Business Website Advice

In my series of posts on improving conversion - moving visitors to buyer status -  I must stress the importance of well placed testimonials.  The topic is more complex for one post so watch out for my series. 

Testimonials are key.  Be forewarned, having just one page for testimonials  gets barely a 1 on a scale of one to 10. Better than nothing but…barely. We can do better.

Focus, placement, length, levels of trustworthiness - all pertain to testimonials which I’ll discuss and give you tips about in future posts.

Why testimonials work to convert.  To help website visitors decide to become buyers of your product or service sprinkle excerpts of targeted testimonials throughout your website.  Research into the psychology of buying tells us people are more comfortable seeing others (like themselves) happy with their purchase, discussing their experience.  When we are unsure we hesitate and what can push us through that hesitation is hearing other buyer’s experience.  Sorry, we generally don’t believe the business owner because we expect them to be biased, and we don’t believe the salesperson because we expect them to be more interested in their commission than our purchase satisfaction.  

A reader prompted me for more info about conversions after my post on Trip Advisor Ranking. I answered with this:

Here’s a few more words to clarify my opening point about visitors being pushed over their hesitation - pushed from looker to buyer - by reading positive comments from happy customers.

Traffic conversion and it’s subtle complexities will be my focus the next few months because ultimately it is what website goals are all about -  doing more business, getting more buyers, creating more loyal happy customers.

Okay - my point is research on buyer pyschology tells us during the purchasing decision, people are often converted from looky-loos to buyer status after hearing other people like themselves are happy with the product/service.

Perhaps it makes us feel more comfortable, we’re not alone, we’ve all been ‘had’ before so we look around what others have to say.  

You know the experience of being the first ones at a restaurant? We think, whats wrong here. Compare this with seeing the restuarant next door with at least a few happy customers.  We want to be reassured with our decision to buy.

 You can google ‘buyer pyschology’ if you wish more on conversion research.

Testimonials serve this function on websites.  Thus my advice is always to sprinkle short excerpts from testimonials throughout your website. 

More detail on how to do this on future posts.�

Negative comments warrant a quick- as in within 24 hours. Your genuine well written response will be a huge step toward combating any down side and can even earn you more respect and more business.

Use the public management response tool right there on Trip Advisor. Your reply will show up below the criticism. 

In my previous post I recommended private thanks to positive comments, no public replies on TA.

However, if you have something pointed out that sounds like a criticism -  be Johnny on the spot within 24 hours.

It can be daunting but get it right and you can bring in more business. People cheer those who try to do well. You must not sound arrogant or canned - same ol response to everyone. Don’t smack of  the insincere ‘Have a nice day’ category.  

Write a management response which:

1. expresses authentic appreciation for their comments as a way for you to improve - an ongoing priority of yours
2. expresses authentic regret
3. is written preferrably the people responsible and tells the way(s) in which the problem will be remedied
4. promise to welcome them back for an improved experience

Keywords above - sound sincere, genuine and authentic.  Why? To be believed. 

Since we were 5 years old we could tell when Johnny was fakin it, and we learnt to hold a grudge.  I’m sorry has to sound real.

Rewarded for trying. Even more business. Tell use specific steps that really show us you are thinking about it, what steps you are taking and how long it might take. 

When I read how you have responded to a situation that might not even be an area of concern to me, you will win my vote of trust.  I hear the message that if something comes up while I’m your guest, you will treat me well and do what you can to see things right.  I’m ready to book with you!

We don’t expect you to be perfect…just reasonable and customer focused.

Congratulations to all of you responding quickly and authentically. It’s not easy.

Please share your experience of venturing into the uncomfortable area of dealing with complaints.

I recommend no public response to positive comments on Trip Advisor re your accommodation, but yes do email your private appreciative thank you . 

Don’t tread on their space. It’s not the culture of their prime users. Why not write a management response on TA? It’s about how travellers use Trip Advisor - in the first place it is for them, user to user, not for marketing your business.  BTW you maybe encouraged  to respond to every comment, but I question the motive.

Leave good things be.  That was my response to an accommodation owner who asked my advice.  She had received several well written, detailed, thoughtful Trip Advisor comments and wondered if the TA ‘management reply’ was an appropriate response.  I told her write a private thank you, stay out of TA for positive comments.

Be seen as trustworthy, not a marketer. Because it is perceived as a highly trustworthy travellers’ site - a user to user advice forum  - Trip Advisor gets very heavy use. International and domestic US and UK travellers check in with TA before making their final arrangements with whomever that might be. I didn’t once in the US, got burnt, came home and wrote about the bad experience with believing over-hyped website content.

Before travellers buy, they usually consult TA for what ‘other people like me’ think about the place before parting with a deposit etc, because they’ve been burnt too often by the hype of one-eyed websites or their lies of omision.  

DO NOT RISK SOUNDING LIKE A HYPE MACHINE yourself, thus, unless you got A+ in writing thank you’s as a kid, leave good enough alone on the public forum. Send a private thank you to show your genuine appreciation for their positive report including a warm welcome back.

Sound authentic, genuine and human.  That should be easy, I’d bed that’s in part why they wrote you a good report.

Monitor daily.  Whether you encourage comments on your website, Finda in NZ, any other directory or Trip Advisor besure to monitor daily.  Yes daily.

Negative comments - they require a quick public response. If you do them well they can even bring you business.  See my next post.

Every business owner wants customers to leave glowing online reviews with the highest ranking possible.  What could be wrong with that?  It’s common knowledge that online buyers and travellers move from looker status to buyer/booker status from the nudge of positive reviews.  We want as many as we can get, right? Yes, but… 

Here’s a short case study for all business owners about being proactive and aware of your ranking status with your sector’s major online marketing directories. Read the rest of this entry »

Jump on this fun unique option for thanking your customers.  Tis the season to have fun, show your personality and avoid looking so last century.   Yahoo rocks.

My nephew, Jared Kozel, was co-art director of this Yahoo card building project. Got his Facebook notification on my Blackberry yesterday - snowman building could commence!  

Fun for me on many levels….play with tech, customise my card, recall his mum’s comments about this toddler with the quirky humour.

Here it is… my snowman greeting to show my readers how I intend to spend the next few weeks.  The filling in my right hand is homemade with the KitchenAid attachment I bought myself earlier this year….cool, rich, deeee licious and very fattening.  No doubt you’ll hear about the gym on my New Year’s Resolutions list (kidding).

Build your own.  http://snowman.yahoo.com    Please send me one so I can see the personalities behind my mailing list…or reply below with the URL Yahoo provides so we all can see!

Please Santa, I’ve been so very good all year (boring).  This is my third year sending you a list. Are you paying attention?

I’ve made a list of rewards to make your job easier.  Perhaps my friends have some further suggestions. 

Readers, help me please.  Give me some ideas of what I could add.  I wouldn’t want to miss any fun in 2010. Reply below. Read the rest of this entry »

The Monday following the US Thanksgiving holiday, last Thursday of November, was coined Cyber Monday in 2005. Does it roll onto NZ shores?

Every year online retailers note a significant jump in online sales on that Monday. After the 4 day weekend, people return to their workplace broadband and go shopping online. Watch out you productivity experts - that Monday is nigh.

Do we have a comparable Cyber Monday here in NZ? Do my local e-tailer readers with customers from the US feel the cyber Monday wave come this way?

Cyber Monday isn’t the biggest day for online sales, that happens sometime between 5 - 15 December.

Would my local retail readers please comment.

BTW cynics say cyber Monday is actually the industry fanning the fires…smoldering as they may be this year.

Save this list of 10 things to do for your holiday break. Business owners often work on their website over the holiday break. That’s right, while staff play and read junk novel on the beach, website owners plan a new website or revise and rewrite pages.  Here’s a list of things to keep in mind while you work on your website. Read the rest of this entry »

I fell victim to a common online marketing mistake: over hyped copy. Implied quality. Mental pictures painted with emotion hooking terms.  Lies of omission.

I swallowed the bait, booked 3 nights accommodation online, frowned when I spied the shabby exterior, about cried when I saw multiple holes in the carpet when I opened the front door.  My self-talk said “hmmmm, renovated  must have been back in 1950….I’ve been had…grumble”.   Checked out after 1 night, unhappy, telling my friends. 

Hold on. They could have done better. We can write it differently and avoid disapointment. Read the rest of this entry »

Have you been looking at your Google Analytics and wondered what the heck is Bing?  You are not alone.  Released 1 June 2009, Bing is the most recent Microsoft web search engine.

Bing has grabbed about 10 percent of the search market mainly through their deal with Yahoo.  New Zealand Xtra users may unknowingly use Bing via their Yahoo search box.

What this means to you is your Analytics reports may show a growing number of visitors coming to you by way of Bing.  Interesting but you can ignore it.

End comment - I’d remain focussed on your Google ranking knowing they are the SE of choice and performance.

Don’t you wonder how they come up with these names?