MAKE YOUR WEB SITE SELL

We can learn a lot about what makes a web site successful by looking at what the major search engines have done.

Most books on search engines give you tricks for getting the attention of search engines. But that's not what search engine owners have been worried about.

Savvy programmers have been more than a little concerned about their customer's number one complaint: "When I search for 'dogs' I get '21,142 sites found."
You and I have both experienced that same thing. You just need one or two really good sites about dogs. Instead you're pummeled with web pages, most of them having very little or nothing to do with dogs.

Search engine programmers knew that wasn't what their tools were supposed to do. They responded by making search engines a lot smarter. Now days search engines send out "spiders." These are computers that comb the Internet in search of web pages. When they find one they look at the title of the page (the words in the box at the top of most browsers) and the meta tag keywords in the site's html code. Then the spider combs down through the words of the page.

Does the title match up with the meta tag keywords? Do both of those match up with the text of the page? Does the text seem like it's constructed into logical sentences and not just a list of keywords strung together. Keep in mind that we're talking about computer intelligence which still isn't nearly as smart as human intelligence.

This simple method of comparing words on the web page works pretty well. If "dogs" appears in the title, "dogs" shows up in the meta tag keywords, and "dogs" seems to be talked about a lot in the text of the page; then there's a very likely chance that the site really IS about dogs.

How much of your site is about dogs? The key to impressing a search engine is to have a tightly focused site. For the person searching for a site about dogs, they won't be satisfied until their favorite search engine leads them directly to a cluster of pages that talk about dogs, feature pictures of dogs, crack a few jokes about dogs, and have links to more pages about dogs. By focusing your site, you hone in on one or two really important topics. Take these topics and center your entire site around them.
My web site, DrNunley.com, is about marketing small business. When the Internet started to expand and more and more corporate decision makers began dropping by my site, I thought it might be a very good idea to include some articles and services aimed at corporate marketing needs.

But wait a minute. My site is dedicated to small businesses. When the guy with a one-person business stops by DrNunley.com, he's going to be confused and a bit disappointed if all he can find is how to buy banner ad packages for $10,000 or more. Adding a bunch of corporate marketing content to DrNunley.com would be a mistake. It would take away from the site's narrow focus. Instead, I started a second site. MarketingHelp.Net features a lengthy guide to buying Internet advertising, something of great interest to many people trying to figure out how to get their medium-sized or big business on the Internet.

In Marketing--Narrow is good. You probably wouldn't say that narrow is good for an individual. Narrow-minded people or people with vary narrow interests aren't much fun to be around. Marketing is different, though. By narrowly focusing your marketing message to one or two key topics or subjects, you intensify the potency of your marketing message.

Hitting the world with a message that says "We've got products for business" may be the truth, but it doesn't give people the specific information they need. "We've got tool for business success" is better. "We've got tools to help your business save time and money," would be even better. The phrase gives us a much more specific idea of what's being offered. AND (and this is extremely important) the final phrase conveys some of the key benefits that customers will receive.

We could take our narrowly focused phrase one step further and say, "We've got promotional tools to help your Internet business make more money, this week!" Now THAT's focused.

Before you start your web site, start with a narrowly focused phrase What is your business about? What is it you sell? More important, what benefits do you give to customers. Write this down in a few sentences. Don't worry about good writing or spelling.

Which aspect of your business would appeal most to people on the Internet? If you have a part-time accounting business your focus on the Internet may be a bit different than your focus when promoting your business to people in your town. Net surfers tend to come from all over North America and the world. You're more likely to get a client that lives three states away than one that lives near you.

You might put up a web site that extolls the virtues of working with you, even if the client is living in a faraway place. Rather than touting your local connections, something that your local customers are attracted to, you might build up your ability to work with people through long distances via email.

"Silvia Hernadez, experienced accountant, gets your books into shape no matter where you live. I work closely with you via email and phone. Fast, efficient, effective."

That's a narrowly focused couple of sentences that would serve as a good focus statement for a web site. Within that statement are a lot of benefits. The customer gets a service with a track record that they can trust. The customer gets a professional who is good at working at a distance from the client. Sylvia works both via email (which is convenient) and via phone (which many people feel more comfortable using).

Amplify your site's narrow focus Your marketing focus phrase is now narrow, sleek, and ready to pierce the minds of countless prospects. You could put up a one-page web site that features just that one short couple of sentences along with your contact information. It would be quick, easy, and wouldn't waste the reader's time; but it wouldn't get you many sales.

Start making a list of ways you can amplify your focus phrase. Sylvia, our accountant, could list some of the exact services, features, and the related benefits that she provides. She:
Helps you get started with a good accounting computer program.
Helps you get your disorganized books and receipts in order.
Helps you devise a system for keeping your affairs in order.
Shows you ways to reduce what you owe in taxes.
Gives you ideas on how to raise money for expanding.
Tells you how to consolidate loan and lease payments to save hundreds each month.
Has a list of very good lawyers that specialize in affordable help for small businesses in need of contracts and litigation.

Sylvia can list each of those features and benefits. She can amplify and expand each one. She knows that a great many small business people are desperate for information on how to get the money to expand their business. She provides a link to another page on her web site which features an article she wrote on different ways for a small biz to raise cash. Sylvia provides links to the Small Business Association and government information sites. She sells a booklet on raising expansion capital written by a knowledgeable friend. Sylvia might even install a discussion board on her site where anyone can ask for advice or offer their own experiences for the benefit of others.

Sylvia goes down the list that illustrates her original focused phrase. For each feature and benefit she considers how she can amplify that topic on her web site. She gathers articles, collects links to other sites with rich information, offers advice, and makes an effort to involve readers. Everything on her site relates to her list of features and benefits, which in turn is a direct extension of her focused phrase.

Before she knows it, our accountant has a very impressive and extensive site that provides rich content on the benefits an accountant can provide small businesses via the Internet.

The site is tightly focused on a particular, narrow group of issues. This is a site that search engines will love. Customers and prospects will like it, too. On the Internet, as with all marketing, a narrow focus is good.

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