| The
response mechanisms that a business Web site uses are
even more important than getting tons of traffic to
the site. This is because you can have all the traffic
in the world, but if you don't have a way to capture
them, the whole endeavor goes to waste. Here are some
of the tools used on a Web site:
- Soft response
tools
- Harder response
mechanisms
- Offers
- Popups
Mistakes
Sites Make in Converting Traffic -
Your site has been marketed, you have good content,
and your traffic numbers are ever increasing. But the
problem you are facing, is no one is buying anything
... in fact - they aren't even e-mailing your company
through the site. You are wondering what is wrong with
your site. There are many common pitfalls that Webmasters
make (or company decision-makers make) that have a negative
effect on converting traffic into leads and sales. Here
are some of the causes:
Forms
are too long - Marketers want lots of information
for marketing purposes (see business intelligence).
That is ideal for them. The problem is Web site visitors
don't like to fill out long forms, and will abandon
them at extremely high rates. Therefore we recommend
that your main forms be very, very simple. If you want
to have a more complex form there are ways to handle
that process once you have started a relationship with
a prospect.
The next
step is too hard to find - Site navigation
and location of response buttons is very important for
a user friendly site. Make sure the buttons are obvious
- they really stand out from the rest of the page.
The tool
is not suitable for the audience - Some response
methods work extremely well for some businesses and
very poorly for others. Make sure the tool you are using
is appropriate for your visitors.
The enticement
is not compelling - Some of the most effective
response tools have some kind of hook or offer. This
can be a newsletter, a free report, or some other low
cost item. Know your target audience and produce items
which are attractive to them. For selling items make
sure you know what they want to buy and have a great
selection.
More Response
Tools
Here are some other
kinds of response mechanisms which make your site more
interactive, and can help you to gather e-mails and
process transactions:
Instant
Fulfillment - Automatic or manual reply to
the request entirely by e-mail with the information
in the body of the e-mail or as an attachment.
Download
Directions - The e-mail sent in response to
the user's request contains details about how to download
information as an text document or Adobe PDF file to
their local computer. The reply email may refer them
to a special page or simply give them a link to click
on for the download.
Private
Access Area - The individual receives details
about how to access a private area of your Web site
with exclusive information, either through a special
URL or a password.
Traditional
Fulfillment - The user submits a Web-based
form or sends an e-mail and requests a response via
traditional mail.Web Fax -- The system automatically
generates and sends a fax as the result of the request.
Subscription -- The user subscribes to a monthly or
quarterly e-mail newsletter on a health topic of interest.
Automated
Reminder Services - The consumer can sign up
to receive e-mail reminders for mammography screenings
or other important health-related events.
Using
Pop-Up Surveys
Many Web sites place a simple feedback banner on a client's
site. This data collection method is called convenience
sampling and it can cause "self-selection"
bias. This means that there is a greater likelihood
that those who are very satisfied (or very dissatisfied)
with the Web site will click the icon and respond to
the survey. This self-selected sample produces data
that are not representative of the entire population
of visitors to your Web site.
Our Pop-Up survey
methodology virtually eliminates the problem of self-selection
bias as our software chooses respondents randomly. In
other words, with a Pop-up survey all types of visitors
(satisfied, dissatisfied or neutral) have an equal chance
of being selected and participating in the survey. Quite
simply, our methodology produces the highest level of
statistical accuracy available on the Web today. Another
reason why we use the "Pop-up survey" method
is it greatly reduces the amount of time required for
data collection. Typical feedback banners produce a
very poor response rate. If you have a feedback icon
on your site you know that the response rate is typically
less than one out of 500 visitors. This means that data
collection takes weeks or even months. |
