But You can Learn how to Turn Your Website into a Place People are Happy to Stay (and Buy Your Services)

Now I haven’t actually seen your website, so how do I know this haemorrhaging is happening to you?

No, I’m not some kind of magician.

Well, studies indicate that when someone arrives at your website, you have less than 7 seconds to grab their attention and keep them there. You may even have as little as 3 seconds. That’s about the time it took you to read these last 2 sentences!

If you’re not telling those potential customers very quickly why they should stick around, they probably won’t. It is long known that a website’s homepage should answer the Who, What & Why Questions, yet very few sites actually address those questions immediately, directly and simply. They fluff around, mention ‘mission statements’ and use the word “we” a lot. And lose potential customers.

Does your website make this kind of mistake? Go and check it now … I’ll wait here

In my 16 years of web experience I’ve seen many, many website and very, very few do this right. Now the structure of a good homepage – and how to write one – would take too long to mention here but do make sure yours addresses those Who, What & Why questions.

Your customers will love you for it. Well, they will like you enough to stick around on your site longer, at least.

OK, here’s another question for you: What is the primary purpose of your website?

If you can’t answer that, how is a potential customer going to know? If you just want to have a ‘web presence’ (or brochureware site, as they’re known in the web design industry) because everyone else is on the web, that’s fine. But like those brochures that sit ignored on your receptionist’s desk, don’t expect your website to be viewed much either.

People have short attention spans and those are even shorter when on the web, so your website must be laser-beam focused on what you want to achieve with those potential customers. If the primary purpose of your website is to get potential customers to pick up the phone and give you a call, tell them to do it and give your phone number right there.

I am astounded by the number of sites which make it hard to find their contact details. Sure, this is often on the “Contact Us” page (and you’d better have one of these) but your phone number should really be on every page, in the header or in the footer, or both.

You could do worse than keeping the mantra “Don’t make my customers think” in your head when reviewing or creating your own site.

How easy is it to find your phone number on your website? Go and check it now … actually, finish reading this, then go and check.

As I mentioned in my previous post on How To Attract Local Customers via Google for Free, Google now shows local business listings for searches including a location. In that post I used the example search phrase “plumber auckland”. Google reports that there were over 6,000 searches per month in New Zealand for keywords related to “plumber” and almost 700 of those were people looking for plumber specifically in Auckland.

The numbers vary from industry to industry but does your website specifically target any of those groups of searching people relevant to you? If not, you should be. These are people who are searching the web for the answers and help you can give them.

What are you and your website doing to effectively capture a portion of those potential customers?

Have you thought about actively advertising with Google to capture those people and bring them to your website to sell your services to them? The Yellow Pages and traditional advertising is dying a slow death, by the way.

So if you know What the primary purpose of your website is, and everything on your site is geared towards achieving that goal and is customer friendly and focused, then  you’re already well ahead of the pack and ready for business in the 21st century.

P.S. If you’ve been thinking it’s time to update your website but aren’t sure where to start, here my blatant sales pitch: Take a look at my Website Warrant Of Fitness. It checks over 110 points on your website and gives you a full report on what issues need to be addressed.

It will save you time and money. Just recently an accountant had me check her ‘brand new’ website and I gave her my comments on what was required to bring it in line with what customers really want. The cost her web designer gave for ‘fixing’ her new site was almost the same as getting it built in the first place. Measure twice – cut once!

Had you noticed? Google has changed the way it shows search results for local areas. This is great news for local businesses – particularly those who are smart enough to take advantage of this new feature now.

In this article, you can learn how to make sure you’re included in your area’s free listing and also how to get a better placement.

Google Local Business Search Provides High Visibility in the Search Results

If you search for a business related term and include a location (ie “plumbers auckland”), the results will look a bit different from what you got in the past. Instead of jumping straight into ‘organic’ search results after the paid adverts, it now shows a map of the local area and up to 10 business in that area.

It also immediately displays the company names, website addresses, phone numbers and an indication of any customer reviews. This is great exposure!

A customer can also get direction stright to you by clicking on the map to jump intoGoogle Maps mode.

As you can see, if your business gets listed prominently on Google local search results, you will usually appear before businesses competing to be number 1 in the organic search results. This can bring you many new clients every month.

How to Get Listed in Google Local Business Center

Adding your listing to Google Local Business search results is very easy. Just follow these step by step instructions and your listing could be online within 48 hours.

Step 1: Log in

• Navigate to http://www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter
• Log into your Google account (or create one if you need to)
• Click “Add new business” button

Step 2: Create Your Listing

• Enter your Country, Company/Organization name, Street Address, City, etc.
• Add your Phone, Email address, Website address and Description.
• On the right a preview window will display your listing and location.
• After you have entered your information click the “Next” button.

Step 3: Add or Claim Your Listing

The next step is to “Add” or “Claim” your listing. If Google already has a listing for your business, you will have the option claiming the current listing or adding the listing you just entered.

In this example, this is a new company, so I’d click the “Add Listing” option.

To claim the listing, click “Claim” and follow the instructions. Google will verify your listing by calling the phone number you entered. Answer the phone and type in the pin number listed on the screen.

You can also verify your listing by having Google send a postcard with your pin number to your address. Follow the verification instructions on the postcard. It’s not junk mail, so don’t throw it away!

Step 4: Add Some “Flair” to Your Listing

Once your listing has been verified, you will be able to provide additional information. Be sure to add the Category of your business, your Hours of Operation, Payment options, additional Details (such as parking instructions, etc.)

Add some flair to your listing too! Google Maps will allow you to add up to 10 photos and 5 videos.

Note: Once you connect your listing to your Google account, you can log into the Google Business Center any time to edit your listing and add photos or videos.

Success!

The result of a well-optimized Google Local business listing is top positioning on Google and the Google Maps system with a personalised listing including your business name, address and contact information.

Step 5: Optimize Your Listing to Get to the Top of the List

Google gathers business information from numerous websites (online Yellow Pages directories, and other sources) to populate Google search results. Yes, you can easily enter your business information into the Google Local Business Center for free, but to be listed at the top of the list you’ll need to optimise it. This is similar to Search Engine Optimization in that you’ll need to get your website listed on other local websites and databases to rank highly.

Tips for Optimising Your Google Local business Listing

Think Locally – Having a business location in the CENTER of town helps you get to the top of the list. The closer your office is to the center of your city, the higher your listing is usually positioned on the Google Maps list.

A search for “plumbers auckland” is more likely to show results in central Auckland, rather than an outlying subburb. Google’s result “pins” on the map start at the centre and radiate outwards.

Get listed in other local directories. Local Search Engines like Google compile and display their Local/Maps results by gathering details about local businesses by crawling and parsing data from other online websites, directories and databases.

Having listings with the local online “Yellow Pages” can (and usually does) cause your listing to be placed higher on the list giving you more exposure and website traffic. So, get your website listed in the local “Yellow Pages” and local directories like these below.

If you’re in New Zealand:

• Yellow Pages – http://www.yellowpages.co.nz
• Findaa – http://www.finda.co.nz
• New Sealand Search – http://www.nzs.com
• UBD – http://www.ubd.co.nz

Or for the US:

• SuperPages.com – http://www.superpages.com
• YellowPages.com (AT&T) – http://www.yellowpages.com
• Local.com – http://www.local.com
• CitySearch.com – http://www.citysearch.com
• 10Best.com – http://www.10best.com
• Allmenus.com – http://www.allmenus.com
• ChefMoz.com – http://www.chefmoz.com
• DiningGuide.com – http://www.diningguide.com

Research Your competition

Competitive research can help you find out which local databases are helping your competitors get higher listings than you. To view a list of your competitor’s in-bound links:

• Go to www.google.com
• Type “link:www.YourCompetitor.com” (without the quotes) into the search box.
• Click Search and you’ll be presented with a list of websites and directories that link to your competitor’s website. Look for local-oriented directories and Yellow Page directories and consider getting listed in them as well.

Warning – Don’t SPAM Google!

Google will delete listings of businesses that “SPAM” their system by submitting inaccurate information. Google now has Local Business Center Guidelines to let you know what is and what is NOT allowed in your Google listing. Google’s new guidelines include the following:

• Represent your business exactly as it appears in real life.
• List information that provides as direct a path to your business as you can.
• Only include listings for businesses that you represent.
• Don’t participate in any behavior with the intention (or result) of listing your business more times than it exists. Service area businesses, for example, should not create a listing for every town they service.
• Use the description and custom attribute fields to include additional information about your listing. This type of content should never appear in your business’s title or address fields.

Summary

Google Local Business Search is a great way to make it easy for your customers to find you so you can build your business. If you have a business that caters to local customers in your city or town, add your free listing on Google and optimise it.

Need help with your Google listing?

If you’d just like someone to do your listing for you, or would like to get serious and start using Google Adwords to reel in those new customers, give me (chris) a call on +64 9 8455-105 or or send me a message.

As a new Twitter user, I just saw this amusing article reprinted from Modern Mechanics 1935. Yet again this proves that there’s not too much under the sun that is really really new.

Just like Twitter, only ... older

I can’t see Twitter being that convenient if you had to drop a coin in every time you post a message … although it might cut down on the number of spam tweets. I really don’t want to know what you had for dinner last night.

On the user interface side of things it all looks very simple: write a message on the paper, put in a coin and crank up the message. Of course, you then have to hope that not too many people want to use this device, so that your message doesn’t zoom off the top too quickly!

The text reads:

Robot Messenger Displays Person-to-Person Notes In Public

TO AID persons who wish to make or cancel appointments or inform friends of their whereabouts, a robot message carrier has been introduced in London, England.

Known as the “notificator,” the new machine is installed in streets, stores, railroad stations or other public places where individuals may leave messages for friends.

The user walks up on a small platform in front of the machine, writes a brief message on a continuous strip of paper and drops a coin in the slot. The inscription moves up behind a glass panel where it remains in public view for at least two hours so that the person for whom it is intended may have sufficient time to observe the note at the appointed place. The machine is similar in appearance to a candy-vending device.

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For a small sum Londoners may leave messages for friends in public places. When written on “notificator,” message moves up behind window, remaining in view for two hours.