Huge
Mistake #1: Creating a Website with Flash -- Did you
know in a recent study, top internet marketers
discovered that having a website created with Flash,
actually decreased the response from prospects
and customers by as much as 370 percent?
Here's
why: Your prospects and customers are most likely
visiting your website using all types of different
computers, connection speeds and internet configuration
settings...
What
may look great to one visitor may not even appear
for another! You could very easily have shelled out
hundreds or even thousands of dollars to have a website
created using the Flash technology, only to find out
that some of your visitors will never see it! (Not to
mention the loading times can cause your visitor to
close your site, never to return again.)
Huge
Mistake #2: The "Internet Catalog" Approach -- You
see this everywhere. Good, honest and hardworking
businessmen and women get online to sell their products
or services, and have a site created for them that
contains a link to just about everything they offer on
one page. Their thinking goes along the lines of,
"...well, I don't want to leave anyone out. If they come
to my site, I want to make sure I have what they're
looking for..." -- This way of thinking could not be
further from the truth.
Here's
why: There's an ancient rule that goes back to the very
beginning of direct-marketing on the internet, taught by
the richest, most legendary and well-respected internet
marketers of all time...
"When
you give your prospects too many choices, they become
confused and aren't sure what to do next. Confused
people never buy anything."
Huge
Mistake #3: Optimizing Your Sales Site for the
Search Engines -- You'll see this taught in nearly every
"internet marketing" course, manual or eBook out
there... "You must optimize every page of your website
for the search engines!" -- In fact, this false teaching
is accepted as 'gospel truth' so often that most web
designers will offer to do this for you at no, or little
extra cost...
What
they don't understand is that certain words and
phrases must be either re-worded (to make it "keyword
rich") or taken out completely, just to be looked upon
highly by the mighty search engines -- and this could
kill your sales, literally overnight.
Here's
why: When you or a hired web designer optimize your
sales page (i.e. any web page designed to sell your
products and services) to get a higher listing in the
search engines, you're going to have to sacrifice the
pulling-power of your sales copy (i.e. written sales
material) just to get those higher listings. Sure, this
can bring you more traffic -- but what good is all the
traffic in the world, if your visitors arrive at your
website and aren't compelled enough to read why they
should order your product?
For
years, it has been taught that you should always try to
find a "balance" of SEO (Search-Engine-Optimization)
mixed with promotional copy designed to sell your
products and services...
Wrong Again! -- The truth is that you should
never optimize your sales page for the Search
Engines. Instead, you should create tiny "entry pages"
for each keyword related to your product or service,
(highly optimized for the Search Engines) and have them
link to your main sales site! (We can show you exactly
how to do this quickly and easily and get *massive*
targeted traffic from the Search Engines - without ever
*touching* your sales site!)
Huge
Mistake #4: Having a "Graphics-Based" Website --
Sure, graphics can certainly help us to visualize a
particular situation or circumstance, product or
service... But did you know that having a
graphically-driven website can actually distract
your visitor away from your sales message?
After
all, your sales message (or "web copy") is The
#-1 most important factor in a website that makes money.
If your visitors are paying more attention to your
"professional graphics" than your sales message...
you've just lost another sale.
Here's
why: You've got approximately seven seconds from the
time your visitor arrives at your site, to the time they
decide whether to buy your product, get more information
or leave. If you've got a graphically-intensive
website, your website will most likely still be loading
past your seven-second time limit.
That's
a "customer-killer" in and of itself - however, the real
reason lies within the fact that the bigger, brighter
and more beautiful your graphics are, the more they will
distract your visitor from your sales message. And if
your visitor is distracted even for one second, it could
mean the difference between getting a sale, and losing a
customer.
Huge
Mistake #5: Designing a Website with Zero
Marketing Experience -- Most web designers have no idea
how to make money on the internet, with anything other
than their design services. It's not their fault - they
simply have no or very little marketing and sales
experience. After all, they're just website designers...
However, having your website designed by someone with
Zero internet marketing experience is like buying a
street-car without an engine... it won't go anywhere,
and it'll just waste your time and money!