http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php SoftwareCEO discussion forums en Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:59:32 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=95 Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:05:25 GMT How would you like to get more website visitors to clicks that *Buy Now* button - or *Contact Me* or *Download our Latest Report*, or *Take a Product Tour*. It’s not hard to do with a little testing. The examples I listed above are all calls to action. Not surprising, these are one of the most... How would you like to get more website visitors to clicks that Buy Now button - or Contact Me or Download our Latest Report, or Take a Product Tour. It’s not hard to do with a little testing.

The examples I listed above are all calls to action. Not surprising, these are one of the most critical aspects of your website - anything that gets a visitor to do something that moves them farther along the path to becoming a paying customer.

Calls to action can be in the form of text links, buttons, images and just about anything else you can think of on a web page. How you present these calls to action has a big affect on how many people take the action. And you’re not limited to just one type.

In addition to testing the type of link, you can test:

• placement on the page 

• colors

• wording

• type font 

• Size

• style

• shape 

• overall page design – how well the call to action stands out from the rest of the page’s content.

You can test one or more variables at the same time.

If you choose to test a single variable – what type of call to action button works best, for example – you’ll be running an AB test. If you choose to test multiple variables at the same time – say, type of button, wording and placement on the page – you’ll want to run a multivariate test. Both are easy to set up with Google Website Optimizer.

If you have questions about this or any other test, just leave a comment on this post.

Susan
Clicks 'n Conversions ]]> Susan Tatum http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=95 http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=93 Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:29:47 GMT One of the issues I see a lot on the websites of companies headquartered outside the U.S. is that they tend to be a bit impersonal.

Very often they have great information about the company's products and services - lots of features and benefits - the software sounds good, clearly the quality is excellent.

But something's missing.

They're talking to us because the website isn't converting the way they were hoping it would. They get people to the site, but they come and then they leave without doing anything.

Why?

Often it is because the core value proposition is missing.

The company hasn't done a really good job of explaining why people buy the software.

Yes, they've talked at length about the features and benefits.

But what problem does it really solve?

All the way, deep down... What is the reason people buy the software?

That - very often - isn't on the website anywhere.

So how do you get it there?

A very easy way is to add an interview with the founder or one of the key technical people.

It doesn't have to be fancy. It can simply be a transcript of a written interview.

Create your own questions. (What do you wish people would ask you?)

Create your own answers.

Talk about why people buy the software, what difference it makes to their company or their life. Talk about the results they achieve.

Share your excitement, share your enthusiasm.

And then post that prominently to your website.

Here are some tips from my other blog about doing interviews, along with a couple other ways to use interviews on your site:
3 Ways to Use Interviews on Your Website

A side benefit is that an interview gives some insight into who is behind the company - who you are - and what you care about. Americans love that!

So if you're comfortable doing it, include a photo of you on the page with the article.

It will give you more credibility, and people will be more comfortable buying from you. ]]> Judy Schramm http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=93 http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=92 Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:15:55 GMT 4 factors that affect your chances of converting website visitors Have you ever wondered why website visitors are quick to take some actions and hesitant to take others? The simple answer is people tend to take the path of least resistance unless or until they find something they want bad... 4 factors that affect your chances of converting website visitors

Have you ever wondered why website visitors are quick to take some actions and hesitant to take others?

The simple answer is people tend to take the path of least resistance unless or until they find something they want bad enough to take a detour. Then they decide whether or not it’s worth it.

This goes for everything from taking a new route to work to changing beer brands to switching from a PC to a Mac. (The last of which I am struggling through right now for the second time).
The point is there’s quite a lot of psychology at play in the minds of visitors on your website. If you understand the basics, it can help you structure calls-to-action that result in more people taking them.

I’m not a psychologist, but students of marketing and persuasion – of which I’m a lifelong member – tend to be exposed to plenty of anecdotal and scientific evidence that indicates there are several factors that strongly affect whether or not someone takes action.

Here they are:

Strength of visitor motivation. In the technology market this usually means how much pressure the visitor is under to solve a problem. How big is it? How much pain are they in? How much does it cost not to solve the problem? The more pain and the larger the consequences of not solving a problem the more likely your visitor is going to take action.

Value you are offering. If your value proposition is very clear and easily understood, more people will take the action. If visitors can’t really figure out exactly what you’re offering and why or how it will help them, fewer will take the action. 


Ease of action. The less friction in your process - the less you ask of your visitors - the more cooperation you will get. Friction occurs when you have too many steps in the process, ask for too much information or in other ways make your visitors jump through hoops. Less = more.


Trust. Whether you’re expecting someone to hand over credit card information or just to give you their name and email address website visitors worry about the consequences of taking that action. If they don’t trust you, they won’t do it. A good privacy policy, strong case studies and customer testimonials, and payment systems verified by third parties are just a few ways of increasing trust.

That’s it. Getting more visitors to take action and eventually become your paying customer is a function of how well you handle each of these issues.

Take a look at your calls-to-action. How well have you covered each of these factors?

Cheers,

Susan
Clicks 'n Conversions ]]> Susan Tatum http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=92 http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=91 Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:27:08 GMT Meet the people who matter* ...]]> Last week we looked at 3 of the lowest cost marketing strategies. Here are 2 more...

4. Social Media

I know, I know... There is so much hype in this area - everyone is talking about social media marketing. But here's how you really make it work...

=> Meet the people who matter

There are thought leaders in every sector of the software industry. Most of them blog.

Post a thoughtful comment on their blog and they will see it. Post something interesting and relevant every couple weeks, and you'll start getting mindshare.

You can get to know - even become friends with - people across the world who you could never ever meet any other way.

You can go beyond thought leaders - start following people who you would like to become customers or business partners - and begin relationships with them.

=> Be genuinely helpful

I guarantee, if you are the CEO of a software company, you have a ton of useful knowledge. Share some of it with prospective customers.

7 out of 10 people who are buying software do not know what they are doing. They don't buy it often enough to fully understand how to evaluate it properly and how to make an educated decision. Help them!

You probably also have a lot of experience about how software should be implemented, or how certain aspects of your customers' businesses should be handled. Share that!

Find discussion forums where people in your market hang out and look for people who need help and help them.

Not every discussion has to be relevant to your software. Provide help where you can. Get your name and your company's name out there. Demonstrate your expertise; show you know what you are doing.

Here's a little more about social media marketing:
3 Easy Ways to Start Web 2.0 Marketing


5. Public relations

Yes, you can spend a lot of money doing public relations. But you can get started on virtually nothing. Here's how...

Find the publications, blogs and portals that target your market.

Then get involved!


Read articles about topics related to your software, then post comments on the article or the author’s blog. Begin a dialog. It is a good idea to start with a compliment about the article. Then…

• “I agree with what you said and here’s my experience…”
• “I disagree with this statement and here’s why…”
• “You forgot to mention…”
• “Another aspect to what you said is…”
• “Taking what you said a step further…”

Include a sentence or two that explains how you know what you are talking about, and if you have specific anecdotes or statistics to offer, mention those too.


Then stay in touch!


Check in from time to time when you have something that will interest them. Help them write better stories and you will build a strong friendship.

• Share your expertise
• Demonstrate knowledge
• Advocate for your way of doing things

Goal: Become an expert they can turn to for insights.

• Collect user stories, anecdotes and statistics you can share with them.
• Be quotable.
• Have an opinion (don’t be wishy-washy – every editor loves people who take a contrary point of view, particularly if they can back it up with facts).

There you go... 5 low-cost marketing strategies you can use to start spreading the word about your software in the U.S. ]]> Judy Schramm http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=91 http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=90 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:37:21 GMT Happy New Year! This month I’m going to focus on the very best way I know of to increase what you get from your marketing investment. That is to turn more of your website visitors into interested prospects and customers. If you think about, this just makes sense. You already have these... Happy New Year!

This month I’m going to focus on the very best way I know of to increase what you get from your marketing investment. That is to turn more of your website visitors into interested prospects and customers.

If you think about, this just makes sense. You already have these people coming to your website. Although some of them undoubtedly got there by mistake, many of them are actually potential customers. Why then are these people so often ignored? Why do marketers continue to spend money driving traffic to a website without worrying about what happens once visitors reach the site?

Let’s put a stop to that and get you more new business from your existing investment.

I'll tell you about some experiments we've run that could easily improve your conversion efficiency, how to set up those experiments using Google Website Optimizer and – in this article – how to get started.

Next month I’ll shift the focus to pay-per-click advertising. If you don’t want to wait till then, you can join us over at the Clicks 'n Conversions blog where we’ll be looking at PPC this month.

But don’t abandon this conversion discussion. Yes, you need a minimum amount of traffic before you can fine-tune your conversion process; but spending resources to drive website visitors into an efficient or broken system just doesn’t make sense. Stick with us here and you’ll find out how to make your marketing dollars go much farther.

I’ve never seen a software website that couldn’t bring in more business and money for its owners.

Establishing a baseline.

When you’re getting started in Conversion Optimization it helps to know where you are now. By that I mean how efficiently are you are handling your current website traffic.

For the answer, we turn to website analytics and your own sales funnel.

You can look at your conversion efficiency on several different levels – macro and micro if you will. At the macro level you want to know what percentage of website visitors eventually become paying customers or – depending on your sales model – sales ready leads. At the micro level you’ll look at what percentage of visitors who take the interim action(s) you want them to take.

Let’s use an unnamed web application as an example. This particular application is sold online and we want to know what percentage of visitors become paying customers. To get this conversion rate, we just divide the average number of monthly visitors to the site by the average monthly number of new paying customers.

If you’re selling a more complex product requiring sales team intervention you could use the average number of sales–ready leads coming from the website instead of the number of new customers.

Back to our web application example. It’s likely that the conversion process – whether planned or not – looks something like this:

Visit site ---- take product tour ---- sign up for free trial or free version --- buy.

Each one of these steps can be tweaked to get more people to take it, so – moving backwards from the sale - we want to know:

1. What percentage of free trial users eventually buy the product?
   
2. What percentage of visitors become free trial users?
   
3. What percentage of visitors take a product tour?
   
4. What percentage of visitors actually stay on the site and do something?

These are all important metrics that you’re probably measuring anyway, and turning them into a percentage is quite simple.

Once you have the numbers you can begin to see how improving your efficiency in any of these steps increases your sales (or sales opportunities) without increasing your marketing costs.

What if you doubled the number of visitors who became free trial users? What if you could increase the number of free trial users 4x? What if you got 50% more people to stick on your site?

The great news is that you can!

It’s all a part of conversion optimization, and that’s what we’re going to be focusing on here this month.

I’d like to encourage everyone reading this blog to download and read a copy of the free Clicks ‘n Conversions eBook called “How to increase profit from current website traffic”. It just may change your mind about the way you view marketing.

If you have questions, suggestions or ideas, don’t forget to leave them in the comments box.

Cheers,

Susan
http://www.clicksnconversions.com]Clicks 'n Conversions ]]> Susan Tatum http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=90 http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=89 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:34:42 GMT Now that the initial buzz on the Web has analyzed when and under what circumstances endorsers are required by the FTC Guides to disclose "material connections" with their advertisers, the next big questions are:

• how to actually disclose these material connections,
• what are the elements of an FTC Guides Disclosure Policy, and
• how to write one?

In the context of the Guides, a Disclosure Policy is a written statement by an endorser that discloses the endorser's relationship with an advertiser and any related financial interest with the advertiser or the advertiser's products or services.

For general information on how to write an FTC Guides Disclosure Policy, read my article How to Write an FTC Guides Disclosure Policy . For more specific information including forms and examples, I've published an e-book on the subject, and you can find out more information on the linked page.

Chip ]]> Chip Cooper http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=89 http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=88 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:39:43 GMT When you're trying to get as many leads as possible and your budget is very small, you need to get as much leverage as possible from the money you spend.

Here are the 5 lowest cost marketing strategies - all of which work well in the U.S. We'll do 3 in this post and 2 in the next.

1. Referrals

Referrals are the single most effective and lowest cost marketing strategy you can employ. They close faster than other leads, and the sales tend to be higher amounts.

If you already have customers in the U.S., you can ask for referrals from them. (Most people hate asking for referrals, but it can be easier than you think. This blog post has some tips: 4 Ways to Get More Referrals)

If you don't have customers yet, you can still get referrals. Whenever you talk to someone - whether that person is a prospect, prospective business partner, prospective employee, someone who is trying to sell you ad space, or anyone involved in the industry whatsoever - you can ask them if they know of anyone who might be interested in using your software.

In fact, people who are trying to sell you something or who are interested in partnering with you or working with you can be excellent referral sources.

Another way to get referrals is to bring referrals to someone who might be able to refer business back. This is the law of reciprocity at work. Do a favor for someone - they'll do a favor back if they can.

2. Nurture program

Also called drip marketing, nurture programs are typically seen as a way to stay in contact with people who have contacted you but are not yet ready to step into the sales cycle - or as a way to keep educating people and stay in touch through a long sales cycle.

But nurture programs are also excellent for people you want to become prospects.

In other words, people who have never contacted you, but who you think would be a good fit for your software.

Build a short list - maybe 100 or 200 prospects with a lot of potential - and start contacting them.

But... The trick is to not just contact them once and then forget about them. You want to contact them on a regular basis - and send them useful information (not just information about buying your software).

There's more information about nurture programs here: Start a Nurture Program.

3. Pay-per-click ads

Google AdWords can be very inexpensive - and they reach people who are actively searching for the solution to a problem.

One trick to keeping the cost low is to use long-tail keywords. In other words, don't advertise on the most obvious phrases. Those are likely to be very expensive.

Look for 3- and 4-word phrases that accurately describe the problem your prospects are trying to solve. Or some of the solutions they might be looking for.

Not sure what phrases to use?

Search on the most obvious phrases (CRM software, for example, or change management software). Then go to whatever discussion forums come up and see what phrases people are actually using when they post. Lots of times you'll find really good phrases.

Google and the other search engines also offer keyword tools that will suggest phrases and tell you how much competition is available. Here's one:
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
And you can check out what phrases competitors are using with SpyFu.

In the next post... 2 more low-cost and very effective marketing strategies... ]]> Judy Schramm http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=88 http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=87 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:23:13 GMT I’m often asked about how to drive more traffic to a website, so I created this overview of some of the tactics software marketers can use to increase the traffic (or leads) going to their websites. You could make a pretty good argument that virtually any marketing tactic can be used to create... I’m often asked about how to drive more traffic to a website, so I created this overview of some of the tactics software marketers can use to increase the traffic (or leads) going to their websites. You could make a pretty good argument that virtually any marketing tactic can be used to create traffic. But, since I’m an internet marketer, I’m going to focus on tactics that drive traffic by increasing your online visibility.

This is an overview. If you’d like to see a more detailed discussion on any of these tactics, just let me know in a comment. This is also pretty basic info so I apologize if I bore you, but you might find a quick review of the options helpful.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)

I start with this tactic because it’s my favorite. It’s fast; it’s effective; and you actually get what you pay for.
When someone types a keyword into a search engine, they get two types of listings. One type is a paid – or sponsored – listing (usually appearing at the top of the page and along the right-hand side). These listing are actually little ads, and each time you click on one of these the advertiser pays a free. Thus the term “pay-per-click advertising”.

As a PPC advertiser, you bid on keywords for which you want your ads to be displayed. The order of the listing varies from search engine to search engine, but it ranges from simply the bid amount (highest bidder gets listed at the top) to a far more complex combination of the bid amount, the relevance of the ad, and the advertiser’s past success in getting a high click-through percentage. As an advertiser, you pay only when someone clicks on your ad.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The second type of listings a searcher will see on a search engine page is a natural or organic listing. These non-paid listings show up as the result of algorithms the search engines use to determine which web pages are most relevant to the keyword search.

The goal of SEO is to achieve good organic search engine listings. “Organic” means that search engines find your web pages naturally – you are not paying for the listing. Many of the other traffic-building tactics I mention in this article are used primarily to increase search engine optimization.

Online (Banner) Advertising

Google’s content network as well as other advertising networks and individual websites and blogs offer on-page advertising as an opportunity to reach their visitors. While this marketing tactic has suffered from big reductions in click-through rates over the last few years, when done right it can still get you some good clicks and send qualified traffic to your site.

Blogging

A blog is basically a website that allows you to easily add content, which is organized in reverse chronologic order. Blogs have a whole slew of benefits to offer a software marketer - traffic generation and credibility building being two major ones. Search engines love new content and, since a good blog is updated frequently, an active blog can help you get high organic search rankings.

If your blog’s articles are picked up and linked to by other bloggers, as they often are, you get a whole new source of click traffic.

Social Media

Social mediais coming on strong these days with a substantial percentage of business-to-business marketers (over 60%) predicting they will increase social media spending in 2010. The two most popular sites for businesses right now are Twitter and LinkedIn, but FaceBook is making a serious play to become more relevant to businesses.

Also under the topic of social media are a variety of forums and communities (such as SoftwareCEO’s forums) that provide great opportunities to interact with peers and experts, and to generate links back to your website or blog.

Whitepaper Syndication

Software and other business technology buyers use whitepapers to help in their purchase decision process, and by distributing whitepapers through syndication networks you can become more visible to people who aren’t aware of you yet. White paper syndication generally involves making your white paper available through a network of specialized websites. You pay the service provider to place your white paper on these websites.

For a list of places to syndicate whitepapers, see 12 Places to Syndicate White Papers.

PR

Public relations efforts can be very useful in increasing your visibility and driving traffic to your site. There are a couple of somewhat different ways this works. One is to publish news releases through online distribution services. When the news releases are picked up by online news services and industry websites, you get some visibility; but more important you get links back to your site. This adds to your SEO efforts.

The second way PR can be used to increase visibility is by reaching 3rd party influencers such as bloggers, conventional media and analysts – all of whom can help to spread the word.

Article Marketing

Article marketing refers to writing many articles and offering them for use by newsletter publishers and website content managers. This tactic has been used extensively by internet marketers to gain outside links to their websites (which is good for search engine optimization). This works because the articles are offered free of charge to publishers as long as the publisher agrees to include a paragraph about the author at the end of each article. This author’s paragraph contains – you guessed it – a link back to the author’s website. Software marketers can use this tactic for the same purpose and end up with good thought-leadership exposure as a bonus.

There you have it. This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the ways you can drive traffic to your site. But concentrating on any one of these tactics can help in the traffic generation department.

Again, if you want to see more detail about any of these topics, just let me know with a comment.

Susan
Clicks 'n Conversions ]]> Susan Tatum http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=87 http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=86 Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:29:29 GMT Yesterday, December 14, 2009, the Software Freedom Law Center brought suit against 14 corporate defendants claiming violation of its license agreement (GNU GPL ver. 2) for the BusyBox software utility. The complaint claimed that the defendants had distributed the BusyBox software within firmware... Yesterday, December 14, 2009, the Software Freedom Law Center brought suit against 14 corporate defendants claiming violation of its license agreement (GNU GPL ver. 2) for the BusyBox software utility.

The complaint claimed that the defendants had distributed the BusyBox software within firmware – embedded in the defendants’ electronic products or by itself – in a manner that does not comply with the BusyBox license agreement.

Specifically, the complaint states that “The License permits a Licensee to distribute BusyBox in object code or executable form on the condition that the Licensee gives recipients access to the source code corresponding to the version of BusyBox they are distributing in object code or executable form.” The complaint further alleges that the defendants failed to comply with this licensing restriction.

The Software Freedom Law Center claims copyright infringement and seeks injunctive relief and damages.

Read the Complaint.

Chip ]]> Chip Cooper http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=86 http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=85 Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:01:55 GMT The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced that a federal judge has ordered Lance Atkinson, the ringleader of a vast international spam network, to pay $15.15 million in a default judgment. Jody Smith, Atkinson’s US accomplice, also agreed to an order requiring him to turn over nearly... The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced that a federal judge has ordered Lance Atkinson, the ringleader of a vast international spam network, to pay $15.15 million in a default judgment. Jody Smith, Atkinson’s US accomplice, also agreed to an order requiring him to turn over nearly all of his assets to the FTC, to settle FTC charges.

Atkinson and Smith deceptively marketed products such as male-enhancement pills, prescription drugs, and weight-loss pills.

Read the FTC Press Release.

For more information on CAN-SPAM, read my article CAN-SPAM Act Updates -- New Email Rules For Multiple Senders, Opt-Out Requirements, And "Send-To-A-Friend" .

Chip ]]> Chip Cooper http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=85 http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=84 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:50:00 GMT Clicks 'n Conversions has just published a great new eBook called Maximizing Return on Reliability - How to increase profits from current website traffic.

It contains a six-step process for maximizing conversions. I invite you to visit us and download a free copy: Maximizing Return on Reliability.

Susan

Clicks 'n Conversions ]]> Susan Tatum http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=84 http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=83 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:44:56 GMT Criticizing social media (http://www.wikinvest.com/concept/Social_media)? Are you doing so for any of the following reasons: * Because you think this is a buzzword (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzzword) which will eventually die-down * Because your mind tells tells you that there’s... Criticizing social media?

Are you doing so for any of the following reasons:

• Because you think this is a buzzword which will eventually die-down
• Because your mind tells tells you that there’s nothing to social media beyond twitter, blogs and Facebook
• Because every second person you seen on twitter claims to be a social media evangelist or a catalyst
• Because you do not seem to understand the differences and similarities between digital media and social media

• Because you are fed up of blog-posts talking about socialmedia ROI & budgets and don’t understand
• Because you see brands jumping on social media bandwagon and you fail to understand what they’re gaining out of it
• Because you witness endless talks about conversations, communities, content
• Because you are trying to understand the meaning of terms of ’social’ and ‘media’ and combined together
• Because you discuss your problems with consultants and every time you talk to them there’s more confusion than ever before

Rather not do it as it is more a perception issue than anything else !! Understand Social Media as a Philosophy and its application as a Culture.

Cross-posted from themarketingblog ]]> dakshsharma http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=83 http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=82 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:08:43 GMT As you might imagine, I talk with a lot of software business owners and marketers; and they tend to fall into one of two groups: 1. Those who want to generate more leads, and 2. Those who want to generate more website traffic. The people focused on generating more traffic usually have an... As you might imagine, I talk with a lot of software business owners and marketers; and they tend to fall into one of two groups:

1. Those who want to generate more leads, and

2. Those who want to generate more website traffic.

The people focused on generating more traffic usually have an ecommerce site, while those who don’t have an ecommerce site are still thinking in terms of generating leads.

I’ve found non-ecommerce site owners can benefit greatly by focusing on generating website traffic. There are two reasons for this and I’ll hit on both of them.

Reason number one for thinking in terms of generating traffic is that it will get prospects into your pipeline faster. Website traffic is nothing more than the beginning stages of a lead. Thinking in terms of traffic makes you think in terms of online marketing tactics, which are the ones that help you reach the low hanging fruit.

By “online marketing tactics” I really mean search engine marketing. Thanks to MarketingSherpa, and any number of other research sources, we know that 80% or more of business technology buyers turn to a search engine to start the buying process.

I call these opportunities low hanging fruit because searchers are already partially sold. They know they have a problem and they’re actively seeking a solution. They’re also in a mindset to pay attention to your message. You don’t have to compete with a whole bunch of other things that are going on at the same time like you do with conventional marketing tactics such as direct mail, non-search advertising or email.

Reason number two to think in terms of traffic instead of leads is that it will provide you with more sales opportunities at a lower cost. Virtually everyone who buys from you will visit your website at some point, thus becoming website traffic. No matter what marketing tactics you use to generate leads, they’re going to your website, and it is now a fundamental part of your ability to sell.

When you focus on website traffic you’ll begin to look at what happens to that traffic when it gets to your site. This is one of the great opportunities in software marketing – converting more website visitors into customers or sales-ready prospects. I’ve found it’s one of the least expensive and most profitable ways to get new business, and many of your competitors haven’t figured out how to do it yet.

So, that’s it. Think in terms of website traffic to build your pipeline faster and at a better cost.

Susan
Clicks 'n Conversions ]]> Susan Tatum http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=82 http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=81 Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:58:28 GMT In my 11-20-09 post, I discussed 4 strategies for structuring your SaaS reseller agreements. This post focuses on your SaaS agreement for end-users. Clients often ask me: How do you decide which approach is right for you? What are the factors to consider? Read my article: Your SaaS... In my 11-20-09 post, I discussed 4 strategies for structuring your SaaS reseller agreements.

This post focuses on your SaaS agreement for end-users.

Clients often ask me: How do you decide which approach is right for you? What are the factors to consider?

Read my article: Your SaaS Agreement - Which End-User Agreement Approach is Right For You?

Chip ]]> Chip Cooper http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=81 http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=80 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:07:33 GMT I used to think that most business websites were beyond rescue – that the best thing to do was to start all over. Out with the old – in with the new. Now I’m not so sure. I’ve seen a lot of websites that just needed some tweaking to improve performance; not a total makeover. Don’t get me... I used to think that most business websites were beyond rescue – that the best thing to do was to start all over. Out with the old – in with the new.

Now I’m not so sure. I’ve seen a lot of websites that just needed some tweaking to improve performance; not a total makeover.

Don’t get me wrong. Some websites are a disaster and do need to be ditched completely, but that should be a last resort. One of these days I’ll write an article about website issues that can’t be solved. For now, let’s talk about issues that can be solved.

High Bounce Rate

If you not familiar with the term “bounce rate”, it refers to the percentage of visitors who hit your website and leave immediately (usually within 20 seconds) without going anywhere else on the site. This is the first point of resistance on your website and it’s a place where you can lose a lot of potential business.

Since you don’t have complete control over who comes to your website (assuming it’s a public site) a certain level of bounce – generally less than 30% - is just part of life.

But a high bounce rate – anything above 50% - is a signal that improvement is needed – the sooner the better. It’s a sure sign that you’re either a) driving the wrong people to your site or b) failing to communicate the right message once they get there. I’ve seen bounce rates above 80% and that’s enough to choke a marketing budget.

As a side note, pay-per-click advertising traffic will have a higher bounce rate. 80% bounce rate in a pay-per-click campaign is not uncommon and not really a problem. If you’re driving lots of pay-per-click traffic to directly to your website, you’ll want to remove that traffic source from your calculations before you freak out about a high rate. (You’ll also want to reconsider how you’re handling your pay-per-click campaign, but that’s a subject for a different article).

To improve your website’s bounce rate, focus on the page or pages where most people enter your site. Usually this is the home page. Create a “challenger” page and test it against the current page to see if you can get more visitors to stick.

Factors that commonly affect bounce rate include:

• Simplicity of the page

• Readability of the text

• Use of graphics

• Good-to-great copywriting

• Calls to action


Low visitor conversion rates

Unless you’re an online publisher selling advertising on your site, tons of website traffic is useless if you don’t turn enough of it into sales-ready leads or paying customers. Sometimes websites inadvertently contain road blocks between the visitor and the purchase – or contact us request.

When I evaluate a client’s visitor-to-conversion rate, I start with the “Buy Now”, “Pricing Plans” or “Contact Us” page and work backwards to any actions that lie directly in the path of the decision to buy. These actions usually include a product test drive, using a free version or requesting a demo.

There are any number of things that can be causing low conversion rates but don’t require completely redoing your website. Sometimes the opportunity for improvement lies on a single page. For example, we’ve seen 30% lifts in the number of people downloading a demo just by removing some of the non-essential information from the contact form.

Sometimes the opportunity for improvement lies in the process itself. When a website has been around for a while, pages and steps begin to get layered on top of each other and what should be a simple process becomes convoluted. It never hurts to look at the process from your prospects’ point of view and see what – if anything – can be simplified.

Maybe you really do need a complete website makeover. But a website makeover – done right – is a complex, time consuming and somewhat costly endeavor. And, I’ve found it’s not uncommon for website owners to want to replace their sites just because they’re tired of them.

Unless you have a lot of money to burn, why not see what can be done with what you have first?

Best,

Susan
Clicks ‘n Conversions ]]> Susan Tatum http://www.softwareceo.com/forums/blog.php?b=80