Leverage Blog: How to Exploit the Web.

(even) More proof that your clients visit websites.

Do we need more evidence that websites influence buying decisions?  That your customer is using the web more every day, trusting it more deeply, and pulling-out their credit card?

Well, we got some.

I read today that a recent art school graduate used a blog, a social networking website, and an online gallery online gallery to sell her art.  $20,000 worth so far.  She's using a website, blog and good-old-fashioned networking to grow her business.

She's succeeding (in large part) due to a striking design and compelling content.  Her website is attractive, professional and useful to her audience, and her blog sports a clean design and a message well-suited to her customer.  Well done Emily.

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Thanks to Seth for the discovery.

Local search and web design: A match made in heaven

I wrote earlier this month about the death of the yellow pages, and author and search guru John Battelle has some great insights on the YP and Yahoo! Local Search today:

Yahoo Local has rolled out an update to its business model for local merchants, and it's looking a lot like what the Yellow Pages do, only online, self service, cheaper, and, well, what I've been on about for a while - a step towards the online version of what the Yellow Pages really need to become...  (Full article here.)

My particular focus is on your business, and using the web to help you grow.  If you feel your customer is using search engines to try and find you (probably) and you buy a local ad (they are pretty affordable,) then you need to differentiate your business from the other guys.

You need a clear, smart, compelling website that inspires your prospects and motivates them to call, to come by, to request a quote.

...oops, I misspoke.  You need a great website to differentiate regardless of whether you advertise on Yahoo!, The New York Times, or by trailing a banner by from a plane flying over the Giants game this weekend.

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Thoughts on using Flash in website design

I've been involved in an online-discussion about effective business web design and posted a thought that might be of interest to some Leverage readers.  For those in a rush (i.e., all of us,) the bottom-line is in orange.

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Hello bloggers,

My thought on using Flash in business websites?  A little goes a long way.

A little background on me-- I'm the Director of a web design and marketing agency for small business called Wheel Media, so I think about this stuff all day long.

After reading the research on usability and 'conversion' (i.e., motivating a visitor to make contact with you from your website,) our team feels Flash 'windows' strike the right balance.

Here are few examples:

www.lamphier-gregory.com

www.esbnb.com

www.summitmortgage.net

You'll see Flash, which communicates elegance, professionalism and sophistication-- the emotional triggers that turn 'browsers' into 'buyers' --and most copy in HTML, which can be indexed by the search engines.  HTML will also do other things more efficiently, but I'll spare you the fine-points. (You're welcome.)

Kudos to John for mentioning the search engine optimization consideration (SEO); it's critical.  We've found you can have both rank and compelling design-- www.esbnb.com is #2 for their main keyword.  Not every client is willing to invest in SEO, but when they do the ROI is typically (very) good.

Make it a great day everyone,

mr

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Do your customers want you blogging?

One key to growth is anticipating the needs of your customers.  While it can be a challenge to figure out exactly what new service or product they might need, we can safely say everyone likes information.

The business that educates and informs is often the most trusted, and trust wins clients.  Blogs are a pretty easy way to provide that information and build trust.  To see if your customers want you blogging, think about the questions they ask...

...and then answer them, in your blog, one post at a time.

Still not sure how a blog can grow your business?  Email me.  Let's dive-in.

Good times: We just launched a blog for this small business

Four cheers for Cyd Kmeto, a counselor, personal-coach and guru (no exaggeration) in Sacramento, CA.  A long-time client of Wheel Media, Cyd approached me looking for a new website.  The conversation went thusly:

Michael:  A new site is a great idea.  Have you thought about creating a blog?

Cyd:  A what?

Michael:  A blog.  A blog is a new kind of website that enables the author to add new content as often as they like without fancy hi-tech skills.  Visitors can post comments to your ideas, and you become the hub of a conversation (online)centered on your work.  The world needs to know what you do...and of course many of those people will become clients.  Exciting stuff, no?

Cyd:  [puzzled look]

Michael:  [optimistic, encouraging look]

Cyd:  OK, this sounds interesting.  Give it to me one more time...

The rest is history.  Well, the future.  The future of small business.  The website and blog compliment each other, cross-market and encourage visitors to come back.  The website is richer in design, the blog in content.

Our blog marketing strategy is one part planning, one part execution, and one part maintenance. I've trained Cyd on the art of blogging and she's running the show now.  Read her at Move Inside and learn more about her counseling practice at www.cydkmeto.com.

Hats-off to Cyd for her vision and willingness to lead.

The advantages of a simple, clear homepage

I've not been sharing, and I'm sorry.

I work in web design every day, creating websites for small business clients of Wheel Media, but thus far Leverage Blog has focused mostly on marketing.  I'm going to change that emphasis, starting now, because design is so important to conversion.  (Conversion:  The process of getting visitors to your website to make contact with you by phone, email, or carrier pigeon.)

Today I'm excited about a new real estate company in SoCal called Contour Realty.  A client of mine, we expect to launch their website next week, but you'll get a sneak-peek here.

They do real estate sales differently, and we needed to communicate how.  The design and the message need to be simple and clear to pull the visitor in.  Tell me, did we hit the mark?

First, the competition:

 

 

Next, Contour:

Every business is different.  In Contour's case we need to present a new way of doing a common transaction (i.e., selling a house.)  We feel a simple, clear design and message will draw customers-in.  I'll keep you posted.

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Old habits die hard

I found this post from the research thought-leaders at Jupiter. It says the New York times will soon be dropping stock listings from their papers for most days of the week.  Of course most of us don't check our stocks in the morning paper, but the reason it stayed for as long as it did seems pretty clear-- old habits die hard.

I'm referring to old habits of the readers, not the top-brass at the NYT.  I'm betting that a small but influential (super-rich) group of older, more traditional readers enjoyed their 30-year ritual of checking the market in the morning paper.  That familiar routine marked the beginning of their day, and the Times was not about to rock the boat.

Summary:  Lead your customers to your new, more useful/efficient/smart products, but don't disenfranchise your oldest, most influential ones in the process.

Good copy for your website

Todd Anthony, a rockstar copywriter currently at Yahoo!, has a new post about how to write for the web. I'll call it The 7 habits of highly successful websites.

My .02 on the subject:  Many SME's don't spend much time on the words on their website, but they should.  Good copy is what converts a website visitor into someone who requests a quote.

...you do have a 'Request a Quote' page don't you?