Great companies use these approaches to boost enquiries and we often use them on clients’ websites with equally impressive results. Can these strategies inspired by ancient wisdom work for you too?

1. Out of sight, out of mind.

A corporate consulting company approached us to see if we could increase their web enquiries. After a quick glance we noticed it was difficult to find information on contacting the business (note: a tiny link to the contact page was buried in the bottom right corner of every page). So we added an eye-catching—but not ugly—link to the contact form in in the top right corner of every page. The result? Their enquiries went through the roof—almost doubling with an increase of 76%. Here’s a Google Analytics screenshot showing the result.

I’m not suggesting you should go crazy and turn your website into a dog’s breakfast—you would be surprised at what some people do to pretty looking sites in a misguided attempt to make more sales. Simply make your contact details noticeable by adjusting the font-size, colour or position. This small-yet-simple adjustment can show tremendous results when put into action.

Always have a clear call to action.

2. Everyone loves a free lunch.

Dr. Robert Cialdini of ‘Influence’ fame once followed around Hare Krishnas while they bugged people for money in airport terminals and discovered something amazing. He noticed the money collectors received a larger amount of donations after imposing a free gift flower on the unsuspecting victims. Dr. Cialdini had discovered the psychological power of reciprocation.

Heres the kicker—Dr. Cialdini started to wonder where the steady supply of flowers were coming from, so he followed them until he observed a diligent Hare Krishna collecting disposed gift flowers out of the trash can!

You can offer free-delivery, a 30-minute workshop or even a free test drive. Every business is different. Chances are there’s something inexpensive you can bundle into an irresistible offer that costs your customer nothing. Not only will it increase conversions, it will create such a positive experience for your customer they will readily buy from you again.

Use free offers to get your foot in the door.

3. Applause waits on success.  

Let's face it—social proof sells. If you've consulted Fortune-500 companies, spoken at industry conferences, or have recommendations from prestigious organisations, it's time to cast modesty aside and show your prospects you know what you’re doing.

This is as simple as displaying any of your certifications on your web site, citing publications that have mentioned you and quoting recommendations from corporate bigwigs. Creating trust is essential for instilling confidence in your new clients and a bit of artful name dropping often has a positive effect on conversions.

Display your recommendations and qualifications.

4. Call a spade a spade.

How many business web sites have you visited with text like this…

5. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Conclusion

After many years guiding businesses on how to retool their web sites into effective marketing machines, we've uncovered 5 unbreakable laws for building web sites that sell. Read on to gain precious insights for multiplying the return on your marketing dollar. 

1. Do looks really matter? 76% of web site visitors judge the credibility of a business from the appearance of the web site alone—not the content. Many people know professional looking designs increase credibility in the eyes of your web site visitors, but few consider the damage shoddy advertising does to a business. Your web site must look professional otherwise you literally risk damaging your brand.

2. Drive targeted traffic to your business. It's no secret the vast majority of customers now use online search to find local businesses. Many businesses have realised there is little or no benefit in building a web site that no one visits and are getting better and better at finding customers online. Target these customers with online marketing, or somebody else will.

3. Engage your web site visitors. Advertising legend David Ogilvy once said, 'You cannot bore people into buying' and his advice still rings true today. Consumers have never been so informed, discerning and impatient.

Looking for a powerful way to motivate customers to pick up the phone and call your business? The easiest way is to do a bit of online market research and post a compelling offer unlike anything offered by your competitors and post it on your web site. This is a deceptively simple—yet staggeringly effective—way to differentiate your brand from the competition.

4. Make it easy for your customers. The customer of the 21st century is overwhelmed with information and easily frustrated. Usability and clear information design are vital for a successful business web site. Does your home page look like a christmas-tree by cramming everything but the kitchen sink into one page? Or does it present a simple selection of options-just enough for your web site visitors to know how to easily get to the information they're looking for?

Make it easy for your customers…. Or they will go elsewhere.

5. Use your best resource for more sales. Your existing client base have already developed trust and familiarity with your business and will readily buy from you again. And a well constructed web site is the most economical and effective tool to communicate with your customers. Mailing lists, blogs and social media sites all rely upon your web site as the nerve centre for communicating with your customers and new prospects. Have you been using your web site to re-engage your customers?

Are there more approaches than these to make web sites that sell? Sure. But this is the best place to start.

Remember —a well built web site is an investment, not an expense. Poorly constructed web sites almost always come with high maintenance fees and are inevitably scrapped and replaced by better ones as a business grows.

You wouldn't trust just anyone to be the face of your business-and the first time a person visits a business web site is the very first sales meeting that takes place between the customer and your brand. Invest wisely.

A bright eyed and excited constituent of the Whiteclick team invaded Sydney's convention centre, ready to man our first ever booth at the Online Retailer Exhibition with a secret weapon up our sleeves - enter caricaturist extraordinaire and honorary Whiteclick staffer for the week, Kumar! 

The idea: Passers by were enticed onto the Whiteclick stand with the offer of a free caricature, to be uploaded to our Facebook fan page. Delegates could then visit the page, tag their own caricature and share with friends.

The hook : The person with the most 'liked' caricature would win a luxurious night away at one of Sydney's leading hotels.

What's in it for us? A way to differentiate Whiteclick from neighboring stands giving out bags, brochures and other 'collectibles' that inevitably get thrown away post conference; not to mention a talking point to start some great conversations with potential new clients. Cool idea huh?!

Did it work? So far we have increased the 'likes' to our Facebook fan page by almost 50%, not to mention more than 17,000 post views which (as you can see by the graphs below) is a phenomenal response!

Final Thoughts : In all our conversations with delegates at the stand, something that became apparent was that there is often a missing element (moving away from all hype that surrounds Social Media Marketing) - its not the amount of likes or followers you have…. It's actually what you DO with them that counts!

So you have 12,000 Facebook fans, but what do you do now? How can you convert these fans into potential new clients/customers?

Bookmark our blog, or become a fan on our Facebook page to be kept up to date on our next posts which will outline how to be successful when marketing via social media.

In the meantime - what are some examples of social media marketing campaigns you feel were the best? What about the worst? Have you attempted to generate users to your fan page with a promotion or marketing campaign? Were you successful?

Website security is an often-overlooked part of developing a site. Everyone says 'yes, we provide the utmost in web security', but what do they actually do? What questions can you ask your web design company to make sure they're actually doing it? And what steps can you take to help protect your site? Read on....

Open source software is much more prevalent in the market these days. We use it ourselves. CMS's like Wordpress, Drupal and Magento are now common bits of software that people know about. These are great tools, however you must keep them updated. While we love open source, it does mean that the code is available to anyone. And that means those with not-so-good intentions can try and find security holes to exploit. The open source community is pretty good with this - there are always updates available and it's highly recommended you keep your software up-to-date!

There's another really common scenario with open source software. And that's the install folder/files! You must remove these once the software is installed. Otherwise anyone can come along and reinstall it. And if you don't back up your site regularly, this can have a devastating effect. So don't just rename the install files - make sure you remove them completely.

So, you've got your software up-to-date, and have removed the install files/folder. What's next? How about your login and passwords? I hope you're not using the default admin:admin or admin:admin123. That would be a bad idea. Go and check this. Now. And if it's default, change it. Heck, why don't you change it regardless!

Ok now we're going to get a bit more technical. You'll most likely have heard of SSL. What's this? It stands for 'Secure Sockets Layer'. That probably still doesn't mean anything to you. Well, to put it simply, it's a security protocol that ensures that data sent using the Internet is encrypted. You'll often see secure web sites displayed with a nice little padlock in your browser.

So when you're using a web site with an SSL certificate, any data that's transmitted between your computer and the web site server is secure (read:encrypted). This means that no-gooders that are 'listening' to this to and fro traffic can't see what's being sent. Which is a really good idea when you're sending private information. Like credit card details. So, if you're web site sends and receives private information, it's a good idea to use SSL.

There's a bunch of different providers of SSL certificates out there; Verisign, RapidSSL and Comodo to name a few. And of course, if that's all a bit confusing, get in touch and we'll talk you through it.

Next up, do you have an online store? Take payments? I hope you're using a secure payment gateway. If not, maybe you're storing credit card information. Please, please tell me you're using SSL. And if you are, you do know this is just a start right?

SSL doesn't completely protect your web site. It does protect the data being transmitted to and from your site. But that's not the information your site holds!

The majority of online stores use a database. And if that database holds credit card information, it makes them it a very desirable target for scammers or hackers. Don't think it won't happen to you.

What's the moral of this story? Only store credit card details if you absolutely must. If you can use a third party payment gateway (Paypal, eWay etc etc...) it does remove the burden somewhat. And if decide to store the info regardless, encrypt it. Plaintext passwords with credit card details are just a recipe for disaster.

Right, I hope this article has shed some light on web site security for you. This is by no means an exhaustive list. It's just a few simple (and not so simple!) steps you can take to help. If it all seems a bit overwhelming, drop us a line, we'd be happy to help. Adios!

Trying to create eye-catching Twitter tweets? Even if you're the strong silent type, 140 characters isn't much to play with.

If you've got a lot to say, yet so little room to say it in, here are some tips to help you create Twitter posts that get noticed, read and retweeted:

Make every word count

Your tweet needs to be punchy, persuasive and straight to the point. For example, "How NOT to...", "6 reasons why...". And a dash of fun can boost your personal/business brand. For example, if you're an accountant and it's tax time, you could tell the world your staff are, "Bean counting like it's 1999"

Include the most powerful message

If you're linking to further information on a site, blog, YouTube, etc make it very clear what the content is all about. Sometimes the existing headline doesn't do that effectively.

Know when it's TMI

Sharing something personal eg birthday, special event etc can help build relationships, as long as it's vaguely relevant. People don't want to know what your cat ate for lunch (unless perhaps, it was a something laying around the home/office that's not designed to be food).

Make it easy to understand

Be creative with your tweet, but not at the expense of clarity. For example, if you're offering financial advice, it's better to say, "6 great ways to skyrocket your superannuation returns" than "Take charge, prosper and reap the rewards". You only have a second or two to grab someone's attention.

Offer context

By including keywords and #hashtags, people can quickly get the gist of your topic. They can also find your post through search engines, twitter search tools, and hashtag searches/links.

Leave room for sharing

Sorry, but we're going to confiscate another 20 - 40 of your characters. "But why!?", you cry in anguish. So readers can retweet (share) your brilliant message to others.

See how our Account Manager, Jess, keeps her tweets short and beneficial to the reader, with relevant hashtags included?

 

Tweet checklist

1. What's my goal with this post?

2. How does it add to my followers and people they might share it with?

3. Does it stand out from the pack?

4. Does it make sense, grammatically?

5. Is the spelling correct?

6. Is it too personal?

7. Am I encouraging people to interact?

8. If I want answers, is this the best way to ask the question?

9. If I have a link, is it working (and is it the right one)?

Sometimes, Facebook feels like being back in the school playground - and not just because you can catch up with the friends and secret crushes you had before taxes, responsibilities and other alien concepts got in the way of a good time.

What I mean is that, we still have a need to be 'Liked' by as many people as possible. At least when it comes to our business pages.

So why aren't we over the popularity contests?

Well you see, some very exciting things happen when people Like your Facebook Page (business page):

• They see all your posts/status updates within their own Facebook profile
• Their Facebook friends get notified that they Liked your business
• Whenever they comment on your Facebook posts, their friends see those messages too.

Of course, this can depend on how people have their account set up (some only choose to see updates from certain people/companies), but potentially your messages could be reaching tens, hundreds, even thousands of times more people than the number who Like your Facebook page. I guess you'd call it word-of-mouth marketing on steroids.

The other benefit of having a decent number of Likes is that new visitors to your page feel more comfortable about Liking you too - especially if one of their friends has already endorsed you as "likeable".

So what makes people Like company Facebook Pages?

In 2010, Exact Target did some research to find the answers. Here were the top 12 reasons:

• To receive discounts and promotions
• To show friends that they support the company/brand
• To get something for free, eg; samples, coupons
• To stay informed about the company's activities
• To get updates about future products
• To get updates about future sales
• Just for fun
• To get access to exclusive content
• Someone recommended it to them
• To learn more about the company
• To learn about specific company topics
• To interact, share ideas, and provide feedback.

What can we learn from this? You're more likely to be liked on Facebook if you:

• give people discounts and free stuff
• share information about products/services before they're released
• make people's experience with you enjoyable, fun and entertaining
• offer intriguing, exclusive content that enhances their lives in some way
• show that you're listening when they tell you something, offer feedback etc.

Why do you choose to Like brands and businesses on Facebook?

... Plus the one thing you can never forget

Every business wants a piece of social media these days. But once you're there, how do you grow a base of fans, followers and friends who want to hear from you, Like and Retweet you, respond to you, become your customers - and recommend you to their own friends and peers?

Here are 10 (+ one) practices that will help you and your business become very 'sociable':

1. Listen to your audience

I don't mean to sound like your third grade teacher or anything, but listening really is 50% of communication.

To understand who your customers are; the things that make them tick; and what they love, hate, and really need from you, take time to read what they have to say in social networks about themselves, their lives, their views, as well as your industry, business, website, social pages, content, the products and services you offer, or are considering selling.

People like to be listened to - and they like the people who listen.

2. Engage with them, don't talk at them

When it's time to talk, show your audience that you really do care about what they say, think and feel. Ask questions, reply to their comments, thank them, praise them where you genuinely believe they've deserve it. Much like all those things we love to hear from the people who matter in our real worlds.

3. Slip in to your customer's cyber shoes

When it's so easy (and cheap) to communicate with your target audience, there's a temptation to bombard them with deals, information and other messages. So every time you create a blog post, Facebook update, tweet, etc, sit back for a moment and ask yourself:

• will people get some benefit from this, or is it just annoying and disruptive?
• if I was a customer, would I really want to read/watch it?

Give them things they can use and they'll be much happier to 'see' you on their social pages.

4. Offer content and ideas they can't find elsewhere

Like the rest of the world, your customers/fans are drowning in a sea of information overload. The only way they can stay afloat is to ignore the bits that don't add value to their world. So how do you get read, re-read and recommended as an expert in your field?

You toss people life rafts of information filled with fresh ideas, viewpoints, statistics, or anything else that makes you one of the few businesses or people they can't afford to let go of.

5. Share your own stories

Relevant stories can offer a glimpse into your business, personality, values, etc. It could be a story about something that happened to you, a client or staff member. It might be funny, informative or heartfelt, such as charitable work your team does or supports. Photos and videos work well too.

Real stuff makes you and your brand more human.

6. Share their news with your circle

Let's face it, the real reason we all love social networks is that it gives us an opportunity to voice and be acknowledged for our views. That's ok, we're only human!

Sharing, retweeting, Liking and commenting positively or constructively on fans/followers/customers content is an endorsement that you appreciate their opinion, sense of humour, etc. How could they not then see you as a smart, likeable and all around fantastic person? :)

7. Timing is everything

When it comes to social content, you snooze you lose. Not just in terms of relevance to your audience needs, current trends etc, but publishing it at the time of the day/week when your audience is likely to be looking at their social pages.

8. Invite customers to be your fans

If you are trying to build your numbers, loyal customers are a logical place to start. They already like you in the real world. And when they comment, Like, retweet, etc online, all their social network friends and colleagues see your words/videos/photos of wisdom too.

9. Respond quickly to the good, bad and ugly

Good and bad word spreads fast in social media. In the past, Dell, United and other major organisations have lost millions of dollars through a single case of bad social media publicity. And it could have all been avoided if they responded immediately in a way that showed they cared and were taking action to help the customer.

People don't expect you to be perfect, they just expect you to treat them with respect when things go wrong.

10. Subtly show your credibility

No one likes a poser. But they do like to know that the people/companies they're buying or learning from have a good understanding of the industry, area, niche, etc they're writing about.

Once you listen, ask questions and understand what your audience need, don't stand up and yell "Hey you, over here, I'm brilliant I am at that!" Instead, weave your experience and knowledge into your stories, ideas, conversations and let them do the talking.

Never forget!!

11. Keep it real

People want to get to know other people, not companies. Don't try to 'create' a personality or readers will see straight through you. Yes, have goals, use the steps discussed above, but most importantly, just be your wonderful self.

"How do we get our website pages up high on Google, Yahoo and Bing search results?"

If only I had $2 (inflation and CPI you understand) for every time the Whiteclick team have been asked that question. Not just at client meetings, but conferences, parties, BBQs, school fetes, kids dance practice, even Christmas dinners.

Of course, as a band of SEO tragics, we're always delighted to have a platform to share our expertise and passion on the topic. Yet, while it's possible to answer this question properly in a client meeting, the same can't be said for a single blog post - or over a stuffed Turkey for that matter!

So, amongst a treasure trove of tips and topics in future weeks and months, we'll look at all the things you need to consider to help boost your business to the Top of the Search Pops.

First stop...your page content.

Here are seven things you can do to make your web pages more appealing to search engines:

1. Include the right keywords and phrases 

Before anything else, you need to determine the words that people looking for your products, service or business type, are likely to use when they search online.

Unless you're in a highly specialised industry, it's likely you'll have a lot of competition for the top spots. Therefore, you probably won't be able to get a high ranking for a very general industry term, such as a travel related business using "travel" as a keyword.

You'll have a better chance of success using longer phrases that contain your keyword, along with related words and phrases that are more specific to your business, products and services. For example, "African travel company", "South African luxury safaris", etc.

Don't try to fit all your keywords onto one page. You should have a unique keyword list for each page, and rank the importance of every word that you want to include - as this will determine where you place them on the page.

How do I pick the right keywords?

I could talk for hours on the science of choosing keywords, but no-one deserves to be put through that in one sitting. Instead, I'll talk about it in greater detail in several future posts.

In the meantime, know that there is a science to it. A lot of businesses assume they know the words that people use to search for their products, service and industry. The problem with this approach is that we only see the world through our own eyes and experiences. Our customers are likely to be using completely different words and seeing our business/products in ways we've never imagined.

So in depth keyword research and cross-referencing a number of tools is a must.

Where to place your keywords once you have them

Now that you've gathered you precious keywords, it's time to weave them into the magic places that tell search engines your page is relevant to the request. Let's start at the very top...

2. Optimise your title and meta description 

The page title and meta descriptions aren't visible to people on your website, but they sit in the page html code. Search engines place a great deal of weight on the keywords in the title, so make sure they contain your most important words and phrases for each page - and put those words at the front.

While meta descriptions aren't as important, they still tell the search engines if a page is relevant or not to a search request.

Just as importantly, titles and meta descriptions are the headline and teaser that people see on search results. If you don't make the most of them, you're wasting your 'free ad' on Google.

3. Make your headline Google and people friendly

Aside from being the first place your audience will look on the page, the headline is the most important piece of copy to search engines too. An ambiguous headline isn't going to attract customers or Google & Co, so make sure you include your main keyword or phrase and a reason to read on.

4. Don't forget to use SEO subheads 

Like your headline, search engines think subheads are an important part of your content, so use them on the page and include a number of your main keywords. Impatient web audiences love subheads too, because they scan the page looking for something of interest to them.

5. Weave keywords into your body copy

This can often be the most challenging part. Ideally, you want to include enough of your keywords to make the search engines sit up and take notice, but not at the expense of your message.

If you pack in too many keywords, people won't read your content and search engines may actually lower your page rank because they think you're 'keyword stuffing' ie trying to cheat the system.

Most importantly, use your keyword or phrase in the first sentence of the first paragraph - towards the front if possible - and again somewhere in the first or second paragraph.

Also, bold words and bullet points are given more weight than regular text by the search engines, but don't go overboard.

6. Link between pages on keywords

When search engine spiders come creeping around your website code, one of the things they look out for are the links between pages. Or more to the point, the words that link those pages.

By hyperlinking to another page on a relevant keyword or phrase eg linking from your African safaris page to your African hotels page on a phrase like "African hotels" or even "Kenyan accommodation" will add SEO weight to both pages.

7. Get others linking to your page

We'll examine all the other factors that influence SEO in future posts, but not enough can be said about the role of incoming links to your page from other sites, social networks, etc.

It takes time and effort to get other websites to link to your content. The best and fastest way to make it happen is to create content that other people and businesses feel is worth promoting to their audience.

What do you struggle with when it comes to creating optimised web content?