Website Conversion | Comstar's Blog - Website Tips & Tricks

Benefits of Advertising Online

Website Conversion, Website Traffic No Responses »

Dec 282011

Online advertising can be one of your most powerful low-cost marketing tools!

When you advertise online, your message is out there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Online marketing tools vary from banner and pay-per-click ads, to auto-responder and email blasts.

Pay- Per- Click (PPC) ads target the traffic you want. Advertising in this way means more realistic and relevant results. Your initial investment for PPC is small. You pay for only the users that click thru on the ad. PPC campaigns are just as effective for small businesses as well as large businesses. Results can be immediate and tracked in real time.

Banner ads can be either Pay Per Click or Flat Rate. You can place your banner ads on websites that cater to your target market. Banner ads can be extremely effective if you put them on websites in the right spot. Banner ads work well because they are highly visible and attractive.

72% of businesses recently surveyed claim that email campaigns bring better ROI than traditional marketing methods. According to the 8000 respondents of a 2010 Internet Marketing Survey, some email campaigns generate a return of almost 42 dollars for every one dollar spent. Promotional emails give better results if you are a retail business.

36% of the respondents favor email marketing over SEO and social networking. 40% of the respondents are highly satisfied with the results of their email campaigns because of increased sales conversions.

Email marketing efforts are more likely to generate repeat sales, cross sell and up sell.

Website Analytics Are Good For Business

Website Conversion, Website Tips No Responses »

Dec 062011

Web analytics is a tool used to measure, collect and analyze internet data. Today’s analytics do more than just tally up how many visitors come to your website each month. Analytics can tell you where your visitors go, how long they stay there, and whether or not they complete the sale, sign up or achieve whatever conversion goal you have in mind.

Your Internet marketing efforts can benefit from learning as much about your website visitors as possible. Analytics can show visitor traffic increases or decreases after the launch of new advertising or promotional campaigns. It is perfect for tracking trends. Analytics can help you see if changes to your website impacted your sales and conversions.

If your site can make the visitor feel the experience was natural and easy, then you’ve connected with them in a way that will grow your business. They will visit more often and recommend your site to friends. Analytics can help you make your site do this by giving you feedback to changes that improve your site. And improve your bottom line!

Website analytics can help the marketing executive determine which online ad is the most effective, which keywords lead to conversions, what traffic trends do visitors respond to the most.

Analytics can also point the weaknesses in your site such as visitors leaving the site before taking action, or abandoning their shopping cart in the middle of a purchase process.

Your business wants valuable, loyal customers and website analytics can provide you with enough information to find them and, more importantly, to keep them. Comstar has experts on staff to talk to you about your analytics options. We offer both server-based website statistics and website based Google Analytics. Visit www.comstar.biz or email Bryn at bkirk@comstar.biz.

Conversion Chatter

Website Conversion, Website Tools, Website Traffic No Responses »

Jul 072011

You have probably heard talk of website conversion. It may sound intimidating, but it really isn’t. Website conversion is simply the comparison of the number of people who visit your site with the number of people that take the action you want them to take. When discussing and determining your conversion rate, there are a few things that you need to know.

First, there is some conversion lingo that you should know. Some common words that come to mind are hits, visits and actions.

A “hit” is the number of items that load on a page of your website in one view. If you have basic HTML and 3 graphics, it would be a total of 4 hits. When looking at your website stats, your number of hits will be quite large. This number is not one that you should use to determine your conversion rate, because it does not represent the actual number of visits that your site got.

“Visits” are what you should really be looking at. While the number of visits will not be as large of a number as your hits, it is the number you should pay a lot more attention to. Visits are the actual count of unique IP addresses that came to your site. This is one of the numbers that you will use in determining your conversion rate.

An “action” is what you want your site visitor to do. It could be calling you, filling out a form, signing up for a newsletter, etc. You want visitors to take action on your site. Your total amount of “actions” is the other number that you use in figuring out your conversion rate.

Now that you know some basic vocab, let’s calculate your conversion rate. Take your number of actions and divide it by your number of visits. Your answer should be written as a percent. For example, lets say you had 4 people take action out of 200 total visitors. Divided out, that would equal a 2% conversion rate.

Hopefully website conversion seems a lot more simple to you now!

For more information, visit us at http://www.comstar.biz/Internet_Marketing/Default.asp or call us at 262-953-6000.

Bounce Rates – Part 2

Website Conversion, Website Tools, Website Traffic No Responses »

Jun 232011

Want to lower your bounce rate? Here are some easy tips on how you can achieve this!

Check to make sure that your meta tags and keywords are relevant to your site. Irrelevant words and phrases target the wrong audience, which leads to you getting a bunch of visitors who are not looking for what your site has to offer. Correct words and phrases will target people who are actually looking for what is on your website.

Does your site have an easy to use navigation system? People will often leave your site if they can’t figure out where to click next. Having a simple navigation bar that makes it easy for a visitor to find what page they are looking for will have them clicking through your site with ease.

Going along with easy navigation, make sure the general layout of your page looks nice and tidy. Flashing lights, pictures, videos, music, and tons of colors are overwhelming to visitors, and make your content hard to see and read. Settle for a more neutral layout that will attract and keep your visitors on your site, not scare them away.

Your content should be professional and credible. If you write in an unprofessional, sloppy manner, or “you’re visiter seas spelling mystaikes,” they will not think you are a good source of information/services/products, etc. Take pride in what you write, and proofread everything! Having someone leave your site because of a very preventable mistake is just foolish.

If you have links on your site, make sure they are easy to spot. Linking to articles and other pages in your site that are related to what your visitor searched for is a great way to get them deeper into your site.

These are all great ways to help you lower your bounce rate. Hopefully they help you out!

Bounce Rates – Part 1

Website Conversion, Website Tools, Website Traffic No Responses »

Jun 212011

Bounce Rates are a way to gain insight on your readers’ behaviors when visiting your site. Some sites’ bounce rates are lower, and some can be quite high. Why is this? What is an ideal bounce rate to have? But most importantly, what the heck is bounce rate?

A Bounce Rate (BR) is the percentage of site visitors who arrive on a page of your site, and then leave without visiting any other pages or going deeper into your site.

A low BR shows that your site has grabbed your visitors’ attention, and that they are clicking on other pages of your site in addition to the page they entered on. They are finding your site to be relevant to what they were looking for.

A higher bounce rate could mean 1 of 2 things, and can sometimes get slightly confusing. Either the landing page was irrelevant to what your visitor was looking for, or it was exactly what they were hoping to find. If it wasn’t what they wanted, it is rather obvious that they would leave without a second thought, thus making your bounce rate go up. If it is exactly what they were looking for and that single page gave every bit of info they ever wanted to know, your BR would still go up if they didn’t click on any other page. So while it still increased, it wasn’t because the page wasn’t helpful, it was extremely helpful. The visitor didn’t need to go to any other pages on your site to find more information.

This brings up the question “What is a good BR?” Some may reply with specific percentages, but in reality, there is no set number. For example, BR’s on blog sites are typically very high, because a visitor will often read the latest post and then leave the site. The high BR in this case is acceptable, as the visitor still read what your blog had to say, and didn’t immediately leave. However, if you have a high BR because your horse website always comes up when people search for monkeys, it could be a red flag that you need to make changes to your site in order for it to appear under relevant search terms. A lower BR would be ideal for sites offering products or services to purchase. It shows that visitors are taking interest in what you have to offer, and are going deeper into your site.

Are you frustrated with your high bounce rate? Ask yourself what could be some possible reasons that your visitors are leaving without clicking deeper into your site. Stay tuned for a brief list of ideas that can help lower your bounce rate.

Social Media for Your Business

Website Conversion, Website Traffic No Responses »

Jun 222010

A question that I get from time to time is, “how can I use social media to benefit my business?”

Sure Twitter, FaceBook, and LinkedIn (among others) are interesting, but are they beneficial? For business owners, entrepreneurs, sales people, and marketers is there really value in these tools?

Those who use social media extensively will argue they are certainly valuable. Those who do not use them will cite that they don’t have time for such silly activity.

Rather than jumping into the argument, let me take just a moment to put social media in perspective for you…

Do you find value in face-to-face networking? Maybe you attend Chamber of Commerce events or are involved in a chapter of BNI. Or maybe you’re a member of a group like a Lions Club or Rotary Club. If so networking is important to you at some level.

Picture how these things go. You arrive at the designated location. You enter and see a group of people. You try to meet those who are interesting. Perhaps some are good business targets. Perhaps others can introduce you to people you’d like to meet. Oops that one guy who can talk for hours just spotted you and he’s headed over! Yeah, you know what I’m talking about.

You’re stuck in a room and your potential is limited to those in the room. Everyone in the room has potential to interact with everyone else in the room, but that’s it.

Now imagine social media. Picture that room you were in with the walls extending to include the entire planet. However, just because the walls can include everyone doesn’t mean that they do include everyone. No, with social media you are creating your own room, custom filled just for you.

Your Twitter followers are in your room.

Your FaceBook friends are in your room.

Your LinkedIn contacts are in your room.

If you don’t like someone, don’t let them into your room. (Or kick ‘em out later, if need be.)

Now your task, just like face-to-face networking, is to wonder around the room and meet people. Just like in the physical world, there may be some people with whom you will never do business. There may be others who become great partners. Still others may be able to introduce you to those who can make a big difference for you.

But unlike the face-to-face version, you’re not giving a business card and hoping the recipient goes to check out your website. Instead they already have access to your profile with a link to your website. They can get to know you and your business. When they’re ready for your service they already know you.

So get out there and network in your own room. And, you get to pick the meeting time.

(By the way, if you’d like to enter my room I’m available on Twitter and LinkedIn. Follow me or Invite me and I’ll join your room too.)

Web Genius Summit – volume 1

Shameless Self Promotion, Website Conversion, Website Tips, Website Tools, Website Traffic No Responses »

May 282010

The Web Genius Summit has just concluded the first set of 12 interviews. You can read about the first six sessions in the previous post at Web Genius Summit Update.

This current post will give a recap of the final six interviews of volume 1…

The second half of the series kicked off with Erik Stafford. Erik is an internationally recognized expert in internet marketing and building easy website sales systems. He took us back to some of the internet marketing basics to help you build a stronger online presence for your business. His program Faster Webmaster is still available.

Kyle Battis showed us the power of teleseminars to teach others, create a following, and add additional revenue to your bottom line. Much of the Web Genius Summit teleseminar series was based on the things that Kyle told us about. You can learn about teleseminars through the My First Teleseminar series.

Then we had Susan Hill. Susan learned to create opportunity in a small niche by employing experts at various tasks using Elance. You can use Susan’s experience and advice to propel your business forward too. She has a book called Elance Made Easy available for download now.

Ben Mack, marketing strategist extraordinaire, taught us the benefits of thinking and planning ahead, not just one step but two. How do you take your customer or your business from where it is at right now and move it to where it will be? Thinking two products ahead, two sales ahead, two promotions ahead helps you capture more money in a systematic way. This call closed out with an invitation for ecommerce owners to start planning Cyber-Monday with Christmas in July.

David Deutsch is an A-level copywriter and one of the top direct response marketing consultants in the U.S. He told us several million dollar marketing secrets and how you can Think Inside the Box! to generate profitable new ideas for your business. Did you get in on million dollar secret #3? If not, click the link at David’s name to see how you can grab his ideas system and get the out-of-print book with 20 different secrets as a bonus.

The final episode of Web Genius Summit volume 1 was carried by Brian McLeod. Brian is a direct-response copywriter, sales trainer, and creative marketing consultant who helped to bring all the pieces of the Web Genius Summit together, showing how you can integrate your offline marketing and your online marketing efforts for maximum impact! Not only that, but he also introduced masterminding as a way to add a new profit stream to your business.

While you’ve already missed these interviews you can register now to be invited to participate at no charge in volume 2 starting later this year. In the meantime, upon registration, you’ll have the option to purchase volume 1 so you can get caught up on all these great lessons. Details at www.webgeniussummit.com.

Web Genius Summit Update

Shameless Self Promotion, Website Conversion, Website Tips, Website Tools, Website Traffic No Responses »

Apr 232010

Now that we’re half way through the first set of guest experts on the Web Genius Summit, I would like to take a few minutes to summarize what you may have missed.

In case you’re not familiar with the Web Genius Summit, let me first give you a brief description… I am interviewing business and internet geniuses for 60 minutes each. By listening in you get to discover strategies that will help your business too.

Some of the geniuses on the calls are authors, some are coaches, others are business people who have unlocked the key to internet success in their own business. All are experts sharing their experience…

Mark Joyner was our Web Genius headliner. He is a #1 best-selling author of over a dozen books. He is recognized as a pioneer of e-commerce and is responsible for inventing and popularizing technologies we take for granted such as remotely-hosted ad tracking and ebooks. While we discussed a number of great topics for business, he presented one factor that would allow your business to take off like a precision missile.

Lewis Howes and Sean Malarkey joined us to discuss social media. As LinkedIn and Twitter experts they helped us to define how to dominate social media in your niche without wasting all your time.

Brad Sugars came on board as a business coach to discuss strategies to grow your business now. Brad is best known as the founder and CEO of ActionCOACH – a business and executive coaching firm that presently operates in 26 countries spanning six continents. Brad is currently on a nationwide tour. See if he’s visiting your area. Register for free with ticket code SMIL010 at www.businessisboomingtour.com!

Ann Convery taught us how to reach the Primitive-Brain — the one that triggers every buying decision your visitors make, and drives results on your website and in social media. Ann has a class starting in May called “You’re so Brilliant! Why Don’t They Buy?“ It’s likely that her class would make an immediate and perceptible difference in your business. Get registered now!

Ann also wins our Guest Expert of Distinction Award based on the extreme density of great information and from excessive positive feedback from our listeners!

Howie Jacobson, the author of AdWords For Dummies, showed us how to get better results for less money using Google Adwords. Yes, you need to understand how to write your ads so that they attract buyers and repel everyone else!

Pat Marcello is an author who wanted to sell more books. In the process she turned to internet marketing and became an expert in blogging and search engine optimization. Pat talked about what’s important in SEO and how to use blogs to drive traffic, creating trusting, eager buyers.

We also had the pleasure of a bonus call with Audrey Kerwood. Audrey is an ecommerce expert who showed us the 8 factors that every high-converting ecommerce site must have. Watch for an announcement about Audrey’s ecommerce 3-day training seminar coming in July. I’m going to be speaking at this event!

While you’ve already missed these interviews you can still get in on new ones that follow. Registration to listen in on the calls is FREE! Get on the guest list now and you’ll be invited to participate in our future calls. Plus the existing calls are being put into a library of audios and transcripts. You can pick these up at a great price.

Isn’t it time you learn what you need to move your business to the next level?

Web Genius Summit

Shameless Self Promotion, Website Conversion, Website Traffic No Responses »

Feb 152010

As an website development and internet marketing firm we often get questions like:

“how do I get more people to purchase on my website?”
“should we be using Twitter?”
“is search engine optimization really a good thing or just a waste of money?”
“how can we show up on the first page of Google?”
“what good is blog anyway?”

Instead of taking the time to answer all of these individually, I decided that it’s time to get some experts together. Let’s combine the knowledge of a bunch of Business and Web geniuses and give access to business owners and entrepreneurs everywhere.

We’re launching the Web Genius Summit with a great list of experts who can drill down to specifics and answer all your questions on their topic.

Registration for this teleseminar and webcast series is FREE! So get on the guest list now and take your business up a notch or two.

The Evolution of Online Stores, Part Three

Website Conversion, Website Tips No Responses »

Jan 052010

Just this past week I went to a website that is well-known in its niche industry, comes up #1 on Google search engine results page, and offers fantastic items for sale, with a customized eCommerce approach that seems designed circa 1955. OK, you caught me… no internet in 1955, so it must have been near the end of the last Century. But the point is: it was the last Century!

I was able to shop by category, with all of the products visible as I scrolled down the page… and scrolled down the page… and scrolled… well, you get the picture! I wanted to click on the product image and see a larger view, but that apparently was a frivilous desire, according to their web designer. I wanted to click on a button to add it to my shopping cart, but the designer must have thought that was just too easy. Instead I scrolled down to the bottom of the page and clicked on the subtle link to make my purchase.

By now, I’m thinking, “Do I want this stuff?” and “Can they make this more difficult?” Right about then the order form came up on my screen and the answer was obvious, “Yes and yes.” The order form required me to type in each product’s inventory number, description, and price. I had to go back and forth from each of the 3 category pages where I found the items to copy the product information. So far my experience as a customer rivalled standing in line at the DMV, but just like my driver’s license, I had to have it!

As I typed in my credit card number, I knew it was secure because the little padlock icon was visible in my browser, so I knew no hacker could get my personal info. Now I only had to worry about the internal security of the company whose website offered me such a unique shopping experience… night cleaning crews, disgruntled employees, etc. The possibility that they might be outright thieves crossed my mind.

It’s hard to believe that there are websites out there that offer this type of shopping experience, but this really happened to me last week. I don’t know if this story will have a happy ending and I won’t really know even after I receive my items. All I know is that my credit card info is on file at some company in some other state, either in electronic form or even on paper, in what I hope is a secure environment. It’s OK; I’ve got faith.

As we develop eCommerce websites for our clients we recommend they take advantage of a payment gateway, such as PayPal or Authorize.net, to process online transactions, putting the collection and storage of sensitive credit card info on their big shoulders and ensuring customers’ data is safe behind the layers of security they provide.

Of course, there is more to the shopping experience than simple security, but that’s what it adds up to… trust. An online merchant must rely on the shopping experience their website provides to close the sale, and online shoppers need to trust where they spend their money. When those two things come together you have made a sale.

Older Entries

Benefits of Advertising Online

Website Analytics Are Good For Business

Conversion Chatter

Bounce Rates – Part 2

Bounce Rates – Part 1

Web Genius Summit Update

Web Genius Summit

The Evolution of Online Stores, Part Three

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