I offer several workshops each month to help expand a small-scale business quickly. One method to accomplish this is through the internet. However, many small-sized business owners don’t receive any calls per month on their site.
The issue is that they don’t know why it happens or how to fix it, but often they don’t even know their web developers… blind who are leading the blind.
Let’s get started by using this analogy. Your website is like your Internet billboard. Your web designer “turned the switch to your benefit.” The light is definitely active, but it’s set within a field of corn and then turned back so that nobody can see it.
Your Website -Your Internet Billboard — How Effectively Does It Function?
First of all, a billboard needs to be placed “on the main road” in a location where people can view the billboard as they drive through. When you log on to your website, it’s likely it’s not on the highway of the internet, but it’s visible to anyone else. It’s essential to take action to get your billboard the front of thousands or even tens of thousands of potential customers looking at what you offer. It could be as simple as obtaining an SEO position or writing articles, paying per click advertisements, or even handing out your business cards to people around the world (which isn’t the best way to go… We’ll talk about this in the future). If nobody sees your online billboard, it doesn’t matter how great your site is or doesn’t.
When someone is able to see it, the second most important aspect is “what percentage of people who view it will do what you would like to them too.” This could be buying something; however, more often is it’s a chance for them to get to know, like you, and believe in your business… building an enduring relationship with you that allows them to purchase something. Are you able to provide a procedure on your site to guide users through this process?
The marketing Formula -What of the 3 Variables is the Issue?
Let’s look at what’s known as the “marketing model.” It will help you understand the concept I’ve mentioned in the previous paragraphs. Marketing is pretty simple. However, very few comprehend it enough to make the process work, particularly on the internet.
The term “marketing” is a synonym for:
How many people visit your product (your website)
Times
The conversion rate for your site (the percent of the visitors who perform what you asked them to accomplish)
Equals
The number of people who display a curiosity about what you do (leads)
If you’re selling a top premium product, your site is a lead-generator that lands a lot of customers onto your doorstep, where you’ll be able to close the deal. If you’re selling an item that is priced lower, you’ll need to invest less time “getting to get to know you, like you, and believe in your part,” and you’ll likely be able to close a sale directly on your website. However, the formula is still applicable.
Based on the marketing formula In the marketing formula, if you don’t see any visitors to your site, you’re not getting any in that first section and zero in the second. There is nothing. It’s only one of the issues.
Another is that the majority of websites convert at very low or even zero. Most of them, actually. I’ve been able to ask hundreds of people who have been to my workshops in-person and online teleseminars, “How many people reach you on a monthly basis,” and the answer is never zero. If they ask me, “So how long been since you last received an email?” The answer is always “longer than ten months.”
I’m assuming that even a wrong website will have 100 users who visit the site every month. Therefore, if you’ve been waiting for ten years since the last time you got an email, that would be a thousand people who have slipped by. A single call in the present will be 0.1 percent or less.
I suggested that we discuss the fact that the majority of users use their websites as a brochure online. This means that they give their business cards to customers or make cold calls and then upload their contacts to their website. I’m guessing that giving ten business cards per week is probably at the upper part of the local marketing efforts I hear from small-sized entrepreneurs.
If we apply this to the marketing formula, it will look like this.
Number of people who look up to you (10)
Times
The conversion rate of websites (0.1 percent)
equals
10x.001=.01 each week or one every 100 days, which will contact you.
Do you find that shocking? I hope it does because that’s the result you’re getting from your website.
Now, let me surprise you more. Do you think that every one of those customers you handed the business cards to visit your site? I’d guess it’s 20 percent or less. This means that only two people visit your site. You are applying the formula above 2x.001=.002, that is, one visit every 500 weeks. That’s basically zero, isn’t it?
More than 99% of all websites don’t work, with low traffic and low conversion.
It’s a common practice for small businesses. But it doesn’t need to be. In fact, let’s calculate some figures that are realistic. They are at least real-time achievable if all the pieces are in place.
Let’s choose a recent customer of mine, Jennifer, whom I have identified as a Mary Kay lady. (I do not care about what industry you’re in, this is the case to you, trust me. I’ve seen it occur many times.). Jennifer said to me that she got one phone call per year from potential clients on the nationwide Mary Kay website. It should also shock you.
However, I did go to Google Keyword Tool and looked for Mary Kay Kansas City. It indicated that there were thousands of people seeking a Mary Kay rep monthly. This is 1,000 people divided by 12 months equals 12,000 per year. She has one phone call. In her instance, the issue was not the Mary Kay website and its conversion but rather the fact that nobody could find her.
With 1,000 visitors a month seeking her within Kansas City, and I think a conversion rate is a good start (but only if the website is designed so that it is able to meet the needs of the user is searching for, and that’s marketer expertise. Web developers are generally proficient in writing the software needed to run the website and not in marketing.
1,000X5.0%=50
Over 50 people are calling her on a monthly basis. So long as they’re going to her website, and she’s achieving 5percent conversion on the basis of what the site says and the way it states it.
I assisted her in getting some things pointed to her website through Mary Kay’s website. Mary Kay website, and within two weeks, she had 72 visitors visiting her website and ten new customers. It’s been that way for months after we had both the traffic as well as the conversion of her website to work.
What are people searching for You Right Now? Find the answer with the Google Keyword Tool.
I have a suggestion. Go to Google and then search for Google Keyword Tool. Enter the keywords you believe people would be using to locate you. Google will inform you of how many people are searching for those terms and suggest alternatives you could employ. You’re likely to find that there are from thousands to tens of thousands seeking. Let’s say that 5 percent of those are yours. Then ask yourself
Are you referring to traffic or the website conversion, or both?
What will you solve it?
It’s possible that both. Check your traffic, then divide the number of calls per month by your traffic, and you’ll have your conversion rate. Find out what needs to be corrected. Then, go to the repair shop.
