Inspire me! Impress me!

Imagine for just a moment that I am your customer. I do a Google Search, I come across your website, and
BAM!
You now have 20 seconds to earn my interest or I go away.

So what do you do? What should you have on your site?

There is a certain perceived glamor that surrounds fancy websites with lots of movement and interactivity. But the truth is, most consumers don't need a flashy website to be impressed. What impresses people is EASILY finding what they want and understanding what is in front of them. In the book Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug, his point is a website should be designed and written in a way that lets consumers accomplish their intended tasks easily and directly. Here is a sample chapter.

So what do you do?

[ ] Make sure your site is really targeted towards what you want to promote. In some cases, this may mean you create a specialty site dedicated only to the area of practice you want to grow. Don't try to slip in other irrelevant subject areas. That defeats the entire purpose.

What should you have on your site?

[ ] Images. Include images of people who resemble your target market. It is no secret, people like things they can relate to. Also include images of things that make you special. For example, if you have some technology or resource that most others do not don't just tell me about it, show me.

[ ] Easy to Understand Navigation. Are your navigation elements labeled clearly and in the same way that you refer to them in your practice? Whatever you do, don't clutter it. Beware the clutter.

So are you doing these things? If you are not sure, call your account manager. We do not expect you to know these things. We are here to help educate you about web marketing. It is literally our job to ensure you are doing the right things when it comes to promoting your site. Don't let your customers leave your site uninspired and unimpressed.

Track with Me

The account managers at Page 1 Solutions offered up a collective cheer of joy when we heard that call tracking is going to be standard with all new client contracts. Why is that? Because we know, just like you do, that most new business contacts you via phone, not by email. While we have long been able to keep track of the messages that come to you through your contact forms, there have been rumblings about the need for call tracking since somewhere around the Jurassic age.

No doubt you have a number of questions about the purpose and effectiveness of call tracking. I have attempted to anticipate a few of them, and provide answers as follows...

What does call tracking do?

Call tracking keeps specific track of the number and length of calls that come to your office through a particular phone number. It may surprise you to know that your phone company does this every month and sends you a report on it. In lay terms, we call it a "phone bill."

How does call tracking work?

The goal for call tracking for a website is to determine how many calls are directly generated by a website. To do that, we have to create a separate 800-number to put on the website - separate from the one you currently use.

So...do I have to have two phones, then?

Happily, no. The phone line set up for your website transfers directly to your main line when it is dialed. The new patient or client dials the number on the site and is sent to your main phone line.

Why should I know how many people are calling directly from my website?

Let's pretend you have a three-strategy marketing plan: web marketing, TV marketing, and print ads. Wouldn't you like to know what percentage of the calls you're getting can be attributed to each section of your efforts? We sure would!

I already have an 800-number.

Great! Do you use it in all your marketing campaigns? If so, it won't specifically work for tracking calls from your website. If you're only using it on your website, let us know, and there's a good chance you already have access to call tracking without even realizing it.

I already have a website set up with Page 1.

If you're reading this, there's a good likelihood that you're already a client with us. If that's the case, call tracking is available, and you shouldn't hesitate to take advantage of the option. You can contact your account manager to ask for more details, or to let us know that you're as excited about this new option as we are.

I don't care how many people are calling me from my website. I just want to be number 1 on the search engines!!

Great! Let us know that too! We know that some clients are more interested in the number of new clients they're brining in, while others know that the country as a whole is moving toward the internet as its primary source of information, and still others just want to show up on the search engines above the competitor down the street. Whatever your goal is for your web marketing, make sure you're letting your account manager know. We can better help you reach your goal if we know what it is.

When you are beating your competitor on the search engines, showing up in that coveted number-1 spot on Google, and reaching that goal you've set for yourself, your next goal can be to figure out if it's really paying off to buy those two 30-second spots during the Super Bowl half-time.

Is Broadband used broadly?

When considering adding flash to your website, or deciding how many pictures to have on a page we often hear the questions, "Will everyone be able to load my website? Do people still use dial up?"

A recent study by Emarketing showed that 80% of Generation Y and X, ages 18 to 42, use broadband Internet connection at either work or home. Even more reveling, 64% of baby boomers, ages 43 to 61, also have broadband Internet either at work or home.

This data clearly shows the prevalence of high speed internet and the convincingly decline of dial up Internet from both home and work computers. With the advances in technology, these percentages will only increase over time.

If you're interested in adding flash to your website contact your Account Manager for more information.

Pay Per Click - Common Misconceptions

Here are the top five Pay Per Click Misconceptions and truth behind each one.

1. Pay Per Click converts less often then SEO.
1. Both PPC and SEO are great ways to generate traffic and email leads from your website. Although each situation is unique, PPC can generate not just more leads, but better leads. With PPC you control where you're listed on the search engine and what you want your ad to say. By controlling the specific search you want to show up for, you're able to filter serious candidates from browsers.
2. Sponsored listings are less relevant then natural listings.
1. Sponsored listings are listed at the top of each page and highlighted to stand out. Often users associate these listings as more important than natural listings because they understand companies pay to be listed there. That being said, both hold credibility and ultimately are both great avenues to generate traffic and leads.
   
3. PPC is not worth doing if you're scanning well in the natural listings.
1. The more times users see your name the more they become comfortable with you. By having multiple listings on the first page you also increase the likelihood of your site being visited.
4. PPC costs more money then SEO.
1. Although this can be the case depending on the competitive nature of the keywords you are bidding on and the frequency they are clicked on; PPC can also often cost less than SEO. Developing a balanced plan that utilizes both of these strategies is often the best method to reach the greatest share of your target market.
5. "Click Fraud" is a huge problem.
1. With Google Adwords, the program we use and recommend, Google has security systems in place to identify potential click fraud. In cases identified as possible click fraud Google will not charge your account for any of the clicks that occur from the same IP address. Yahoo! is very similar in the safeguards they have in place and will also not charge an account that registers several clicks on an ad from the same IP address. Overall, Google and Yahoo! are very cautious and protective of their advertisers to prevent any potential fraud.
   

Web Video: Making Believers of Us All

Using video on the web isn't a new idea, but where it was historically problematic, we're now playing a whole new game. It is now safe to say that the matters that made video risky in the past have settled enough to make video a worthwhile venture for a practice marketing itself on the web.

Bandwidth used to be the biggest problem. In order to put video on the web, you used to have to compress it until the picture was barely recognizable, and the viewing area had to be the size of a miniature post-it note. It is still true that different video platforms may require a visitor to your website to download software to be able to view your video, or that users with slow internet connections may not be able to view the video at all. All that said, the Internet has grown to embrace video, and some predict that the Internet and television will eventually merge to the point that websites without video will become archaic. But let's focus on the present.

Video can do so much more for you than just make your site look high-tech. By adding more types of media to your site, you increase your exposure on the web, and also your site’s appeal to various audiences. There are entire search bots and websites on the Internet solely dedicated to looking for video. If you have a video, we can submit your video to all of those video sites with the goal of getting more incoming links, and therefore more exposure. (In fact, we routinely do so for our clients who already have video on their websites.)

Search engines like Google and Yahoo have entire pages of search results dedicated to serving up video, audio, and images as search results. Not to mention the advent of Google's Universal Search, which some people are making waves about. This diversity in media can make your site more visible in the eyes of the search engines.

Video can also increase your credibility. The public perception is that video on websites is technically impressive, but it also gives you the opportunity to speak directly to your audience, which sends the message that you know what you're talking about, and are confident in the message you’re sending. Like it or not, if you say it on video, your message is more convincing: seeing is believing.

Video increases the time that the average person spends on your site. Not everyone will watch your video, and those who do watch your video may not watch the entire video unless it's very short, under a minute for example. Luckily, video length is not crucial. A visitor who views your video is more likely to feel a personal connection with you or your practice, and is therefore more likely to look around other areas of your site. If you can extend your average visitor session, you'll find you are getting more emails.

(If you’re interested in using video as a conversion tool on your site, but don’t have any yet, contact your AM. Page 1 offers video at about half the cost of a comparable package through the competition.)

In short, having video on your site provides three major benefits:

1. It can provide increased credibility to your practice.

2. It expands the venues through which you can market your site.

3. It encourages visitors to remain on your site longer, helping convert them from visitors to leads.

If you have a video you send out to potential patients, consider putting it on your website. If you're featured on the news, be sure to get that video out there. Even better, ask us to produce a custom video for you with you and your staff speaking to your audience and with testimonials to increase your credibility. Don't let a web marketing resource go to waste!