its pre-headers, as shown below.

This pre-header — “Discover. Connect. Experience. Get your free guide to…” — extends from the subject line and raises the curiosity of the recipient, which can increase opens.

In the example above, the pre-header — “Discover. Connect. Experience. Get your free guide to…” — nicely extends the subject line. The sentence breaks at a point — “Get your free guide to…’ — that prompts a reader’s curiosity, causing him to open. Having pre-headers purposely end at a point that requires the recipient to open for the additional information is a good way to increase opens.

3. Supplement Product Offers and Sales

If your company’s emails typically feature offers or sales, consider using pre-headers to showcase content. Pre-headers can have more characters than the subject line, which provides the opportunity to feature content in a compelling way.

Both examples below are from clothing retailers. Both use the pre-header to offer fashion tips, instead of pushing a sale.

The RealReal and LOFT, two clothing retailers, use the pre-header to offer fashion tips, instead of pushing a sale. For The RealReal, it’s “What to Wear & What to Do in London.” For LOFT, it’s “Fall dressing doesn’t get any simpler.”

4. Try Capitalized Letters

Using all caps in a subject line can hurt deliverability. All caps can flag an email, increase its spam score, and cause the message to be filtered into a bulk or junk folder. However, using all caps or partial caps in a pre-header can be effective, especially since pre-headers display directly below the subject lines on smartphones.

In the example below, Ticketmaster uses a mostly-caps pre-header to emphasize the live event — “NOTHING BEATS BEING THERE!” — for the concert it is promoting.

Using all caps in a subject line is a bad idea. But caps in a pre-header can be effective, as shown in this example from Ticketmaster — “NOTHING BEATS BEING THERE!.”

5. Use the Pre-header Real Estate

Perhaps you have not used pre-headers, or are unsure of crafting a clever one. Regardless, always take advantage of the pre-header real estate.

The example below show two emails from car dealerships. One used a pre-header (“Carolyn, The wait is finally over!”). The other did not.

The screenshot below is from my desktop inbox. Note the whitespace that is blank under the subject line from Rush Chevrolet. In the Phillips Chrysler email, the pre-header is an extension of the subject line. Moreover, Phillips Chrysler personalized the pre-header to include my name, which is even more effective.

The Rush Chevrolet email does not include a pre-header, which results in unnecessary whitespace. In the Phillips Chrysler email, the pre-header is an extension of the subject line. It’s also personalized, which is even more effective.

5 Email Pre-header Tips that Boost Open Rates by Carolyn Nye.  Available from <http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/127407-5-Email-Pre-header-Tips-that-Boost-Open-Rates>. [September 20, 2016]