Saturday, August 4, 2012

Traffic Jams Business Owners Love to Hate And How To Create Them

If you've ever been stuck in traffic, you know how annoying traffic jams can be, but what if that traffic was customers heading to your business? Think how joyous you'd feel then. Generating traffic to one's business or website can be highest priority on a business owner's check list of "must do's", but often the most challenging to achieve.

Here are some strategies for generating leads that won't cost you an arm and a leg, but will give you the results you are looking for.

Write articles!

Don't have time? Hire a copywriter. The point is that you have a resource available to you that can give you exposure and "traffic". What if I told you that one article per week alone can be picked up by 75+ e-magazine sources, getting your name out, your company's name, your website, your blog, your product or service? Now multiply that times more articles per week (I suggest one a day for maximum exposure) and pretty soon you'll be seeing hundreds if not thousands of "views", to your articles and to your site or blog.

Once they get there, then what?

Okay, so you've got people clicking, but to keep things ticking you need value. What are you going to offer them? A discount on your product or services? An e-book? A free webinar or seminar? Clearly this "campaign" you are developing has to be well thought out to get "the most from your post".

To do that, create a powerful "landing page" that your readers will arrive at and wow them. The fact is if they're done right, landing pages land potential customers. Create the traffic jam you've been dreaming about - the one that lines up outside your cyber door!

Here's how:

Whether you currently use landing pages or if you're new to the process, these tips will help. Briefly, landing pages are "lead" pages that you post on the Web to gain information about potential clients through a lead form or "squeeze" page. The most effective way to generate traffic from "lead" pages is to make each one unique to the offer you are marketing. For instance, if you want to draw traffic to a You Tube or webinar, each offer should have its own landing page. You may also want to create a landing page for visitors to download specific offers or freebees. This might include e-books, white papers or free services or products.

Convert visitors to leads.

Landing pages offer specific relevant offers that can potentially convert visitors to leads and ultimately turn them into customers. Think of it like a cyber bridge between your customer and your business or site. The mistake many business owners make is to send website visitors directly to their website with no clear direction of how they will be helped. By capturing them instead through a landing page that has a relevant offer or advice, you stand a greater chance of converting them to leads.

To build an effective Landing Page:

1. Create a gripping headline: Like you, a lot of people surfing the web have little time to read a whole lot, so your headline should be captivating and relative to something important to them. You generally have less than 3-5 seconds to grab them, and you want them to click on your headline and look at your offer. Make sure the headline relates to what you are offering them. There's nothing more annoying for a visitor than to click on something and find out it's just a come-on or advertisement, and not something they can legitimately use.

2. Make the page content interesting: Once your visitor clicks on your landing page, make sure that the information you provide is concise, beneficial to them, and clear about the offer. Bullets or numbered lists work well to grab them.

3. Highlight Keywords and Tags: In order for your message to reach the biggest and most targeted audience, be sure that you include keywords and tags to get the most hits. Keywords and tags are like compass arrows for search engines, so when a potential client keys in a key word, your information will pop up.

4. Spread the love: Share buttons on your landing page give your visitor an opportunity to spread the news about your offer to their friends and colleagues. Social networking is the super highway to getting your information out to the masses.

5. Know how to hold them: If you get visitors to your landing page, the last thing you want is to give them a reason to leave, and that includes offering links that pull them away from filling out the information you need to convert them to a lead. Create a one-way street. Remove navigation and links and keep the directions simple: "Don't lose out! Fill out the short form below to receive x, y, or z".

Once they accept that offer, offer them something else! When they then go to that next level, you can offer them a link that will further integrate them into your system, leading them to your business or site.

6. Make the format Form-Friendly: A mistake many business owners make is to put the form they want potential customers to fill out at the bottom of the landing page, but you want the form "above the fold" so viewers see it immediately. Don't make them hunt. They won't bother and it's a sad way to lose a potential customer. Make the form visually appealing; but remember the shorter the form the better.

These pointers will get you off to a great start as you create your traffic jam. As you build your campaign, think about developing videos, webinars, e-books, whitepapers, and other helpful things you can offer potential customers to steer them to your product or service.

If you could use help with any or all of the above, let me know. You're the driver, and business coaches are great navigators!


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http://www.actioncoachcalteam.com/
http://actioncalteamblog.com/

ActionCOACH ML Peter Williamson's 23+ years of business experience includes executive positions at both startup and established manufacturing companies domestically and abroad. owning a consulting practice, and working for Fortune 500 companies. Email: peterwilliamson@actioncoach.com


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