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How to Take Your Site From Good to Great
By Kevin Nunley
http://www.DrNunley.com
In the past decade I've seen more websites than I can count.
Plenty of them were terrible, and a small percentage of them were
excellent. But for the most part, what I've seen are a lot of
mediocre sites that are just, well...good.
But if people knew how simple it was to take a site that is just
mediocre and make it great, the Internet would be overflowing
with phenomenal sites.
So, what makes a website great? Is it the content? The
navigation? The graphics? Well, those elements factor in. But
what really makes a site great is its ability to cater to the
needs of both the visitor and the owner. Those needs include
content, graphics, navigation, and whole lot more.
I heard from an online business owner recently who was having
much less success with his site than he'd expected. "My site is
everything I wanted it to be, but it's just not pulling in any
visitors," he explained. I took a look at his site from the
perspective of a visitor and saw the problem immediately. What he
said was true: his site did have everything he wanted it to have.
The problem was, it didn't have everything visitors would want it
to.
To create a truly great site, you have to know what your visitors
want. Most site owners rely on a few paragraphs describing their
target demographic, and then assume they know what their audience
wants. That is exactly why there are so many mediocre sites on
the Internet today.
You can't assume your visitors want this or that; you have to
find out first hand what they want. In order to do this, you have
to transform that bunch of web pages and graphics into an
interactive experience, so you and your visitors can communicate
openly with each other.
The point of a website is not simply to put up pages and graphics
in an attempt to sell products or get people to subscribe to your
newsletter. You need to communicate ideas and concepts to your
visitors, but you also need to listen.
I recommend adding an email form and guest book, or even a forum,
to give visitors an opportunity to tell you what's on their mind;
what they want from you. Because when you know what they want,
you can give it to them.
Encourage questions and comments from visitors so you can get
involved in online communication. When you have an open
communication with your visitors, you take that essential step
toward knowing who they are, which enables you to provide them
with what they want and need.
Once you've wooed your visitors with open communication and shown
a genuine desire to help them in any way you can, a "tell-a-
friend" feature will come in handy. Word of mouth is one of the
most important elements of successful marketing. But on the
Internet, we don't have mouths. We only have words. With a "tell-
a-friend" feature, you capture the essence of word-of-mouth by
enabling visitors to pass on their positive opinion of your site.
If people have a good experience with your site, or see that it
would benefit others they know, they will share that experience
with others.
If you want to take communication a step further, include a
message board. People will come to your site to post messages for
each other, answer questions, and discus subjects related to what
you're doing. And while they're there, if they just so happen to
purchase your products, subscribe to your ezine, or donate money
to support your cause, all the better!
If you want to find out even more about how visitors view your
site, use polls and surveys. If someone feels strongly about your
site, they will take the time to fill out the survey. But if you
want to motivate them even more, try offering a free report or a
free subscription to your newsletter, anything to make them
consider filling out the poll.
There is no one thing that will make your site one of the best:
not the best graphics, or the most informative content, or the
most in-demand products. There are plenty of sites out there that
have some or all of these elements, but they still aren't making
it to the level of excellence they could.
If you really want to take your site from good to great, you have
to know what your visitors want. In order to do this, you must
communicate openly with them. Give your visitors many different
options for communication so they will be more likely to visit
and communicate with you. In no time you'll see your site go
from good to great, and your sales will come along for the ride.
Kevin Nunley provides marketing advice, web site analysis and
copy, and copy writing for businesses and organizations. See his
full-service press release package at http://DrNunley.com/. Reach
him at kev-@drnunley.com or 603-249-9519.
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Disclaimer
I accept no responsibility whatsoever for the content,
profitability or legality of any published articles or
advertisements contained within articles published on
my web pages.
And, although all of the guest articles have been selected for
their content, the publishing of such articles on this website
does NOT constitute a recommendation of the products or services
mentioned or advertised within those articles.
Be responsible! Always do Due Diligence before
responding to any offer.
If you found some information to be out-of-date, please contact
me and let me know it.
support #AT# thejunglemarketer.com
Sincerely Yours,
Guido W. Stiehle
TheJungleMarketer
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