There was an article at YOUMoz called You Got Us Traffic, But Where Are the Sales? The article discusses clients asking you why sales haven’t increased and the writer mentions web design issues such as:
- bad design
- usability
- development
- no credibility
- no trust
- emotional values
The job of an SEO has started to encompass many more roles; I think we all agree on that, but there is more that we all need to consider. I don’t think I am doing my job at all until I evaluate the web site and its issues – coding, design and usability. There are times clients can keep there current sites and there are many times when I recommend a complete revamp.
Now, As For Credibility, Trust and Emotional Values
I have said it before and I will say it again. No one will buy from your or invest in your services if they don’t trust you! The look of the site is important, but a pretty web site is not enough.
Your copy needs to create TRUST and a good copywriter can help with this. Unfortunately, a good copywriter is not always an SEO copywriter and you need one to do better in the SERPs. A good SEO Copywriter knows how to instill trust and optimize your copy. You need to appear to be trustworthy and capable or you will not make a sale.
CREDIBILITY– A good looking web site can begin to lay the foundation for credibility, but it just isn’t always enough. The copy helps with the credibility, but I recommend you go farther. Information about clients is very important. A nice client list almost always seems to help when establishing credibility. It makes you look more professional and when people can recognize other businesses they begin to thing “well if that person hired them then they must be good enough.” What makes you credible? Think about it and add what you can.
EMOTIONAL VALUES– I will say this, EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS TO OFFER SOMETHING TO THEIR WEB VISITORS! I am not saying a free IPOD, but information- Buying tips, safety tips, warnings, recommendations etc. If you offer these you appear to have values and you solidify that must-needed trust.
I Would Also Recommend
- You Provide some incentives
- Do not forget local search and universal search
- Remember that people are not going to work hard to find things. They want it right infront of their faces. Make searching your site easy.
PPC
Did you know there is a population of people that do not understand what the sponsored links are? When they read the description and the name they want they assume whatever they click on will take them right where they want to go. If you have a PPC campaign you may want to consider the amount of “by accident” clicks, They go to your site and leave without spending a dime because they didn’t know what they were looking at anyway. That is no one’s fault.
(this is kindof aimed at those having a discussion at YOUmoz)
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Melissa- SEO Aware