Basic Rules to Live By - Online Business

I was going through some of my older articles and I found a few that are timeless and are worth repeating. Enjoy...

Being a designer I know the value of a good looking – and eye catching web site.

However, unlike some designers I also know the value of good content it is extremely important.

It is like first impressions – when you see someone you judge them within less than 3 minutes of meeting them. Whether you want to admit it or not – it is the truth, it is human nature.

Then if you decide to stick around and get to know this person your impression can change radically – you may find your judgment was right spot on, and you are impressed with them inside and out –or- you may find they are not what you though and they are superficial without any depth.

The same is true for your website.

The first page of your website should capture your visitor’s attention – highlight the positive aspects of your service or product. Capture the essence of what it is you are trying to convey.

Your home page should not be long winded with all the details you can find. It will bore or even turn off potential clients who will feel they do not have time to read it or just feel overwhelmed.

We all lead busy lives and don’t have time to read a novel on the first entrance to a website.

Once your visitor reads what you can do for them – the essence or spark of your service or product you want them to think “wow that is just what I need! Or I really want to know more!

At this point, they will go deeper into your website. They are hooked - That is where you can take the time to explain the benefits they will receive – and what your product/service is all about.

So many times I have a client who wants to put everything but the kitchen sink on the first page

– resist this temptation -.

The truth is the simpler and more descriptive the first page the better – always focus on your visitor - what it will do for the customer or how it will solve client problems…

It makes you visitors want to go further and investigate what you have to offer. However, if your content is too long winded – watered down or just grammatically incorrect, I will guarantee they will not stay on your website to see what you have to offer.

Once someone likes what they see (and read) – they will go further and want to know more details…

So think about it – do you need to refurbish you website – simplify the copy on your home page and make it more appealing to visitors ??

For more tips and tricks on how to have a more profitable website – sign up to receive articles by email (see side bar above).

By: Pamela Jacob – Artista Design
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Scarcity or Abundance - How Do You Run You’re Business?

It seems there are two different types of people in business – givers and takers (non-givers).

Now you may be wondering what I mean by that, but if you have come into contact with very many business owners you will know exactly what I mean. The sad part about this whole scenario is that these people who are afraid to share knowledge, ideas, or experiences are losing out on some really good professional connections and customers. I believe the motivating factor of this type of business owner is thoughts of scarcity. They are afraid someone may get ahead by giving away what they know or steal their ideas and concepts leaving them with less.

If you have ever heard Wayne Dyer talk about scarcity and abundance it is really enlightening. Simply put, scarcity is the idea that your negative thoughts and fears propel your actions and bring about consequences. So if you think in a negative way things like “my business is dying I will never make it" - “I have no customers” or any number of pessimistic thoughts about not having enough – you will begin to notice things start to dry up. Then you start to panic and what happens? Just what you believed would.

On the other hand, if you believe in abundance, you know there is more than enough for everyone, you are no exception – you will then feel free to expand your horizons in thoughts and actions. Giving more of yourself and being generous will attract others into your sphere.

No matter what you believe, whether it is in abundance and scarcity, or in the law of reciprocity. It is the truth as I have experienced it. The more you give, the more you get, and I can vouch for that in my own business.

Now I am not taking about giving away the farm. You need to charge for goods and services, having a healthy sense of self, knowing your boundaries ad understanding when it is appropriate to charge is essential. As business people we have to believe in our hearts that our goods and/or services are worth purchasing. If not you had better start looking for a new profession.

Giving in a genuine way by, writing great articles, sharing your knowledge and providing excellent customer service is essential. You will be amazed at how your business will grow and the quality of clients the clients you will attract when you do these things.

For a free consultation on your website effectiveness or marketing strategy contact me by email or phone….

Pamela Jacob - Artista Design

801.910.4825

Providing Creative Solutions & Amazing Results

The power of Google Analytics

Google Analytics is such a powerful tool to use - it actually allows you to decide what you want to measure on your website. You can literally put this tool to work for you and personalize it as well. You can define your ideal objective, goals as well as specifics.

If all you want to know is who visited your website and how they got there - that is simple enough and you can do that. However, the power of Google Analytics lay in the ability to define goals and put on filters that will allow you to do in-depth analysis of your website.

What do I mean?

Let me break it down for you so you know how to use Google Analytics and have the biggest advantage. First of all, Google works with objectives, goals, and specifics, these allow you to really hone in on what you are trying to accomplish when managing your website.

Objectives: An objective is the big picture – what do you want your website to do? What is the purpose for your website what do you want visitors to do once they are there.

If you are an e-commerce site your objective is to sell products and make a profit. Using Google Analytics, you can actually see the products that are selling and what products are not - helping you to pull the product that is not selling or market it in a different way. This of course will translate into big profits for your business.

Goals: If objectives are the result you ultimately want to achieve with your website, a goal is a short term aim.

What has to happen for you to learn which products sell and which don't? Or perhaps your goal is to sell 30 more widgets within 6 months. You can do this using Google analytics as the tool and setting goals within the application.

Specifics: Now that you have outlined your objectives and goals you are ready to use Google to your advantage. Specifics are the “how” the action steps you will take to reach what you really want.

Example: You would set up the sales page and a funnel (using Google Analytics) to measure how traffic comes in to your sales page. Google can tell you where visitors are entering as well as what page your visitors are exiting from. Knowing how your visitors are responding to your website allows you to go to these pages and tweak them so you can get the results you want.

Google has made it easy to place the code in your web pages, they do the initial metrics for you and the best thing is it is free.If you are not particularly savvy on html or how to apply the code have your web developer apply it to every page. You can even generate .pdf to analyze the month by month statistics.

Once the code is embedded in your web pages, Google will start collecting data and within a few days you will see countless stats related to your site. Then it is time for you to become familiar with the dashboard that Google provides - you will be able to set up the goals and specifics of your website.

You access all the data through the Internet so you can login and set parameters right then and there.

Another great function of Google Analytics is that you can set up different profiles for one website. You can put different code on different websites of course, but you can also break down one website into different profiles and monitor them independently, or you can use the different profiles to see which sections of your website are effective and which are not.

AdWords and Analytics Google

AdWords is a pay-per-click advertising program. Essentially you would buy keywords and then pay them for every time a potential client (website visitor) clicks on an ad you put up through Google. You also have the option to pay for impressions - that means everytime your ad loads on a page.

If you are thinking about using AdWords as part of your marketing campaign or are using them already Google works seamlessly in providing you with the answer to that all important questions, Is this ad working, am I making more money then I am spending? You can see if the visitor who clicked on the ad (you just paid for) bought something, or they clicked away from your website without purchasing the product you are selling.

You will be able to see where your visitors entered the site and where they leave it. When you sign up for Google and AdWords us the same account number (Google uses Gmail as the login and password) you can link both accounts together. AdWords will be imported into your Google Analytics Account. This provides you with a safety net so you can watch the behavior or you visitors and change what isn't working.

The development team at Google has a way of making their tools very usable and Google Analytics is just one of many tools that live up to these high standards.

I am amazed that everyone doesn't use this tool, if you need help in placing analytics on your pages email me or give me a call.

Pamela Jacob - Artista Design 801-910-4825

Providing Creative Solutions & Amazing Results