All Posts, Social Media
While reading through my Twitter stream, I see a lot of posts about news, articles, stories, advice, and more. Sprinkled in there from time to time are questions the people I follow ask. Sometimes these questions are Re-Tweeted if others are unable to answer the question, and therefore amplifying the chance that someone may answer it. I’ve found a simple and quick way for you to engage people, provide answers to their questions or complaints, AND drive traffic to your site all at the same time.
If you provide a service in lets say plumbing, and someone asks a question about how to remove a clogged drain with common household goods because all the stores are closed and its after hours. Surely you could just answer the question within your reply tweet, but where’s the originality in that? Better yet, why not answer the question but also provide a link back to either your blog where you had a post that shows in detail how to unclog a drain with some everyday household items.
What happens is that person visits your site, reads your post, hopefully will comment too, but also is a appreciative of your content. In turn they’ll probably view more about you and your services, forward your site to friends, follow you on Twitter and Facebook, or better yet become a new client. Your blog is valuable content that can be helpful to just about anyone. Though it may be indexed in Google, chances are your blog isn’t ranked for page one, so why wait for someone to find you when you can engage them now.
Twitter has a really good search part to their site. You can test it out by clicking here.
Through Twitter Search you can type some keywords that someone may type in looking for something. For example “I hate Internet Explorer.” You’ll find plenty of tweets among users with their complaints. If you have a simple solution for them and you’ve got a post on what to do, and its free, reply back to them. It won’t be spam if you come across sincere, and if you want to wait for them to reply back to you to provide a link to your post then do it that way.
The point is that you have worthy content that can help someone through a situation. Maybe its academic studies or a simple how-to. Point of the matter is that you’re getting it right to someone who needs it at the time they’re looking for it. If you’ve tried this before or are currently practicing it, I’d like to hear your thoughts and comments below.
All Posts, Web Design
A term that many website owners may not be familiar with now, but a vital asset to monitor on your website. The definition according to Google Analytics is “the percentage of single-page visits or visits in which the person left your site from the entrance (landing) page.” Other sites and designers may consider visitors who come to you home page, but don’t visit other pages on your site – not just those who come and then leave. I’d also like to mention that a website with a lot of traffic but a low turn-over rate when it comes to leads is still not a fully functioning website.
We use our hosting company 1and1 and they’re Website Statistics tool via the control panel. It shows stats on all files accessed on your site and not just the pages. An easier tool is Google Analytics which is free from Google. All you need is a Google account which takes a few minutes to setup. If you’re hosting company doesn’t offer site statistics this is a great option for you. This tool show you your links to your site, hits, time on each page, traffic sources, browsers, and of course bounce rates.
Read below for some tips on how to improve your website bounce rate.
- Have an attractive call to action. Some calls to action items include free give-aways, analysis, downloads, contest, etc.
- Short talking points that link to other pages of your site that have more information to read in-depth.
- Relevant content to what your site is about. This one is a bit tricky because when someone lands on your page from searching or a specific topic or key words; they’re hoping to get those questions answered when they “land” on your site. Whether that information is on your home page, or another specific landing page.
- Headlines. Especially in bold or big letter font.
- Forms. Not just any type of form, but a simple and quick to fill out form that gathers visitor email, name, phone, and if possible social media handles.
- Browser compatibility. I’m not just talking about Firefox vs IE. Think about Google Chrome, Opera, and mobile browsers like Safari too.
Though these are just a few simple key items to focus on, they are big when it comes to your website’s ROI. Also consider they ease reading the content of your website. Reading the details or articles on your pages should be easy. I’ve read in some blogs that eighth grade vocabulary is a good level for the text on your site. Personally, I feel that it should be easy to read and directly to the point. If I want to read more, I’ll click the “read more” link or follow on to another page that seems to have more information about a particular topic or details. If you have more questions about this topic, or how your own website’s bounce rate is feel free to give us a call (1-888.603.1090) or send us an email. Here at Design Theory we provide free consultations to understand your needs and provide solid options to choose from.
