Sales rise 358%!
I recently redid a website, changing it from a fairly tired old Dreamweaver site made 4 years ago to a simple WordPress ecommerce site.
It went live as the new site just before New Year 2011. In the month that followed it got increased sales of 358% in money terms, with the average order size more than doubling, (compared to January 2011).
Larger orders are far cheaper to process on this site so not only gross sales went up, but margins too.
This made everyone happier: the site owners, me, and the customers who took advantage of a generous volume discount scheme, (which didn’t seriously affect margin).
The site is Dawgs Biscuits, and it’s one of mine!
Do you want a WordPress site that increases your customers, increases how much they spend and makes them happy? Call me or email studio@c21web.co.uk
New Business startups:Check that trademark
Not everyone does a comprehensive check of which names are trademarked, and which domains are controlled by owners of those trademarks.
New business startups should think of this as a security blanket: check new business trademarks, find a name and domain that is not taken, and sleep easy at night.
And now Markify, a Swedish company, offers a free service to do just this. Once you become successful with a c21website you might want to use their paid service….
Products & Services: Where do most people talk about them?
Did you say Social Media? Facebook and Twitter and all that?
Figures from America suggest you are not even that close.
Face to face is tops, followed by email then landlines, then mobiles and only then social networking. (5th)
Which makes you think that all the hype about social media being the newest biggest, bestest thing. Ever. Might just be a tad over egged.
Car body repair in Hastings
One of the great things about making websites for small businesses is that you learn all sorts of stuff. I now know a little about car body repairs, and the difference between car accident repairs and minor dents, scratches, (vandal scratches, not vanity scratches), re-doing alloy wheels and more.
Thanks and good luck to Gary and the crew at Assured Autobodies (01424 729 60)in the new biz.
The eyes have it
Did you know that if a picture in your site has the eyes focussed on a button, more people are likely to click that button?
And if the person whose eyes are on the button is a girl, more people of both sexes are likely to click?
Copywriting ABCs
Ask the 4 Key Questions: Before you begin to write, ask yourself these four key questions.
- What am I selling (at emotional level)?
- To whom am I selling?
- Why am I selling this now (will it make sense to the customer)?
- What do I want my reader to do (Calls to Action)?
- Consider Your Font Style: Sans-serif fonts, such as Arial, Verdana and Helvetica, are easier to read online than serif. If people find it difficult to read your copy, they won’t!
- Read Your Copy Out Loud: This will help you hear what your readers hear.
- Cut the Clutter: The quickest way to improve your copy is by removing any unnecessary words such as “that”or “to.”
- Use the Rhythm of 3: List your examples in groups of three. The Rhythm gives a great cadence to your copy.
- Use Bucket Brigade Words: Bucket brigade words help you move your copy forward. They include remember, and, but, consider, however, for example..and more!
- Vary Sentence Length: It is important to vary your sentence length to hold your reader’s attention. And don’t be afraid to use sentence fragments – this isn’t your college English class!
- Differentiate Between Features vs. Benefits: Features are what the product has. Benefits are what it will provide the customers. The customer will always ask, “What’s in it for me?” Be sure you tell them.
- Write In the Second Person: Focus on one person (you/your) rather than a group (our customers). This makes your reader feel special and highlights how the product can benefit them.
- Write Less Copy: People read 25% slower online than offline, so you need to write less copy so they will read it.
- Don’t Hide Your Key Points: Keep your most important points at the beginning of paragraphs, bullets and lists.
- Keep Paragraphs Short: Make sure your paragraphs are no more than 3 lines long. Otherwise you might lose your reader’s attention.
- Remember Odd vs. Even: Odd numbers are easier to remember than even, so use an odd number whenever possible.
Do we believe 13? Odd number are better? I’ll research and get back to you in a couple, no, three days…
Websites that really work..
I thought I’d indulge in a bit of boasting.
One website I did took £8000 in the first week, and it’s not an ecommerce site. The owners were over the moon.
Another site I persuaded the owner to let me tweak the SEO, making the site less aesthetic in her point of view. In a fortnight she had won a £2000 commission. She is a happy bunny.
Now, in both cases the product was great, and the service was great. But nobody knew that until they found, and liked, and used the website.
Which is sort of what I’m boasting about.
White on black or the other way…
Smashing, a leading design magazine surveyed a whole bunch of designers websites, basically to see what they did for themselves as a test of what designers believed through experience.
More than 90% used black type* on a white background. 90%+! That has to be a vote for using type that way. They also found the average font size was 13 going on 14, and that this was increasing over time.
Black type on a white background with a good size font.
Because it works.
*Truth be told, some designers used dark grey instead of black…
Did you know about odd numbers?
Odd numbers are easier to remember than even ones. So if you are writing copy for your web site and you need a number, if possible use an odd one and not an even one.
(This advice was from a first rate American marketing blog.)
Trucking good site
Well motorhomes really, and very, very upscale motorhomes for motorsport, music tours, horses all sorts, for a brochure site aimed all over Europe.
But I still wanted to put this old fave in…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygCDv5jQN3w
