Testimonials on websites are essential, provided they are worthwhile. ‘Chris is a nice chap and made me feel at ease during my appointment’ is weak and not worth including. It’s too short and not particularly helpful to anyone trying to decide whether to give you a call.

I realise that many of your therapy clients are protected under your confidentiality agreement. Anonymous testimonials cause an additional headache of it being difficult for you to establish credibility publicly on your website. This is where Sam’s suggestion of including specific case studies on your website also comes in useful. Anything to reassure readers (prospective clients) that you have worked with clients ‘like them’ before.

The value of Testimonials is that they provide what Robert Cialdini (author of the best selling book: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion) calls Social Proof. He says:

“The principle of social proof states that one important means that people use to decide what to believe or how to act in a situation is to look at what other people are believing or doing there. Powerful imitative effects have been found among both children and adults and in such diverse activities as purchase decisions, charity donations, and phobia remission….. People are more inclined to follow the lead of similar others.”

Providing pictures of the practice therapists  showing them as professional, friendly and approachable, on your ‘About Us’ page is also essential as it helps people to decide whether to get in touch and make an appointment. The About Page of a website is the second most visited page (after the Home Page) mainly because of our natural curiosity to want to find out about the person behind the website or business. Also it is the important first step in building the interpersonal relationship and rapport.

Further reading

Is your website putting people off?

What does your profile photo say about you?

What is your ‘About’ about?

What do you think? Do you prefer websites that have testimonials and photographs of the business owners? Please share your opinion in the comments below.

As a small business owner myself, I know how tricky it is to allocate the time to promote what you do through PR.

In most cases we are all so busy actually doing the work, we really don’t have the time to sit down and agonise over writing press releases that we fear will end up being filed under BIN when we send them to our local paper or trade publications.

The good news is you don’t have to organise elaborate PR campaigns to let people know about your successes – you just need to start telling stories.

I’ve been writing for more than 20 years as a journalist on regional papers and magazines and now I work as a freelance writer and editor. I also work with businesses large and small advising them on building their profile.

Seeing your website as a way to set your own news agenda is a really positive move. You can create your own blog space and keep people up to speed with everything that is happening in your business.

Don’t see it as a selling tool but as a way of communicating with the wider world. Turn your online editorial into stories with a purpose that will charm and draw the reader in, offering a real insight into your situation.

There is a balance to be struck and you should beware of being too indiscreet – but at the same time your stories should inform and entertain.

Remember engaging stories are:

• about people rather than processes
• build empathy
• written in a bright, breezy style

Getting into the habit of writing for your own blog will make it easier to make the next step -making relationships with local media.

Contact books stuffed with the names and numbers of people to ring on a slow news day are the lifeblood for any journalist – and making your way onto a contact list for a local reporter should be a priority.

Often there is a concern that cultivating links with a journalist could land you in hot water and you could end up in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. My advice is simple – if you don’t want them to know something, don’t tell them.

As a former regional journalist looking to fill pages every day with the latest hot news, I know the pressures that newsdesks and reporters are under. Often they are tied to their desks crafting copy with no time to get out and about meeting new contacts.

I can assure you journalists in print, radio and TV rely on people contacting them with a news story and often it can become the start of a great relationship.

Here’s a few important tips:

• Make sure you are ringing with a genuine news or picture story – a journalist can spot PR ‘puff’ from a mile off
• Journalists are busy people – check when their deadlines fall and call when you know they will have time to listen
• As the relationship builds, you can become their eyes and ears tipping them off about stories – this will really get you in their good books.

For more than 20 years Kate Thompson worked as a journalist on regional newspapers. Her background is in political writing but most recently she worked as the Woman & Lifestyle Editor at the Daily Echo in Southampton for five years. 

In 2007 she became a freelance writer and set up Nutmeg PR. She is the editor of Shoreside magazine and has also written two books – one commemorating the 50th anniversary of D-Day and the other about allotments.

I’m hoping that 2012 is going to see me diversify my income more, not only with our plans for Savvy Marketers, but for a new sideline of my own – my first foray into e-commerce! I’ll reveal all once my new site is up and running, but in the meantime, if you’re planning on starting something new, whether for extra income or a brand new career, here are a few steps you need to take to get started online, even if you’re not ready to have your website built.

Get a Domain Name

This is the first thing you need to do, and try and get a domain name that is related to your business name. It’s getting more difficult to find nice domain names which aren’t taken, so brainstorm a few variations and see what’s taken and what isn’t. It’s worth checking that your domain name isn’t too similar to an existing site (as you don’t want to be sending visitors to your competitors if people get mixed up with your domain). If similar domains are taken, but their business offering is quite different from yours, then you’re probably OK to use it. Register your domain and any standard variations, e.g .com & .co.uk. Also hyphenated variations. When I started Forty First in 2002, fortyfirst.co.uk was registered but not being used, so I registered and started to use forty-first.co.uk (and registered .com). Since then fortyfirst.co.uk came up for sale, so I bought it along with the .com version. I don’t use them but own them, and it’s important that a competitor can’t get hold of variations of your domain. We’ve done the same for Savvy Marketers by buying up variations of the .co.uk and .com domains which are available.

Do Some Keyword Research

You may think that researching keywords is a little premature, particularly if you’re in the early stages of starting up your business, but it’s important to find out what keywords people may potentially use to find your products or services. It can also help with your market research. Once you find out how people search for your products/services, it can give you ideas for a niche and even how you may want to structure your site when you come to build it. Online market research is just as important as offline market research and you need to know not only the keywords to use for your own offering, but research other businesses in your sector which you can also find from your keyword research – find out what they offer as well as how they offer their products or services.

Put Up a Holding Page

Once you’ve registered your domain, put up a basic holding page saying your site is coming soon (even if it isn’t!) and link to the page from a website that is already in the search engines’ database. Even if you’re not going to be thinking about a website for a few months, the earlier the search engines know about your domain the better. Age is taken into consideration in how search engines rank sites, and although you don’t have to wait for your site to rank if its optimised and promoted well, any help you can give your site before it goes live will contribute towards it being found faster by potential customers.

Register Your Social Networking Profiles

Again, you may not be ready to start participating on social sites, but if it’s going to be a part of your online marketing, then it’s worthwhile making sure the name you want to use for your social profiles is available. Keep your name the same across all social networking sites so as not to confuse people. Sites you need to consider claiming your name on include Twitter, Google+ (pages, but you do need a Google+ account) & Facebook (again you need a Facebook account to create a business page). Don’t forget YouTube and Flickr if you’re going to be sharing videos and photos – you can create a YouTube Channel and Flickr Photostream with your business name.

So if you’re starting a new venture this year, best of luck and hopefully these tips will help things move along a bit quicker!

Resources:

Using the New Adwords Keyword Research Tool

What’s in a Domain Name?

Time to  Spring Clean Your Social Networks

What advice can you give to someone about to start a new business venture? 

Having met many business owners over the years who have dabbled in creating or promoting a website themselves

We feel very strongly about this at Savvy Marketers and more recently have found that some people we have met or who are clients of ours have been given a less than satisfactory service by their provider.

We understand that most small business owners are not web experts, but specialise in what they’re good at. Therefore there’s a certain amount of trust that their provider is going to provide a decent service, or at least explain in non-techie terms what the contract they have signed up to involves.

So, to help you, these are some of the questions you really need to be asking before you hire a third party to help you build or promote your website.

1. What does the price for your service include and more importantly,what does it not include?

2. How much do you charge for any extras or extra work I may need now or in the future?

3. How quickly can I expect to see results? If your provider promises high Google rankings in a short space of time, or even guarantees rankings, then be very wary!

4. Will you provide me with regular reports or contact me about how my site is progressing? Will you respond to my questions in a timely manner?

5. Will you freely offer me information about how I can improve my site or any tips & suggestions you may have?

6. How do you bill your clients? 

7. Do you have case studies or testimonials from other clients and can I contact them?

8. Will you find out about my business, my goals, challenges and target market so that you can provide me with the best solution to fit my situation?

9. Is my site secured against hackers? What measures have you put in place to prevent my site from being hacked?

10. Where will my site be hosted? Can I move it if I ever need to? Will you register any domain names in my own name? (this is very important if you’re using a web developer and asking them to buy domain names on your behalf).

It’s very important that many of these questions are answered and you’re satisfied with the answers given, not only so you know what kind of service to expect, but to make sure that your provider really understands your business so they can provide you with the best possible service. It’s also important that you and your provider are on the same wavelength to avoid any problems that may arise once the contracted work starts.

Make sure you really know what you’re paying for. For example, does the new website include any search engine optimisation? Some developers include this and some don’t. If it does, make sure you’re involved in the process so they target the right keywords and you understand what it involves. You should also receive regular feedback on traffic to your site, and how it’s performing in the search engines and know how to access your website analytics (visitor stats).

Most importantly, whoever you use, they should be proactive in helping you make your website the best it can be, and if you don’t hear from them for a couple of months but are still paying them, find out exactly what they’re doing!

We hope this helps you get the best possible service for your website, and if you have any feedback or this raises more questions for you, please get in touch!

What are your experiences of outsourcing web development or marketing? Please share in the comments! 

I’m no expert when it comes to car mechanics. Far from it. I freely admit this and, on occasions when my car needs fixing, it is duly taken to my local garage for repair. Of course I want to know, in advance, what the final bill will come to but – and here’s the thing – I appreciate that these people have a skill set which I don’t and I expect to pay accordingly. They are trusted suppliers, so I know they won’t rip me off, and I also know that their rates for a given job will be a fair reflection of the work undertaken.

The same is true of any individual or organisation, of course.

But when it comes to photography, a lot of people in business are very quick to cut corners with the belief that they will be saving themselves money if they don’t hire a professional photographer. Okay, so in the short term this is true; less money going out of the bank equals more profitability. That’s a given. But beyond that…?

The truth of the matter is that doing it yourself – a la “Bob in Accounts is pretty handy with a camera” – really is a false economy. If you do manage to produce some pictures you’re happy with, how long will it take to get those results? Chances are, your time could/should be more productively spent.

The world of professional photography is loaded with myths and assumptions. For example: all photographers charge extortionate rates, photo shoots take up all of your day, commissioned pictures can only be used for a set period of time… the list goes on. Very often, there is no truth in these sweeping statements – certainly when it comes to the sort of imagery you’re seeking.

Photographers, as you can imagine, know how to get the best out of their subjects. This has to do with people management, lighting, camera skill, organisation, insurances, styling, props, location scouting, research, creative meetings – and it is these qualities which you are paying for, not simply the moment when s/he presses the button.

Websites are a great example of how you can make a big impact using photography, especially in conjunction with the rise of social media. But I’ve seen some fantastic-looking sites fall down purely on the strength of their ‘meet the team’ page. Clean lines, well laid-out text, but then you see pictures of staff members with expressions akin to rabbits caught in the headlights! Photographs like this do nothing but scream out ‘we did these ourselves rather than pay a professional’. How do you think this looks to would-be customers?

First impressions count for a lot. We all know this. So why take the chance when planning or implementing your marketing material? For a small outlay covering photography (which really should form a key component in your marketing strategy, by the way), you’ll be able to instil confidence in your clients, old and new, the confidence that you are professional and well worth their time and money.

So, as a parting thought, consider this: Don’t think of photography as a cost; rather, think of the value it will bring to your business.

Giles Babbidge is a professional photographer based in Hampshire, UK. He shoots imagery for commercial and editorial clients, specifically working within the business and outdoor markets. Click for more information.

Giles is also the producer of the popular website and weekly podcast, The Active Photographer, which offers a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of his life as a working photographer.

Small online retailers need as much help as they can get at the moment

1. No 404 Error Page
I come across websites that don’t have a 404 error page, time and time again. A 404 page will retain a visitor on your website even if they click on a broken link or arrive via an old web page. Since e-commerce sites are generally dynamic and products change regularly, old stock gets removed with new stock added. However those pages of old products can remain in a search engines’ database for some time. This means they may still get listed in the search results. If a visitor clicks on one of these pages, and there’s no 404 error page, the visitor will go to a browser error page. All they can do from there is click the back button, go back to the search results and click on one of your competitors listings instead!

Ask your webmaster if there’s a 404 page in place, if not, make sure you get one done asap and explain that the product is no longer available with suggestions for new ones, or help navigating to other products. Here are a couple of examples:
M&S – http://www.marksandspencer.com/gp/errors/404
River Cottage – http://www.rivercottage.net/not-found/

An alternative is to redirect old product pages to relevant new product pages via a 301 redirect.

2. Too much choice!
These days we’re faced with more and more choices for the same thing, and I have to say, too much choice generally puts me off from making a decision! If your site is cluttered and you’ve tried to cram too many products on your home page, then you may find you’re inadvertently putting people off from buying. It’s tempting to try and put as much as possible on your home page as you want visitors to see what you’ve got in stock, but going overboard will confuse your visitors! It’s a good idea to feature products rather than cram them on the home page, or change the products on your home page each month. Try different variations and see what works, but keeping it simple really can make all the difference.

3. Delivery/returns info buried away
One of the first things I look for when making a buying a decision is delivery costs, returns policy, where to contact the company if anything goes wrong. This makes me trust the business more so I’m more likely to place an order with them. If this information is buried and hard to find, then it won’t inspire me to buy, and I imagine it’s the same for other people. The worst thing you can have on your site is only a contact form and mobile phone number. I like to see a physical address, email address and telephone number (landline) that’s easy to find on the site with all the information I need about buying a product from the company. Review your delivery and customer service pages to make sure you look like an honest, trustworthy business.

If you’re unsure about any of these things, then ask some friends or contacts to perform a short usability test on your site. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but finding where customers have problems or can’t find items means you can fix your site, keeping shoppers happy. Small businesses may not have Amazon budgets for fancy websites, but can often surpass big retailers with a much better customer service! Checking a few basic things on your site makes sure it doesn’t let you down!

What tips do you have to help small online retailers make it easier for visitors to buy from them? Please share in the comments below.

When we spring-cleaned this website/blog recently

A ‘Start Here’ page is a good idea if the first place new visitors see is either your latest blog post, or a slightly overwhelming Home Page.

While the Home Page is where you summarise what your business is about and what people can expect to find on the site, there isn’t enough space to really give brand new visitors a true flavour of what you do, and still keep it clear and concise. A Start Here Page can fill that need and provide a step by step guide of how they can get the best from the rest of your website.

Creating a ‘Start Here’ page will act as a warm, personal welcome, and enable you to showcase some of the useful content you’ve hopefully been putting together as part of your content marketing strategy. For example, you could include:

• An introduction video
• A collection of articles to download
• Links to a selection of blog posts
• A slideshow Presentation (with or without audio)
• Links to other pages on your website

and, of course, don’t forget to include a reminder of your primary Call to Action .

One example of a great and informative ‘Start Here’ page, which provided inspiration for our own, can be seen on smartpassiveincome.com. The owner of the site, Pat Flynn, is one of the ‘good’ guys in internet marketing and he generously shares his online experiences for his readers to learn from.

Do you have a ‘Start Here’ page? If so, what do you recommend including for new visitors to read?

However, there are things that can really put visitors off websites and over the years, I’ve come across common mistakes time and time again. Here are a few things that you need to check on your own site:

1. Make sure your contact details are easy to find, preferably on each page of your website. On this site, our phone and email address are within the header image, with a separate contact page too. It’s surprising how many sites still have their contact details buried away.

2. Make sure you tell people what you want them to do – lead people through your website, tell them which pages to visit first and make sure you put a call to action on your pages, such as contact us now, buy now, subscribe etc. If you don’t tell your visitors, it may not be obvious to them. If you’re not sure what the point of your site is, then read Louise’s post from last week: Do you expect too much from your website?

3. Equally, don’t give too much choice – you really don’t want to give your visitors half a dozen things to do or look at otherwise they won’t know which way to go either. If you’re promoting your own products, make sure someone else’s aren’t on the same page as yours (for example if you also have affiliate links on your site). You don’t want to steer them away from your own offering when you’ve put time and effort into getting the visitor to your site in the first place!

4. For service providers, explain the outcomes of using your service, how the visitor will benefit from working with you, how you will solve their problem. Don’t explain the process as most people won’t be interested in that, it’s the end result that they want. Case studies are a great way of showing off results you’ve achieved for other businesses.

5. Equally if you sell products, give your products descriptions that will resonate with your target market. A poorly written, bland description probably won’t motivate them to buy from you. Reviews can also help influence buying decisions, and I recently wrote a post on this subject: Product Reviews Increase Conversion Rates.

6. Scatter testimonials around your website, don’t just hide them away on one page. I always tell clients to put their testimonials around the site and on the corresponding product/service page.

7. Check your web stats regularly – check for trends over time and popular pages. If you’ve got a high bounce rate for particular pages on your site it could be that the page is poorly targeted, so look at the keywords you’re targeting and how the information on the page is presented.

8. Finally make sure that you’re writing for your target market and that they understand your terminology. Avoid using jargon that people won’t understand or writing in a very formal style. People scan web pages so highlight important points in bold, use bullet points and a more informal writing style.

What improvements have you made to your site to enhance your visitors experience? How have they worked for you?

If you think you could benefit from an audit of your site and feedback on where improvements could be made, please contact us to see how we can help!

Image: Frank, May 29, 2011 – choice by pat00139, on Flickr

Many small businesses have a website built because they know they need to have one. But they don’t give much thought to what they actually want it to do for their business. Most people we speak to look surprised when we ask this question, and answer:‘More business – of course!’.

Well yes, eventually that probably is the desired result of having a website. But it isn’t usually the immediate outcome, unless of course your website is an e-commerce site. For professional services businesses there are many steps between someone visiting your site for the first time and becoming a paying client.

So, if selling isn’t the point of your website, what is? Here’s what we mean by that question

Here on Savvy Marketers website, we want to inform and provide great tips for small business owners. The ultimate outcome is obviously to be hired but before that happens we know we have some serious convincing to do. That’s why the most prominent request in the sidebar is for you to sign-up to our ‘Savvy Marketing Tips’ (with free Guide). That is one of the main points of this website and everything else we offer – the twice-monthly newsletter and the free information-packed monthly webinars are all a cunning plan to persuade people to join our little community!

Once they have entrusted us with their email address, we want to build on that initial contact and start to develop a good relationship with them. To achieve this, each blog post invites comments, and most provide links to other interesting posts (perhaps here or also on other peoples’ sites), as well as introducing related products or services. We certainly don’t stop providing useful information just because we have the email address. And we don’t send out spammy email campaigns either

The point of our website therefore, is to inform and teach, to encourage people to join our online community, and to begin a relationship that will hopefully result in business in the future.

What’s the point of your website?

We’re all for creating lots of different streams of income,

You don’t want to dilute the expertise you’ve spent a lot of time, energy and money building up. Being a Jack (or Jill) of all trades may be useful, but people prefer to deal with a specialist when they have a problem they need help with.

You do want people to remember what you do. If you have a long and diverse list it will be harder to make your message clear and succinct, especially when you’re out networking.

You will have to work so much harder!

If you’re effectively running several different businesses, you’ll need to market each of them separately. Imagine the plate spinner who has to keep checking and adjusting to keep each plate from falling.

Your website will be a mess if you use it for several unrelated products or services. I remember visiting a life coach’s site a while back and being surprised and confused to see a page about candle-making! Even a hobby deserves to be separate and there are many completely free ways to do this.

It’s perfectly possible to have more than one business provided you take care with their organisation, presentation and with your time. The alternative is to ensure your additional revenue streams are clearly related to your existing business in some way, so you don’t confuse your prospects!

Have you come across a website that confused you with unrelated offerings? Please let us know in the comments below…