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Content,Content,Content
One of the first things that is needed is content.
If you base your web site on how it can help your users
instead of how it will help you. Business card sites
only help you. What the user is looking for on your
site is information, not pretty pictures! You have
to decide what information they are looking for.
Especially if it can't be found anywhere else.
Content
is such and important part of the equation that I can't
spend enough time on it. If you are selling containers
Large Shipping containers, What are your customers going
to be looking for on your site. Used Shipping
containers can be purchased in lots of places and when you
go to the Shipping Container sites they usually give you
and 800 number to call! http://www.onsitestorage.com/
that's not a very good reason to revisit the site.
Maybe this container company has 2 sites in two different
cities. It would be nice if when visiting the web site you
could actually see what type and size of containers are at
each location. If you had pictures and descriptions
of every container in stock on your site wow that would
put you ahead of every single container site I have ever
seen!!! If you added prices and custom options
the people would have a better idea of what they were
looking at by going to your site.
Shipping
containers are huge so if you had large banners on the
side of your containers with your web site on them, then
any one passing by and wondering about your products could
simply go to your web site to see what you had to
sell.. Now it's a fairly simple concept but a
one/two page web site that promotes your self interest
could not compete with a site with content. Used car
dealers are using this very technique to get people to
look at cars they are interested in by going to there web
site first.
Content
Content Content There are literally Thousands of examples
but you MUST have content if you want a successful web
site.
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Heroine
Content. This is similar to the one above
but worth considering. If you were selling heroine your
customers would find you There would be no need to
try and sell them. Ask your self does your site have
heroine content? Google does, Yahoo does, Amazon does,
iTunes does. You go to these sites because they are
offering YOU something. There is a bit of self
promotion but, in the end the only reason that you are
there is for yourself !
There
are lots of ways to offer heroine content on your website,
maybe not as dramatic as Google or some of the others but
you can make reasons for people to come to your
site. NHRA offers a new inside story about Drag
Racing every day. People that want to hear about
Drag Racing visit there site regularly to find out what
the latest news in Drag Racing is. This news is NOT
offered in the regular press so they go to a site that
does. (Heroine Content) Talk radio offers a point of
view that is not heard in the mainstream news, and that's
why they are so successful. Not everyone is Interested
but enough people are that it makes them extremely
successful. You can have a small but interested
group of people that will come to your site to read and
see things that they may not be able to find anywhere
else.
There
are Weather underground web sites that show you the
current weather conditions any where in the world.
These sites are relatively inexpensive and can be vital in
small communities where TV stations do not exist.
This in my opinion is the MOST under rated way utilized
today. Make someone visit your Web Site to see local
weather! Any site that wants traffic could use
it. (heroine Content)
Many
people have heard of Craig's
List a want add web page that is one of the ugliest
pages on the Internet but is getting bigger by the day,
because they offer a more local way to search classified
adds in your own town. They started out in San
Francisco and now have over 5 billion page views per
month. Almost every community could have there own
free Want add web. page EXCEPT San Francisco!
(heroine Content).
Do
what the user expects This seems pretty basic but
if you have a web site to sell things, GET TO IT!.
No flashing pictures or music or stupid flash things that
NO ONE wants to see! All those things do is impress
you not your visitors. Your web page visitors are
interested in going to your site to do ONLY 3 things!
- They want/need information
- They want/need to make a purchase / donation.
- They want/need to be entertained.
Too many organizations believe that a web site is about
opening a new marketing channel or getting donations or to
promote a brand or to increase company sales by 15%. No. It’s
about solving your customers’ problems. Have I
said that phrase enough? So solve there problems.
A Web site for a Vinyl Window company should offer the
customer details about there product and where to buy the
product and how much they can expect to pay! Well
maybe a little more complicated than that because most of
the Windows purchased are purchased by Builders and
contractors NOT the actual home owner! So the site
has to meet both needs! On one hand the homeowner wants
to see that his windows are the best money can buy.
And the builder wants the homeowner to believe that but as
far as pricing is concerned, well that's tricky because in
most area's the windows were purchased by the
Builder/Contractor because that window company was the
lowest bidder...
Therefore it's tricky putting prices on the
Site. Most places resort to offering you a place to
show them what windows you want and they have to get back
to you on price. Why not offer a login that determines
your cost for windows and emails you the prices or shows
you the totals as you add new windows to the list?
This way both parties could be satisfied with out anyone
knowing the others price. A discount could be
offered to the Builder/Contractor for managing his/her own
bid.
A
lot of thought has to go into your Web Site maybe you
don't care about return visits, you just want to have an
Image site that shows that you are a real company, but, in
our opinion, as long as you are about it why not get
paid! You could offer Items that you have never
thought about selling before on your site. In the
case of the window company cleaning supplies, Screens, Sun
Screens, Shutters, Skylights, Garden Windows, Replacement
parts. These items could make you enough money to
not only pay for the site but also give you Heroine
Content as well as making the Builder/Contractor happy
enough that they could recommend your site for THERE
customers to view.
