Archive for the ‘Increase Web Traffic’ Category

This week on The Lede …

• Are Content Publishers Waking Up from Their App Dreams Nightmares?
• An Email Marketing Autoresponder Schedule that Sells
• 3 Quick Tips To Conquering Your Fear of Public Speaking
• Does Your Domain Say “Trust Me?”
• Why “Freemium” Fails for Startups: 3 Business Lessons from the Band New Order
• 5 Basic SEO Truths We Can Learn from Star Wars
• Peter Shankman on the Value of an Audience

If you want to grab more useful links (than the seven we highlight here) every week, follow @copyblogger on Twitter.

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Are Content Publishers Waking Up from Their App Dreams Nightmares?

The honeymoon that content apps have enjoyed is finally over. Have you built the world’s greatest timer? That’s an app. Do you regularly publish useful, engaging and entertaining content online? That’s a website. Specifically, a mobile responsive website. We’re going to be hearing more stories like the one from this publisher. Heed the warning. Don’t waste your time building and maintaining a content app. Build one great website instead …

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An Email Marketing Autoresponder Schedule that Sells

An email autoresponder is one of the most valuable content marketing assets you can build. Sonia calls them the lazy marketer’s best friend, a mule of sorts with no need for rest or sustenance. Have you built yours? If not, here’s a great template for planning an email autoresponder that sells your product, service, or idea.

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3 Quick Tips To Conquering Your Fear of Public Speaking

I don’t know if that old stat about it being stronger than the fear of death is true, but public speaking sure gives most people the bad sweats. Whether you’ve got a quick speech coming up soon, or you gig regularly around the world, there’s some solid advice to be had in this article. Break a leg …

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Does Your Domain Say “Trust Me?”

It’s the backbone of every smart content producer’s toolbox. The domain name, the URL, the home base. You might be a very trustworthy person, but online, so much is riding on the first impression of that little address that pops up in search engines everywhere. At a glance, how trustworthy is your “name”?

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Why “Freemium” Fails for Startups: 3 Business Lessons from the Band New Order

Mr. Clark jumped on Forbes again this week, this time using a New Wave band’s troubled side business as a foil to expose the problems inherent in the freemium model. And then, Mr. Gardner (Copyblogger Media’s Chief Product Officer) riffed on it, making a case for content marketing as THE way to build a business. Attack of the executives, indeed.

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5 Basic SEO Truths We Can Learn from Star Wars

Can you guess what lines like “These are not the droids you’re looking for,” and “I find your lack of faith disturbing,” have to do with the basics of good SEO? I couldn’t. So I just read this great little article from Mr. Bartholomew instead.

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No, You Cannot “Borrow My Audience.”

Impassioned as ever, Mr. Shankman delivers a scathing response to an unsuspecting PR person’s request. This master class in the defining principles of good content marketing (disguised as a rant) should be forwarded to anyone looking for shortcuts, fast cash, easy money, or overnight success. Know, like, and trust. They’re harder to get to than they look, baby.

Did you miss anything on Copyblogger this week?

• If it Doesn’t Sell …
• 3 Ways to Fix Your Broken Marketing
• How to Craft an Offer That Can’t Be Refused
• 20 Mistakes that Will Undermine Your Call to Action and Cost You Sales
• 10 Ways Specificity Will Help You Build a Profitable Audience
• How to Attract a Buying Audience by Integrating Search, Social, and Content

About the Author: Robert Bruce is Copyblogger Media’s Copywriter and Resident Recluse.

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• 7 Links That’ll Make You a Better Writer and Online Marketer

Google’s been pissing people off lately. Panda, Penguin, Parakeet (okay, I made that last one up), who knows what’s next …

Then there are the social networking evangelists whose entire fortunes are deep in Zuckerberg’s asset.

And finally, the faithful content producers, who labor slowly and quietly to build their businesses one thousand words at a time.

It can all seem a bit much to keep up with. SEO isn’t bad. Social networking sites aren’t evil. Content marketing isn’t impossible. But it can feel like it sometimes.

To clear up some of this confusion and frustration for us, I’ve asked Lee Odden to jump on the show and tell us how the smart, systematic integration of search, social, and content can attract an audience … and keep businesses — both large and small — sanely profitable.

In this episode we discuss:

• The 3 phases of a holistic customer attraction plan
• What the changes in search algorithms really mean for online publishers
• How to intelligently plan a content strategy that works
• Why it’s now essential that you become a “holistic” content producer
• 5 content optimization audits you need to perform
• 3 steps to implementing your systematic content plan
• How to scale your content efforts on a limited budget

Hit the flash player below to listen now:

Other listening options:

• Click here to download the mp3 | 30.1 MB | 25:02
• Click here to subscribe via iTunes
• Click here for the RSS feed (non iTunes)
• Click here for the show archive

The Show Notes:

• Internet Marketing for Smart People Course (free)
• Optimize by Lee Odden
• Top Rank Marketing
• Content Marketing 101
• SEO Copywriting Made Simple
• Keyword Research for Content Producers
• We left the building with Girl Talk …

About the Author: Robert Bruce is Copyblogger Media’s Copywriter and Resident Recluse.

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A few years ago, I ran my first marathon in Seattle.

I’d love to tell you I ran strong to the finish, but by mile 18 I was wiped out, focusing entirely on putting one foot in front of the other. As I trudged along in the final hour, I spotted a volunteer handing out fresh orange slices on the side of the road ahead of me.

Tired as I was, I made sure to change my position, slow down, and gratefully accept the gift. The piece of fresh orange was an offer I couldn’t refuse — even though it was free, I would have gladly paid for it if I’d had the money and was in the right frame of mind to have a conversation. 

Two miles ahead, I saw another volunteer handing out a different gift: halves of Krispy Kreme donuts. Unfortunately, this offer did not excite me (or any other runners I saw) at all.

I’m no puritan. I’ve have eaten more than my share of donuts over the years. But three hours into the longest race of my life was bad timing for a sugar rush. The offer was unattractive and a poor fit for the context.

Ironically, there were no donuts available after the 26.2-mile race, something many runners would have been thrilled to see. Keep this in mind if you are ever in charge of providing donuts for marathoners.

An offer you can’t refuse

A compelling offer is like a slice of orange at mile 18.

It’s a marriage proposal from the guy or girl you’ve been waiting for your whole life.

An offer you can’t refuse is like the $20,000 Bonderman Fellowship offered every year to graduating seniors at the University of Washington. The fellowship has very strict rules: Take our money in cash and travel the world on your own; don’t come back for eight months. Oh, and once in a while send us a quick note so we can tell your parents you’re alive. If you’d guess that hundreds of students compete for the fellowship every year, you’d be right. 



So how can you construct an offer that your prospects won’t refuse?

Remember, first you need to sell what people want to buy — give them the fish. Then make sure you’re marketing to the right people at the right time.

Sometimes you can have the right crowd at the wrong time. Marathon runners are happy to eat donuts after the race, but not at mile 18.

Then you take your product or service and craft it into a compelling pitch … an offer they can’t refuse.

Here’s how you do it.

1. Understand that what we want and what we say we want are not always the same thing

The next time you get on a crowded plane and head to your cramped middle seat in the back, with a screaming infant seated behind you at no extra charge, remember this principle.

For years travelers have been complaining about crowded planes and cramped seats, and for years airlines have been ignoring them. Every once in a while, an airline creates a campaign to respond to the concern: “We’re giving more legroom in coach!” 

It sounds great, but a few months later they inevitably reverse course and remove the extra inches of space. Why?

Because despite what they say, most travelers don’t value the extra legroom enough to pay for it; instead, they value the lowest-priced flights above any other concerns. Airlines have figured this out, so they give people what they want — not what they say they want.

A good offer has to be what people actually want and are willing to pay for. 



2. Most of us like to buy, but we don’t usually like to be sold



An offer you can’t refuse may apply subtle pressure, but nobody likes a hard sell.

Instead, compelling offers often create an illusion that a purchase is an invitation, not a pitch. Social shopping services such as Groupon have been successful in recruiting their customers to do most of their marketing for them. Indeed, the biggest complaint about these businesses is that they sell out of deals too quickly, also known as “They won’t let me give them my money!”

As you might imagine, the path of least resistance is a good place to stand.

Marathon runners do not need to be sold on the benefits of fresh oranges after three hours of running. Adventurous college students will grasp the value of a $20,000 “go travel somewhere and do what you want” fellowship without much explaining.


Offer Construction Project

Here’s an exercise that will help you put together the offer your audience won’t be able to refuse.

Remember the Magic Formula:

The Right Audience + the Right Promise + the Right Time = 
Offer You Can’t Refuse

BASICS

• What are you selling? _______
• How much does it cost? _______
• Who will take immediate action on this offer? ________

BENEFITS

• The primary benefit is ________
• An important secondary benefit is ________



OBJECTIONS



What are the main objections to the offer?

How will you counter these objections?

TIMELINESS

• Why should someone buy this now?

• What can I add to make this offer even more compelling?

Perceived value and the expensive Starbucks run





After nearing the end of a five-hour drive from Boise to Salt Lake City, I stopped off at a Starbucks about twenty minutes away from the bookstore I was speaking at that evening.

On the way inside, I grabbed something from the trunk and left the keys inside. Nice move, Chris. It was even worse because I didn’t realize my mistake until I had finished my latte and email session an hour later, shortly before I was due to arrive at the bookstore.

I was mad at myself for being so stupid, but I had to think quickly.

Using a combination of technology (iPod touch, MiFi, cell phone), I located the number of a local locksmith and quickly rang him up. “Uh, can you please come as soon as possible?” He agreed to be as fast as he could.

Much to my surprise, the locksmith pulled up in a van just three minutes later. Impressive, right? Then he got out his tools and approached the passenger door. In less than ten seconds, he had the door open, allowing me to retrieve my keys from the trunk and get on with my life. “How much do I owe you?” I asked. Perhaps it’s because I don’t own a car and the last time I paid a locksmith was ten years ago, or maybe I’m just cheap, but for whatever reason I expected him to ask for something like $20. Instead, he said, “That will be $50, please.”

I hadn’t discussed the price with him before he came out and was in no position to negotiate, so I gave him the cash and thanked him. But something was unsettling about the transaction, and I tried to figure out what it was.

I was mad at myself for locking my keys in the car — it was obviously no one’s fault but my own — but I also felt that $50 was too much to pay for such a brief service.


As I drove away, I realized that I secretly wanted him to take longer in getting to me, even though that would have delayed me further. I wanted him to struggle with unlocking my car as part of a major effort, even though that made no sense whatsoever. The locksmith met my need and provided a quick, comprehensive solution to my problem. I was unhappy about our exchange for no good reason.

The problem of perceived value

Mulling it over, I realized that the way we make purchasing decisions isn’t always rational. I thought back to something that had happened in the early days of my business. I had produced a twenty-five-page report on booking discount airfare and sold it for $25. Many people bought it, but others complained: Twenty-five pages for $25? That’s too expensive.

I knew I couldn’t please everyone, but I didn’t understand this specific objection.

The point of the report was to help people save money on plane tickets, and many readers reported saving $300 or more after one quick read. What does the length of the report have to do with the price? I remember thinking about that one complaint.

If I gave you a treasure map, would you complain that it was only one page long?

It turned out the joke was on me: All of us place a subjective value on goods or services that may not relate to what they “should” be.

Just as what we want and what we say we want aren’t always the same thing, the way we place a value on something isn’t always rational. You must learn to think about value the way your customers do, not necessarily the way you would like them to.

The good news …

The good news is that when you do understand what people want, everything else gets a lot easier.

Like the orange slice at mile eighteen of the marathon, an offer you can’t refuse comes along at just the right time. As you follow your blueprint to freedom, think carefully about how you can create a similarly compelling offer.

The next step is to take your offer out into the world. Are you doing that?


About the Author: Chris Guillebeau is the author of The $100 Startup, available today from Amazon.com or your favorite local bookstore. The book provides a blueprint for creating irresistible offers that increase income and improve the state of the world. You can also read his free blog at ChrisGuillebeau.com.

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Okay, show of hands.

Who else is wondering how to turn website traffic into actual sales?

You’ve seen the statistics showing businesses that build content marketing plans experience a boatload more leads than businesses that don’t. You’ve bought into it. You believe it works.

But, for some reason, it’s not working for you.

Looking through your stats, you realize your site isn’t capturing the leads you’ve been promised.

What gives?

I have an idea of what’s going on, and it’s completely fixable …

You are not alone

As content marketers, we spend a lot of time obsessing over increasing traffic. It’s the sexy thing to do.

However, the number of leads fails to match our expectations because we don’t spend enough time creating a killer call to action.

A call to action is the most effective tactic to convert random traffic into loyal readers and paying customers.

The most profitable sites use this tactic to convince readers to sign up for a newsletter, download an ebook, attend a webinar, or purchase a product.

This is the difference between a highly profitable website and a failed marketing initiative. Yet most screw it up.

Dozens of call to action mistakes can doom your efforts to convert traffic into leads or sales.

Below, I’ve gathered 20 of the most common …

Don’t make these beginner mistakes

1. No Call to Action

You spend countless hours guest posting, in social media, and formatting your website for search engine optimization purposes.

But your effort is wasted if you don’t ask your readers to take action. They may come to your site, read your information, and never come back.

Give your readers an opportunity to subscribe.

2. Below the Fold

When you visit the most popular sites in the world, you will notice that you never have to scroll to find the call to action.

The most valuable real estate on any website is the top third of the page. Too often, marketers waste that space with a large image of their logo or random images that distract readers from taking action.

The truth is, many of your visitors will never scroll down and view all of your content.

If you want to increase conversions, put your call to action at the top of your blog where every reader will see it. (Take a look at the Generate WordPress child theme for a very clear example of this.)

3. Not Authoritative

If you don’t speak with confidence and authority, your readers won’t have confidence to take action on your site.

Tell them exactly what you want them to do, and do so with conviction.

4. Not Specific

Your readers lead busy lives and don’t always have time to think about what you want them to do.

Your job is to spell it out for them.

If you want them to enter their email address, tell them in your call to action. If you want them to click a link, include the words “click here” in the link.

Always connect the dots for your readers so taking action is a no-brainer.

5. Too Much Self Proclaimed Hype

Unless a recognized third party says your blog is the largest, best, or any other superlative, leave it out of your call to action. The last thing you want to do is look like a used car salesmen.

Consequently, a great way to increase subscribers is to have an industry authority quote how much they enjoy reading your content.

6. Multiple Calls to Action

What’s the one thing you want readers to do on your blog?

Do you want them to sign up for your list? And click on ads? And buy your products? And go to your social media profiles?

When you have too many calls to action on your site, your readers become paralyzed by the choices and leave your site.

Pick one or two actions you want your readers to take, and build your design around that. Don’t leave readers confused about what they’re supposed to do next.

7. Puny Call to Action

If you have a call to action and no one can find it, you may as well have no call to action at all. Make it big enough so people can’t miss it.

I’ve never seen a website with a call to action that is too big.

Fix these intermediate mistakes and watch your list grow

8. No Social Proof

One of the most effective ways to get someone to take action on your site is to prove that others have done it too.

Here on Copyblogger, you can see how many of your fellow content marketers have joined the email list. Over 75,000 people can’t be wrong.

If you have a new blog with less than 1,000 subscribers, you should to omit this figure. But think about other creative ways to use social proof to lend credibility to your site.

9. No Benefit to Signing Up

Calls to action such as “Call for a free consultation” or “Sign up for our newsletter” don’t motivate your readers.

The words “free consultation” have come to mean “sales pitch,” and signing up for your newsletter is giving you permission to sell stuff.

Highlight exactly what your readers are going to receive when they take action. How will they benefit?

10. Too Risky

If your call to action involves a financial transaction, then offering a free trial or a money-back guarantee will boost conversions.

If something is free to download or subscribe to, mention that immediately.

11. No Urgency

People are extremely motivated to take action out of fear of missing out on an opportunity.

One reason webinars work so well at getting people to take action is because the software only allows for a limited number of seats.

You can create this urgency in other offers as well.

For instance, if you want more readers to download your ebook or free report, try offering it for a limited time only.

12. Colors Blend In

Pop quiz: Does your call to action jump out at your readers the moment they arrive to your blog? If not, you might want to rethink your color palette.

For instance, if your blog has a blue background, having dark blue text is a big mistake. The contrast is too close and most of your readers will have a hard time immediately finding your call to action.

13. No Credibility

If you are a brand new blogger, earning the credibility that will entice people to take action is difficult.

You have two quick ways to get around this.

First, put the logos of your biggest customers above your call to action. This shows that the market has validated your products and services. This expertise will extend to your blog.

Second, start guest posting on popular blogs immediately. Once you have a guest post on a popular blog, you can put their logo above your call to action following the words “As seen in.”

(A quick note: you will want to ask for permission to post third party logos on your site.)

Can you imagine how much more appealing your call to action will be if the words “As seen in Copyblogger” follow it?

14. Loaded with Jargon

Too many marketers load their content with industry jargon instead of writing in words their readers actually use.

If you sell software with a 128-bit encryption key, the only people likely to understand what that means are software developers and IT professionals.

Unlike English class — where you got points for using big words — simple words work best when trying to persuade someone to take action.

Advanced mistakes that keep your list from exploding

15. Wrong Offer

If your offer doesn’t interest your readers, how convincing the copywriting is or how beautiful your buttons are won’t matter. They won’t take action.

This sounds like common sense, but it happens more often than you can imagine.

Think about the number of websites with ebooks and software that never get downloaded.

The bottom line: The best way to create a killer call to action is to offer something your readers really want, when they want it, the way they want it.

16. Undefined Sales Funnel

You need to understand your sales funnel in order to make the most out of your call to action.

Typically, a blog is great for getting readers to sign up for a free report to build your email list. However, it’s not so good at selling expensive consulting services.

In many cases, your job as a content marketer is to build an efficient sales funnel that will convert your readers into subscribers, and your subscribers into customers.

17. No Empathy

Do you know what keeps your readers up at night? What do they desire more than anything else in the world?

Chances are it’s not exactly what you are offering.

For instance, Jon Morrow offers a free report called “52 Headline Hacks that shows bloggers how to create headlines”. But the headline on his call to action is “A cheat sheet for writing blog posts that go viral.”

Few bloggers dream about crafting the perfect headline, but every blogger dreams about a post that goes viral. And headlines are a key ingredient to making that happen.

Dig down deep into the soul of your readers and discover how to make their dreams come true.

18. No Tangible Benefit

If you’ve been selling products or services for any length of time, you’ve probably heard that you need to sell benefits, not features.

But now you need to take that a step further and create tangible benefits.

For instance, the benefit “get more traffic” can become “Double your traffic in 30 days.”

Or the benefit “save money” can become “save $932 a month.”

This allows your readers to vividly imagine a better life if they take action on your site. Just be sure you’re absolutely honest in your claim about what your product or service will do.

19. No A/B Testing

At least once a month, you should test your call to action to improve your subscription rate until you’ve deemed it good enough.

Test your headline, copy, buttons, location, and your offer to determine what gets more people to take the most action.

20. Never Studied Copywriting

Let’s get perfectly blunt here.

Although trying to create a killer call to action without studying copywriting is possible, it’s highly unlikely.

If you’ve never studied copywriting, you need to start right now. Use the free resources right here on Copyblogger, and pick up a couple of the most important copywriting books.

A scary fact

Every time a reader leaves your site without subscribing, you’ve lost a sales lead.

And you know what? You may never get that lead back.

A killer call to action can mean the difference between building a popular website and toiling with one that lingers in obscurity.

Review the tactics I’ve listed above and start testing them one by one until you’ve created a call to action your readers can’t resist.

What are you waiting for? Wasting time is literally costing you money …

About the Author: Greg Digneo teaches businesses how to capture traffic, increase conversions, and generate more sales leads. Click here to read his free report “The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Killer Call to Action.”

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