Back in the day, it used to be O.K. to have a basic Web site with the same type of info you would have on your business card or an off-line brochure. Hence the term “brochureware.” It also used to be O.K. (not in my book but acceptable to many– some to this day) to have a Web site that never changed, grew or added new information.  No more…

Now, late in the year 2008 brochureware is definitely nowhere! The bar has been raised — really high. If a site owner really thinks they can put up a brochureware site, get found in search engines and have the inquiries flow in — they really are kidding themselves.

Inevitably, I get an e-mail shortly after a site launch that states “Why isn’t my site in the Top 10?” or “Why can’t I find my site on the search engines?”.   “I’m not getting any inquiries!”  I shake my head and wonder where these assumptions came from — certainly not from me!

I also get similar e-mails from site owners who also disregarded all the information I have made available to them over the years, who haven’t done a thing to their site for a very long time (sometimes many years).  I wonder why before e-mailing they didn’t take the time to review any one of the many articles here on my site that tell them exactly, precisely how to get found in search engines and what it takes to garner organic search engine rankings. Just use my search box (top right corner above) and search for “search engines” or go to the  category drop down and choose from all the commentary and information available.

Rankings do not just happen because you have a nice little brochureware site that blathers on all about you. Nor does such a site encourage contacts or repeat visits.  For sites like these,  natural rankings will not be acquired when you haven’t changed a thing, updated or added new content for years.

Rankings happen because you update your site constantly with valuable information for your target market with articles, how tos, white papers.   Add a Blog! Add a discussion forum. Add an online directory; and an article library.

Write about your expertise and experience — share what you know with your site visitors — they’ll appreciate you doing so and get to know your better. People prefer to do business with those they know, you know! Keep on adding, building and growing!! Your Web site should be viewed as a work in progress; for perpetuity!

When your site becomes a resource for your site visitors rather than purely a brochureware “all about me” site — only then, and only then, can you begin to hope to gain in the rankings and encourage those coveted inquiries.

At your service,
Judith

When it comes to your Pay Per Click advertising campaigns, you have to be sure that when potential customers click through that they land on a page that caters specifically, precisely, exactly to what your possibly new customer is looking for. That’s what a landing page is.

Add to that, you then have to be sure to have great marketing copy and calls to action to entice “shoppers” to take the desired action — right then and there — as you cannot count of them returning if they jump at their Back button.

Your landing pages should not be just one of the established pages on your site — it should be a new specifically created page that caters to a precise campaign ad for that topic, product, service, subject! Yep, that means different unique landing pages for every ad or ad campaign focus.

All too often folks link to the top page of their site for every ad. Or they link into established pages that generally cover the topic of their ads when what site owners should be doing is creating a new custom ad tailored landing page to ensure your best chance to snag that opportunity when the site visitors lands in your realm.

Unfortunately, many underestimate the power that a landing page brings to your ad campaigns and therefore overall ROI. The majority of Web site pages I see being used as landing pages fall way short of what needs to be done in order to have hope for any level of conversions.

Check out this article that will help you out:

25-Point Landing Page Optimization Review

Use this checklist as a guide and review your current ad campaign landing pages.  I bet you make quite a few changes!

At your service,
Judith