It’s Friday so it’s the weekend challenge. Now I tend to set these to give you something to think about over the weekend.
Because you are a business owner and you know you shouldn’t be working, but you’re going to do something because you can’t help yourself, can you?
I know how this works, I have been doing this for a while. So I am going to give you a little challenge.
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And it’s something to think about, so it’s work but it will help improve your business. And it’s easier, won’t take long and you can do this over the weekend anytime and take action next week.
If you want to see the others, just go to the website at www.MarketingForOwners.com/challenge. You’ll find there are loads around 60 or more.
Now as usual I ask you to get a pad and a pen, or a piece of paper or a pencil. But better to do it like that rather than put it on an iPad or something like that.
Because it engages your brain when you write stuff down and helps you get more out of it. So ready.
Weekend Challenge
#1 Why Would Anyone Come to Your Website?
Remember this is about your website. So I want you to look at your website and to think, because your website is important. This is the 21st century by the way.
Why would anyone want to come to your website? So that’s it. Simple question. Write it down. Why? Why would someone come to your website?
If your website is simply a brochure online, it’s just, pretty much the same. So it’s got an about us, services, contact, news and the news is like, from 3 years ago when you had the website made.
The services, you know you are called Joseph Phean Hair dresser and other services. It says we are hair dressers. We offer hair coloring, blow drying, wash and cut.
Then, you know that kind of stuff. Again, why would anyone want to come to your website? It’s pretty obvious what you do. Isn’t it? Why would you just say that?
That is what we call, just a brochure online.
So be Critical, please. This is important. Be critical with your, you know with your information, sorry with your answers. This is your website, it’s going to help you.
#2 Can I Find the Same Information on Amazon, the BBC, or New York Times?
Now if you are putting out information and you’re informing people, and you’ve got a blog, because that’s what you should be. That’s how it works. That’s how websites work.
People come for information, but is that information readily available on the big websites where everyone goes, or msn or places like that or newspaper sites. Things like that.
Or is your version better?
Now that’s fine. If it’s on the BBC website, then it’s fine. Is your version better? Because quite simply, I am going to be harsh here.
If it isn’t, I am going to get my information from the BBC. And If I want to buy things I am going to get my information from amazon. Or I might look up at cnn or msn or the New York Times.
Something like that. That’s where I am going to get my information. Why would I want to come to yours? Unless you’ve got something better. If it’s the same as theirs version, they’ve got more trust.
It’s as simple as that.
#3 Do You Deserve to Get Visitors?
How much effort are you putting in? And that’s it. Really. How much effort are you putting in? So when did you last update your website?
Because, imagine if cosmopolitan published a magazine and updated it twice a year? Put out a new one twice a year?
Do you think they’d have anybody buying it? Or they put it out every month and everyone knows it’s coming out every month, but every month is completely different.
Imagine the effort it takes to write all those articles to find all those ridiculous little things they put in, and everything else they do to make it different to keep people interested.
You might say, well it’s their business. That’s what they do. But this is, this is a tough old world this is a competitive world, you need to do the same.
You don’t need to be like cosmopolitan but you need to update. People want fresh information. If you are not putting an effort in, why? You don’t deserve them. Their attention.
#4 Who is the Website Aimed At?
So if you were Joseph Phean Hair Dressers, who is it aimed at? Is it aimed at your female clients, women in the town where Joseph Phean lives and within a radius of 10 miles? I don’t know.
Do you know the typical person there, what do they do for living? If you got a big factory in the town, half the people work there.
Can you talk about that kind of subject? Is it like, here this is a seaside town. A lot of people have boats and things. Can you relate to them? Do you have a target audience?
So for instance if Joseph Phean was here, he might talk about, salt water, especially if you are member of one of the boat clubs.
Salt can do this and this to your hair. But if Joseph Phean talked about that and the place was inland, miles from sea, it’s of no relevance.
So you’ve got to know your audience. Are you aiming at the right visitor? Because if you are not, you’re wasting your time. And you don’t have time to waste. It’s just going to help.
#5 Have you Considered Mobile or Tablet Traffic?
Now what I mean by tablet, I am talking IPad, iPad, galaxy note, kindle, fire, google, who knows what. Oh, Microsoft surface and all those kind of things, you know tablets.
So tablets, iPad, etc. use the same web technology as a smart phone. Now you might have noticed that’s very different to your computer.
In that, they are all separate apps, it’s not. You can’t just open them up, they are not all interconnected. They are all sort of individual. And websites display differently on things.
So if you look and imagine a supermarket website, it’s has loads and loads of category. Its loads of things, if that tried to fit on your little iPhone, it’d be impossible.
You’d have to squeeze and enlarge. You can’t read anything. So needs to be a mobile version. Have you actually looked at your website and seen how it appears?
Now google very publicly said, if your website isn’t suitable for use on mobiles, we won’t display it when people are searching from a mobile. Simple as that.
Google’s visitor is its searcher. So it wants to give them good results. So check that out. And one little tool by the way, sign up for Google Webmaster Tools.
It’s totally free and then you’ll get reports of whether google thinks your website is good or bad or whatever. Otherwise you’re flying blind.
#6 What Do They Do Next?
So when someone comes to your website and looks at it and they read it, they check stuff out and it’s good.
It’s got information. It’s got services, they’re interested. Then what? What you actually want them to do?
So they get down to the end of the page, if they’ve read it all the way down to the bottom. Is there a call to action?
Do you tell them what to do? Do you offer a way to opt in to get more information? Do you offer?
Perhaps you’ve got a big article written and do you have pdf version which says, enter your email here and we’ll email you a pdf version, so you can print it out and read it at your leisure.
Or do you say, ‘Please contact me now to find more. Contact me or Contact Joseph Phean on this number. Or do you just hope they will do something?
Do you just hope that they are going to call you? So when they got home from there long hard day and they work in the night shift and they are doing, looking at your information at midnight.
Do you hope that they are going to phone you up, leave a message on your voice mail and hope you are going to call them back, at midnight when they’re available or do you think they are going to use the contact form and send an email, in case you might reply?
But don’t hope. Tell them what you want to do. It’s called a call to action. No matter what it is, tell them to do this.
Even if he has read this article, if you like that read this one. If you like that, go here. Tell them what to do. All this will help you improve your website.
And in this day and age, using a website effectively, to get customers in business, and to keep your existing customers interested is easy.
If you have to pay people to update your website, then please go and look at our course at www.website101.co.
Honestly, or even at free marketing course at www.FreeMarketingCourse.co. All these things will help, you must be in control and must use these tools effectively. It’s not that hard.
You don’t have to be a technical person and you don’t have to pay thousands to web developers. Not these days.
That’s it. End of lecture. You are going to have a nice weekend anyway. I am sure it’s going to be sunny where you are. Even if it’s not, enjoy it with your family. Please don’t work too hard. I’ll see you next week.