And I Still… Haven’t Found… What I’m Looking For!

I wanna be #1…

How many times have you got this email…  ” We can make you #1 on Google!”, “Offering a Free Evaluation of your website!”, “Rank #1 in the Top 10 Search Engines!”.

I have a dare for you…  Search Google, Yahoo, Bing, (and the other 7 companies they are promising – whatever they are) for “Rank #1 in Google”, and see what shows up?  I can guarantee you that it's not the company that sent that email!

Half the time, those emails come from someone@gmail.com, @yahoo.com or @hotmail.com.  People… if someone offers you the ability to make tens of thousands of dollars and does not even have a company email address…  run the other way (FAST!).

Trust me…  If anyone had the answer to that problem, they would not be sending YOU email…  They would be too busy picking which type of caviar they want to eat on the yacht off their one private island off the Caribbean!

Google is worth over $600 per share.  It got that way, by understanding user habits and changing their algorithms daily.  Google sells advertising and would not give people… inside information, tips and tricks, discounted keywords, or special keys to locked doors… and not sharing it's fortunes like a long lost relative from Nigeria (although if you send those companies offering you to be number 1 Google your money… you will get about the same in return for sending a check to Nigeria to get those promised millions).

Being #1

There is only one thing that will guarantee you being #1…  being the best at what you do and convincing others that you can live up to that commitment.

On the opposite side of that is your website… and your marketing that drives people to it!  You can spend all the money in the world driving traffic to you site, but if your website does not live up to the expectations of your users, it can be a #FAIL.

There is something I like to call the “Microwave Effect” with websites. If people don't understand it, they won't buy it!  In the old days (the 1970's) some microwaves had dials, buttons, and switches.  Today if you buy one…  every one has a button that says “Popcorn” and cooks it to perfection. I don't care what you have to sell…  If your website is not intuitive and easy to use people will leave and go to the next one!

Here are a few tips to help you make sure that all your marketing efforts are worth the time, money and efforts (yes that picture below is of a REAL WEBSITE)…

1. Cute & Cool are not Cohesive
   I have seen buttons that fly around the screen, tilted off angles, and are named things like “Imagination Alternatives”  (code for ‘What We Do' or ‘Our Services').  If you are selling to creatives like yourself… that is cool (pat on the back)!  If you are selling to a 50 year old purchasing manager from a Fortune 500 company…  You's just done lost them!
2. Short Attention Span Theatre
   If you think people are going to read your manifesto of the development of the potato chip and it's existential relationship to the things that make you different from the Corporate Anti-Establishment Terrianism…  get over it!  You have 3 -Clicks and 2-Minutes to make the sale.  Interest them…  Let them dig deeper…  then entice them to contact you via an email, phone call or a form (or whatever THEY want to use).
3. Be There… or Be Square
   Just because you don't like a particular method or social media…  does not mean your clients don't also. If your clients use Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Text Messages, Phone Calls, or Smoke Signals…  you better be there to receive their messages!  If not, I GUARANTEE there is a competitor who is… and would love to have your business scraps!