November 29, 2007

Before You Spend Advertising Dollars

The important work of advertising is done before you spend any money and its an unfortunate truth that many business owners skip these steps altogether and end up throwing a lot of money into a bottomless pit.

When evaluating your individual web pages you need to know what you want. Every page has a purpose and you should be able to identify that purpose right away.

Optimally your website would confirm that targeted visitors have come to the right place for what they’re looking for and quickly ink the deal with a sale or contract of some kind. Statistics tell us that this optimum response happens at a rate of about 3-5% in the best of times – which leads to the need for a good back up offer – which is usually something designed to win the visitor’s contact info.

Always be able to answer two questions.

What is this page created to do?

What back up offer does it make?

Before you advertise you have to know who you want to advertise to. This means that you have a clear idea of who your target market is and you know why you are uniquely suited to serve them. If you struggle in this area it will pay to take time out now to nail it down.

If you have your target market all worked out, you’re ready for the next step.

Evaluating your website

Have you ever read a wonderful ad and been motivated to click through to check out their website, only to be disappointed by what you see when you get there?

It can be easy to devote all of your attention to the ad you place and forget to take a good look at the web pages that will get the desired traffic and decide if they are ready to perform for you.

Is your website easy to navigate?

Is there an attractive header graphic?

Are your images clean and sharp?

Is there sufficient info to let a visitor make an informed decision?

Can you find contact info?

Can you find shipping info?

Can you find pricing info?

Are there testimonials from satisfied customers?

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