80% of Your Web Site is Maintenance Judy Cullins ©2003 All Rights Reserved.Once your Web site is up, you must maintain it. Maintenance means changes, and each time you make a change, you may make a mistake. If your visitors get a link that doesn't work or incomplete instructions, or if your copy is lackluster instead of passionate, they will leave your site and not bookmark it.
Before you invite Web potential customers to see your masterpiece you need to check and correct all parts of your site, especially
home page. Use these 9 tests to maintain your Web site.
1. Test your headlines. You have 4 seconds to get your visitor's attention. Test your title or opening sentence. This one item alone can make a huge difference in responses you receive.
Instead of wasted words "welcome," put a benefit with a link to either a story about your product, a sales message, or straight to order page for your product.
When I made "Quadruple your Web Sales in Just Three Months "a hyperlink to my sales piece for "High Traffic = High Web Sales", my Web sales increased ten times from original one, and this is only 7 months time. If your headline doesn't do it, game is over.
2. Test your offer. People perceive more value when you add an incentive to buy. Give them a bonus FREE report or a tips list with order. It takes little time and effort to create, but it increases sales ten-fold.
For holidays, I sent out a half price notice for my nine eBooks. The results amazed me.
3. Test your promotion piece by emailing your preferred audience several choices. Which one would they buy? Emphasize different benefits, try different phrases, power words and metaphors. Appeal to their different senses like smell, touch, emotions and visual.
4. Test your price. A price that is too low is as bad as a price too high. Too low a price devalues your product or service. Potential clients or buyers might think, "If it's that cheap, it must not be good."
One myth is that eBooks have less value than print books. If your book has information your one particular audience wants, it has high value and you must price it accordingly. My eBooks are in 8 ½ by 11" format. That means they have twice information as a regular size book. They can be purchased by regular eMail or put into Portable Document Format (PDF).
5. Test your copy. Change testimonials or pictures every so often. Redo your opening page and closing page. Instead of "Subscribe to my ezine," put a short testimonial from a famous person in your field right before "click here" to subscribe. Always give your visitors a reason to buy. Make your copy "you" oriented. Dan Poynter, author of The Self-Publishing Manual, said this about my free monthly ezine "The Book Coach Says... ezine is chock full of useful information - totally worth your time."
