Why you should let people comment on your content.

October 31, 2006

Here it is folks, the reason why you should let people comment on your content. I was checking my stats today and found out that Google sent a visitor to my blog based only on the text in a comment of the blog and one word in the title.

Who knows how many times the search engines are sending people to my site due to the influence of the comments on the posts? The bottom line: you're losing potential visitors if you don't let people comment on your content.

That's one more vote for why wordpress blogs are better than normal web sites.

Posted by Jonathan Leger | Filed Under Search Engine Optimization, Blog | 1 Comment

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Google Optimization Myths and Truths.

October 30, 2006

There's a great thread going on at WebmasterWorld about what Google really does and does not focus on in their search algorithms.

There is, of course, much being debated, but also there is some consensus:

Google evaluates the content section of a page differently from the rest of the template (Truth).
The general consensus is that Google's algorithm puts less emphasis on links coming from the borders around the actual content of the page, and more on links within the content body itself. So when trying to get links into your site from other sites, see if you can get them to link to you from inside one of their articles or pages.
Using a dedicated IP address helps in ranking (Myth).
It's long been a rumor that having a dedicated IP address is better for your rankings. I've never seen that to be true, and apparently few of the webmasters at WMW see it as being true.
Having non W3C compliant code will harm your site (Myth).
Your HTML doesn't need to be W3C compliant, though it does need to be error-free. I like to use the W3.org HTML Validator to check my pages.

Here's my favorite Truth that has come out of that discussion:

Google takes up far too much of our time and resources (Truth)

Focusing too much of your time and attention on one source of traffic whose algorithm is continually changing is a bad idea. Put most of your time into having a great site and getting a lot of links into your site, and good rankings and traffic will follow.

Posted by Jonathan Leger | Filed Under Search Engine Optimization, Blog | 27 Comments

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Building Trust (Part 5 of 5):
Following up with your list members.

October 20, 2006

This is part five of a five part series on building trust in your visitors in order to convert them to customers.

Step 5. The visitor receives follow ups.

The visitor read your expert article and decided to visit your site. Your professional site and offer of free gifts imbued them with enough trust to join your mailing list. After being on your mailing list for a while, you sent out an incredible offer for a wonderful product and free bonuses to boot. Many of your list members purchased, but others did not. Why not?

There are four reasons why some people do not purchase the products you promote to your list.

They didn't need the product.
Yes, not everybody needs what you're offering to them. They may already have it, or have something similar, or just simply aren't convinced that they need it.
They couldn't afford it.
When you're broke, you're broke! It doesn't matter how good a product offer is.
They're on your list for a free ride.
You get some stragglers who love the free information but have absolutely no intention of every buying anything.
They don't trust you enough yet.
Everyone is different. Some people's trust is readily won, and for others it's a long, slow process.

There's not much you can do about the people who fall under the first category. If they don't need it, they just don't need it! There's hope, though. In time you'll probably send an offer for something they do need and don't have, and then they'll buy.

In time the people in category two might have a more money and be able to buy your promoted products, so there's some hope there, but it's nothing you can do anything about.

There's even hope for the people in category three. I've been one of those people before myself, and ended up buying something that was simply too good to let pass.

For category four, however, there is something you can actively do to convert them from list members to paying customers: keep sending them your top-notch articles. Keep building trust with them by giving them great information and help for free.

Be patient with them. Don't try to rush them into a purchase. They haven't bought yet because they're not the kind who can be rushed into anything.

I've been on some mailing lists where I'll receive six or seven emails about the same product launch from the same person. It's very annoying. If I wanted to buy, by the third email I would have purchased.

I try to limit my email promotions for the same product to three: one pre-launch email, one email on launch day, and one follow up email to let the list know about the great reactions to the product. That's it! Stop there or you will lose a lot of subscribers.

In time, one of two things is going to happen with pretty much every list member you have.

They will grow tired and unsubscribe (or just ignore your emails).
They will become a loyal customer.

The goal is to get as many people to become loyal customers as possible. You do this by not bombarding them with too many product offers with no valuable free information in between.

I always try to follow up promotions with a series of great articles. This lets my list members know that I'm not only interested in sending them product offers, but also in educating them and helping them succeed.

Handling Negative Feedback

As much as you'd love to please everybody in business, it's just not possible. Inevitably you are going to make some people unhappy, either by what you say or what you sell. The best way to handle negative feedback from these list members is to thank them for their honesty and tell them that you are always open to the comments of your readers.

Most of the time the negative feedback comes from list members who aren't angry, but in the heat of the moment write their comments in less than pleasant ways. I've gotten more than one unsolicited apology by just thanking them for their honesty and letting them know that I want to hear what they have to say.

An added benefit of just thanking them and moving on is that you often win the reader's respect. They know that you aren't going to try and tear them down if they disagree with you, and that they are important enough to you for you to respond to the negative comment rather than just delete it.

Summing It All Up

The five step journey that converts a visitor into a sale is not complex or difficult, but it will only be successful if you build trust in your visitor each step of the way.

When making decisions about how to write an article, or how to design your web site, or what products to promote to your mailing list, always ask yourself this question first: Will this build trust in my audience? If the answer is yes, go for it. If no, pass on it.

The old axiom states, "do one thing, do it well." The "one thing" that you must do well with your business is build trust in your audience. The level of trust your audience has in you will be reflected by the number of digits in your bottom line.

Get the full five part series in a spiffy ebook (Adobe PDF format) by Clicking Here. Feel free to give the ebook away as a free gift to your visitors or a bonus for any product you may sell.

Posted by Jonathan Leger | Filed Under Internet Marketing, Blog | 2 Comments

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