Businesses big and small should all be concerned with the same things:
- Pleasing Customers
Creating Trust
- Being Found
- Converting
- Bringing in more potential customers online!
What we are seeing are some large businesses making bad online marketing decisions. Here are some of the mistakes we see.
Large Companies and Their Mistakes or Misconceptions
Many large businesses understand the 5 bullets above, but not all and through phone calls and consulting we have seen the same mistakes being repeated. We would like to mention them now and perhaps your business can think about them…and hopefully make a change!
Being overly focused on the parent company site’s traffic, when the sister sites are where the money is made.
Parent companies are fine and dandy, but if your smaller sites are where conversions happen; your focus should be on them. High traffic numbers with no conversion makes you how much money? We have even been told this year that sending traffic from the parent company site to the smaller “money-making” sites is unnecessary. (FYI – we didn’t take that job)
Let me say that there are always reasons to promote a parent company site, but are you going to get a return on that investment? What are your goals? Why do you need traffic there if there are money making sites elsewhere? You need to consider goals, needs and ego in this decision.
Being more concerned with being a “luxury” or “premier” brand than you are converting online.
It is nice to be “fancy” but even “fancy” people want to find what they are looking for online quickly. They don’t want to search through 20 pages of flash to get to what they were looking for. Music and magical twinkling doesn’t matter when you are in a rush. They want to get in, get the job done and get out! When they have to work to hard to find something they quit and they move on, more often than not. Also, if I can’t find your “luxury” item/service in a web search how lame is that? Assuming your name is enough to make your convert is mistake.
On another note, have you considered smartphone users that cannot see your site on their phone? I order and pay for things from my iPhone all the time. Why eliminate that population?
Not being concerned with having a user-friendly and functional website.
Again, people don’t want to have to work when searching. If you have money your #1 concern should be a website that your target markets can use easily and efficiently. How easy is it to find what you do or what you sell? How easy is it to research and find relevant information?
Not wanting to invest in a better website.
I always laugh when people brag about their magazine advertising budget, but then say they have like $5,000 for a website because it isn’t important. If you believe this way I suggest you have your staff ask 20 people each if they read magazines. Then ask if they read the magazines you advertise in. One other question, how often do they research and read online? Compare your answers.
Let’s say people do read the mags you advertise in. If they are interested in you/your ad where do you think they will look first to find you? I would bet the Internet…via computer and smartphone. Does your website support your ad? Does it look as nice? Offer information related to the ad? Is it so boring or difficult that your bounce rate is high? Do you know what a bounce rate is? In today’s world your website is, in my opinion, the most important advertising method you have. Create and maintain a nice site.
You don’t offer me anything on your site or blog. You need to be concerned with creating trust and establishing your self as an authority in your field.
Blogs and Social Media have become so popular because they help people obtain the information they need quickly. People can find valuable tips, facts, reviews and information in many places today. You need to offer tips, facts and information on your site and your blog! (yes, I repeated those words again for a reason – remember them)
You need to offer valuable information on what you do, what people need to know about what you do, why you are the best, why people should consider hiring you, why your product is better than another and even tell them mistakes to avoid. Then you can use this information to market yourself in Social Media, email marketing, video marketing and traditional advertising methods.
Not understanding that web enhancements should be in the yearly advertising budget.
People buy new cars, new clothes and even new computers because they old ones just aren’t as snazzy or up-to-date. For some odd reason some businesses believe that a site should be built once and be done forever. Wrong! They need to be updated yearly and maintained. A website is a part of your monthly and yearly marketing budget. Not including it is a big mistake.
Your website is like a nest egg for your company.
Not learning about the extreme importance of SEO and Internet marketing.
Assuming that a site is online so it will just make you money and/or be found is wrong. There needs to be an SEO strategy for your site to be found for your services, your name, your events, location(s) and much more. A strategy needs to in place to keep consistent traffic coming in, bring in new potential customers, establish a presence in the locations you serve, maintain your online reputation and help establish you as the best in your field. <– this is just the start, FYI.
My recommendation, skip one corporate dinner and take that money to invest in a good SEO consultant that can sit down and show you where you can improve in your SEO, website, Internet marketing, social media marketing, reputation management and more. SEO and Internet marketing should also be part of your monthly advertising budget.
Under-estimating the impact of outstanding photography and graphics
(This idea, and the next two, are from our web developer Diane Kinney). I see sites everyday with the same old stock photos and it doesn’t impress me. I am not saying all stock photos are bad, but they need to fit the vision of the site and they need to look nice. If pictures you choose are being used over and over you need to change them! If you are a big business that makes good money you should be able to afford real photography and graphics. They make you more believable, trustworthy and professional.
Believing that your website vision is what your clients want to see and/or not considering what their needs and wants are.
There is nothing wrong with having a personality on your website, something that shows you are (see our background). However, you do need to consider the needs and wants of your visitors and find a way to provide it to them. Ignoring or forgetting this is a major mistake because you need to please those that invest in your services and/or products to convert. Talk to your customers and get a list of their needs and wants and then create a list of your needs and wants. Try to hire a developer than create something that meets both of your needs.
On a side note, we are developing a new site for ourselves to meet the needs of our visitors. Needs change and the web changes constantly. Change isn’t a bad thing…it is part of having a website.
Not clearly articulating what you do and offer in your headlines, graphics and/or content.
People can’t tell what you are thinking and they don’t understand what you mean when you shorten your ideas. My freshman English teacher taught us that people can’t read your minds when they are reading your ideas. To write properly you must explain your thoughts in quick and concise ways to avoid boring them and also to properly explain the point you are trying to get across.
I learned this at 14. Many businesses do not think about this. They write about what they are thinking and forget that the common person has no clue what they are talking about…we are not in your head so please clarify! Don’t give me some random phrases and assume I know what you mean.
Using your terminology and assuming I know it or understand it!
Your terminology is not always understandable to those you are trying to sell to. If you are going to use terms and phrases your business or industry understands you will need to explain them to those of us not in your business/industry. . We read sliders, content, graphics and blog entries all the time that don’t make sense to us and we are the target audience. FYI, inside jokes don’t make sense to us either.
We will be discussing more on this soon….
SEO Aware – Specializing in Search Engine Butt Kicking