Don’t just sit there… Do something! “Ask and ye shall receive” also works in web marketing. If you don’t ask, your website visitors won’t know what you want them to do. Always ask your readers to take action. It could be call now, sign up now or to click the purchase link in your email.

If visitors leave your website without buying or at least leaving behind their email address, then why invite them to your website? Without prompting, most people will put off buying or taking action. Visitors need clear instructions on how to proceed. Using calls to action throughout the website helps convert visitors into prospects.

What action do you want from your visitors? Build this into your navigation. Each page should have its own call to action. This needs to be planned into the business website design. People arrive seeking solutions to a problem or need. They are thinking “what’s in it for me?”

Write using action oriented words to get your message across as quickly as possible. Speak to your reader’s emotions and engage them with your words. Don’t be elusive or try to reach everyone. Instead of saying, “Our service will help you be more effective in your marketing efforts.” Try saying, “Close 30% more sales with our service.”

Your website should guide take visitors through your selling sequence. Each page should be designed with a clear action designed in. This could be the next step in your sales process, request a quote, buy now of call now. Avoid making the user think and decide their next step.

The most important thing in any offer is that it be clear and concise. There is an old marketing maxim is that “a confused mind always says no.” Too many choices or a weak call to action and your website visitor will say that’s interesting and simply move on.

This is a mistake that many businesses make. They create a website that is focused on them. Their goal is to explain why they are the best and logical choice to do business with. They talk about their qualifications and expertise. But this is just plain wrong.

The exception to what I am talking about would be if you are a celebrity. If you are a celebrity, then people do come to your website to learn about you. They want your biography, films you have made, etc.

What should your website be about? That depends on why your visitor came to your website. They came seeking some solution to a problem or need that they have.

Here is an example. If your company provided fertilizers and lawn care products, then your visitors would arrive looking how to improve their lawn and make it greener. They did not arrive to learn about your company or even to have the merits of your fertilizer explained… at least not on your home page.

Instead discuss what they came to learn on your home page. Discuss your company on the about-us page. Discuss the specific benefits of your fertilizer on your products page. This is all about creating a customer focused website.

Here is another example. If you are an attorney, then your visitors arrive looking for help with specific legal issues. Address these on your home page and go into depth on your credentials in the about-us section.

As you layout your website, remember it is about them, not about you. You will get a better response from visitors if you address their reason for coming and talk about what they want to learn.

It is not enough to get visitors traffic to your site. You need to design your website to encourage visitors to take an action. You need to design in your selling sequence to convert visitors into buyers. Or at least get them started into your conversion process.

A business website should be designed with a specific goal in mind. There should be the final action that you want your visitor to take online. You want to solve the core problem or need your customer has. Then build a selling sequence to address that need. This could be to buy, to request more information or to request a quote.

Think of your selling sequence as a sequential order of events that guides your prospect as they journey through your website. Start by getting their attention, and then create interest. Guide them through the benefits to generate desire. End with getting them to take a specific action. Plan your conversion process from first arrival to purchase. Each page should be designed with a clear action to be taken.

The sales funnel is a metaphor. We can visualize the sales process which is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. A large number of prospects will arrive to your site and yield a much smaller number of sales. The website sales funnel describes the process or steps that your website visitors go through from the moment they arrive at the site until they fulfill your goal.

Start by breaking your sales process down into steps or stages that each visitor who buys from you will pass through. Increasing the flow at any step will increase your final sales numbers.

Website statistics packages such as Google Analytics allow you to set-up a sales funnel or goals to track this data automatically. This way you can make changes to your website and watch the impact. This allows you to change and refine your website conversion rate over time.

You have just seconds to grab a prospects attention. Use trigger words to attract visitors and then encourage action. Use emotional trigger words in headlines and your content writing. They motivate action and movement within the website.

Keywords and trigger words are both important in content writing. Keywords are used in search engine optimization and bring visitors to your website, usually via search engines. Trigger words create emotion and it is this emotion that encourages action.

In marketing, there are certain trigger words that create curiosity and interest. Trigger words are the words and phrases that trigger a user into clicking or buying. Coupling trigger words with a “call to action” is especially important to create a website that converts well.

12 trigger words that work to create positive emotions and help guide people into buying.

1. Free: Free is a powerful motivator to anyone on a budget.
2. Limited: Makes it exclusive or at least hard to get.
3. Fast: This speed word triggers the purchasing reflex. Fast results or fast delivery.
4. Guarantee: Make it risk free; a sure thing.
5. Save: Save time, save money…
6. New: Makes people curious; is it a breakthrough product?
7. Simple: Better than easy, but closely related.
8. Amazing: Attention grabbing. Combine with other power words to make it simply amazing!
9. Proven: Take the risk out because it is tried and true.
10. Important: Makes readers take notice. After all, they don’t want to miss anything.
11. Energize: Effective in psychology, health and wellness
12. You: Use the word “You” to create an emotional connection with your reader.

Online

1. Turn your website into a lead generation website with an email capture form.
2. Use A/B split testing to improve your website and PPC conversions.
3. Offer your prospects a free ebook or report if they opt in
4. Interact with website visitors by supplying valuable information using auto responders.
5. Add a clear call to action on your website such as “Request a Quote”
6. Do educational email marketing to your list.
7. Publish a weekly newsletter with “how-to tips”
8. Market new products to existing customers and to your email list.
9. Purchase leads from other lead generation websites
10. Optimize your website for more targeted traffic.
11. Advertise on the search engines (PPC advertising)
12. Write a blog (business blog marketing).
13. Write articles and post on article syndication sites.
14. Put on educational events through the Web (webinars)
15. Advertise on other websites using affiliate marketing.
16. Encourage past customers to write testimonials on Yelp, Google Maps, etc.
17. Encourage WOM advertising through social media (Twitter, a Facebook page, etc.)
18. Utilize social bookmarking on Reddit, Dig, Delicious, StumbleUpon, etc
19. Participate in forums to build authority, relationships and leads.
20. Video marketing is a great way to connect with people.
21. Advertise on Facebook.
22. Develop followers on Twitter.
23. Be an educator on Linked-In Answers

Offline

1. Use multiple sources for acquiring leads.
2. Direct mail post cards or sales letters
3. Follow up with existing customers every 90 days.
4. Use a follow-up tool such as a post card or note card
5. Hire a commission only sales force.
6. Speak regularly at business or trade events.
7. Put on a seminar or workshop
8. Print advertising (newspaper, magazines, trade journals)
9. Advertise on local cable TV.
10. Advertise on radio by purchase cheaper remnant advertising
11. Join a lead referral group
12. Be active in professional associations and your local chamber of commerce.
13. Encourage referrals from current customers.
14. Develop strategic Alliances and referral channels.
15. Offer payment for referrals to partners in related industries.
16. Customer complaints can, and should be treated as opportunities.
17. Publish regular press releases
18. Make cold calls
19. Distribute door-to-door flyers.
20. Become a community volunteer.

YouTube has now made editing your videos easier. YouTube has just introduced their new built-in online video editor. This can be found in YouTube’s “idea incubator” called TestTube.

YouTube’s editor allows you to do basic video editing like combining uploaded clips, trimming, editing and adding audio to your uploaded videos. You can do all of this without having to purchase or load software onto your computer.

This gives you the ability to intuitively arrange clips on a timeline, from inside your browser. To start editing , just drag the thumbnails of an uploaded video down to the filmstrip at the bottom. Your cursor will turn into scissors and you can begin trimming your video.

This isn’t the first time YouTube has introduced online video editing. In 2007, YouTube released their Remixer Tool. This was slow and buggy and was discontinued. The new system is a lot more simplified and early reviews say that it seems to work quite well.

YouTube’s new video editor is powered mostly by JavaScript. The interface is simple and quite easy to use. You can add music to your video from the AudioSwap library. YouTube however does reserve the right to display ads if you use their audio files.

The idea behind the video editor is to give the basic features of video editing they need in a cloud based application. This won’t replace the need for full featured desktop video editors.

Over the past 10 years chiropractors have had to dramatically change their marketing and advertising methods. Gone are the days where advertising in the yellow pages or in the local newspaper actually worked. The online yellow pages aren’t much better. Your prospective patients have moved online to the web and will search for you using Google..

What does this mean to your advertising strategies?

Website: This is the heart of your Internet marketing campaign. You need a professional looking site to instill confidence and trust. The design sould be polished and professional. Include an educational or learning center where they can learn about your methods and latest treatment options that are available.

Use video as much as possible to better engage your audience and create a connection with you as a provider. Have copies of new patient forms that they can print off and fill out at their leisure. Use a patient portal system that allow online booking of appointments.

Trust building: Your website should have a professional image. Include trust logos on your home page including BBB, ICA, ACA and any certifications and affiliations that you have. Create a good about us page. Use of video showing you or at least your voice helps build a connection even on your website. Including a blog helps build you up as an authority in your field.

Organic SEO: Top rankings on Google bring in more patients and establish you as the natural choice to go to. People naturally assume that the top ranked chiropractors are the best to get treatments from. How do people search for chiropractors? They typically search using a broad keyword phrase combined with a local city name. Get the help of an SEO specialist to help you. The top 5 ways people search for chiropractors in descending order:

1. “city” + chiropractor
2. chiropractor + “city”
3. chiropractic + “city”
4. “city” + chiropractic
5. “city” + chiropractors

Local Directories: Always sign-up and optimize local search listings. For Google, this is the Google Maps listing at Google Places. Bing and Yahoo have similar free listings. There are many other directory listings; some free and some paid. These help bring in referral traffic.

Web 2.0 Marketing: Create a facebook page and set-up a YouTube channel. Look at setting up a Twitter account. If you blog, you can have your blog automatically feed to your Facebook page and send out a tweet on Twitter.

Advertising Budget: How much should you invest in advertising? A rule of thumb is that any medical practice (physician, dentist, chiropractor, etc.) should invest 10% of their revenue into advertising and marketing.

You are busy creating a new website or updating your current site. You want to have a website that creates new leads or sales for your business. How do you go about this? How do you come up with just the right message?

1. Targeted: Your message should connect with a targeted customer segment. Don’t try and reach everyone who could possibly need your service. Go after your best buyer. Address the specific needs of that customer and how you will solve a problem of directly benefit them. Ask yourself, “How will what I offer make my customer’s life better?”
2. Focused message: You may have many exciting services and products to share with your visitors, but you need to create a primary focal point. Online viewers can only focus on one thing at a time. If you present many options, then they won’t hear any of them. If you have a number of services, show them simply and graphically with a link to a focused page about that service.
3. Active Voice: Write concisely, plainly and openly. Write using action oriented words to get your message across as quickly as possible. Speak to your reader’s emotions and engage them with your words. Don’t be elusive or try to reach everyone. Instead of saying, “Our service will help you be more effective in your marketing efforts.” Try saying, “Close 30% more sales with our service.”
4. Formatting: Format your page into small blocks of text that can be scanned. Use headlines, sub-headings, bulleted lists, etc. People will give your web page just 2-3 seconds to understand what you offer. If they can’t understand your offer at a glance, then they will leave by hitting the back button.
5. Action: Your visitor arrives ready to take action. Tell them what to do. Make your call to action clear, visual and clearly visible. If someone arrives and then leaves without taking some action, what have you accomplished?

In less than one second a visitor forms an initial impression of your website. They then spend a total of 3 seconds deciding whether to leave or look further. If they stay, you have a total of 10 seconds to build a relationship and get them to decide if your website is worthy of action.

Business marketing has completely changed over the past 10 years. Businesses today must market themselves with an effective business website design to stay competitive.

• 76% of the U.S. population uses the Internet according to Internet World Stats
• 1.8 billion People in the world are online today.
• The average Internet user spends 13 hours per week online (excluding emails) according to a Harris Interactive poll.

The opportunity for businesses has shifted from advertising in print newspapers and yellow pages to website marketing. The challenge is how to be visible and standout from your competition.

The answer is by strategically planning your website to present a focused message to your best buyer and then encouraging them to take action. When someone happens onto your website, you have just a few seconds to convince them you company has the solution to their problem.

1. Purpose: Identify a clear objective of what your website is supposed to accomplish for your business. This could be generate leads, sell products, sign people up or build a relationship.
2. Audience: Identify your best buyer and what they are searching for. What specifically are they expecting you to help them with?
3. Message: Create a focused message that answers the needs of your best buyer. You need to grab their attention, show them you offer what they are searching for and then build their interest.
4. Action: Provide a visual and clear path to action that will help your visitor and accomplish the purpose for your site. Without action, your visitor’s time on your site provides you no value.

All of this needs to happen in a quick 10 seconds. You need to plan your visitor interaction so they can reach their objectives in the few seconds that you have of their time.

You are spending a fortune on yellow page ads for your restaurant and it’s just not working. You hand our flyers for your landscaping business, but no one is calling. You think you want to try the web, but how do you get started?

Many local businesses start by putting up the equivalent to a brochure on a do it yourself type website, but this just doesn’t work. You need strategy and a plan behind your website. Here is what you need to do.

1. Customer focused: When creating a website for your local business, you have to start by thinking like your customer. A visitor arrives to your website looking for something. It could be your menu with pricing, your phone number, the hours you are open or even driving directions. Whatever they want, you need to make it easy for them to find on your website.
2. Encourage action: You want your visitors to do something when they arrive. If you want them to call, place your phone number in a large font on the top of your website. If you want them to come in, place your address prominently on every page. If you want them to buy, make it visual and prominent for an arriving visitor to see.
3. Local search: If you want your website to come up on a Google search for your local area, then clearly state what services you provide and the cities you serve. People search locally combining the city with what they are searching for. This could be a Denver florist, a Chicago plumber or a Portland restaurant. Use these words in your text, in your headlines and hyperlinks.
4. Directories: You also want to get your free local listings on Google Places, Yahoo! Local or Bing Local. This will bring your listing up even if you don’t have a website.

Sign-up for a FREE 2-1/2 hour webinar designed to teach you how to market your business on the web: Website Marketing Mastery 2010. (Tuesday, June 8, 2010, 7:30AM Pacific Time – 10AM Pacific). This webinar is designed for the small business owner that wants to learn how to market their business on the web.