The Silent Avatar Speaks

I decided to write this post after coming across a post from Eric Holmlund who has a very successful blog called “Eric Tips”. His blog is primarily for those in the Internet business who are really just stating out, and I have watched him over the past few years build his business, do various joint ventures with other Internet marketers, and continue to build his band of faithful followers by offering good advice, and unbiased reviews of products being offering to the Internet marketing “feeding ground”. (sorry.. but that’s how I see it)

In his post gave a recommendation for XSitePro as a tool to build websites. I checked it out and must say that it certainly has all the features you could want to throw together a website.

Which led me to question if these type of products are going to do us web designers out of business.

After a bit of pondering I realised that while XSitePro is offering a way to build a site, what it can’t do is bring you up to speed with the jargon which is used to interpret how to use it and the knowledge behind that jargon.

And therein will be the reason why web developers will be around for a while yet.

Though I can see in the future a time where you will simply input all the features you want using a touch screen and your selections will build the site. It has to come. The technology is already there to do it. So just a matter of time.

So can anyone build their own website?

No. And there will be people who buy this product and through dedication and application will master this software, and there will be others who throw up their hands in despair and hand it over to a web designer.

Cest la vie! (can you see the smile on my face?)

By the way.. would I recommend it? Yes. If you have made rudimentary websites before and you don’t mind taking a learning curve upwards then this could be for you.

Tags: Web Design by the silent avatar
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I’m very grateful for the readers of my blog, and especially the comments which inspire me to give out some more useful information about webdesign and Internet marketing in general.

A reader (Casey) recently posted a comment to my previous post “How to get your site visitors (NOT) doing what you want”.

Casey wanted some feedback (which I am happy to do), and I hope that you will relate my feedback I am giving on this website PropertyWishList.com.au to your own site in evaluating its effectiveness. You can open the site I am evaluating in another browser window to check it out as we go.

The first comment I want to make is not to launch a site until you have tested the site.

Testing encompasses a lot of things, not the least to make sure everything works technically. Another test should encompass what users think of the site. Now I’m not talking about you, your offsider, or your web developer. When you have been working on a site for any length of time you can become quite blind to what the site obviously needs. Find someone who fits a typical user. It could be a friend, an acquaintance, or a respected business person. You will want to go through the site and do what I am doing – evaluate it from a user perspective.

Your task for them should be clear. Does our site encompass everything that you (as a user) want and need to be of benefit to use this site? (this is especially the case when your site is a “service” website).

If necessary get them to fill in an online form, or ask them to just make notes and give you a call, or send them to you via email. You many even want to offer an incentive.

So lets go…

How do I think this site stacks up against the competition?

While it might bruise some egos, send out a collective *groan*, and put you in a spin, what I about to say could have been alleviated if you had assessed the wants and needs of the users first over what your competition offers.

I heard something recently (can’t remember where) the saying “Never be the first one to do anything”. I’ve pondered this good advice and now know why. When you are the first to do something you never get it right. You just set the benchmark for someone else to do it better.

I’ve used real estate sites often. In fact very often. For the past 3 years I have been trying to sell a property which I have moved on from (due to re-locating).

Realestate.com.au is by far the biggest competitor (and I have used this site extensively when searching for property to buy), so first know who your competitor/s are and evaluate their website for areas which don’t work or could work better. Do this from the prospective of a user and make notes. Then do it from the prospective of a developer (and take notes).

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Tags: Business Tips, Internet Marketing, Web Design by the silent avatar
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I’ve realised something..

There must be a gazillion advertisers simply throwing money way using Google AdWords.

I’ve just finished watching Brad Fallon’s and Andy Jenkins video on AdWords Triangulation and it’s jaw dropping!

If you use Google AdWords to advertise your website viewing this video is a must!

The video is a true Stompernet production – I just wish I had the resources to put out videos like the ones these guys do

The video is long… a full 54 minutes, buy it’s jam packed with information you need to know. In fact I would go far as to say that spending money on Google AdWords without viewing this video is as good as throwing money away.

This video gives the low down on everything you need to know about advertising with Google AdWords to drive traffic to your site (well almost everything – they freely admit they keep some of their tools exclusively for their members)

Not only do they show you how to

• set up and split test an advertising campaign
• creating a compelling advertisement
• use Google Webmaster tools

they also include valuable information on

• how to tweak your website Meta tags Title and Description Keyword tips
• how to make your all important Title tag “Ad quality”
• how to think like a consumer when creating your ads
• why each page of your website should have its own title tag and keywords
• why a Site map is important
• the techniques Stompernet uses for its members (well.. not all of them – you have to be a member to get the heavy duty stuff.

I would sincerely suggest you ‘opt in’ to their newsletter to keep up to date with the information these guys give freely to their readers.

I also viewed the Stomper SiteSeer video and took advantage of the free service Stomper SiteSeer generates about your website.  The report has some “fluff” which I guess is there for “newbies”, but well worthwhile for them to read.

The report is a web generated report (without a print option), but cut and paste of the information you need will suffice.

For certain I can say that in my line of work I come across countless websites which have the all important meta tag information missing completely! And the only way anyone is going to find their website is to Stumble upon it, or be given the URL of the site.  Sheesh!! No tags? No way!

So check out  Brad Fallon’s and Andy Jenkins video on AdWords Triangulation before they pull it down, and while you are there check out Stompernet Site Seer.

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Tags: Hot Off The Press, SEO, Traffic Generation, Web Design by the silent avatar
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Did you know your mailing list is the lifeblood of your online business?

Well hell yeah! you say

The old adage “the money is in the list” cannot be true enough. If you had a targeted list of prospects to contact each time you have a new product, you’ll be able to save a lot of effort by marketing it to your existing list of targeted prospects.

Statistically, you have a better chance of making a sale to an existing customer, than trying to sell to someone who hasn’t brought before.

You can build a targeted list of prospects who are interested in your products by offering them a relevant download on your website.

To give you an example, let’s take a look at apple.com. When you download the free iTunes and Quicktime software from their site, they will ask you to fill in an optional name and email form so that they can send you offers on songs that you can purchase via — guess where — iTunes!

In reality, you don’t need to offer such a “heavyweight” downloads such as full-feature software like iTunes – you can attract prospects just as well with some quality freebies such as a simple report, a free wallpaper, and so on. The important thing is that your download offers enough value for the prospect to be willing to give away his/her own email address to get it.

However, slapping together a simple download and putting a link on your website won’t be enough to attract qualified prospects. You’ll have to do some homework in order for your lead-generating mechanism to work well for you.

First, place your download form prominently on your website. Preferably, dedicate a page to it and link to that page from every other page of your website. That way, there is no way your visitors cannot find the download page, and when they do, you’ll get some of them converted into your prospects!

You’ll need to put some effort into promoting your download. Explain and elaborate on the benefits of the download, and why your visitors should download it. You might think why would anyone want to pass on a freebie, but most of your visitors would be too lazy to take the effort to download it because most of their downloads just sit on the hard disk collecting virtual dust. It is hence important to show your visitors why they should download your freebie.

Tags: Internet Marketing, Traffic Generation by the silent avatar
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