10 Reasons A Bride Will Leave Your Website (continued)

Poor Navigation

When a bride can't clearly figure out how to get from one page to another at your web site she'll usually just use the one thing she can count on every time - her BACK button - and leave. Navigation links should allow moving from your home page to any other page on your web site within two clicks. The most usable navigation (i.e. bride friendly) uses both TEXT links (underlined blue text links) and graphical buttons (buttons!! not pictures). I just finished a book by a consultant who works for America Online. They pay him big $$$ every year to make sure AOL is easy to use and "user-friendly". When it comes to navigation, at web sites that deliver the best results, he says it comes down to these five words, "Don't make them think." Poor

Overall Design

In the past 12 months the quality of most of the wedding sites I've visited has improved significantly. I attribute this to the fact that sharp business owners and managers know they can sell more wedding products and book more of their services with a top-notch web site. As a result, most understand that taking a casual approach to the design and marketing of their web sites is a mistake that costs them sales. If you've never built a web site before, if you don't have a very good understanding of online marketing, web page design, programming, and layout, it's unlikely a "home-grown" site will be very effective at selling more of your products or services. When brides find a poorly designed web site it doesn't leave a very good impression. Not surprisingly, they usually just leave and go looking for something better.

Poorly Written Marketing Copy

The words that appear at your web site communicate a message and if your message is poorly written, grammatically incorrect, or difficult to follow, you significantly increase the chances of a bride leaving your web site with a less than favorable impression about your business. Even if she doesn't leave, an ineffectively written and delivered message will reduce the results you get. Marketing copy makes a big difference.

Eye Candy Doesn't Work

Forget about loud colors, blinking or scrolling text, fancy animated graphics, that's NOT what brides are looking for. It isn't a very good way to portray your business and in some cases it communicates the wrong message. In the worst case, it leaves a bad impression. Anything at your web site that distracts or challenges someone's eyes is a potential problem and will most likely annoy a bride or groom who is trying to make a decision about using your products or services.

Get To The Point (FAST)

Give a bride or groom the information they came to your web site looking for and DO IT FAST. If you don't they're likely to become disinterested and then leave looking for better information somewhere else. You probably have less than 20 seconds to deliver enough information to keep a bride interested in staying at your web site. Keep your pages clean looking and well organized. Make it easy for a bride/groom to find information about WHO you are, WHAT you do, WHAT you're going to do for them, WHAT special services you offer, WHAT makes you different and WHY they should do business with you. Everything else is fluff. Brides don't buy fluff they want the real thing - so get to the point right away and give them what they came looking for.

Inadequate Contact Information

Brides love the Internet because it saves them time and makes finding local wedding services easier than ever before. Typically (or, hopefully) a bride will visit your web site, browse through several of your pages, and then want to know how to contact you. Besides an online inquiry form (not just an EMAIL link), you should have your company name, address, phone, fax and email address at the bottom of every page (or in another appropriately located position on each page). If this information isn't easily available it sets up a situation where a bride can visit your site but then leave without taking the next natural step: making an inquiry and requesting more information.

Happy New Year!

Hope it's your best yet!

Marketing to Brides in 2009 - Ten Reasons A Bride Will Leave Your Website

Ten Reasons A Bride Will Leave Your Website

It's hard enough to get good traffic to your website. The last thing you want to do is lose a bride once she's there. If you're buying online advertising (which is smart!) you'll want to maximize your investment and make sure you don't give a bride any of these reasons to leave your website before making an inquiry.

Slowness

Most brides will leave a web site when they have to wait for it to load. If they think something isn't right, they just leave. The result: lost sales. Online marketing folks call it "bail out" and it's hands down the number one reason brides will leave your web site. Your first page needs to load in less than 5 seconds, 8 seconds at the most. That's right 5 to 8 seconds. Studies show bail out starts shortly thereafter. After 20 seconds, bail out rates can be as high as 80%. Slowness is usually a result of poor web site hosting, pages that are too large, pages with too many graphics or nested tables, complex programming, poorly written scripts, or maybe even FLASH.

404 Errors

When a bride or groom visits your site and requests a nonexistent page (URL) your server sends their browser an error page. This event is recorded as a "404 Not Found" error in your web server logs and is important information you should look for on a monthly basis. It means brides are NOT getting what they're looking for. Encountering an error page is a frustrating experience for a web site visitor and studies show this is a leading reason why people leave web sites. The most common reasons for 404 errors include: programming error, incorrect or outdated link on one or more of your pages, incorrect or outdated link to your site from another site, search engine index contains an outdated page, outdated user bookmark to a page you deleted, or a bride/groom made an error when manually entering a URL.

Web Site Text That is Hard To Read

Background images, use of italics, animated graphics dancing across a bride's computer monitor, use of multiple fonts, too much text and not enough "white space" all make it hard to read the information a bride is looking for. Dark colored text on light colored pages (non-background) will outperform any other combination 99% of the time. Also, DON'T SHOUT AT YOUR VISITORS BY WRITING IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS and keep text aligned to the top and to the left - that's how people's eyes are trained to read. Centered text in paragraphs is hard to read in most cases and should be avoided. Choose fonts that are easy to read like Arial, Verdana, Geneva, and Helvetica and keep them consistent in size and color throughout your site.

Frames

I still see too many framed web sites and I recommend most sites avoid using them. There is really no need to use them. In most cases they are more confusing to the brides and grooms who visit your site then they are worth. Frames can be useful on occasion, but often they create more problems then benefit. If you "have to" have that framed look, use a Cascading Style Sheet. Study after study shows web browsers have a more enjoyable experience at web sites without frames. If that's not enough of a reason, most search engines have problems or ignore pages that use frames. If your webmaster insists on using frames, ask him/her WHY and then how they will compensate for these two significant problems that can result in lost sales.

Google Adwords - Minimum Bid To Show Up on Page One

I really like Google Adwords as a source of high-quality traffic. It's not perfect, but then no source of traffic on the Internet is.

Think about it for a minute. A bride goes to Google, types in a search, a keyword search of three to four words (most likely), and then sees your ad.

If you bid high enough you show up at the top before the organic search engine results. If you're not a top three bid you probably show up on the narrow, right column.

She sees it (20% of the people who search at Google click on Sponsored Ads)

She likes it (it has the words in it that "connect" with her head in it's current state!)

She clicks on it (she's on her way to your website's home page or maybe a landing page).

The chances are at least 50-50 she's a good prospect for an inquiry. That is, if you're website converts well. If you have traffic but aren't getting inquiries you have a conversion problem.

Recently, I discovered a little weirdness with Google Adwords while bidding on keywords. Specifically, new keywords and their bids that would get me on the first page of Sponsored Listings.

Google Adwords, Keyword Bids, and the "Minimum Bid" to Show Up on the First Page

Google Explains Click Fraud

Here's a great video that talks about click fraud at Google Adwords. If you're concerned about click fraud on your campaign this video discusses what Google is doing about it.

Personally, I'm pretty comfortable Google is doing the right thing and keeping tabs on this. Adwords is their "golden goose" and I'm sure they want to carefully protect it.

http://videos.webpronews.com/2008/12/16/ses-chicago-google-explains-click-fraud/

#25 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#25 - It Will Be Hard To Get Top Ranked At Google Without Backward Links

Also called inbound links, backward links are links pointing to your website from other websites.

For the past 18 months backward links have played a critical role in moving up in position at Google.

Inbound links to your website, not in the form of link exchanges, are an indication to Google that other people like your website enough to link to it.

It's pretty easy for Google to identify a link exchange and it's likely Google gives more weight to inbound links vs. link exchanges. Building inbound links is a difficult and a time-consuming task and should be approached as a long-term strategy. Keep in mind, the quality of the links pointing to your website is more important than the quantity.

Also keep in mind that Google probably doesn't like to see dozens of inbound links show up over a short period of time - it can be an indication you are trying to just use links to move your positioning up.

The way to the top rank at Google is to have high quality websites linking directly to you using links that the Google spider can crawl - and to develop those links slowly, but methodically, over time.

Closing Thought: The Competition Is Getting Tough(er)

Every year, as the number of websites continue to grow, the competition is getting tougher and tougher and you can expect it to get worse.

Unless you have an effective online marketing plan, by next year I predict you'll have 30% more competition than you have today.

The competitors who "get it," have online marketing know-how behind them, execute their online marketing strategy effectively, and day by day - although you may not know it - take away one sale after another from you.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics?

Sign-up for my free Internet Marketing Tips for Wedding Professionals and learn how to DOUBLE your traffic and TRIPLE your inquiries.

#24 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#24 - Don't Confuse Search Engine Optimization With Search Engine Marketing - You Need To Do Both

Search engine optimization is different from search engine marketing.

Optimization is the process of planning and modifying your website programming and page content to achieve organic or "free" top positions in the search engines on a search engine results page (SERP).

Search engine marketing is using "sponsored" links or paid advertising, in most cases pay-per-click advertising, to target and drive additional qualified traffic to your website.

What most webmasters fail to clearly communicate is the difference between search engine optimization and search engine marketing, the importance of each, and their role in the development of a solid, long-term, traffic-building strategy.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics?

Sign-up for my free Internet Marketing Tips for Wedding Professionals and learn how to DOUBLE your traffic and TRIPLE your inquiries.

#23 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#23 - Search Engine Optimization Involves A Lot More Than Just Adjusting A Few Page Title Tags And Meta-Tags

I wish more webmasters would talk about all of the different variables related to search engine optimization, including: meta-tags, keywords in your page copy, content placement, content length (number of words per page), streamlined programming and coding, inbound links, outbound linking, deep linking into your sub-pages, and spider crawlability.

These are just a few of the other variables in the mix. Each one of these variables has multiple variables of its own.

Search engine optimization is very different from a year ago. Only when everything is correctly planned and everything is correctly executed, will you see results and your search engine positioning improve.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today. Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics? Sign-up for my free Internet Marketing Tips for Wedding Professionals and learn how to DOUBLE your traffic and TRIPLE your inquiries.

#22 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#25 - The Most Important Variable In An Over-All Search Engine Optimization Strategy Is Your Page Title Tag

I think most webmasters understand the importance of page title tags but what I don't think they understand is how carefully they have to be created.

If the words brides are searching for when using Google, Yahoo!, or MSN, are not in your page title tag, it is very unlikely that you are going to show up top ranked - plain and simple.

Also, putting your company name in your page title tags is a waste of time.

If they search for your company name, your site should rank in a top position in the search engine results page based on your page copy (i.e., your company name on your pages).

In most cases brides aren't searching for ABC Videography (a Philadelphia based wedding videographer), they are searching for "Philadelphia wedding videographers" or "Philadelphia wedding videography services."

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics?

Sign-up for my free Internet Marketing Tips for Wedding Professionals and learn how to DOUBLE your traffic and TRIPLE your inquiries.

#21 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#21 - Getting Top Ranked At Yahoo! or MSN Doesn't Guarantee A Top Ranked Position At Google

Getting ranked well at Google right now has a lot to do with the number of links pointing to your website.

That said, the quality of those sites pointing to you is more important than the quantity.

Yahoo! seems to really be focused on keywords and relevancy - in other words, does your website have the most relevant information to match the search performed. MSN also seems to be putting most of its weight on page content also.

I wish webmasters would tell clients that each search engine has a different algorithm and/or different rules.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics?

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Testing Audio Link

Testing audio link from tele-clinic/webinar...

http://podcast.thebasementventures.com/telcorecordings/recording.rss?fileid=MN2124_11_11_2008_1070627&bridge=999834&email=

#20 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#20 - Search Engine Optimization Takes A Lot Of Time

I wish more webmasters would discuss this with their clients.

The simple fact is that search engine optimization requires knowledge, expertise, and time.

Even with experience, it takes expertise and time to break a client into the top ten for any competitive keyword/keyword phrase position.

If you do everything right, it can take months, even a year or more, to see your website move into a top position for competitive keywords.

Keep in mind that someone has to fall out of the top ten for you to get into the top ten, and you're not the only one trying. Also, the algorithms at Google, Yahoo!, and MSN are each different and change from time to time.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today. Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics? Sign-up for my free Internet Marketing Tips for Wedding Professionals and learn how to DOUBLE your traffic and TRIPLE your inquiries.

#19 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#19 - If You're New To Pay-Per-Click, Start With Google Adwords First

If you're new to the search engine marketing playing field I recommend you start with the Google Adwords "Standard" edition (avoid the "Starter" edition) because it is the fastest way to test and fine-tune your pay-per-click program - it generates more traffic than Yahoo! or MSN and I believe in the wedding industry the quality of traffic is better (i.e., brides and grooms).

If you are unfamiliar with the "pay-per-click" model you SHOULD hire someone with experience to help you.

Setting up the system is fairly easy, but setting it up properly, identifying the right keywords and keyword phrases, and writing ad copy that pulls the most clicks (and beats your competitors advertisements) isn't for amateurs. The money you save should more than pay for the investment.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today. Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics? Sign-up for my free Internet Marketing Tips for Wedding Professionals and learn how to DOUBLE your traffic and TRIPLE your inquiries.

#18 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#18 - Pay-Per-Click Advertising Is Smart

Pay-per-click advertising, also referred to as search engine marketing, works and if it's not working for you there is something wrong with your website or your pay-per-click campaign set-up.

Driving targeted traffic to a website that converts visitors into inquiries - and then sales - is another no-brainer. Google offers Adwords, Yahoo! offers Yahoo Search and MSN offers AdCenter.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics?

Sign-up for my free Internet Marketing Tips for Wedding Professionals and learn how to DOUBLE your traffic and TRIPLE your inquiries.

Get more visibility for your website and reach more brides and grooms (MORE TRAFFIC)... visit the Daily Wedding Tip.

Orlando Wedding Ministers

Orlando Wedding Ministers... brides are looking for you!

Now is a great time to get into Wedding Planning Links. We can get you visibility at 4 different wedding planning websites - for one low price!

We are top ranked for "Orlando Wedding Ministers" at Google (11/06/08). Call me today.

#17 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#17 - Online Advertising Is Smart

Online advertising is a requirement in today's competitive chase for the online bride and groom.

The days of a "free ride" and free traffic are over and free link exchanges are mostly useless for driving quality traffic these days.

Once you have a good website, one with a track record of converting bride/groom visitor sessions into inquiries, phone calls, and sales, online advertising is a no-brainer and should generate a fantastic return-on-investment.

Where should you advertise? Look for sites where your competition is advertising. Ask your peers where they are advertising and getting good results. Look for sites that show up top ranked in search engines for your keywords.

Be sure to monitor your web statistics and referrers to confirm and track the results.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics?

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#16 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#16 - Website Analytics: Review Keywords Regularly

In your website statistics you should also find "referring keywords," or the words people used to find your website through a search engine.

If the keywords you are targeting with your page copy and in your search engine optimization strategy are not showing up in your keyword referrals, there is something wrong with your keyword strategy, search engine optimization strategy, search engine positioning, or all three!

If you are getting only a few visitor sessions from the keywords you are targeting it could be an indication of poor organic (i.e., free) search engine positioning.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics?

Sign-up for my free Internet Marketing Tips for Wedding Professionals and learn how to DOUBLE your traffic and TRIPLE your inquiries.

#15 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#15 - Website Analytics: Make Sure You Identify Referrers

There are many things to look at when reviewing your website statistics but one of the most important things to review is referrers.

Referrers show you which other websites are sending you traffic and how much are they sending. This is particularly important if you're advertising online as it will confirm that you are getting traffic from the sources you are paying.

When I review someone's log, I go straight for the referrers after reviewing total visitor sessions.
I want to know where the traffic is coming from, how much, and over what period of time.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics?

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#14 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#14 - Average Time On Site Is A Useless Measurement

When your website statistics, these days being referred to as "analytics," refer to the average time spent per visit on your website, don't put too much emphasis on it.

There are too many variables involved for that number to mean much, in most cases.

Some search engine spiders act as a real person and impact that number. Some brides will load your website and then go to dinner and come back two hours later. Others might visit your website and then walk away from their computer for the rest of the day with your web page still "live" on their computer screen.

These visitor sessions throw the average time per visit number into the garbage. I'm not saying to ignore it, but don't lose sleep over it. The best thing to do with this number is to track it over time and make sure it does not trend downward significantly.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics?

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#13 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#13 - Half Of Your Traffic Is No Good

Roughly half of your visitor session traffic is absolutely no good.

It is not qualified traffic and probably isn't even a bride or groom.

It could be a competitor, possibly a search engine reviewing the pages at your website, or some other unqualified visitor.

I tell my clients to take their total visitor session count and divide it by half. That will give you a better idea of the true number of "qualified" visitors.

Use this "adjusted visitor session" number to analyze your traffic and calculate conversion.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics?

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#12 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#12 - Hits Are Not Individual Brides And Grooms

The next time your webmaster says "hits" when talking about traffic at your website, fire him.

Why? Because either they don't know what they are talking about or they are intentionally misleading you.

"Hits" are not real people. "Hits" are not real brides and grooms. Real people (i.e., brides and grooms) create "Visitor Sessions."

When a bride visits a web page that has ten images on it she creates 11 "hits" on your server.

Here's how it is calculated: your server was asked to deliver a full page of code and 10 images to that person's computer screen, creating 11 "hits" on the server. This is only one visitor session, but registers as 11 "hits."

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics?

#11 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#11 - Online Inquiry Forms Work Better Than Email Links

Online inquiry forms will help you get better leads from your website because you'll get better information, you'll get more information, and it will be easier to qualify your prospective new client and give them the information they're looking for.

If you've done a good job telling a bride what you'll do for her, why you are a better choice than the last five websites she's visited, and why she should hire you, then filling out a form for more information is a no-brainer.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics?

#10 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#10 - Follow-Up On All Inquiries By Phone.

A personal follow-up on all of your inquiries by phone will get better results and turn more of your website inquiries into sales.

Email follow-up is almost useless these days and if you use email as your primarily follow-up with the brides who have made inquiries through your website you're probably losing significant sales to competitors who use the phone to follow-up on web inquiries.

I asked one of my new clients to use the phone to follow-up on her web inquiries and she doubled her monthly sales in only 30 days.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics?

WordButler Offer Too Slippery

Word Butler ... hmm

Just a quick note to let you know if you stumble upon this site http://www.wordbutler.com/ or click on one of their Google Adwords ads... watch out of the "Free Test Drive" offer.

All I got was an email and BIG PITCH - no "free test drive."

No trial... just sales pitch (on landing page and via email).

Seems if you buy the offer is risk free, you can get your money back, but my doubts are high when a company offers this type of bait-and-switch.

These folks are new on the playground.

I'll stick to my recommendation to use http://www.keyworddiscovery.com/.

Here's another post about these people and their product: http://www.polepositionmarketing.com/emp/wordbutler-keyword-tool/

#9 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

Follow-Up On All Inquiries Within 24 Hours

The inquiries you get from your website are some of the best leads you can find.

They come from people who have visited your site, read the information, found it interesting enough to seek more information about your products and services by taking the time to fill in an inquiry form requesting additional contact.

In today's world of "I want it now," you'll want to follow-up on your inquiries the same day you receive them, or within 24 hours. Keep in mind, a bride has likely made several inquiries. A prompt follow-up will help you create a great impression and help you close more sales.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

#8 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#8 - Be Aware Of Your Conversion Rate

I have never heard a webmaster discuss conversion and most would rather eat worms than talk about it.

Unfortunately, conversion is what it's all about. Conversion is when a bride finds your website and actually takes action: She might make an online inquiry, she might pick up the phone and call, or maybe she'll download a summary sheet of your services and prices (after giving her contact information first, of course).

Conversion is the #1 way (and frankly, the only way) to calculate the success of your website. If you had 100 qualified visitors to your website and got 20 inquiries your conversion is 20%. If you got 3 inquiries your conversion is 3% and something is probably wrong with your website.

#7 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

Taking A Casual Approach To Your Online Marketing Is A Big Mistake

Take your website and online marketing seriously and you'll get great results.

Take a casual approach and you'll find your competition taking market-share and sales away from you.

If you don't know how many inquiries a week you're getting from your website, if you don't know where they're coming from, if you don't know where the hottest places to advertise your website online are, if you don't know how many visitor sessions you have daily - on average, if you don't know your conversion ratios, if you don't know the top 10 keywords you're targeting at Google, Yahoo!, and MSN are - you're not taking your online marketing seriously.

#6 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

Your Cheap Web Hosting Isn't Saving You Anything And Is Probably Costing You Thousands Of Dollars In Lost Sales

This one kills me and it's killing your sales too.

Most of you probably tell a bride "you get what you pay for" and have heard horror stories about the couple who hired a $500 wedding photographer. But for some reason when it comes to website hosting people think $5 dollar a month hosting is a bargain and a good idea.

I'm sorry but this is ridiculous.

Poor hosting servers result in lost sales. How?

When a bride can't find your website because it's unavailable, you lose a sale. When your pages are slow to load and a bride gets tired of waiting, she leaves and you lose a sale to your competitor. When your scripts unexpectedly don't work and your inquiry forms freeze up, you lose sales.

Webmasters don't get it, but saving a few dollars a month is not worth it when at stake is hundreds or thousands of dollars in sales. You can get the highest quality website hosting available for between $40.00 and $80.00 month - and not have to worry about lost sales because of hosting.

#5 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

Own Your Own Domain

I hate to see this happen, but unfortunately I still see webmasters who have registered a domain name in their name, or their company name, rather than in the name of the company they are working for.

In other words, you don't actually own or have control over your own domain.

Sometimes this is just an oversight or a result of trying to do things too fast. Whatever the case, you should know who owns your domain, it should be who you think it is, who you want it to be (maybe your formal corporate name?), and it should have a current email address as well as a current regular mailing address associated and registered with it.

And if your domain name is registered through Network Solutions you're paying $20/year more than you have to - I tell all my clients to move their domain registration to Go Daddy at GODADDY. COM.

#4 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#4 - Your Flash Website Is Making It Nearly Impossible For Brides To Find You!

Are you aware that if your website is build entirely in FLASH or uses a FLASH "enter here" or "splash" page, you are making it is harder (if not impossible) for brides to find your website on major search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, or MSN? The fact is that a website designed entirely in FLASH is almost invisible to search engine spiders. Few webmasters will tell you this.
If you don't care about traffic from search engines or if you have a huge pile of cash in your advertising budget - because that's what you'll be using to drive people to your website - then your FLASH site is fine.

But 80% of the people who log on to the Internet start at a search engine. They are SEARCHING for something.

Many of my clients get 60-80% of their traffic from search engines. That quickly translates into thousands of dollars in new business each year.

One caterer who signed up for my ADVANTAGE program attributes over a million dollars a year in sales to inquiries that have come in from Google.

Experience will show that if you're top ranked in a competitive keyword position it can easily translate into tens of thousands of dollars in new business monthly.

If you're stuck because you have an all FLASH website, my advice is to build a more search engine friendly html static site and start a blog based on your current website. The investment is well worth it.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics?

#3 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#3 - What You Consider A Good Website Design And What Actually Works Might Be Two Very Different Things


The gap between what actually works and what you think will work can potentially be a huge problem. If you don't have marketing design experience or the time to keep up with the latest techniques in online marketing, the best way to close this gap is to find someone who does!


Most webmasters will recognize they don't have expertise in this area and will welcome the input.


You want to design a website that presents your business professionally, loads quickly, is easy to use, gives clients the information they're looking for, generates interest in your business, and of course one that generates inquiries.


If you miss the mark in any of these areas, you'll lose a lot of sales to your competition. You'll also have wasted a good portion of the money you spent on advertising and promoting your website.


Poor design leads to poor CONVERSION. All the traffic in the world is useless unless it attracts inquiries that convert into sales.

#2 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

Your Website Must Be Better Than The Competition

I bet your webmaster can't even tell you three of your biggest online competitors!
It would be foolish to think your website is the only one brides are going to visit when planning their wedding.

Chances are they've found three to six of your competitors and they might have even bookmarked their websites.

First, be sure your website has a "Bookmark Our Website" option prominently displayed.
Then, know that your website has to be better than your competition's. If it's not, you will lose sales and market-share to your competition. In today's competitive online marketplace making a good impression online is a must.

Here's how you can make it happen: Find five of your competitors online. Have a professional analyze their website for strengths and weaknesses to help you develop your strategy. Then consider how you can make your website better than the competition.

Your website should look fresh, be updated often, and have better marketing copy than your competition. It should have better features, colorful and sharp graphics, easier navigation, and offer a more compelling reason to choose you and your services over someone else.

#1 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#1 - Your Webmaster Probably Knows Very Little About Online Marketing

The fact is that online marketing is outside the expertise of most webmasters. In most cases, relying on your webmaster to develop and execute your online marketing strategy is a big mistake.

I can't tell you how many people have told me, "We love our website, it's great, but we're just not getting any inquiries."

Webmasters typically don't talk about, let alone focus on, conversion. They don't understand that traffic is great, but if it doesn't convert into an inquiry or sale then it doesn't mean anything.

They don't know how to write compelling marketing copy, the type that makes a bride want to get more information about the company. They don't understand the importance of testing, analyzing and measuring results, so that you are continually getting the best results from your website, staying competitive and online advertising.

Webmasters may be talented programmers or graphic designers, but they shouldn't be managing your online marketing.

Marketing To Brides: Does FLASH Help or Hurt Your Business

I have a couple computers that I work on. One desktop in my office and a laptop.

For about a month now I haven't been able to get FLASH to play on my office desktop. I'm a pretty technical guy and I've done everything: (1) downloaded a new version of FLASH, (2) downloaded the latest Internet Explorer browser, (3) adjusted my security settings in IE, (4) un-installed, re-installed Internet Explorer, (4) spent about two hours looking for "fixes" at the Adobe site and Microsoft site, (5) tried most of those fixes and wasted another three or four hours, (6) now need to play with a Windows registry editor (which I'm SURE is not the problem, because FLASH works on my alternative browser, Firefox).

I'm wondering, would a bride with the same or similar problem go to all this effort to view your website.

You may think your FLASH site is cool but I'm convinced most FLASH websites LOSE more business than you ever gain.

Add to that the fact that FLASH websites are virtually invisible in the search engines, and don't believe the latest "Flash friendly techniques..." or you're a fool, and today... FLASH is still a BIG MISTAKE in my book.

Marketing To Brides - Internet Marketing Tips for Wedding Professionals

Why is it some people are having their best year ever while others are struggling?

The answer is simple: they have harnessed the power of the Internet to drive down their costs while increasing their brand name and overall visibility.

As a result, they get more inquiries, they book more weddings.

Subscribe to my free Internet Marketing for Wedding Professionals newsletter and learn how you can book more weddings, cut your advertising costs, and get better results from your website.

If you are serious about marketing to brides subscribe today. There is no cost, no obligation, and you won't get a sales call.

Internet Marketing for Wedding Professionals is published every Monday. Subscriptions to my newsletter are free. None of the information subscribers provide is ever sold, exchanged, or otherwise distributed. A one-click unsubscribe option can be found in each issue.

Wedding Industry Statistics

What's happening in the wedding industry? Is the recession (err... "economic downturn") having an impact on your business? Have you taken a look at the most recent wedding industry statistics?

Almost all of my clients are having their best year ever. Don't get me wrong, marketing to brides is tougher than ever before, but with the right Internet strategy people are reaching into their marketplace, finding online brides, getting them to their website, and getting inquiries and booking weddings.

If you're not already subscribed to my free Internet Marketing Tips for Wedding Professionals newsletter subscribe today. It's absolutely free.

A little while back I started an Internet marketing tip of the week. It's always something short, to the point, and valuable information you can use to help you stay on the right track and get better results from your website and Internet marketing efforts.

Marketing to brides is very competitive. You'll need to stay on top of these things if you want to stay ahead of your competition.

Here are my Internet marketing tips for wedding professionals.

Does Google See Your Blog?

Does Google see your blog?

How many of your posts does Google have indexed in it's database?

Here's how you tell.

1) Go to GOOGLE.COM

2) In the search box type: site:yourblogaddresshere

3) To use my blog as an example, site:weddingbiz.blogspot.com

4) Look at the search engine results page and you'll see all of the pages Google has indexed.

5) Indexed is different from "top ranked" but getting "IN" is the first step.

6) Google has a BLOG directory in addition to it's main index/directory...

http://blogsearch.google.com/

Here's my two-cents worth and a common blogging mistake.

#7 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

Taking A Casual Approach To Your Online Marketing Is A Big Mistake

Take your website and online marketing seriously and you'll get great results.

Take a casual approach and you'll find your competition taking market-share and sales away from you.

If you don't know how many inquiries a week you're getting from your website, if you don't know where they're coming from, if you don't know where the hottest places to advertise your website online are, if you don't know how many visitor sessions you have daily - on average, if you don't know your conversion ratios, if you don't know the top 10 keywords you're targeting at Google, Yahoo!, and MSN are - you're not taking your online marketing seriously.

EMAIL Rules from Bob Parsons

I love Bob Parsons, the CEO/Founder of Go Daddy.

Here's what he has to say about EMAIL and I'd have to say I agree with him!

I turned the auto-load off so press the PLAY button to watch it.

What is Spam? 5 Years in Jail ?? Yikes!

A month or so ago I moved my Internet Marketing for Wedding Professionals e-newsletter from AWeber to Constant Contact.

I really like Constant Contact and while it doesn't do everything I have with AWeber (auto-responders, being one of the main differences) it is better.

I'll talk more about Constant Contact and email marketing and how you can use it in the near future at Book More Weddings / Marketing To Brides Online websites.... but today I thought I'd share Constant Contact's SPAM policy.

I'm always asked:

"What is SPAM"

"Can I use this list of email addresses I just got from the bridal show I did last weekend?"

"How do I get email addresses?"

If you follow these guidelines and rules you'll have a complete understanding of SPAM and keep yourself out of jail (yes, you can be put in jail for up to 5 years!).

Constant Contact's Policy (http://ui.constantcontact.com/CCSpamPolicy.jsp)

What is SPAM?

It is a yummy luncheon meat that tastes delicious on white bread with mayo and mustard. Oops... wrong Spam.

SPAM is unsolicited email also known as UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email). By sending email to only to those who have requested to receive it, you are following accepted permission-based email guidelines.

What constitutes a pre-existing business relationship?

The recipient of your email has made a purchase, requested information, responded to a questionnaire or a survey, or had offline contact with you.
What constitutes consent?

The recipient of your email has been clearly and fully notified of the collection and use of his email address and has consented prior to such collection and use. This is often called informed consent.

Chris: So you should have a business relationship, or pending business relationship AND consent. Not just one or the other - both!

Isn't there a law against sending Spam?

The federal anti-spam law went into effect on January 1st, 2004 and preempts all state laws. While this new law will not stop spam, it does make most spam illegal and ultimately less attractive to spammers. The law is specific about requirements to send commercial email and empowers the federal government to enforce the law. The penalties can include a fine and/or imprisonment for up to 5 years.

How Constant Contact protects you from sending spam:

Constant Contact is a permission-based email-marketing tool that follows the strictest permission-based philosophies:

Communication - Your Constant Contact registration page already states why you are collecting the site visitor's email address, how you plan to use their address, and that you are following the embedded privacy policy. Additionally, by accepting our license agreement you have agreed to use only permission-based lists and never to sell or rent your lists.

Verification - Constant Contact automatically sends all of your new contacts an email confirming their interest in receiving emails from you. Additionally, if your contact changes his or her interests or unsubscribes, Constant Contact automatically sends an email confirmation.

Unsubscribe - Every email generated from Constant Contact contains an unsubscribe link which allows your contacts to opt-out of future emails and automatically updates your contact lists to avoid the chance of sending unwanted emails to visitors who have unsubscribed.

Identification - Your email header information is correct because it is pre-set for you by Constant Contact. Your email's "From" address is verified and already accurately identifies you as the sender.

Contact Information - all of your emails are pre-filled with your contact information including your physical address.

How to protect yourself from Spam: Take the Spam Test

1. Are you importing a purchased list of ANY kind?
2. Are you sending to non-specific addresses such as: sales@domain.com, business@domain.com, webmaster@domain.com, info@domain.com, or other general addresses.
3. Are you sending to distribution lists or mailing lists which send indirectly to a variety of email addresses?
4. Are you mailing to anyone who has not explicitly agreed to join your mailing list? (This is why I believe it is SPAM and ILLEGAL to send email to mail lists you get from a bridal show that you participated in).
5. Have you falsified your originating address or transmission path information?
6. Have you used a third party email address or domain name without their permission?
7. Does your email's subject line contain false or misleading information?
8. Does your email fail to provide a working link to unsubscribe?
9. Are you failing to process any unsubscribe requests that come to you via a reply to your email within 10 days or the request?

If you have answered YES to ANY of the above questions you will likely be labeled a SPAMMER.

For more information visit The Coalition Against Unsolicited Email (http://www.cauce.org/) or contact Constant Contact (http://www.constantcontact.com/).

Chris Jaeger
Book More Weddings
http://www.bookmoreweddings.com/

Get the ADVANTAGE for your website. More traffic, more brides, more inquiries, more sales.

Increase your "dwell time" with FLASH (NOT)

DISCLAIMER: VENT AHEAD

Here's another reason to get expert advice to help you with your online marketing...

Found on the front page of a webmaster/developers home page:

Our designers specialize in Adobe and Macromedia graphic software and will work with you to create images, animations, and effects that grab your viewers attention and increase the dwell time on your web site.

"increase the dwell time"

OMG

People don't come to your website to "dwell" or to be entertained with graphics and animated dancing objects.

If your webmaster or designer tells you Flash or animated objects on your home page will enhance the user-experience... please find better advice. Your business depends on it.

New Wedding Planning Directory of Local Wedding Services

Marketing to brides just got a bit easier. Our new website, Wedding Vendor 411, makes it easier for brides to find your website online. Watch for our official launch in September.

http://www.weddingvendor411.com

Marketing to Brides Online Using WordPress for a Website - Why Not?

WordPress is blogging software. But it can also be used to create and manage a website. It is easy to update, offers a lot of flexibility with design and features, and is fairly search engine friendly (with a few tweaks). Without a doubt it can be used as an effective tool for marketing to brides.

Here is a great example. It's a bit simple but I bet if a bride visits she makes an inquiry, and that's what it's all about.

http://www.collectivememoriesvideo.com

The Key To Success

Bill Cosby is a guy I'd like to hang around with for the day. I recently ran across a quote of his:

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."

Chris Jaeger
Book More Weddings
http://www.bookmoreweddings.com

Are you marketing to brides online? Get the ADVANTAGE for your website. More traffic, more brides, more inquiries, more sales.

Losing Ground With Google and Other Search Engines

I just got off the phone with an old friend from WAY back in the early Internet days. She was frustrated at how her top ranked website was very noticably yet gradually falling, over the past six to twelve months, at Google for a lot of her targeted keywords.

It's true, I've been watching it.... even telling her she should do something about it. I even tossed her a few "pearls of wisdom" about eight months ago at lunch.

Here's why it's happening and why it might be happening to you.

Six to eight YEARS ago everyone was linking to "good content" and "good websites." It was the thing to do to "help your users have a more pleasureable experience..." at your website.

The idea was better experience leads to "oh, we had such a nice "experience" at that wedding vendor's website that we're going to go back..."

PLEASE SHOOT ME !!

Anyway, back to the story... so years ago other websites linked to this website, or maybe YOUR website, and most of the time you didn't even know it.

Someone found your website, it looked nice, maybe it was top ranked so it was "popular," it had good content.

But things changed.

People got smarter and more stingey about sending their traffic away. Heck, it's hard enough to get it in the first place... better be careful how much of it you send away.

Links AWAY from a website now are mostly seen for what they are: sending potential customers AWAY from your business to someone else's.

AWAY is no way to get a new customer if you're a wedding photographer, wedding videographer, or anyone marketing to brides online.

Don't believe me? How many websites do you know see with banners at the top of them to "Top Wedding Links" and "Look For Us at Best Weddings.COM."

I digress...

So one of the things that has happened as a result of this phenomena is that YOUR site, like hers, has fewer links to it.

This is particularly true if you don't have a link building strategy in place.

It's nothing you've done wrong, other than ignoring how quickly things change on the Internet, but it's a result of the way people "link" or use links at their websites.

It's changed dramatically in the past few years.

Again, these might even be links you DIDN'T KNOW you had. They might have been a link to your website or maybe an entire "links" page was eliminated (where you were just one of the links). This typically took place when a website was "redesigned."

Either way... a link TO your website, which Google views as "vote of confidence," so-to-speak, or "algorithmically" (yikes!), is now gone.

And since Google heavily weighs links that point TO a website as a vote of confidence, they even use it as a factor of Google Page Rank, as my friend lost link after link, very unbeknownst to her, sooner or later Google picked up on it (i.e. fewer links to her website) and it has has a negative impact on her overall rankings at Google.

It gets a little worse...

Add to that that the websites that WERE linking probably were losing THEIR rank for the same reason or because their competition built better websites that were more crawler friendly with better relevancy...

Add to that a million other websites like hers, and yours, that have come on line (i.e.dilution)...

Add to that other search engine optimization variables that weigh equally as important as "links"...

And you have what you have today: losing ground with Google and other search engines.

What should she do?

Join my ADVANTAGE program.

I said four years ago "the days of free traffic are dwindling fast." There's no such thing as free lunch.

Chris Jaeger
Book More Weddings
http://www.bookmoreweddings.com/

Get the ADVANTAGE for your website. More traffic, more brides, more inquiries, more sales.

Mobile Beat - July 2008

I always enjoy getting my copy of Mobile Beat Magazine, Ryan Burger's magazine for the mobile entertainment industry. It's always got a great cover. The stuff inside is good too!

Todd Donald's article "Can You Really Afford Your Web Advertising?" is right on.

Bottom line: if you're not running a PROFITABLE business you're not in business - all the advertising in the world won't change that - so you have to be careful advertising online because it can add up fast.

He talks about website conversion of 1% to 2%. Sadly, he's quite accurate.

Website conversion is when someone who visits your website actually does something you want them to, like fill in an inquiry form or call you on the phone.

He goes on to say that this miseable conversion (miserable, being my word) is a factor of 24/7/365 access by anyone anywhere in the world - and that's partially true.

The Internet makes it really easy to just waste time clicking around because you're bored and you've already seen The Matrix about 1000 times on cable... who hasn't mindlessly browsed the web for hours?

But also another reason, and the #1 reason for miserable conversion, is:

LOUSY WEB SITES

Lousy websites, websites that don't present a company well, that probably have one of my "10 Reasons A Bride Will Leave Your Website" problems, that don't give a bride/groom the information they came looking for - fast, and deliver a poor "what's in it for me" message and poor "unique value proposition" are THE NUMBER ONE reason conversion is 1% to 2% at most websites.

At some, it's even worse.

Another factor, in calculating conversion, which I've been saying for years; THROW HALF OF YOUR VISITOR SESSION TRAFFIC OUT.

You're not counting "hits" right? If you are we need to talk.

Half of your traffic is no good. Visitor sessions, that is. It is not from real people looking to buy your services. It is search engine spiders, spam-bots collecting/searching for email addreses, people in the Phillipines hired for $100/week to find web-forms and fill them out with SPAM, your own staff updating the website, your mother, your mother's friends (because she's telling everyone you have a website!), and these people are not people who are qualified or interested in buying your services/products - so of course, they don't make inquiries.

As a result, one of your conversion variables, "total visitor sessions" is skewed from the start.

Try this instead: Take half your visitor sessions and throw them out!

1000 visitor sessions last month
divded by 2

=500 visitor sessions

50 inquiries = 10% conversion
25 inquiries = 5% conversion

Frankly, if you have anything less than 5% there is something wrong with your website and your marketing to brides online strategy.

Keep up the good work over there at Mobile Beat guys!

Google Now Crawling and Indexing Flash

Don't get too excited though...

If you are marketing to brides online and have a Flash website there's good news, sort of, for you today.

Google just announced it has a new algorithm that is crawling and indexing Flash and Flash web pages. So, Happy Days for all those with Flash websites.

Right?

Well, not exactly, there's a "but." Actually, a BIG but...

And here it is: Don't be overly optimistic that your Flash website will shoot it's way to a top ranked position at Google or any other search engine, anytime soon, as a result of this change.

Don't think your Flash site (or pages) are still not at a dis-advantage to static/crawler-friendly pages.

I still think VERY crawler-friendly websites, that are professional-quality search engine optimized, the static/html type, will beat out Flash websites for a VERY long time - at least two more years.

Why, you ask? For no other reason than there are dozens of other factors involved with an effective search engine optimization strategy and this new algorithm is only a small piece, although a step in the right direction (if you like Flash), so it really doesn't mean a lot right now.

On a similar note, I spent a lot of time yesterday poking around at a lot of different wedding photographer's and wedding videographer's websites.

I have to tell you, I'm not impressed with Flash at all. What aggravated me the most was the WAIT.

Wait for this to load, wait for that to load...

Oh... and then load some MUSIC on me.

Oh... make it almost impossible for me to read (white text on black backgrounds, graphic-based text vs. text-based, framed windows that I have to scroll, pull-down options that don't work... the list is LONG...)

Add on some navigation that doesn't work or start the whole process of waiting again.

Folks, the web is NOT a TV commercial and frankly I would bet lunch a website that focuses MORE on INFORMATION instead of we'll-impress-them-with-our-Flash, will convert more of your traffic into inquiries.

Actually, I can give you at least 5 examples of wedding photographers who went "Flash" and were totally frustrated that brides couldn't find them at Google, Yahoo!, or MSN.

Even driving traffic to them with Google Adwords (pay-per-click) didn't work. The conversion was horrible.

Bottom line: Flash may still not be the most effective way for marketing to brides online.

I know I'm not going to make it on the Christmas card list of all you folks out there with Flash sites... and Flash developers are sticking another needle in their Chris Jaeger Voodoo Doll - but at least you're hearing it straight from someone.



Chris Jaeger

The "Try On" Problem for Wedding Dress Retailers

Advertising and marketing to brides online is an effective way to get brides to your retail store. For years the "try on" problem has haunted wedding dress retailers. Brides find something they like online, visit a local store and spend an hour, two, or three trying on dresses, and then leave and order the dress online at some wedding dress discounter.

There has been a lot of discussion about this in the industry over the past several years.

Is the solution charging brides a consulting fee or try on fee?

ECommerce Conversion Rates (Top Online Retailers)

If you have an ecommerce website you undoubtably are calculating your conversion rate.

Here are the just-released conversion rates of some of the most well recognized online stores:

1. ProFlowers 35.70%
2. Office Depot 31.40%
3. Blair.com 23.80%
4. FTD.com 21.30%
5. QVC 18.70%
6. CDW 17.90%
7. Lands End 17.50%
8. 1800flowers.com 16.80%
9. Drugstore.com 16.20%
10. HSN.com 15.80%

New Feature at Book More Weddings

Tip of the Week

Each week I try to put together a KILLER tip or bit of advice to help you really PUNCH UP your online marketing and improve the results you get from your website.

They're short and to the point.

You'll find them all at this link: Internet Marketing Tips

Questions To Ask An SEO Consultant

OK, you've decided you really don't know what you're doing.

You've decided you probably don't stand a chance of getting your website top ranked, in your lifetime, using your current strategy.

Maybe you've spent three or four months and haven't seen your rank at Google budge.

Worse, it may have actually fallen!

The good news: The same thing is happening to everyone.

The bad news: Frankly, the world of search engine optimization (SEO) is getting more complicated, taking more time, and requires more expertise than ever before.

If you're going to hire an SEO consultant (or company) to optimize your website and get better positioning in the search engines, for the keywords you are targeting, here are some of the questions you'll want to ask:

1) Can we see your client list?

2) Can we see their top positions?

Questions To Ask An SEO Consultant

Generate More Revenue From Your Website With Bridaluxe

The other day I got a heads up on a interesting resource for wedding
professionals. The company is Bridaluxe and its founder, Jeff James and I had a conversation about what they're up to.

Bridaluxe is an affiliate network that helps people in the wedding industry make money from their website. Let's say you're a florist and you have a website with photos of your work, testimonials and a lead generation form. As an affiliate you can also have a section of wedding products and articles from Bridaluxe. When your visitor makes a purchase from one of the Bridaluxe merchants, you make a commission.

Will you get rich quick? Not likely. But if you're already out there
pounding the virtual pavement to bring brides and grooms to your site, the program provides you with an additional source of revenue. You get a lead for your wedding cake business, and you also sell a cake topper. Not bad!

Bridaluxe is unique because it's the only affiliate marketing network
catering exclusively to weddings. There are plenty of smaller programs out there, but the "network" concept allows the company to roll together an impressive 4,000+ products from 24 merchants.

If you're interested in learning more, visit the website or give Jeff
James a call or email. He is enthusiastic about Bridaluxe, is eager to
answer questions and help even a novice affiliate get started.

Visit: http://www.bridaluxe.com

Free Internet Marketing Tips for Wedding Professionals

Marketing To Brides Online

Starting June 2, 2008 I am switching to Constant Contact to deliver my Internet Marketing for Wedding Professionals newsletter.

The move was prompted by many of my subscribers who were telling me they had problems with receiving my newsletter or other email messages from me.

If you would like to continue to receive my FREE Internet marketing tips and advice for Wedding Professionals please (re)subscribe using the option below.

Internet Marketing for Wedding Professionals will help you:

* Get better results from your website
* Increase your inquiries 30%, 40%, or more!
* Get better search engine rank with Google
* Convert more brides who visit your website into inquiries and sales
* BOOK MORE WEDDINGS !!!

If you are already a subscriber you'll have to renew your subscription.

If you are a new subscriber, use the same link!

http://www.bookmoreweddings.com/public/317.cfm

Search Engine Optimization: Who Has The Time?

One of the problems with search engine optimization is getting your hands around it.

It's very often explained incorrectly or in terms that make you want to turn, run, and leave the room. If your websmaster can't clearly explain what, why and how in 10 to 15 minutes you probably need to fire your webmaster (there are a lot of things webmasters don't tell their clients).

Search engine optimization (SEO) is very important. Showing up in what are called the "organic" listings, "natural" listings, or "free" listings on a search engine results page (SERP) can add thousands of dollars to your bottom line and increase your sales dramatically (100%, 200%, or more - I've seen it first hand).

Here's the case for search engine optimization:

* More than 300,000,000 million searches are performed every day
* More than 183 million searches per day in just the US
* 40-90% of websites are found through search engines
* 80% of users start an Internet session searching for something
* 70-75% start at Google
* Over one-half of all Internet users search at least once a day

There are two factors that deterimine the search engine ranking of your website:

* Site optimization
* Site popularity

Getting your website top ranked at Google doesn't just magically happen. It takes an expert, strategy, and patience.

Why Isn't My Website Working? (2)

OK...

Number #2 on my list is poor design, specifically poor first impression.

Keep in mind, the bar on this Internet marketing thing keeps getting raised and one way it does is when your competitor bites the bullet and goes out and gets a professional designer to design a new website for him/her.

When your website leaves a poor first impression, when a bride has visited four other websites... she's probably looking for something BETTER.

Good design means it looks very professional (not home grown), it has colorful, eye-catching graphics, with happy brides and grooms, with easy-to-read text that delivers a strong marketing message.

Good design means your page loads very quickly, with no hesitation or errors (which can spook a bride into thinking you're doing something to her computer).

There is a lot of bad Internet marketing advice going around and too many Internet marketing myths to keep track of, frankly.

Why Isn't My Website Working? (1)

I get asked this question a lot:

Q: Why isn't my website working?

Today I'll start a series of posts that answer that question. As you might guess, there are many reasons a bride might leave your website. I call it "bail-out" and Google calls it a bounce (if she leaves in less than 60 seconds or doesn't click on another link at your website).

#1 Give A Bride What She Came For

You can have all the traffic in the world but if you don't give brides what they came for - they just leave.

A bride wants to know five things:

* What you do?

* What you will do for her?

* Why you are different than the last five websites she's visited (unique value proposition)?

* What you have done for others (testimonials)?

* How to contact you?

Believe it or not, you have about 8 seconds to deliver this information on your home page. You do this with WORDS (your marketing copy) and PICTURES( that support and re-emphasize the message in your marketing copy).

If I visited your home page today, would I be able to tell what you do, where you do it, what you'll do for me, why you are different than your competition (because I was just at their website too)? Do you show me happy customers (pictures and testimonials) and do you give me at least six options on every page to contact you or get to your contact form?

Successfully marketing to brides online takes careful planning and optimized execution. Nine out of ten brides are using the Internet for their wedding planning. If you're not getting the results you expected from your website drop me a line.

Distraction Points Quickly and Adversely Impact Conversion

Marketing to brides online is more competitive than ever before.

The brides are out there on the Internet and everyone in the wedding industry knows it. It's hard enough to get quality traffic to your website these days, the last thing you want to do is lose a bride once she finds your site.

There are a handful of things that very quickly turn a bride who finds your website into a "bounce" (she stays less than 60 seconds or hits her browser's BACK button).

When I review a website I look for what I call "distraction points" and here is my list of the most common ones...

Wedding Business Today Officially Launched

I'm pleased to announce the launch of Wedding Business Today (.com).

Stop by and take a look. Each day, Monday through Friday, we'll be posting news, information, and resources related to the wedding industry that will help you stay in touch and help you marketing to brides.

If you have news about your company, a press release, a new website, a promotion... anything... let me know and I'd be glad to post it.

We'll be out in print later this year. Be sure to sign-up at the website for your subscription.

Visit Wedding Business Today (.com).

Marketing To Brides: Wedding Fashion

Here are the returns (pages that match) at Google for the following keywords:

wedding gowns - 3,850,000

"wedding gowns" - 3,790,000

wedding dresses - 9,440,000

"wedding dresses" - 9,740,000

YIKES!

Traffic Building Strategies (Overview)

Today I was giving a seminar on Traffic Building Strategies. I thought I'd share my overview with a few brief notes:

Traffic Building Strategies

Organic Search Engine Optimization: Optimizing your website and the pages there to acheive top ranked listings in the search engine results pages.

Link Building: Building links to your website using link exchanges, asking for inbound links, and creating links from your website. Links have traffic value and SEO value.

Advertising: Break out your wallet, online advertising is almost a requirement to compete online these days. The days of free traffic are probably mostly over.

PPC/SEM: Pay-per-click (Google Adwords) or search engine marketing.

Word of Mouth: Still works! You can't beat the results when a bride posts a nice comment about you in an online bulletin board (like at http://www.talkaboutweddings.com/).

Blogging: Works! Easy, fast, cost-effective and provides a great return on investment. Increases your overall online visibility, helps your SEO, good stuff.

Web 2.0: YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn.

Offline: Integrate your offline marketing to promote your website. "Visit our website for free worksheets and additional information to help you plan your {wedding photography}."

Chris Jaeger
Book More Weddings
http://www.bookmoreweddings.com/

Get the ADVANTAGE for your website. More traffic, more brides, more inquiries, more sales.

Google Adwords

Often understanding the concept of how something works leads to better use.

But in the world we live in "fire, ready, aim" are words that come to mind and I've been accused of applying.

Who has the time to figure all of this stuff out.

Plus Google makes using Adwords look so easy.

Many of my clients don't understand Adwords (which is why I manage it for them).

For those of you who want a better understanding of Google Adwords you'll find this explaination and documentation very helpful and valuable.

If you're new to the entire Adwords playground you may want to start with this glossary of terms.

Adwords works. If you are using Adwords and it's not working for you two things are the likely problem: (1) you don't have it set-up correctly, (2) your website has a conversion problem and can't turn a qualified click/visitor into a desired form of action (inquiry, phone call, sale).

Chris Jaeger
Book More Weddings
http://www.bookmoreweddings.com/

Get the ADVANTAGE for your website. More traffic, more brides, more inquiries, more sales.

Creating A Better User Experience Using Breadcrumbs

Marketing to brides online is very competitive. One way to turn more of the brides who find your website (assuming they are finding it) into inquiries, phone calls, and sales (known as "conversion") is to create a more user-friendly experience at your website.

Simple enough, right?

One way to do this is to create easier to use navigation - the links to/from and between the pages at your website. These links are called "bread crumbs" and they are simple links that appear in a primary navigation system, usually at the top of a page (but not bad if they're found at the bottom of a page either, where people scroll down and then say "what do I do now?").

Here is a screen shot from my Wedding Planning Links directory.

It shows how bread crumbs are created and used at the top of a page. They allow a user who has "drilled down" in the directory to very easily "click back" to the main Orlando wedding vendors page.

* Click the image for a larger, clearer view!

Navigation is a key component to not only user-experience (better navigation equals better user-experience equals better results from your web site), but also is critical to search engine optimization and crawling.

Chris Jaeger
Book More Weddings
http://www.bookmoreweddings.com/

Get the ADVANTAGE for your website. More traffic, more brides, more inquiries, more sales.

Internet Scams: Phishing

It's called "phishing" and pronounced just like fishing.

What is it? Simple: Someone is trying to get private and personal information about you, most likely your bank account information or credit card information, so they can use it fraudulently, usually via email (or sometimes via a website).

Often, it comes in the form of an email message with a warning aimed to get your attention. Something like: "... your account will be suspeneded within 24 hours... unless you click on the link below and "re-verify" your information."

Make NO MISTAKE...your bank, PayPal, your credit card company, the US Government, did not send you this. It came from a hacker trying to get your personal and private information.

Here's what to look for:

1) Urgency - they almost always tell you the world is going to end if you don't do something now.

2) No Phone Number - not always an indication of a fake message, but in most cases phishing ploys do not include a phone number - hackers don't like to use phone numbers.

3) Link - there's almost always a link and that link goes to a page that probably looks pretty much like your bank/credit card company... but it actually doesn't. If you copy/paste the link (Windows Users: right-click with your mouse, copy shortcut, paste into a text-editor) that link is not where you think it's going!

4) Misspellings - are very common with phishing as these often come from foreign sources. Sentences that are gramatically incorrect are another red flag.

Here's what to do:

1) Never respond to an email message with these warning signs by clicking on the link. The link might look like your bank, but trust me, IT IS NOT (the hackers have simply "masked" their link).

2) Never fill in personal or private information by following a link in ANY email message. Even if your bank DOES send you an email message, go to their website from your browser and login like you normally would - never through a different source (email or other website).

3) When in doubt, simply call your financial institution and ask for the Internet Security department.

4) Better still... hit the DELETE button.

Chris Jaeger
Book More Weddings
http://www.bookmoreweddings.com/

Get the ADVANTAGE for your website.
More traffic, more brides, more inquiries, more sales.

Don't Blame The Recession

If your inquiries are off don't blame the recession.

Sorry, but I don't buy it. Why?

First, I have too many clients who are doing just fine and on schedule to have their best year ever. Yes, inquiries are down in some markets, but in most cases I attribute that to more aggressive online advertising by the competition, not any recession (and I DO believe there is a recession in this country, right now).

Secondly, Google reports (4/18/2008 - Wall Street Journal) that their revenue rose 42% from the same period last year (Q1) and clicks on the ads it shows (Adwords) increased 20% in the first quarter compared to last year Q1.

It's also worth pointing out that they report showing "fewer but better ads in each cycle." In other words, Google wants to give brides relevant websites when they DO click on a Adwords sponsored advertisement.

I've always said Google Adwords works - 100% of the time.

In most cases, if people have set-up a Google Adwords account and didn't get good results it's a result of the program being incorrectly set-up (targeted keywords, poor ad copy, not using split-testing, national vs. regional campaigns, search network vs. content network).

The only other answer is that the website couldn't convert a qualified visitor (bride/groom) into an inquiry.

There is no doubt that there are economic pressures on the wedding industry but I attribute the majority of that to COMPETITION. And yes, the recession does have an impact. When the tide goes out in Gloucester Harbor all boats do float lower at the dock.

Now, more than ever, you need an expert behind you and "your cousin" who helped you build your website... please... don't get me started!

Chris Jaeger
Book More Weddings
http://www.bookmoreweddings.com/

Get the ADVANTAGE for your website. More traffic, more brides, more inquiries, more sales.

Webmaster "Code" Words

I always get a kick when I hear people throwing out acronyms like everyone in the room will know what they're talking about. Here are a few I heard at a meeting the other night. By the end of the meeting I was saying OMG! GMOOH!

Here are a handful of common search engine optimization related terms. Now, next time you're at a party you can really impress your friends - maybe even win a door prize! LOL

CPC – Cost-per-click
CSS – Cascading Style Sheet
DMOZ – The Mozilla Directory, same as Open Directory Project
ODP – Open Directory Project
PPC – Pay-per-click
PPA – Pay-per-action
PR – Page Rank
RI – Regular Index (Google)
SEO – Search engine optimization
SEM – Search engine marketing
SERP – Search engine result page(s)
SI – Supplemental Index (Google)
TR – Trust rank


OMG - Oh my gosh
GMOOH - Get me out of here
LOL - Laugh out loud

EMAIL Marketing Mistakes

EMAIL isn't what it used to be. In days gone by you whipped out an email and it got to the recipient - no problem.

But today, there are real issues with delivery.

Avoid these EMAIL Marketing mistakes and your messages won't end up in someone's Junk EMAIL box and it's unlikely your messages will get flagged as SPAM by an Internet Service Provider:

---> Avoid putting your subject line in ALL CAPS. Your email might get flagged as SPAM and not end up where you want it (in someone's junk email box or worse not even delivered).

---> A subject line that contains the word "free." FREE in CAPS would be even worse!

---> A subject line that contains the words "As Seen" is another potential trigger for SPAM filters.

---> An .HTML font size that is larger than normal (14pt or greater).

---> Over use of colored text. Red text particularly.

---> Over use of exclamation marks.

---> The word SPAM (i.e. "this isn't SPAM")

---> The domain in the sender line doesn't match the domain in the "received" line in the email headers.

Will ONE of these things doom your email message? Probably not.

Still, you can see how IT MIGHT BE EASY to end up using two or three of these things AND next thing you know your FREE email newsletter has been flagged as SPAM and didn't get to a subscriber!!!.

EMAIL marketing isn't really difficult, but like most things if you don't know what you're doing (or you use the wrong tools) you probably won't get the results you want or could if you did know what you're doing!

Chris Jaeger
Book More Weddings
http://www.bookmoreweddings.com/

Get the ADVANTAGE for your website. More traffic, more brides, more inquiries, more sales.

Should You Advertise at The Knot?

Marketing to brides online is getting more and more competitive.

I get asked this question about 100 times a month:

"Chris, should I be advertising at The Knot and is it worth it?"

The Knot is certainly one of the most visited wedding planning websites on the Internet. As a result, chances are pretty good that some of the brides and grooms in your local market have visited and may even use the website regularly.

Generally speaking, I like The Knot (http://www.theknot.com) because it has done a great job at building a highly recognized brand in the wedding planning space.

There are a couple things I find interesting about their online advertising model and almost all of the people I know who have advertised there seem frustrated with their rotating-account-managers (or inability to communicate with an account manager). But make no mistake... The Knot is one of the places brides visit once they're engaged.

Like with any advertising, and relatively easier with online advertising, you'll want to do some homework and plan on measuring the results you get.

If you are a current or former advertiser at The Knot I'd love to get your feedback. Drop me a line.

Should You Advertise at The Knot

Google Blog Directory

Did you know Google had a separate directory, or search engine, specifically for blogs?

Yes it does.

Finding it is interestingly difficult.

Here it is: http://blogsearch.google.com/

Blogging is smart. It's an effective way to generate more online visibility for your business and it plays a role in your overall search engine optimization strategy.

Chris Jaeger
Book More Weddings
http://www.bookmoreweddings.com

Get the ADVANTAGE for your website. More traffic, more brides, more inquiries, more sales.