Conversions No comments yet

6 Ways to Use Images to Improve Your Web Conversion Rate

By on April 11th, 2012

Images are an important element of every website, especially if you’re marketing a product or service online. In addition to being visually appealing, your images are telling a story about your business, and what they say can have a huge impact on your sales. Here are six ways you can use images to increase your web conversion rate:

  • Get emotional: It’s no secret that most of us decide whether to buy something based on how a product or service (or a company itself) makes us feel. Using images of real people using what you’re selling can instantly evoke an emotional response. For example, if you own a massage studio you probably want to use an image showing someone with a relaxed expression being massaged in a comfortable setting.
  • Be original: We have all seen the same image of three professionals hovering around a conference table or the same image of an employee answering a phone about a million times. Stock photos stick out like a sore thumb, and they can adversely impact your web conversion rate. Even if you have the most innovative products in your industry, you may lose a lot of customers if your cookie-cutter images make you seem like a cookie-cutter company.
  • Get the word out: Your customers are your best salespeople, so let them do the talking. Objective opinions by real people who have used your product or service will help improve your web conversion rate. Satisfied customers are often happy to not only share a testimonial, but also provide a photo if you ask them. Make sure to feature these free ads throughout your website, not just buried on a testimonials page.
  • Get creative: Presenting images in creative ways can make your business appear cutting-edge and draw visitors deeper in to your website. For instance, if you sell high-end men’s suits, you could have a dapper image of a man in one of your suits rotating 360 degrees whenever you scroll over the image.
  • Be photogenic: One of the best ways to connect with your customers and improve your web conversion rate, especially if you have a local brick and mortar business, is to display candid photos showing visitors what it’s like to visit your establishment. For example, if you own a local restaurant you probably want to show diners having a good time and enjoying your cuisine.
  • Create a cheerleader: Want to get really creative? Think about inventing a mascot for your business. Studies show that consumers not only buy brands they recognize but, specifically, the face of those brands. Consider the Coca-Cola polar bears, the Geico gecko, and the E-Trade baby. You could create buzz, brand recognition, and instant credibility by being the only company in your industry to have a real character.

Implementing just one of these strategies can boost your web conversion rate and increase sales. And remember, you don’t have to give your site a facelift. If making a mascot is a bit much for your company, what if you just switched out your stock photos with images that truly connect with your customers? You may be surprised by the results.

Want to learn more? Visit www.NovoWriting.com, email info@novowriting.com, or call 714.335.5677.

Content Marketing, LinkedIn No comments yet

Leverage LinkedIn to Get More Clients

By on February 25th, 2012

Novo Writing’s LinkedIn Profile Service (LIPS)

Over 150 million (and counting) professionals worldwide have LinkedIn profiles, and more and more of them are using LinkedIn instead of Google to search for products and services. Why? Because a Google search can return so many irrelevant results. LinkedIn delivers better, targeted, more relevant results for businesses and individuals that offer the types of products/services people are searching.

Novo Writing’s LinkedIn Profile Service (LIPS) is designed to make your profile appear at the very top of search results for your target keywords. We achieve this by strategically writing and optimizing certain sections of your profile page. These include your:

  • Headline
  • Summary
  • Specialties
  • Experience
  • Skills
  • Interests

Although all of the areas of your profile are important, one of the secrets to creating a profile that gets the most visibility is to build out the Experience section. We optimize this part of your profile in a very specific way to take advantage of the connection between your current and past clients and the keywords related to your products/services.

Since keywords are the fuel for search engines, you want to have as many related keywords in your profile as possible. For instance, if you’re a bankruptcy attorney and want to increase your presence online, you want to rank on page 1 of LinkedIn searches for “bankruptcy attorney,” “bankruptcy lawyer,” “chapter 7 bankruptcy attorney,” “chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyer,” etc.—and even narrow it down by location, such as “Long Beach bankruptcy attorney.”

LIPS enables you to show up in many more LinkedIn search results every day, so the number of prospects checking-out your profile increases as well. If they like what they see, these potential customers will visit your website or contact you directly from your LinkedIn page.

Isn’t it time to start leveraging the power of LinkedIn? Think of 150 million business professionals searching for you and what you offer thousands of times every day.

And we’re offering more than just LIPS service. If you want your profile to skyrocket to the top positions of page 1 of a LinkedIn keyword search for your products/services, call 714.335.5677 or email scott@novowriting.com.

LIPS is guaranteed* to succeed if you can supply the names of 15-20 past and/or current clients and up to 10 keywords** related to the products/services you provide.

Visit our LinkedIn profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/novowriting.

*If you don’t rank in the first 5 positions on page 1 of a LinkedIn search for at least 3 of your keywords, you don’t pay a dime.

**If you don’t know 10 of the best keywords for your business, we can perform keyword research for you (additional fees may apply).

Uncategorized No comments yet

Why Is Article Marketing So Important for Businesses?

By on January 25th, 2012

Article marketing is a proven way for business owners to grow their business by achieving some key objectives online. Article marketing:

  • Attracts Website visitors: Distributing articles to directories, blogs, and other websites can produce a constant flow of qualified visitors. If your website is compelling and has a strong call to action, you can boost traffic and increase conversions.
  • Increases links and search engine rankings: Search engines place importance on the number of links that point to your site from other sites—such as directories, blogs, and social media sites. Posting content on other sites that link back to your site improves search engine rankings.
  • Helps build your reputation: If people find your articles contain valuable information, they will trust your opinion as an expert in your industry.
  • Grows your customer base: You create more opportunities for potential clients to find a path to your products and services. Once they get to your site you can incentivize them to sign-up for your newsletter so you can stay on their radar and continue to provide information they want and are searching for online.

These are just a few of the many reasons article marketing works to improve your business. From attracting more qualified leads to increasing your website’s authority in the search engines and beyond, an effective article marketing strategy should be a key part of every business plan.

Content Marketing No comments yet

Is Your Website Enough . . .

By on November 23rd, 2011

. . . To grow your business?

Unfortunately, probably not.

This makes many entrepreneurs and small businesses cringe, and for good reason. After all, they spent thousands of dollars creating a killer website. Then they sat back and waited for customers to come knocking on their online door.

And they waited. And they waited some more. And the visitors never came.

Sound familiar? Your industry is incredibly competitive. Every company has a website. So, how do you differentiate yourself?

Content marketing. Content marketing is simply a marketing strategy of developing and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience with the objective of driving profitable customer action.

It’s what your company needs to be doing right now to boost your website traffic so you can build your reputation, increase leads, and put more money in your pocket each and every month.

See what a customized content marketing strategy could mean for your business by reading a case study or by contacting us directly at 714.335.5677 or info@novowriting.com.

SEO Content 1 comment

Should You Hire a Copywriter for Your Business?

By on September 27th, 2011

I’ve been curious about objections some business owners have to hiring copywriters. So, I recently asked the following questions on LinkedIn: “Does your company use a copywriter to write articles, blog posts, newsletters, Web sites, etc.? If not, why not? If so, how come?”

There were nearly 20 responses. Here are a few of them:

  • “No, we do not. But likely because we are comfortable doing that ourselves and know our business better than anyone else!”
  • “We absolutely do. We use them for our clients too . . . We’re pretty good writers, but every minute we spend on copywriting, ourselves, is a minute we can’t spend doing the things we’re best at, that leverage us.”
  • “No. Authenticity is key.”
  • “Absolutely! These tasks must be delegated out so that you can focus on high level, revenue generating activities.”
  • “No, because communicating with our audience is the most important work we do.”
  • “Everyone can write, not everyone can write well, not everyone who writes well can write appropriately; but at the end of this line is differentiation and that, ultimately, is the value of a copywriter.”

It’s clear that business owners have strong feelings on whether or not to hire a copywriter for their business.

Here are some additional questions to consider:

  • What is the quality of your communication with prospects and customers? Even if it’s authentic, poor communication can do more harm than good. A professional SEO copywriter will understand your brand and be able to write in your “voice.”
  • Do you know how to write for the search engines as well as your target audience? If prospects can’t find your Web site, articles, blog, etc. because your copy isn’t properly optimized, your online marketing efforts may go unnoticed.
  • Do you know how to perform keyword research? Targeting the wrong keywords can make you rank well for search terms that are meaningless for promoting your products and services.
  • Do you have the time it takes to implement a successful online marketing strategy? Your company may be better served if you focus on your core business and rely on a SEO copywriter to create compelling content that resonates with your target audience.
  • Do you regularly write and post optimized articles, blogs, etc. online? Consistently producing and promoting relevant content is essential for creating a steady stream of qualified visitors to your Web site.
  • Are you writing about your business rather than for your customers? It’s crucial to focus on the benefits your product or service provides. Remember: Your prospects are asking, “What’s in it for me?”

A professional SEO copywriter can be indispensable for building your brand, increasing exposure in all of the right places, and boosting Web site traffic. If you don’t have the time or expertise required to write powerful content that converts, hiring a copywriter may be the right move to help grow your business.

Blogging 2 comments

Novo Writing Will Write and Optimize Your UpLog!

By on August 30th, 2011

Hello fellow UpLoggers!

As a member of UpLog, you’re probably aware that you must write at least one blog post per week to remain in good standing. If you don’t, your UpLog account may be suspended. This is because we all need to be regularly blogging so all of us can get more exposure and better rankings in Google through the power of our shared efforts and the authority of the UpLog domain.

If you’re too busy or don’t have the expertise to write compelling content on a regular basis, we should talk. Call 714.335.5677 or email scott@NovoWriting.com. Novo Writing is now offering a monthly blog writing package for all UpLoggers.

Each month you get:

  • Custom keyword research (know what your prospects are searching for)
  • Four optimized blog posts on topics of interest to your target audience (give them the information they want and attract them to your blog)
  • Links to each article posted to Novo Writing’s LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook pages (leverage our extensive network – over 800 LinkedIn connections and nearly 8,000 Twitter followers)

Spend your time doing what you do best. Count on Novo Writing to write quality blog posts for you. If you’re ready to build your blog, boost your visitors, and establish yourself as an expert in your industry, Novo Writing is ready to help.

Contact Scott Siders at 714.335.5677 or email scott@NovoWriting.com to get started.

Customer Acquisition No comments yet

8 Strategies to Attract New Customers

By on August 24th, 2011

Are you doing what it takes to market your business online and attract new customers? These strategies will get you started:

  • Articles: Do you know what your target audience interested in? Write informative articles on topics your prospects are searching for, and don’t forget to include links so they can click-through to your Web site.
  • Press Releases: Make your own news. You don’t have to release a new product or acquire a large new customer to have a reason to publish press releases about your company online. You just need an angle. Stay informed of new trends in your industry and tie them to your product.
  • Web Site: Nearly every business has a Web site. So what? If it isn’t engaging, visitors are gone in a few seconds. Make sure the content is compelling and includes a clear call to action. Offer a free special report, how-to guide, or other valuable information to entice prospects to sign-up for your newsletter.
  • Newsletters: Speaking of newsletters, what are you doing to stay in touch with customers and prospects? Newsletters keep your business on their radar screens. It’s a friendly reminder that provides information on topics of interest to them. You’re reading this, aren’t you?
  • Videos: Don’t forget about video marketing. Videos are easy to create and they personalize your business. It’s one of the most immediate ways to connect with a prospect. If you can make a video that shows your product at work, even better. Tag the video with your keywords and post it on video sites. You may be surprised by the response.
  • Case Studies: Tell a story. You can talk about the features and benefits of your product until you’re blue in the face. Your prospect may be impressed but not convinced. A true story about how you solved a problem for a customer can go a long way.
  • Social Media: Make sure you’re offering value and not just another sales pitch to the people in your social networks (keep the “salesy” post to one out of every five posts).
  • Blogs: A blog makes your business personal. It also builds your reputation. Know your target audience and write blog posts that appeal to their interests.

Doing all of this at once can be overwhelming. But don’t worry. You don’t have to do it all at once. You just need a proactive strategy. The question to ask yourself is, “What is my competition doing and how can I do it better?”

Answer that, and then write great content that attracts qualified prospects to your Web site.

If you’re too busy or don’t have the expertise to write content that converts, we should talk. Call 714.335.5677 or email info@NovoWriting.com. Visit us online at www.NovoWriting.com.

Article Marketing No comments yet

The Best Way to Boost Your Web Site Traffic — Are You Doing It?

By on August 19th, 2011

Are you making money from your Web site? Is it hiding in a dark corner of the Web, or can it be easily found by searching for one of your business’ keywords?

As a small business owner, these are critical questions to ask yourself. After all, why did you spend all of that money to build a great Web site if potential customers can’t find your business on the Internet? According to experts at the SMX Search Marketing Expo, 70% of searchers go online for business information first.

Indeed, the economy and the saturation of the marketplace online make competition fiercer than ever. The good news is that you can beat your competitors to potential customers (and not spend a fortune doing it) by writing and distributing articles that are optimized for the search engines.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to have a big budget to grow your business with online marketing strategies. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars a month. You don’t have to be an expert. You don’t even have to write and distribute the articles yourself.

In fact, one of the many benefits of article marketing is that you get more bang for your buck. It’s a cost-effective way to leverage your business online, increase the exposure of your products/services, and generate more traffic to your Web site.

Article marketing is one of the best ways to:

  • Attract visitors to your Web site: By distributing your keyword-rich articles to online directories, you can quickly increase visitors to your Web site who are very interested in your products/services.
  • Establish yourself as an expert: Since you’re not specifically selling your products/services in the articles, you build credibility as an expert in your industry. Your credibility grows as the number of articles you write on subjects valuable to your target audience grows (both of which attract more visitors to your Web site).
  • Build your link popularity and search engine rankings: Search engines place more importance on how many links point to your Web site. Writing articles builds quality links from other sites, which gives your Web site more authority and a higher ranking.
  • “Pre-sell” your products and/or services: One of the great things about article marketing is how it enables you to sell your product/service before a potential customer even arrives at your Web site. Article marketing is a soft-sell: Instead of overtly marketing your product/service, you provide searchers of your keyword with valuable information that compels them to want to click-through to your Web site.
  • Get more free Web site traffic: Unlike pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, article marketing is organic. It only costs you the time to write and distribute the article. The best part? Unlike other forms of advertising, your keyword-rich articles live online forever. This means that you can continue to attract new customers long after you’ve written and distributed an article.
Web Site Copywriting No comments yet

10 Web Site SEO Copywriting Tips

By on August 18th, 2011

The anatomy of a Web site from a copywriting perspective can be confusing. Many business owners think they just need to “write something.” They see their Web site as something that is just one of those costs and necessities of doing business.

Not true! A carefully crafted Web site is essential to not only build your brand, but also to attract prospects and make them “fall for you.” Here are 10 Web site SEO copywriting tips:

1. Keyword Research

After gaining a clear understanding of the products, services, goals, mission, features, benefits, differentiators, and other characteristics of the company, it’s time to perform keyword research. Performing keyword research is essential for optimizing a Web site. Without it, you’re missing the primary building block for creating a Web site that attracts both the search engines and the consumers searching for your products and services online.

2. Headlines

Once you’ve identified the keywords for the Web pages, turn your attention to headlines. The keyword should appear in the headline of the Web page. It not only identifies what the page is about, which is important in and of itself. But it is also what appears as the link in search engine results.

So, a headline needs to include the keyword and also must be compelling enough for the visitor to want to learn more. Headlines that are in the form of questions work very well, as do statements that speak to the visitors’ pain points or, in other words, their reasons to be searching the keyword in the first place.

3. Keyword Placement

In addition to the headline, the search engines want to see the primary keyword in the first or second sentence. This further identifies the page as being relevant to the topic. The keyword should also be sprinkled throughout the copy as much as possible without seeming forced or stuffed, and also needs to be in the last one or two sentences. The right keyword placement cannot be overstated. It’s one of the things that separates spammers from legitimate content.

4. Homepage Copy

The homepage can be a tricky page as far as SEO copywriting goes. You should include 200-300 words so you can include a keyword that will have a sufficient amount of weight.

Some people like to use flash as the primary content on the homepage or otherwise make the homepage navigable without much copy. This is a fine strategy because, if it’s done well, it can compel a potential customer to click-through to other pages.

However, unless the flash on the homepage does a great job of convincing the visitor to click through the site, they’re gone. But it also can be very detrimental for search engine placement. The homepage is very important in search results, so without an optimized homepage, you may be risking lots of exposure and clients.

5. Persuasive Copy

This next step sounds kind of general, but we all kind of intuitively know it when we see it. It’s having a site with compelling and persuasive content. We’re not talking about keywords here. We’re talking about copy that addresses the prospect’s pain points and makes them want to contact you because of the way you position yourself and, specifically, how you communicate the benefits of your offering.

6. Bullets

Bulleted lists break-up the copy. Many people have short attention spans when they’re browsing the Internet. If someone finds your Web page because you’ve done a great job of optimizing it and wrote a great headline, the next thing they will do is scan the copy.

Some people want to read everything on the page to learn as much as possible. But a significantly higher percentage of people will quickly scan the copy and focus their attention on bullets because they stand out. So having bullets describing the benefits of your product or service within the copy can make a huge difference.

7. Customer-Focused Copy

Your Web site copy needs to be customer-focused. You want to concentrate on the benefits of your product or service—keeping in mind the fact that your prospect is either consciously or unconsciously thinking, “What’s in it for me?” How can you solve their challenge or need right now? If you don’t make it clear, they may click-away to a competitor in a few seconds.

8. Subheads

This one is easily missed. Subheads, like bullets, break-up the copy and make people want to read more about your business. Subheads should always be benefit-driven and include your keyword, when possible, to attract both search engines and the human readers for whom you’re writing in the first place.

9. Call to Action

Your Web page isn’t complete without a strong call to action. What do you want them to do right now? Call for more information? Fill-out your contact form? Purchase a product on your e-commerce site? Whatever it is, your call to action must give a prospect a compelling reason to take whatever action you want them to take.

10. Meta data

Meta data is the content you don’t actually see when you’re reading a Web page. For SEO copywriting purposes, meta data is comprised of the meta title, meta description, and meta keywords. The meta title is the link you see when you perform a keyword search, and the meta description is the content directly below this link that describes the content of the page. Including meta data is important because the search engines have an easier time finding your site when someone performs a search on your business or keyword.

How is your Web site working?

Case Studies No comments yet

Why and How to Write a Case Study for Your Business

By on June 25th, 2011

Do you write case studies to advertise your business and attract more prospects?

Case studies should be a part of your marketing tool bag. They can increase your exposure, impress clients with your expertise, and help you sell more products and services.

Why Write a Case Study for Your Business?

Case studies are extremely powerful. If you had to choose only one marketing piece to showcase your business, writing a case study would be the most effective choice. Case studies:

  • Tell the story of how you solve problems for your clients
  • Build your brand and credibility
  • Demonstrate measurable results
  • Show clients your commitment to their success
  • Serve as client endorsements

Case Studies Are Persuasive Online and Offline

Case studies are perfect for both online and offline marketing. Use keyword-rich case studies online to reach your target audience and demonstrate your expertise. Print the case study and include it in your press kit or other “leave-behind” marketing materials when you meet with your clients.

How to Write a Case Study for Your Business

Write a case study for your business in three steps:

  1. The Challenge: In a paragraph or two describe the specific challenge your client was facing.
  2. The Solution: In two to three paragraphs discuss how you delivered a specific solution that solved the client’s challenge.
  3. The Results: Report the measurable results of your solution. This is the most important part of the case study. You’ll have to get some of this information from your client but, believe me, your client will be happy to provide you with these stats when they see the value you’ve delivered. For maximum effectiveness, include a quote from the client touting the success of your solution.

Make Your Case With Case Studies

Case study marketing is not as well known (or employed as much) as article marketing, press release marketing, email marketing, and social media marketing. Although these other marketing efforts are more popular, writing case studies for your business is an incredibly successful way to position yourself as an expert in your field.

Want to impress your prospects? Want to convince your clients to buy your business’ products and services with confidence? Consider writing case studies to literally make your case.