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Inbound Links for Search Engine Optimization – Do You Deserve Them?

By Scott Buresh in Featured

As part of a comprehensive search engine optimization campaign, gaining inbound links to your website is critical. But what exactly does this entail, and how should you most effectively go about gaining these types of valuable links? When an arduous task presents itself, it is human nature to try to find a shortcut. Sometimes, these shortcuts work and the quality of the end result is not sacrificed. But often, the shortcut either turns out to be a short-term fix or worse, it backfires leaving you worse off than you were before. And, in my experience, such is the case in regard to building quality inbound links to your website as part of your search engine optimization campaign.

After many years of trying to find shortcuts myself, I finally recognized that the best, highest impact, longest lasting links that point to a website are EARNED – not bought, begged for, or stolen. And how does one go about earning quality inbound links? By actually offering something of value – whether it is value found on your website or value you provide to other websites. Below are a few simple ideas that take a good deal of work, but when applied appropriately, almost always pay off for your long-term search engine optimization efforts.

Industry Demands Clarity on Cloud

By Jonathon Linnell in Featured

The hype surrounding cloud technology may be raging now, but its long term success could be hampered if users’ concerns over transparency aren’t addressed now.

A panel of IT experts gathered at the Manchester headquarters of hosting specialist UKFast to discuss the potential of cloud technology and the opportunities and drawbacks it presents to the market. The experts agreed that a Code of Practice would aid swifter adoption.

Panelists presented feedback from clients and peers in the industry that showed many firms are preventing a move to a cloud platform because of a lack of trust in vendors and suppliers.

The experts suggested that business owners and IT directors are worried about the popularity of cloud giving rise to “cowboy” companies without the reputation or expertise to manage the transition from a traditionally-hosted infrastructure.

Ian Moyse, IT security expert and EMEA channel director at Webroot said: “The key thing for businesses looking at cloud is that they know who they are dealing with. Like in any industry, there will be good and bad players out there. It’s very easy to become a cloud vendor because of the nature of the technology. There will be lots of innovative companies springing up and customers will be dealing with someone they haven’t heard of before.”

Andrew Corbett of the UK IT Association felt that a code of practice would help businesses find reputable firms. He said: “Businesses want to see an easily recognizable badge that shows a supplier or vendor has met the demands of an independent external testing and verification process. The business owner doesn’t have to know the ins and outs of what it all means, they just want to know that they should look for ‘level A’ for example.”

Andy Burton, chair of the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) – set up in 2009 to promote trust in reputable cloud service providers – championed the CIF’s code of practice and guidance from the Cloud Security Alliance, but reminded decision makers that they maintain responsibility even for outsourced projects.

He said: “There is this natural human behaviour that says when you put something out to a service you delegate responsibility subconsciously. You don’t do your due diligence and you don’t ask for validation on certain things. We need to educate the marketplace so customers know when they take on any service, they still have a responsibility to prescribe exactly what they require and take steps to monitor the service they are receiving.”

The Cloud Industry Forum’s code of practice addressed the concerns highlighted in its research among UK businesses. Asked about the most pertinent issues that would affect the long term success of cloud computing, 23 per cent cited the ‘reliability of operations’ as the most important issue.

Asked how they establish trust with an online provider, business owners cited a recommendation from a trusted source as one of the most important factors, second only to reputation.

Furthermore, an overwhelming 62 per cent said a code of practice would be “important” in determining their choice of supplier.

The CIF’s code of practice aims to provide clarity and confidence to help in choosing a provider. Its members meet strict criteria on transparency including details of financial stability and capabilities, including their commitments to information security and customer service.

Moyse continued: “There is also an element of self policing that vendors have to do. If you are a cloud vendor and you get it wrong, everybody knows about it pretty quickly. If it happens to one customer, people on the same service will be asking questions. With most cloud services it’s pretty easy to move, so get it wrong and you can lose thousands of customers overnight.”

Lawrence Jones, managing director of UKFast, advised customers to spend time assessing the market and looking for a cloud vendor that suits their business.

“There are a lot of companies, old and new, that have a cloud offering. Work out who is best for you. Cloud is a heavily service-based offering so you need to work out which hosts or cloud vendors are the right fit for your business.

The people that are building pretty and cheap sites are promising the same things that the best and most experienced vendors are offering. What substance is behind those claims?

Unfortunately, it’s often not until you’ve had the experience yourself – and it’s often a bad experience – that you find out there’s very little backing it up.”

The Cloud Industry Forum is holding a free seminar on 14 June in London to give those involved in the cloud industry an insight into typical issues arising for cloud service providers, the unique challenges facing cloud service provision, best practices for contracting and guidance on your risk assessments.

You can find out more about the CIF at www.cloudindustryforum.org/

Find out more about UKFast’s round tables at UKFast

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Jonathon is a marketer for UKFast, a hosting provider of Windows and Linux dedicated server solutions as well as being vSphere and Hyper-V visualization and cloud hosting specialists.

Article Marketing – Get The Basics Right First

By Toby Russell in Featured

In your Article writing try-using AIDA, (stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and finally Action) possibly the most recognized method ever for creating great copy writing for content, ads, articles – you name it, it does the trick. After all being successful online is all about being able to successfully ‘market’ yourself and your products or services on the Internet to the right-targeted visitor.

Sounds easy but its not, here’s what happened to me early on. When I first started out, I wrote some copy, read all right, put it up and thought naively as it transpired that I’d suddenly have loads of traffic – blimey, didn’t think that one though at all, then a friend said to me ‘you did do your keyword research?’

Wow that was a light bulb moment – because no I hadn’t, I was pretty Internet ‘green’ back then, so yes I’d written a great article but because there were no keywords in it that people were actively searching for, it got buried on probably page 365,000 of search results – not my finest hour by any stretch.

So rule No. 1 is do your Keyword Research well and comprehensively. But also here are a couple of other key areas to help you in your article marketing activity, so read on.

Researching your Subject Successfully

To be successful in article marketing your research is key, research your chosen niche, read a variety of articles online or in books and other literature, I always find magazines a great source of information and there’s bound to be some in your chosen niche (if not then you should be worried) then make sure you have done your keyword research as well, not like me who then felt a total idiot when the obvious was pointed out to me – stupid or what!

Building Trust Through Your Writing

Writing articles has many people stumbling and believing it’s not easy especially when you do not have a clue about the niche you are writing on. To make your article writing experience easier, it is better to start out in areas that you are comfortable with. These are likely to be topics you are already familiar with and in which you can have a steady flow of information almost like a conversation.

But here’s the real key ‘like a conversation’

Get quickly to the point where you’re writing style and therefore the kind of articles you are writing are in a conversational and matter of fact manner- it will be like talking to your best friend, this is a really important part of creating content – articles, blogposts etc – if you always try & craft it as though you are having a conversation with a friend you’ll find it easier, your writing will be more believable and you’ll build trust faster.

Look at it this way-what do you know about me – you know I write my own copy, you know I’ve made stupid mistakes in the past- hopefully I’ve connected with you through my writing, and that’s what its all about!

Don’t Overlook Keywords Like I Did

Over and above the AIDA approach, article marketing requires the targeting of keywords as I’ve identified. Articles should be written around a certain set of keywords that best define the service, product or niche you are involved in. If you can properly target keywords within the title and body of your article, then you will be successful in your article marketing campaign as search engines would place you in a position where website visitors will have easy access to your site.

Not Familiar with Keyword research?

Sorry if this bit sounds a bit basic but hey we all have to start somewhere and there will be some reading this just starting out so bear with me because keywords are vital, so here goes …Keywords are the words website users are likely to type into search engine boxes when looking for a specific topic. To make the best out of your article marketing efforts you start with a keyword research. Keyword research means you trying to figure out the words with the highest number of searches within a given period say a month.

The reason for this is to estimate the amount of traffic that keyword or phrase generates monthly. A keyword with high traffic can mean more sales potential and vice versa.

When the keyword you are interested in has a low search numbers it therefore follows it has lower competition levels (i.e. fewer competing websites), you have an even better chance to easily rank higher on search engines.

Don’t Overlook Other ‘Marketing’ Opportunities

There are other forms of website promotion such as pay-per-click (PPC), forum posts and blog commenting, but article marketing has proven to be highly effective when done properly. This is because an article that is rated “high quality” will be used over and over again in different websites on the Internet. All these link back to your website – how cool is that? Yep now possibly you can see why Sam (my wife) & I bang on about the power of article marketing, now ‘heads up’ the links, traffic etc is not immediate but its sustainable and that for us is more important.

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Toby Russell, Internet Marketer, Publisher & Property Investor offers tried and tested methods to help you succeed on line. Want to know more about Article Marketing? Get his popular Free Special Report – features over 10 pages of Key Copywriting hints and tips that will have you writing like a “Pro” in no time. available at => http://www.startinternetmarketingonline.com

Why it is Important For Legitimate Online Businesses To Re-Purpose Your Content

By Michelle Jayes in Featured

Something that can be pragmatic and is found in many online income businesses, which also makes these business owners unique, is their entrepreneurial nature. What that set them apart from many other people is that they will always do things that other people are nervous to do and they are far more ready to take risks when it comes to creating a successful online business.

Unfortunately, this can lead to them leveraging their assets poorly when it comes to marketing online and information is the asset in this case. If you think about it, every single bit of content that you have created has the potential to be re-purposed to get the most mileage from it and to make it a more valuable asset. Generally it is not so much what you say but how you say it.

Because people generally are different in so many ways their ability to absorb information will also vary. Some people are only too happy to read something but others find listening or watching more preferable. Then within each of these differences there are other variables. As an example some people are happy reading one long detailed report while others prefer a series of shorter blog posts. The information may be exactly the same but the presentation of it is quite different.

Here are three reasons why it is important to re-purpose your content and make it an essential part of your online business strategy:

1. When you re-purpose your content it can save you an enormous amount of time. If for example you have created a report that you sold for $10 previously. You could take this same report and turn it into a video and offer it as a gift when someone joins your emailing list. This could save you hours of work creating or finding something totally new as an incentive and even if it takes you a bit of time to set up the video, it is still much less time than creating and planning a whole new product.

2. By re-purposing your content not only are you getting more mileage out of it, but it will also save you money as you will not need to employ anyone to do the product planning and research for you. So there is less outsourcing required which translates into money saved, and even if you outsource part of the project like making the video or audio presentation for you, by giving your freelancer the content all you need them to do is turn it into the format presentation that you require.

3. Another reason why re-purposing your content is so important is that it can be used to expand your exposure as it will have more appeal to a much wider audience and there are two different ways to achieve this. The first part stems from the fact that people absorb information differently, so when you only offer content in one medium you will only get one group of people who will pay attention to it.

By re-purposing your content you can then improve your exposure as it offers you an opportunity to reach more people, in other words those who absorb information in other ways.

If for example you create a blog post, you will begin by sharing it with the people who read your blog. By then following through and turning this post into an article spinning it and submitting it to numerous article directories you get more mileage from it. Turn it into a podcast or video and there are still more websites that you can submit it to.

Can you see the endless possibilities that you can take advantage of and how many more people you can reach just by re-purposing one piece of content? Use this method and you will be amazed by the number of places and formats that you can use which can improve your success rate dramatically.

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For more help with your legitimate online businesses Michelle Jayes invites you to visit her online income opportunities website http://www.online-income-business.com and get some great internet marketing e-books for FREE at http://www.online-income-business.com/FreeEBooks.html

How to Get to Know Your Customers – A SPN Exclusive Article

By Workbooks in Featured

In the current difficult economic climate it is more important than ever, as well as more difficult than ever to both attract new customers and retain your existing one. With so many businesses offering deals and bargains to attract business during the recession it can be difficult to keep up without sacrificing all your profit. The best way to maximize your sales today is to make sure that you know your customers – what matters to them most when they are making a purchase, how they decide what they need and which marketing approaches are most successful with them. By getting to know your customers you can more easily develop a rapport and instil in them a sense of loyalty – making your company their first thought when they decide to make a purchase. So, what are the best ways to get to know your customers?

Social Media
It seems like everyone has a Facebook and a Twitter today. More and more companies are making use of social media to connect with customers, and it is a sound business decision. By becoming involved with your customers on social media you become involved in their daily lives, and gain access to a wealth of information about their likes, dislikes, location and other valuable data.

Customer Relationship Management Software
Customer Relationship Management software allows you to gather information about your customers through integrated market research and updates from points of contact such as sales personnel and customer service staff. However, it does much more than that – it allows you to analyze the data that you have accumulated, automatically flagging point of interest and opportunities for growth. The software can anticipate your customers’ needs and flag your attention to potential opportunities to make sales.

Post-Sale Feedback
It is always a good idea to reconnect with your customers after you have made a sale – it helps to build a rapport and can make the customer feel valued and important, promoting repeat sales in the future. It can also be an excellent way to get feedback on how well your company served the customer’s needs and any room for improvement that may be available. It can be especially valuable if something has gone wrong in the sales process or the customer has a complaint.

Focus Groups
Focus groups can be ideal for the testing of new products or potential strategies. They allow you to hear real-time feedback from customers about the idea and follow up with any particular questions that suggest themselves from your customers’ responses. Many companies have used focus groups to road-test successful products. They can now be carried out on line as well as in person by making use of video technologies like Skype.

Surveys
The old fashioned survey still has a place in today’s market research. The rise of the internet has made it much easier to administer and target your surveys. You can use paid survey sites or offer your Twitter followers the chance to win a prize if they answer the survey. This has the added benefit of reducing your costs.

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This is an article by Workbooks, leading supplier of web-based CRM software.

Setting Up Your Office Voicemail: 7 Ways to Save Time and Eliminate Hassles

By Karl Walinskas in Featured

The subject of voicemail greetings has gotten less attention over the years with the influx of email, texting, and social media. Still, in small business your clients, prospects and suppliers will still want a human connection. So how do you provide one for them when you’re not around or willing to take calls?

A while ago I published an article in various periodicals and online venues like AOL called “Leaving Voicemail Messages That Get Returned.” Judging from the email I have received and how many websites have replicated that content, I came to the conclusion that this is a hot topic and republished that article in my SmartBlog post and online. It makes sense to me to now share a follow-up on the use of voicemail, this time the proactive use of these hated systems in order to field incoming calls.

You see, people have long hated speaking voice-jail because they know darn well they will be banished to digital purgatory, never to have a return to their calls again. Upon getting your voicemail greeting, many callers become fed-up and won’t leave a message, either calling back when they can bug you in person or giving up entirely. But this isn’t what you want, is it? You’re an expert communicator, not a call screener who hides behind voice-veil. You want the caller to leave a message that gets down to business quickly and makes responding easier than a closest to the pin contest against Phil Mickelson.

How do you get it done? Well, there are a ton of tips I can recite to you about just setting up the system itself, but let’s narrow our focus to just your outgoing voicemail message, the voicemail greeting. Do this stuff and more people will leave more relevant, easier to understand messages for you that remove the dread of responding.

BREVITY IS THE SOUL OF A GOOD MESSAGE

When you leave your outgoing voicemail greeting, do you often find that recording time expires before you’re finished, so you have to re-try? That is God’s way of telling you that you talk too much. Get to your point quickly about who you are and how you would like the caller to best get a hold of you. An excellent idea is to provide an early means for the person to bypass the entire greeting and go right to the “speak after the beep” phase. That helps the caller abbreviate her time even if you are long winded in your message. Just a quick burr in my saddle: they have not reached the desk of your name. The desk doesn’t have a personality and take messages. They have reached your voicemail system and need to be made to feel that this is the same as reaching you, at least as effective.

ESTABLISH IDENTITY

“Hello. You have reached the voicemail of Karl W… of Smart Company Growth.”

That’s not a bad introductory line, because it tells the caller who you are and what you do. If he is looking for the secretary he’s got the wrong extension and likely won’t leave a message for you. You can enhance your value by providing instructions on how to get elsewhere, based on how often mistaken messages are left for you. You will learn this by trial and error. If you handle all mutual fund issues and someone else handles stock options, yet you continually have messages left for you about stock options, you may want to leave “If your call is concerning stock options, you need to speak with Jim Smith at extensions 123.” This can also point to an improvement opportunity in the main corporate system that may have routed the caller to your line.

PRACTICE POLITE POSITIVITY

There’s nothing worse than getting to the actual voice of a voicemail system and recognizing immediately that the person doing the talking would rather be somewhere else and really doesn’t want your call. Tell me it hasn’t happened to you. When it does, do you leave a message? Probably not, because what you heard put you in a bad frame of mind. So when you leave outgoing messages, write down what you want to say and rehearse it 3 or 4 times so it sounds natural. Sit up in your chair with your head held high and in your most optimistic voice begin the recording, and whatever you do, don’t leave your message after an argument or receiving bad news. You won’t be able to disguise your attitude.

THE HUMAN OPTION

No matter how positive you sound and how distinct and clear your message is, some folks, particularly older people, refuse to speak to an answering system. After you introduce yourself, the first thing you need to do is give them an opportunity to bypass your greeting and get to an entity with a pulse. Yeah, I know, your Admin Assistant will just take down the same message that the caller could leave, but for this group of people it puts them more at ease to hear a live human at the other end of the line.

BETTER OPTIONS

Voicemail systems can easily get filled with calls, especially for important people like you. If wading through voicemail messages isn’t your idea of fun, you may want to steer the people to other ways to reach you. For example, many people leave their cellular numbers. Great in emergencies, but watch out, because many times you are out of range or your cell phone is off, so the caller gets ANOTHER voicemail system. I try to steer people toward my email address, knowing that I can skim my email far faster than listening to dozens of messages. The caller gets the added benefit of having written documentation so the information is as accurate as he wants it to be. You get the same accuracy benefit and the timesavings. By the way, if you think providing your email address will increase the likelihood of spam, you’re right, but don’t underestimate your callers. I can find the email address of anybody in a company in seconds by a variety of methods (subject for another article, you tell me!). Spammers will be spammers, and your junk filters are going to have to deal with that.

TELL THEM WHAT TO DO

“You’ve reached John. When you hear the beep, you know what to do. Bye.”

Ever heard a version of that? Well, in general terms, they do know what to do, but in specifics—uh uh, doesn’t happen. This kind of outgoing message leaves you open for everything from a five minute diatribe to a “This is Sam. Call back.” You need to tell in specific terms what you want them to do to be the most effective and timely.

I hit them with four instructions:

Who are you?

What is your purpose and importance?

Should I return your call and when?

How and where should I reach you to reply?

This keeps the caller focused and minimizes random soliloquies and rants. If you don’t tell them what to do, they have the freedom to do whatever they want to. You’re an expert communicator, so use your voicemail greeting as a channel of persuasion for the caller. As in all communication—specificity rules!

GIVE VALUE

Here’s one for the notepad. People are already in a declining frame of mind when they get voicemail because they wanted you in person. Many will walk away even after leaving a message wondering if you will call back, worry about when (if the matter is urgent), and generally have a hollow feeling inside. How about offering an option to get some instant value in the form of information in lieu of getting you?

Examples…
“To listen to today’s travel forecast, press 1.”

“To learn the difference between a fixed rate mortgage and an ARM, press 1.”

“For a quick laugh, press 1 for the joke of the day.”

Get it? You’re not forcing her to listen to this before leaving the message, but if the caller wants, she can access information from you in your absence. You’re not just providing the final piece of a painful puzzle; you are now providing a service. Of course, if you believe you are so freaking important to the planet because you’re the ____ (fill in big dog title), well bully for you! Just shut the damn thing off entirely and have one of the serfs field your messages and call it a day.

Use of these seven techniques allows you to effectively eliminate wasted time on the phone checking your messages so you get the ones you want without deciphering the whims of disparate voices that may not be relevant to you.

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Visit the Smart Blog for more great communication & sales tips. Post your voicemail tales & you might be spotlighted in the next article. Contact with Subject: Outgoing Msgs and I’ll give you 5 tips for more Voicemail Greeting success. Karl Walinskas runs Smart Company Growth.

Who Keeps Spreading Silly SEO Stupidity, and Why?

By Jill Whalen in Featured

Not a week goes by where a reader or a client doesn’t ask me a question based on some bad SEO advice they heard or read somewhere. Most of the time they don’t know it’s bad advice. They assume that if they read it in a blog, went to a seminar, listened to a webinar or even discussed it with a company that provides SEO as a service, the advice must be solid. Sometimes (usually if they’re a long-term HRA reader they may think it sounds a bit fishy, and smartly ask for my opinion.

While it’s true that among SEO industry veterans there can be disagreement about what works and what doesn’t, there are some SEO tactics that have been known by all who have even the slightest bit of intelligence to be useless. And yet they still crop up as SEO advice — all the time!

Just last week I got an email from a longtime HRA subscriber who told me that his friend had attended a seminar where the speaker told them they should submit their website to search engines on a monthly basis, and proceeded to provide them with the name of a tool that would do so for only $99 per month!

And just yesterday, someone emailed me for my opinion when she read in another email newsletter that Google only indexed the first 100 words on a page!

Reverse SEO Through Good Customer Service

By Julie Ann Ross in Featured

Reverse SEO was all about getting negative information pushed down off of Google, keeping it out of the top search engine ranks, to make sure people did not associate a brand with being an awful place to do business. Reverse SEO was necessary for companies that had a run of bad luck, or a few cranky customers who wanted to harm it. But no one used negativity as a marketing tool.

Then one New York business owner found that the negative results actually increased his sales. The owner of an online eyeglasses company found that by providing bad customer service, which people would complain about online, his page ranked higher on Google. The angrier people got, the higher it went.

It was not until a New York Times article detailed the company’s practices – including fraud and violent threats – that Google was “horrified” to find their search engine was being gamed in so evil and heinous a manner.

What was happening was as people posted their complaints online, they backlinked to the vendor’s website, which is a popular reverse SEO tactic. Google assumed that a backlink to a website was an endorsement, which meant Google believed it was an important site that provided a good user experience. (This is why backlinks are crucial in a reverse SEO strategy.)

Google quickly released a statement that they had “developed an algorithmic solution which detects the merchant from the Times article along with hundreds of other merchants that, in our opinion, provide an extremely poor user experience.”

In other words, Google was now looking at the sentiment surrounding a backlink to determine whether it was a real vote or not, and their solution served as a notice to companies who screwed their customers: do business right, treat people decently, or get banned from Google.

This also means that the best reverse SEO tactic is going to be great customer service.

A lot of businesses already worry about what will happen if they receive a negative complaint on a user review site. They might lose sales, the complaint might be seen on the search engines, etc., so they use any reverse SEO tactics they can. But now that Google has changed, a new strategy to eliminate these complaints is to reverse SEO them through kindness and decency.

The best way to do this? Use these three “customer service reverse SEO tips:”

Customer Service Reverse SEO Tip #1: Ask customers and visitors for positive reviews, if it is truly deserved. This can done on a comment card, a copy of their receipt, a sign by the front door, or even a quick email to the company’s contact list.

Customer Service Reverse SEO Tip #2: Make sure to earn those positive reviews by providing great service and a memorable experience. Everyone loves being made to feel special and important. They love a great experience. And they certainly love being treated with respect and kindness. Nothing will engender a greater positive review than treating customers with sincere respect and kindness.

Customer Service Reverse SEO Tip #3: Visit the sites and social networks where most of the business’ customers are. Many businesses make the mistake of continuing to market and advertise in the places they always have – phone books, newspapers, billboards. But these are not always effective marketing channels. Instead, ask customers where they spend a lot of their time online. If it is a social networking site like Facebook, join Facebook, and friend them. Communicate to them like a person, not like a commercial.

Google has made sure that companies that game their algorithm through customer anger will not benefit. But that does not mean they will eliminate all negative comments. For any companies who still need to remove those from the search engine rankings need to let a positive customer experience be the reverse SEO they need. Follow these reverse SEO consulting tactics to building quality links through good customer service.

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Rostin Ventures principals have extensive experience in restoring reputations online, using Reverse SEO among other tactics to provide positive Online Reputation Management Services (ORM Services). http://www.RostinVentures.com.

Website Personified: Making Your Business Website Interesting – A SPN Exclusive Article

By Kevin Pahlau in Featured

Creating a business website can be a difficult task. Not necessarily from a technical standpoint, but rather from a design and communication standpoint. How do you make a business or corporate website interesting and include some personality in it? You need a professional presentation but that does not mean you cannot be creative or personable. You need to create interest in the business and persuade visitors to venture further into the site and learn more about the company which can lead them to contact the company or make a sale on the site itself.

As a designer, it can feel as though your creativity could become stifled when you first begin to work on a corporate web design project. This does not need to be the case though. You should be able to incorporate some interesting and creative aspects into the design and ultimately make the visitor’s experience a pleasant one. But how?

Break Out of the Cold Shell

There are many types of businesses besides large corporations that can appear dull and send the visitor into a light sleep very quickly. Business websites like insurance agencies, real estate companies, wealth management and consulting firms can all appear cold and lifeless. Yes, they are professional in presentation, but that does not mean creativity and personality cannot be included in the website.

As a designer working with any type of business, you want to explain to your client the importance of making a connection with the visitor to their website. This does not have to be something distracting with a lot of animation or as a client once said to me, “We need more wiz-bang.” It can be subtle and still be direct.

One of the keys to accomplishing this is to find the starting point for a conversation with the visitor. Simply invoking the right question, or a laugh can be the perfect ingredient to make the visitor want to stay on the site just long enough to make your point or to make a sale.

For example, to help set the tone you may want to incorporate friendly or imaginative photos of the owner of the business or employees at the company on the home page giving the site a welcoming feel to any visitor.

Even if you just have graphics with calls to action, it could be enough to invoke your visitor to stay and find out more about the products or services that are being offered. There are many websites that feature these minimalist characteristics. Their presentation focuses mostly on typography. They ask the right questions or have a direct approach in saying who they are. They do not offer too much information or answers on the home page and invite the visitor to look further into the site and find out more. These are great ways to include a little personality and create interest at the same time.

Welcome the Visitor

Large businesses and corporations could learn a lesson from some small businesses. When a visitor arrives at a website, they do not want to feel like they just walked into the giant lobby of a company and there is nobody there to greet them, answer some questions they may have or direct them to their primary destination. You certainly do not want to drive people away from the website by not offering enough information.

Sometimes smaller businesses have an easier time making visitors feel welcome. This is true with both the brick and mortar businesses as well as their websites. Simply featuring a friendly photo or graphic on the home page of the website or maybe a quote about an approach to business, outside interests, or an approach to life itself can offer a small connection and invite the visitor to stay.

Incorporating the personality of a small business owner can also offer the right kind of personal connection. Using this approach can make the visitor feel like they know what the owner is like. There is a feeling of trust and value in their presentation making you feel like doing business with them. Showing the typical stock photo of a handshake, a missing puzzle piece or a picture of a large glass building are not the kind of elements that will draw the visitor’s interest. You want to make them feel welcome and offer them a reason to stay. They are taking time to stop by and visit your website, so welcome them and take advantage of the opportunity.

Tell Them More but Do Not Repeat

In web design, it is common practice to include an “About Us” – or a “History” – page on a site. Stop and think how often you see an “About Us” or a “History” link on a particular website and then you visit the page only to be disappointed in finding out that it is exactly the same information that you read on the home page.

Why? Why repeat what has already been presented and frustrate the visitor? The “About Us” or “History” page is a prime opportunity to make a personal connection with your visitors. On this page you should dig deep and elaborate more about who the company is or who you are as a business owner. This doesn’t mean you have to divulge a favorite dessert or a favorite sports team.

Depending on the type of business and the size of the company, there are many ways you can make a personal connection with potential customers. If it is an older established company, tell your visitors about the rich history of the company and how your approach to your customers has not changed through the years. If it is a fairly young company, then you could explain to visitors about how you can provide a more one on one approach to business as opposed to some larger companies where that personal connection may become lost. Take it a step further and discuss company or individual accomplishments within the industry. Has the company won awards or have people within the company accomplished achievements in their work? Is the company involved with any charitable organizations? Do employees take part in giving their time and talents to a particular cause outside of work? If this is the case, tell the visitors about it. Show how employees have been recognized for particular accomplishments or how the company gives back to the community. These are all great ways to make a connection with your visitors and show there is more to the company and its employees.

Conclusion

Creating an interesting business website by including some personality can be very beneficial. You want to grab the visitor’s attention in a professional manner. You want to let the visitor know what services or products you have to offer.

You also want to make a connection with the visitor and not offer a cold presentation. Hopefully the ideas and suggestions mentioned in this article will help you in creating a business website that is interesting and inviting to any visitor. By adding a little personality to your business website, you can create the interest needed that will persuade your visitors to stay and hopefully develop a long lasting business relationship.

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Kevin Pahlau is a web and graphic designer and has over eight years experience in web and multimedia development. He has worked in both broadcast and print media and has been a contributing writer for a variety of online publications.

How to Leave Voicemail Messages that Get Returned: 7 Steps to Action

By Karl Walinskas in Featured

More people are screen incoming calls today than ever before. If you have something important to say and don’t want to simply hang up and try again, it’s your job to leave compelling voicemail messages that get results.

Harken back to years ago when I picked up a wireless communicator, or was it a cellular phone? Maybe the better term is digital applications device these days. I was late to the party and, swear to God, didn’t get my first one until the mid-90s. Stop laughing! Just because I tell you about communications doesn’t mean that I have to use all the accoutrements of the trade. Einstein never used a Palm Pilot, so there!

So as I’m sitting in a four-hour delay in the Pittsburgh Airport, gate A-4, I look up and see a weird site. About 70% of all the people walking in my field of vision have a similar device stuck to the side of their heads, talking into it, listening, nodding. It was surreal. One dude sits down next to me and is listening intently without speaking. Every now and then he reaches up and touches a button on the phone, then listens some more. After 5 minutes, he finishes and my curiosity takes over.

“So who were you talking to?”, I inquire.

Politely, although looking at me like I was a three-headed Ghydra who just fell off the turnip truck, he replies, “I wasn’t talking to anyone—just checking my voicemail.”

“Lots of messages, huh,” came my witty retort.

“About 10. I’ll only return two of them.”

One of those cartoon dialogue balloons that means I was thinking appeared over my head with “A-HAH!” in all caps. A communications challenge on the horizon.

You see, folks, the more technology we introduce to help us communicate, the less we actually communicate. The businessman at the airline terminal will only return 20% of his messages. Have you ever felt like part of the eighty percent sent to digital purgatory? Voicemail has taken over auditory communications technology, so if we want to avoid endless frustration and productivity loss, we need to learn to leave messages that get returned. Here are my top 7 tips on leaving messages that demand a response:

BE BRIEF & TO THE POINT

Don’t begin your voicemail with small talk, jokes or other needless filler words. Remember the fellow at the airport? Your message may be one of many, so he may be tired of listening when he gets to yours, so get right down to business. Identify yourself and the purpose of calling.

Bad: “Hey, Charlie! It’s me. Got a great one for you. Did you hear the one…”

Better: “Hi Charlie. This is Karl Walinskas, calling about our meeting in Tuscaloosa.”

PUT THE CALL IN CONTEXT

Say something immediately after your greeting that puts you and your importance in the mind of the listener. She may not remember you if you just met once or twice, so give her a reference. The listener is always thinking, “Who the heck are you and why should I return your call?” If they asked for the call, make sure you say so.

Bad: “Hello Ms. Watson. I’m calling today to let you know of our great new line of…”

Better: “Hi Ms. Watson. This is Karl Walinskas. We met last Tuesday at the Internet trade show in Chicago at my company’s booth, The Speaking Connection. I’m following up on your request to…”

GIVE THE LISTENER A REASON TO REPLY

What does the call recipient get if he gets back to you? Pleasant conversation? A special offer? Offer something compelling that makes the listener want to get back to you for his own good. This is a key channel of persuasion. Everyone wants to know what’s in it for me, so provide the listener with an answer to that question.

Bad: “I’d like you to call me back so we can discuss…”

Better: “I’m holding the cruise dates for 24 hours until I hear from you. Call me by tomorrow to book your vacation or plan something else.”

TIME STAMP THE MESSAGE

Most voicemail systems have automatic time stamps, but don’t rely on them. I never listen to them because the electronic voice is annoying, and many answering machines don’t have a time stamp. Let the person know the day and time you called and more importantly, when she can call you back. Provide a window for the return call that is accurate but not too restrictive.

Bad: “We need to talk on the medical account. Call me anytime to discuss.”

Better: “I’m calling on Thursday around 3 pm. I can be reached in my office tomorrow from 10 to 1 in the afternoon at 555-1212. Please call to discuss…”

LET THE LISTENER KNOW HOW TO REACH YOU

Simple right? Give the listener a phone number for a return call and an alternate like a digital phone that’s always with you. This applies to outbound voicemail messages too. If you’re never around and don’t have a mobile phone (like me for years), use the convenience of email technology to let her know an email address that she can reply to that you can be sure to get.

Bad: “Call me back so we can get to it.”

Better: “I can be reached at 555-1212 from.3-5 today, or at my mobile number of 555-2121 anytime. You can also get me through email at sales@smartcompanygrowth.com. I check it regularly.”

PROVIDE INSTRUCTIONS

Tell the listener exactly what you want him to do. For business calls, discussion isn’t good enough. What is this person needed for? The “I need” phrase is the most powerful two words in the English language, so use it.

Bad: “Call me back so we can discuss the Warren account.”

Better: “I need you approval on the final contract to propose to Mr. Warren for the half-million dollar widget order.”

EXPLAIN THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT CALLING BACK

This is a great call-return-getter that most people don’t use. Think of the cruise example earlier, with the implied consequence of losing the trip reservation unless a return call was made. If you can, be explicit.

Bad: “Honey, call me back about the groceries you wanted me to pick up.”

Better: “Honey, call me back to let me know if you wanted skim milk or whole milk.
If I don’t hear from you, I’ll assume you found other nourishment and no longer wish for me to pick up groceries. Bye-bye!”

You can use these seven techniques immediately to dramatically improve your rate of callbacks when you leave voicemail. What you’re doing is enabling the recipient with enough detail and reasons so that calling you back just makes good sense.

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Connect with us, Subject: 5 Phrases and I’ll give you 5 phrases that will up your call return-rate even higher. More great sales & mktg stuff at the Smart Blog. Post your case-studies & you might find yourself in the next post. Check out Karl Walinskas at Smart Company Growth.

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