Archives for 2011

Better Website Conversion Tips – Part 6

Better Conversion Tip #6 – Use Google Analytics

Google offers a free conversion and traffic tracking tool that you should take advantage of, if you aren’t already. The tracking tool is comprised of a bit of Javascript code that you put at the bottom of your landing and “thank you” pages—really any page on your site you want metrics for. Now whenever someone lands on your site and orders your product, Google will track those conversions for you for free.

But Google Analytics goes way beyond simple conversion tracking. With it you can discover the answers to such questions as “what percent of my visitors read my privacy policy before ordering?”

Or “Of those who read my terms and conditions, what’s the spread between those who end up buying versus abandoning?”

One caveat: Google doesn’t update its stats in real time, but the tool is perfectly useful for checking your metrics with the last day or even from a few hours ago.

There’s much more that Google Analytics can do for you, so rather than repeat their well-written content and “how to” instructions, I recommend you read up on the latest version of Analytics and get started here:

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(Belated) Celebration Of The Great Gary Halbert

OK, as I write this, it’s still June 12 in the USA…

…but it’s morning on June 13 here in Australia.

Which means…

…I forgot that June 12 is the birthday of one of the greatest copywriters of all time…

…the incomparable “Sir” Gary Halbert.

(And I forgot despite a very thoughtful email to remind me from Gary’s son Kevin.)

Here’s what Gary’s son had to say about his father…

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Looking Ahead – Marketing Calendar July 2011

Whoa…half of the year is almost gone…

…as I am sharply reminded by preparing this look ahead at upcoming events in July 2011.

Events, occasions and anniversaries, of course, that astute marketers can use as the basis for a campaign or promotion,

Starting with Australia…

…this is a pretty lean month.

It’s the start of the new financial year.

Also the start of the second half of the calendar year. I’ve used this as a reason to encourage people to review their goals, revisit plans and recommit.

It’s also the dead of winter.

Outside of that, you’ll need to rely on local events, company specific occasions or more off-beat anniversaries (see below for more ideas in that area).

In the wider world…

…in the northern hemisphere it’s summer, so scope for appropriate seasonal promotions.

In the USA, July 4 is Independence Day.

Other occasions to note…

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Better Website Conversion Tips – Part 5

Better Conversion Tip #5 – Create Redirect Links

If you’re promoting a product on your site, and your site is a database-driven shopping cart e-commerce system, then you probably have links like the following for each product page:

http://www.mysite.com/store/products.php?id=28475&desc=product%20description%20here&cat=980&refer=477840

Often times when sending a link out like that in an email, it gets chopped up. Then when the reader clicks on the link, they get a page not found error. Not a good thing to happen!

Or, if you have the link in an article or ezine, you could face similar problems.

Plus the link is just not intuitive enough.

It would be much, much better to have a link like this:

http://www.mysite.com/productname

Well, you can have this when you use server-side redirects.

Here’s how it works (if your site uses PHP):

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Robert Collier And Australian Natural Disasters

I’ve been unsparing in my criticism of financial institutions for their generally lamentable marketing and copywriting…

…so it’s only fair I should comment on an example that is more praiseworthy.

One that illustrates the Robert Collier copywriting principle of…

“Entering the conversation that’s already going on in the mind of the prospect”.

It’s a simple flyer from Westpac that I received in the mail for home and contents insurance.

The headline…

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