Show 62 | 3 Reasons Web Sites Fail | Edge of the Web Radio

Show 629.7.13

Three Deadly Reasons Most Websites Fail10 Terrible Reasons to Redesign Your Website1

• Consider this: There are about 700 million websites. But to most of us, only a tiny fraction of those sites exist because we jump from bookmark to bookmark, scanning our favorite homepages and refreshing our feeds.

• Marketers everywhere are asking, "Why do so many websites fall short?"

• We’ve going to give you the Three Deadly Reasons Most Websites Fail

• Today on the EDGE….

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EDGE OF THE WEB• Good Afternoon / I’m Erin Sparks / Joining Me In Studio

Is Matt Roberts / Thomas Brodbeck from Site Strategics and Doug Karr From Marketing Tech Blog

• Every Week We Bring You The Latest Internet & Mobile Marketing Trends / And The Cutting Edge Internet Marketing News To Use For A More Effective & Successful Online Strategy / Why? So You Can Spend Less Administrative Time In Your Business / Make More Money Without Wasting Your Days Away

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EDGE OF THE WEB

• This Show Is Delivered By Site Strategics / We Are A Local Indianapolis Web Design And Internet Marketing Company / We Are Known Locally And Nationally For Search Engine Optimization / Google Dominance That Will Actually Translate To Sales – Not Just Good Rankings / For Your Free Consultation Go To Site Strategics Dot Com / That’s S-i-t-e-Strategics Dot Com Or Call Us At 317-882-85 Hundred / That’s 882-85 Hundred

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• NOW / LET’S FIND OUT WHAT’S HOT OF THE PRESS IN TODAY’S WEB WORLDINTERNET MARKETING NEWS INTRO

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Segment 1: News• SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY : Facebook Is Testing a

"Trending" Feature in the News Feed / Will Sigsworth

• ENGADGET : Google teases Android 4.4 as 'KitKat,' passes one billion Android activations / Richard Lai

• MASHABLE : Man Buys Promoted Tweet to Complain About British Airways / Todd Wasserman

• WIRED : The Untold Story of Google’s Quest to Bring the Internet Everywhere—By Balloon / STEVEN LEVY

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NEWSLETTER SIGNUP

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Coming UpPeople are loyal to websites that draw them in because, simply put, the majority of 700 million sites are just plain bad.

Of millions of websites analyzed by Marketing Grader, a whopping 72% received a grade of 59 out of 100 or below, which essentially means 72% of websites are failing to attract new visitors and convert leads.

Marketers everywhere are asking, "Why do so many websites fall short?“’

We’re going to cover the Three Deadly Reasons Most Websites Fail

COMING UP! on the Edge………..

Segment 2 : Three Deadly Reasons Most Websites

Fail

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INTRO

• Stay with us this segment…

• We’re talking about the Three Deadly Reasons Most Websites Fail

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EDGE OF THE WEB• Thanks For Listening / I’m Erin Sparks / Joined By My

Colleague Tom Brodbeck with Site Strategics / Check Us Out At Site Strategics Dot Com / We Are Your Local Internet Marketing Management Company / We Do Cost Effective Web Design / With Google – Yahoo – Bing Search Engine Marketing Management That Not Only Provides You Great Rankings On Searches But Also Translates Into Actual Sales

• Come In, Have A Cup Of Coffee And Let’s Talk About Your Online Success

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AND – NEW SERVICE FROM SITE STRATEGICS

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We are the fast & easy way for small businesses to make Mobile AppsWe talked about how many apps are being launched daily, more apps are launched than babies being born daily! The reality is that with the adoption of the mobile devices and the “second screen” marketing, the ability to connect with consumer loyalty is stronger than ever. Building an app can connect you to your customerIt’s easy and fastWe have templates for:• Restaurants• Realtors• Lawyers• Bands• Sports• Churches• Professional Services

• Want to introduce a influential speaker in the digital marketing space – that’s Mark Shaefer

• He’s the Author of three best-selling marketing books

• AdAge magazine “Power 150″ marketing blogger

• Mark’s book The Tao of Twitter is the best-selling book on Twitter in the world.

• His book Return On Influence was named to the elite “Top Academic Titles” of the year by the American Library Association, which declared it a “path-finding” and “essential” book.

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#EDGETALK : MARK SHAEFER

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• ARTICLE FROM MARKETING PROFS : Mike Volpe

• Consider this: There are about 700 million websites. But to most of us, only a tiny fraction of those sites exist because we jump from bookmark to bookmark, scanning our favorite homepages and refreshing our feeds.

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#EDGETALK : 3 REASONS

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• People are loyal to websites that draw them in because, simply put, the majority of those 700 millions sites are just plain bad. Of millions of websites analyzed by Marketing Grader, a whopping 72% received a grade of 59 out of 100 or below, which essentially means 72% of websites are failing to attract new visitors and convert leads.

• Marketers everywhere are asking, "Why do so many websites fall short?"

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• Although websites were introduced over 20 years ago, the vast majority still function on old-school paradigms established in the 1990s.

• Most websites today act as digital brochures or a brand silo, offering little substance.

• Even if a website has a good balance of design and utility, few companies are building websites that serve their primary purpose: to attract visitors, convert leads, and delight customers with rich, relevant, and valuable content.

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• 1. Most websites act like an online brochure instead of a thought-leadership resource

• You've spent all this time and money building a beautiful website, optimizing for search and testing the PPC waters. But your bounce rate is high, you conversion rate is low, and your traffic and leads are flat or dropping over time. What gives?

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• Even with a sound SEO strategy and user-friendly design, a website is an engine that runs on remarkable content being pumped into it day after day.

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• The goal of a website is to attract visitors, convert leads, and delight customers.

• Your business won't see those benefits unless you turn your website into an inbound marketing machine that presents your brand as a thought-leader with fresh offers, landing pages, calls-to-action, new media, social conversation, and other content assets.

• By creating such content, you grow traffic and leads organically, without having to rely on paid campaigns.

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• In the end, you want to own the Web, not rent it. A website that harnesses inbound marketing attracts customers to your business and turns a static site into something visitors actually want to "consume" and interact with.

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IF YOU’RE TUNING IN!

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If you just tuned in:You’re Listing to Edge of the Web RadioWe’re talking about the Three Reasons that Web Sites Fail

• 2. Most websites are one-size fits all instead of dynamic

• Back in the day, websites were created with a "set it and forget it" mentality. Like advertising, corporate sites were a vehicle for broadcast, not conversation.

• But in this attention-scarce economy, buyers expect to receive relevant information that's tailored to their specific wants and needs.

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• Though many companies begin by investing in content marketing, that's only half of the equation.

• Content plus context delivers a personalized experience to people who interact with you online.

• Many marketers today think of context only in the form of email. They obsess over list segmentation and relevant copy to specific audiences. That works until the person receiving the message takes any action outside email and finds a non-contextual website, mobile app, landing page, and call-to-action.

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• The best example of context done right is Amazon.

• When I return to Amazon, it knows who I am and addresses me by name. It knows what I like and recommends products that interest me.

• Now, not every website needs to be as complex as Amazon. Even a little personalization goes a long way. You can tailor a buyer's experience with your website to their industry, their job role, the content they've consumed, or stage in the buying process. Show them that you know them.

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• Today's buyers require a personalized experience. They don't like to be treated like everyone else.

• Context helps marketers gain a larger share of attention from prospects and helps move buyers down the funnel.

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• 3. Most websites are built for the company, not the customer

• If you've ever been involved in a website redesign, you know the process usually involves many stakeholders, from senior leadership to internal employees and perhaps an agency.

• But when was the customer—the person you're supposedly building the site for—ever asked to weigh in?

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• Many websites do a great job of highlighting how awesome they are; but, I hate to break it to you, your customers don't care...

• They land on your homepage hoping to solve a problem, answer a question, buy something, or to be entertained.

• They aren't there to hear you talk about yourself, to see how many awards you've won, or to put your product pages on their must-have reading list.

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• Your website may be pretty, but if it doesn't provide what the customer wants, despite how much marketing power you put behind it, you will have failed.

• Do you really want to end up like Digg, Pets.com, or the original MySpace? All of those websites offered good services and were powered by advertising. But, in the end, they couldn't retain their audience.

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• All it takes is a little bit of research and the decision to create a more user-centered design. Do so, and your customers will love your website and think, "This is for me!"

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• If you don't avoid these three deadly mistakes, your website will struggle to see results. The key is to not think of a website as just a website. Think of it as a media channel. An extension of your brand. And a voice for the customer.

• If you focus on creating a website that harnesses content plus context and puts your customer at the core, then you'll experience an increase in returned visitors, leads, loyalty, and word-of-mouth. Go ahead. Give it a try.

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What’s Coming Up

• COMING UP /

• We’re talking to Douglas Karr of Marketing Tech Blog, covering the most recent Internet Marketing News – as well as proven Internet Marketing Techniques

• COMING UP ON THE EDGE!

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Segment 3 : Marketing TechBlog

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• YOU’RE LISTENING TO EDGE OF THE WEB RADIO

• WE’RE TALKING ABOUT INTERNET MARKETING AND INTERNET CONTENT TRENDS OF 2013 YOU WILL HEAR NO WHERE ELSE

• WE’RE PRESENTED BY SITE STRATEGICS

• YOUR LOCAL FACE TO FACE WEB DESIGN AND INTERNET MARKETING COMPANY – CALL US AT 1-877-SEO-4-WEB

• WE’RE ONLINE AT S-I-T-E STRATEGICS DOT COM. You can catch all the information from the Show at EDGE OF THE RADIO DOT COM. We’ve got videos and audio of everything we do on the show and more.

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#EDGETALK#

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WE NOW BRING YOU THE MAN BEHIND THE LATEST INTERNET NEWS AND ONLINE TOOLS

Douglas Karr from MARKETING TECH BLOG INTRO

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Thanks to Doug from Marketing Tech Blog – always bringing a unique perspective on today’s endless internet landscape,

I mean – man, you bring us up to date and help us focus in on the latest trends, Doug, tell the people how to check out what you do and how to follow you.

BreakBack: Segment 4

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COMING UP / ALRIGHT –

Almost every marketer has been through a website redesign in their lifetime.

Whether it's for corporate rebranding, launching new products, going mobile, or just to increase the site's effectiveness, a redesign is a great way to recharge and breathe new life into your online presence.

But not all good intentions end well. We’ll talk about 10 awful reasons to redesign your website. STAY TUNED TO THE EDGE!

Segment 4 : 10 Terrible Reasons to Redesign Your Website

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INTRO

• Almost every marketer has been through a website redesign in their lifetime.

• Whether it's for corporate rebranding, launching new products, going mobile, or just to increase the site's effectiveness, a redesign is a great way to recharge and breathe new life into your online presence.

• Listen the segment for some great info!

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THANKS FOR LISTENING / I’M ERIN SPARKS / JOINED BY THOMAS BRODBECK / THIS SHOW IS PRESENTED BY SITE STRATEGICS / CHECK US OUT AT SITE STRATEGICS DOT COM / WE ARE YOUR LOCAL INTERNET MARKETING MANAGEMENT COMPANY / WE DO COST EFFECTIVE WEB DESIGN / WITH GOOGLE – YAHOO – BING / SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING MANAGEMENT THAT NOT ONLY PROVIDES YOU GREAT RANKINGS ON SEARCHES BUT ALSO TRANSLATES INTO SALES

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REJOIN

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•Hey, we wanted to extend out an invite to join up to our Edge Talk Newsletter!

•Free newsletter – and covers everything we’re ABOUT to cover on the show and much more.

•Get a little insider information:

•We are dropping a useful PRO TIP into each Newsletter as well. Great techniques to make your site sing!

•Simply signup for the Newsletter on Edge of the Web dot Com or Site Strategics dot com!

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NEWSLETTER SIGNUP

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WE’VE GOT AN APP!

1-877-SEO-4-WEB1-877-736-4932

• Listen to our podcasts

• All of our Videos• Twitter Feed• Facebook• Photos of the Show• Stats Bragging

Page

And….

• Score My Site Tool!Submit your site, and we’ll review it for you – give you some knowledge about hor the engines see you!

43

AND – NEW SERVICE FROM SITE STRATEGICS

1-877-SEO-4-WEB1-877-736-4932

We are the fast & easy way for small businesses to make Mobile AppsWe talked about how many apps are being launched daily, more apps are launched than babies being born daily! The reality is that with the adoption of the mobile devices and the “second screen” marketing, the ability to connect with consumer loyalty is stronger than ever. Building an app can connect you to your customerIt’s easy and fastWe have templates for:• Restaurants• Realtors• Lawyers• Bands• Sports• Churches• Professional Services

REWIND

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We talked about Three Deadly Reasons Most Websites Fail

1. Most websites act like an online brochure instead of a thought-leadership resource

2. Most websites are one-size fits all instead of dynamic

3. Most websites are built for the company, not the customer

ARTICLE: HUB SPOT / Jessica Meher

Almost every marketer has been through a website redesign in their lifetime. Whether it's for corporate rebranding, launching new products, going mobile, or just to increase the site's effectiveness, a redesign is a great way to recharge and breathe new life into your online presence.

That might be why, according to internal data from a Hub Spot upcoming 2013 Website Redesign Report, most companies undergo a redesign every 6 months to 2 years.

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10 TERRIBLE REASONS TO REDESIGN

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But not all good intentions end well.

The same research report discovered that approximately 1/3 of marketers were not happy with their last website redesign.

And worse, 38% of companies' website performance did not improve after a redesign. So, why go through all the pain with so little gain?

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• With an average cost of $43,000, a redesign should be done for only the right reasons. So perhaps the dissatisfaction with so many redesigns stems from the fact that they were done for all the wrong reasons.

• Don't fall into the trap. Here are 10 awful reasons to redesign your website.

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1. "It's Been 8 Months Since My Last Redesign“

• Why This Is Awful

• About a year ago, Hubspot asked marketers for the primary motivation behind their most recent website redesign. The top response was, well ... it was boredom. A third of marketers said they redesigned because it was time for a change.

• Just because you see your website a hundred times or more a day doesn't mean your visitors do. When you see your own website so often, it's easy to get sick and tired of seeing it. You start to notice things. Little things.

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• 2) "Because the CEO Said So“

• While the majority of the responsibility of a redesign is on the marketing team, our 2013 State of Website Redesign Report found that in 58% of the companies surveyed, the executive team has the final vote.


• Marketers, if your CEO or an executive team member is influencing your website strategy, I feel your pain. Not many CEOs have a strong internet marketing background or in-depth knowledge of what really makes a website tick.

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• 3) "My Website Lacks Flare“

• There are times when web designers feel the need to add fancy elements, such as sliders, rotating images, scrolling logos, etc. -- just because it looks better. Or, a redesign is executed because the site isn't using the latest and greatest technology like HTML5.


• Flashier isn't always better. Especially when it doesn't add any actual value to the visitor.

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• 4) "It's Not Pixel-Perfect“

• It's important to care about quality. But I've seen so many marketers obsess over every square pixel of their site (or email, or banner ad, etc.). They think that by making it pixel-perfect, it's suddenly better.


• Steve Jobs once said, "Great design is not how it looks, but how it works." I fear we'll have a real image problem in our profession if we don't show more results. More than 1/3 of marketers don't know if their site metrics improved after their site redesign,

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• 5) "I Want It to Look Like Apple“

• Ever see a great website that you just had to copy? Getting inspiration is a great thing, but redesigning your site "just because it needs to look more like Company Y's"? Ummm ... not so much.


• Just because a certain design worked for one company doesn't mean it will work for you. Again, it's a great idea to pull inspiration from other sources, especially as you do research before a redesign, but implementing certain design factors because they are liked (without serving a real purpose) will only deliver failed results.

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IF YOU’RE TUNING IN!

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If you just tuned in:You’re Listing to Edge of the Web RadioWe’re talking about 10 terrible reasons to redesign your web site

• 6) "The Competition Just Updated Theirs“

• In more competitive markets, this one is a biggie. I've seen so many companies redesign a website simply because one of their competitors did. And, for some reason, it turns into Darwin's theory of evolution, causing a predatory instinct to change or die.


• Let's be honest here: You probably visit your competitors' websites more often than you care to admit, right?

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• 7) "We Need to Improve Our SEO“

• One of the top reasons for a redesign is to increase web traffic. Traffic is, after all, important to a site's performance because without visitors, you can't generate leads and sales. But redesigning a site primarily around search engine optimization (SEO)? That's just silly.


• While traffic is the most frequently tracked site metric, only 8.6% of companies redesign their website to improve lead generation. What good is increased traffic without converting those visitors into subscribers, leads, or customers?

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• 8) "My Site Needs More Product Information“

• Are your products not selling themselves? Perhaps better product pages is all you need. Or maybe your website isn't highlighting your core strengths and unique advantages enough? I know! A redesign is the answer!


• Only 14% of marketers launched a redesign to improve its overall user experience. As a result, most websites tend to be product-centric instead of customer-centric.

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• 9) "I Want to Look 'Bigger'“

• If you're a company that competes against the "big guys," then the only solution is to look big, too. Right?


• I hear this excuse a lot, as well as wanting to "look smaller." Again, looking bigger or smaller isn't suddenly going to make your website more effective. Looking professional is important, but in most cases, your high bounce rate isn't because you don't like IBM

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• 10) "Because It's a Major Announcement“

• Congratulations! You just launched your brand new website. As marketers, it's our job to make sure everyone in our industry knows about it. And what better way to announce your shiny new site then with a method everyone ignores -- a press release!


• If you want to create a website everyone talks about, focus on creating valuable content that people love to consume and turn your site into the thought leadership hub where everyone in your industry goes to find information.

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• If you're considering a website redesign, please consider improving how it works, not just how it looks. Think about creating rich content for each buyer persona, calls-to-action and optimized landing pages to convert traffic, and dynamic pages to add a more personalized experience.

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ARTICLE: HUB SPOT / Thanks to Jessica Meher

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#EXIT#

OUTRO MUSIC BED CLOSE TEXT

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THANKS FOR LISTENING TO EDGE OF THE WEB RADIO / A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO MY COLLEAGUE AT SITE STRATEGICS – THOMAS BRODBECK / AND DOUG KARR/MARTY THOMPSON FROM MARKETING TECH BLOG / WE WISH YOU A GREAT WEEKEND AND MAKE SURE TO CHECK OUT OUR MUST SEE VIDEOS AND MUCH MORE INSIDER INFO AT EDGE OF THE WEB RADIO DOT COM / THAT’S EDGE OF THE WEB RADIO DOT COM / WE WILL TALK TO YOU NEXT WEEK

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