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Social Media Gets Their Attention; Your Web Site Gets The Sale

Guest post by: Gihan Perera

Article Overview: After all the fuss with Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social media platforms over the last couple of years, it's interesting to see that the humble Web site is making a comeback. Why? Because business owners realize their Web site is their most powerful lead conversion tool. You might use other things for lead generation - in other words, getting traffic to your Web site - but it's your Web site that converts them from "just looking" to "ready to do business".

Social Media Gets Their Attention; Your Web Site Gets The Sale

After all the fuss with Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social media platforms over the last couple of years, it's interesting to see that the humble Web site is making a comeback. Why? Because business owners realize their Web site is their most powerful lead conversion tool. You might use other things for lead generation - in other words, getting traffic to your Web site - but it's your Web site that converts them from "just looking" to "ready to do business".

Internet marketing expert Avinash Kaushik puts it beautifully like this:

"Don’t write checks with Social Media that your Web site can't cash."

So what goes into a high-quality Web site? The secret is to understand that everybody who visits your Web site is asking four key questions:

1. Why this? What are the benefits for me?
2. Why you? What is your authority to make these claims?
3. Why now? What is the urgency for me to take action?
4. Why me? Why is this the right fit for me?

They need to answer all four questions before they will be willing to buy (whatever "buying" means for your business - e.g. buying a product, phoning you, booking a date, registering for an event, ...).

So put yourself in your Web site visitor's shoes, sit in front of their desk, take control of their mouse, and visit your Web site with their frame of mind. And let's look at those four questions from their viewpoint ...

Why This (Benefits)? Do they seem to understand my situation, my problems and my goals? Have they explained what results and outcomes I can expect? Are these the results I'm looking for? Do I feel confident they can deliver?

Where's the proof (Demonstrations, testimonials, etc.)?

Why You (Authority)? Why should I choose them over the gazillions of other options that are just a mouse click away? What makes them different? Do they have relevant expertise, experience or education - or the right combination of all three?

Where's the proof (testimonials, case studies, etc.)?

Why Now (Urgency)? Do I really need to take action now (or can I afford to procrastinate)? Has the world changed in ways I didn't realize that now make it imperative to act? Are they making such a compelling, strong, clearly-articulated argument that I know this is the right thing to do?

Where's the proof (Research, statistics, expert opinions, etc.)?

Why Me (Fit)? Do they work with people just like me (or is their offering so broad that I simply can't tell whether their solutions will work for me)?

Where's the proof (Case studies, testimonials, speaking my language, etc.)?

So how did you do? You might be reassured to discover you're already on the right track, and only need to make small adjustments. Or you might be shocked to realize just how much you're missing!

Either way, I hope you found this exercise useful in evaluating your own Web site.

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Article Tags: lead generation, social media



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Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - [quote="WebBizIdeas.com":gvtxsu7g]Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff[/quote:gvtxsu7g] Hi Jeff, Thanks for the suggestion. Why don't you start a new post (with a poll) to see if there's enough interest in your idea for a social media section?
Re: UPDATES: New Campaign! New Layout! New Ideas! - GT - thanks for the FYI - I'm not sure if we'll put a link back. Something to consider though! Trent - the new category is "Social Network and Media" which was put in to compliment the Online Businesses category that currently exists. Overall the new categories are: - Looking For, Networking and Events - Review My... - Social Network and Media - Brags and Rants These came as a result of Ringo doing research on other forums and thinking about what could be improved on ours to give a better experience for everyone. I hope you enjoy them! David, I'm looking forward to reading your Brag / Rant!
Re: Marketing 2.0 - What Are Your Thoughts - Hi Shri, Thanks for posting this. I also read it and I believe Social Media is here to stay, until the next best thing comes up. Social media proved to be useful for me many times and I think everyone should use it for their business.
Re: Social Media Marketing Ignorance - [quote="vbn411":7qciluxl]Social Media is space that you have to be in to succeed in our current climate. People are going to be discussing your brand / product whether you like it or not, so you might as well join the conversation and add value. [/quote:7qciluxl] I think that's probably one of the most realistic way to think about it. There's no real textbook way of understanding Social Media, it's the networks of people and their interactions that will exist with or without your input. As for Jennifer, You can always have 2 Facebook pages. Many people do. There is also LinkedIn, which is like a professional networking version of Facebook. The only way to know is to try it.


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