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David M Disick shares the secrets of business success on the internet in 2011.
David Disick
Do you love your website? Does it draw lots of traffic, and the type of traffic you want? Does it exceed in value the time and resources you invested in it?
Few of us can truthfully answer yes to these questions. A website is a work forever in progress. It can be an eternal search for the Holy Grail. Still, there are ways to increase the effectiveness of your site so that you may reach the goals you have set for it.
Following are the first six of ten ways to craft your cyberspace superstar:
- Set goals. How many visitors do you expect per month? What percentage will offer their email addresses? What percentage of these will convert to guests at the resort? What percentage of these will convert to owners? What is your cost per sale? Depending on your circumstances and price point, marketing and sales cost per new owner can run about 10-15% of each sale. Goals are important because if you don’t know where you’re going, how do you know if you’ve gotten there?
- Use Google Analytics. Sign up for Google Analytics to get to know who your visitors are and what interests them. You can see if you’re attracting the visitors you want from your target market area/s, or perhaps are getting unexpected traffic. You’ll learn what words visitors use to search for you. You’ll find out if they come directly to you or are referred by other sites that link to you. You’ll see how long they stay on your site and which pages or blog posts get the most and the least readership. This can prove enlightening, surprising, distressing, or sobering. Be sure all content you deliver is relevant to your visitors’ interests. This will avoid numerous opt-outs from your email and high bounce rates away from your website.
- Use Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The web is constantly being crawled by spiders – robots operating according to mathematical algorithms (equations) hungry to index new and relevant information. Their job is to provide search engine page results ranked according to the keyword searches of your prospects (or suspects). Google Keyword Tool can be useful in identifying most frequently used search words – simply enter your proposed keywords to see how many times they were searched for in the prior month. This can be sobering. Often what you think you’re selling is not what your prospects’ keywords say they want to want to buy. For example, few people search on the word luxury. They simply choose fractional real estate. Use your keywords (no more than two to three per page) frequently, but naturally, on each page which is being optimized for particular words or phrases. Also, be sure your webmaster has different website addresses for each page, so that searchers are taken immediately to the info they want with a minimum of clicks.
- Offer solutions to the problems your visitors want to solve. How does staying at your resort make holidays more pleasant, enjoyable, gratifying and stimulating? How does owning at your resort make more sense than whatever visitors are doing now? Show how you appeal to your visitors’ “hot-button” buying motivations, their highest aspirations, their deepest, inner-most desires. These may include: more time with loved ones; a more healthful lifestyle; enjoying nature and outdoor sports; discovering new and exciting adventures; reconnecting with family and with oneself; pride of ownership; admiration of friends, and so on.
- Establish your authority and credibility. Customers are king in today’s competitive global economy. This is the age of the soft sell. Distinguish yourself from your competitors by offering a free report or white paper with questions buyers should ask in exchange for a visitor’s first name and valid email address. Send Information explaining the differences between whole ownership, fractional ownership, timeshares and destination clubs. Sharing valuable information establishes you as the go-to company that people trust and seek out when they need advice about holiday ownership.
- Maintain on-going relationships with your prospects. Barring exceptional circumstances, don’t ship your spanking brand-new full-color brochure package that arrives the next morning just in time to be tossed in the trash. Similarly, it takes a while – and numerous contacts – before visitors become sufficiently interested in your offering to think about a second date and committing to visit your resort. Don’t stalk or harangue your prospects. Tailor your messages for the different platforms – from desktop computers to smartphones.
Next week – four more ways to achieve cyber superstardom…
- David M Disick, author of Fractional Vacation Homes, is president of David M Disick Consulting and helps developers secure fractional financing. Check out his website at http://fractionalsandprcs.com.
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