Congratulations, your website is getting lots of traffic. That means your Google advertising, email marketing, search engine optimization, and social media efforts are finally paying off. The hard part is now done, right? Well that depends…

Are you generating the signups, leads, and sales you expected… or scratching your head wondering why more website visitors aren’t taking the actions you want them to?

Well, if you’re in the head scratching camp (most folks are), then it’s time to create your website traffic map. What’s a website traffic map? It’s a flow chart of the path most visitors take to the pages you care about (i.e. sign up, subscribe, contact us, and order pages).

In a perfect scenario, once someone gets on that path, they’ll take it all the way to the end – you convert them into a signup, lead, or sale.  In the real world, this rarely happens.

Why don’t more convert? In many cases we simply make it too hard for them.

We distract visitors with lots of choices along the way… ad banners, blog posts, facebook buttons, to name just a few.  Sometimes our web page takes a long time to load and prospects get impatient. Or maybe we’re asking for too much information before they buy from us. And yes, we occasionally send visitors to a page that’s been moved or deleted… yikes!

A website traffic map will pinpoint the bottlenecks where you’re losing the most prospects.  Here are the steps to create your very own traffic map:

1. Collect website traffic information using your web analytics software. (Remember: without web analytics your website is flying blind).

2. Determine your websites most popular pages. These will be the 3 or 4 pages that get the most visits (your homepage is usually number one).

3. Look at the percentage of visitors that get on your conversion path. For each of your most popular pages, see what percentage of visitors take the action you want most: click on your free trial button, subscribe now link, or enter your online shopping cart path.

4. Identify the bottleneck pages. Most conversion paths are made up of 3 to 5 pages including an entry page (e.g., homepage or product page), a signup page or order form, and a confirmation page.  On which pages are you losing the most prospects?

5. Test and fix the bottleneck pages. Make your free trial button bigger, remove unnecessary links from your product page, ask fewer questions on your order form… you get the idea!

6. Track your progress and keep improving. See how the changes are improving things (or not) and try again. This is where understanding A/B testing comes in handy.

Creating an actual website traffic map is just putting this data into boxes and arrows so you can visually see what’s happening.

Each of your most popular pages should represent an entry page box for your conversion path. The next box reflects the next page in your conversion path, and so on, until the last box which is your confirmation or thank you page. Add in arrows so you can visually see the flow. Then put in the percentage of visitors at each stage of the traffic map. Then identify and improve the flow of your traffic map (steps 4 to 6).

Over time you can also create traffic maps for different types of website traffic (e.g., paid vs. natural search) and conversion paths (e.g., newsletter signup vs. contact us form).

So don’t let your prospects get stuck in traffic… create your very own website traffic map so you can generate more signups, leads, and sales!

Let us know if we can help. Just give us a call at 888.330.3236.

Sure, Google is the biggest advertising company on the planet. Who can argue with $30 billion in revenues and more than one million advertisers? As a matter of fact, if your business has a website then chances are pretty good you’ve already used or considered Google’s AdWords program to promote your business.

Well, guess what? Google advertising may not be right for you…

Keep these questions in mind when considering Google for advertising your business:

1.  Are you tracking your ad campaign results? Definitely have web analytics set up before starting any ad campaign. That way you can track what happens after a “searcher” clicks your text ads. How else are you going to know if you’re sending prospects or lookie-loos to your website? Plus, it’s kind of hard to figure out the maximum you can bid per click… unless you know how many clicks are converting into sales. Remember: without web analytics your website is flying blind.

2.  Ready to become a search engine marketing expert (or hire one)? The moment you turn on your AdWords campaign, you’re competing against the best search engine marketers in the world. The only way to have a chance is to know what you’re doing. Do you? If not, then be ready to invest lots of time learning how to set up ad campaigns, pick keywords, write text ads, etc. Otherwise, plan to hire an expert to do it for you. Our list of the best search engine marketing services for small business is a good place to start.

3.  Have time to manage your ad campaigns? Your competition is constantly updating and optimizing their ad campaigns to improve performance; not to mention that Google likes to occasionally change the advertising rules. So you can’t just launch your ad campaign and forget about it. No way.  If you aren’t actively managing your Google AdWords campaigns then don’t be surprised when your results get worse over time. (Sorry!)

4.  Make enough profit to pay for Google? Let’s say you pay Google $1 per click and 1% of those clicks turn into sales (reasonable assumptions). That means you’ll be paying Google $100 for every sale you generate. No problem if you’re making at least that much in profit from each sale (and can sell those customers more stuff in the future). But it’s not so great if you’re making way less than that. Bottom line: Do the marketing math before you start your advertising campaign.

5.  Are prospects “searching” for your solution? Search engine marketing works best when lots of people are sarching the Internet for a product like yours. Have a niche or highly specialized product? Or maybe it’s a new service that customers don’t know how to search for (e.g., new Facebook app)? You may be better off advertising on industry-specific websites, using email marketing, leveraging social media, or even placing offline advertising to reach your audience.

Whether or not advertising with Google makes sense for your business, you should always explore other advertising options. That way you won’t have all your advertising eggs in one basket.

Still not sure if Google advertising is right for you? We’re happy to share our opinion… just give us a call at 888-330-3236

I don’t get it. I really don’t.

Marketers wrack their brains to get me to click on their clever Google ads, read bullet-heavy landing pages, and then entice me to sign up for tons of free stuff (whitepapers, webinars, get-rich-quick tips)… only to blow it with their follow up email come-ons.

I mean… c’mon!

Now we all understand the value of capturing a prospect’s email address, right? It gives us the chance to turn that one-shot-at-buying click into a lifelong relationship that can turn into sales again and again.

The key of course is to do great follow up emails.

Here are five important things to keep in mind when sending emails to your prospects:

• Make it personal and not too professional sounding. First of all, make sure the “from” field has the name of a real person not some strange looking email address. And no writing your email copy as if you’re a faceless corporation. Instead, write like you’re having a fun conversation with a prospect. What words would you say… and how would you say it?

• Intrigue (not mislead) with your subject line. Your prospects are busy and bored so grab their attention with a provocative subject line (or they won’t open your email anyway). For example: “Why prospects Do Not want to buy from you” or “5 things you should never ask your boss” or “Your brand is not about branding, it’s about something else”. You get the idea!

• Engage and entertain your audience. We all get way too many emails every day, so engage your prospects with questions, fun facts, and a good story… then tell them why they should call or buy from you. No form letter or boring email copy, please! Keep in mind: if you wouldn’t want to read your email then your target customer won’t either.

• Provide value first when building an email relationship. It takes awhile to build a relationship with someone… especially over email. So do what all great salespeople do – provide value first! Got tips to help them run their business better? How about a heads-up on what a competitor is doing? Better yet, send them a weekly email newsletter with plenty of helpful articles… and a special offer too!

• Not all prospects are the same – so don’t treat them that way. Maybe they live in different zip codes, have varying purchasing budgets, come from multiple industries, or bought from you before. The important thing is to separate your prospect lists so that you can make your emails as relevant and personalized as possible. Over time, this will result in more sales for you!

Just remember to show some personality. Your emails will be much more engaging and interesting to read compared to the zombie-sounding emails your competitors send out.

Got a few email tips to share? Let us know!

And don’t forget we’re here to help. Give us a call at 888-330-3236.

The lowly and misunderstood ad banner has been around since the dawn of the (commercial) Internet… and it’s still plugging away today. Even though newer and cooler forms of advertising like paid search, social media, and mobile advertising, have (seemingly) passed it by.

Why should you still care about banner ads? Well, for starters, brand advertising is coming back in vogue… shocking but true!

Seems that marketers have finally figured out what consumers have known all along – we buy from brands we’re familiar with! That’s why eMarketer now forecasts growth in online display ads (i.e., banner ads) will outstrip that for paid search through 2014.

Said another way, banner ads may not generate many clicks… but they do generate the kind of “awareness” that makes us: click on a brand’s link in search results, mention a brand to friends, and notice a brand when shopping (online or offline). All of which, sooner or later, results in the cash register ringing!

Here are six essential tips to building your brand with banner advertising:

• Bigger truly is better. The more website real estate you cover with your ad the better. This ensures that more people see your ad (whether they realize it or not) and are influenced by your brand message.

• Keep it moving. Our eyes are designed to notice small movements on a Web page. So get your ad moving, but do it in a way that engages not tricks (please, no blinking ads!). Maybe a graphic that builds or changes its message… you get the idea!

• Aim really high. Get your advertising as high up on the page as you can. More people will notice it plus it helps your chances of always being “above the fold”. This is why everyone competes for the number one slot in Google search results.

• Context is king. Design your advertising to fit in with the content and design of the website(s) your ad shows on. This keeps it from looking too much like advertising. Believe it or not, many prospects don’t like reading ads.

• Not a one-time shot. Building your brand takes time, so plan to keep your ads running for at least a few months… or as long as you can! Think about it. When was the last time you acted on an ad the first time you saw it. Never. That’s right.

• Change it up… but not too often. Prospects notice your advertising the first few times but then stop seeing it. So change up your ad every once in a while (think monthly). But be careful of changing too often… otherwise your brand message won’t sink in.

Now we’re not saying don’t do paid search, mobile marketing, or whatever the advertising flavor of the day is (iPad anyone?). We are saying you need to also invest in developing your brand in the minds of customers and prospects. And that’s where your newly empowered ad banner comes to the rescue!

Have your own tips on banner advertising? Let us know!

Want to learn more on this fun topic? Check out these posts:

Creating brand awareness is critical to your online advertising strategy

Where to advertise online? Well that depends…

Want to learn how to write Google ads? Read on…

And don’t forget, we’re here to help… give us a call at 888-330-3236.

Need fun and engaging photos for your website or blog? Of course you do!  The right pictures can make all the difference in getting prospects to spend more time on your site… and maybe even buy from you!

The good news is that there are plenty of stock photo sites to choose from with lots (and lots!) of affordable and free pictures, plus different payment options depending on whether you’re looking for just one photo or have ongoing picture needs.  Definitely check out a few different stock photo websites to see which is best for you!

Ready to find that perfect image?  Then check out our list of the 28 best free and affordable stock photo websites.

This “best of” list features affordable stock photo sites including iStockphoto, Dreamstime, and Pixmac, where you pay for photos using credits or subscription plans, Corbis Images and Inmagine where you pay per photo, and morgueFile and PD Photo that offer free public domain photos.

The complete list of the Best Free and Affordable Stock Photo Sites can be found on our Leadtail blog – Best Online Advertising Stuff.

Whether you need smiling faces, yummy food, or a unique, memorable image to dress up your website or blog, you’re sure to find tons of options for any budget on these sites.

P.s. This list doesn’t include photo sharing sites like Flickr and Photobucket which can also be good sources (just be sure to check licensing before using).