Generating a keyword list can be a daunting process, especially when you start looking at longer tail keywords. To help get the brain-storming process rolling, trying using this Keyword Extractor Tool.

Learning to turn your website visitors into buyers is a skill that every internet marketer should acquire. Do you have a website or a blog you are promoting? Are you satisfied with the behavior of the people who visit your website? Do they come and disappear without accomplishing the desired actions you expect them to perform such as filling in a form, buying a product or signing up for the program you promote? How much time do they spend when they visit your site?

If your responses to the above questions are in line with your expectations, then you are probably one of the lucky few website owners or marketers with the skill and ability to turn your website visitors into buyers. But if you still find hardships in this, like many other marketers, it’s high time you tested the following tips for improvement.

How do you then turn your website visitors into buyers? Before going into the details, bear in mind that your success in making a sale online will largely depend on your ability to create a reason for your visitors to hang around your website, to keep visiting your site frequently and to perform the actions you expect them to do. There are many ways of doing this, but let me share with you 11 proven ways. When you apply them properly, I believe you will be able to turn your website visitors into buyers slowly but consistently.

1. Having the right product for your targeted visitors. Review your product. Does the product you provide, meet the individual needs of your specific traffic? If it doesn’t, consider coming up with an alternative way of meeting your customers’ needs and satisfaction.

2. How is your website in terms of loading time, appearance, content organization and easiness to navigate? Are your visitors put off just because your website loads slowly and its appearance does not give them a positive first-hand impression? Is it because of the poor navigational and broken links? Find out and do something to it as soon as possible.

3. Credibility: Do visitors to your website have trust in your products and in you the business owner? How have you built your credibility? Probably it’s one of the reasons stopping your visitors from taking any further action. Trust protects you and can easily turn your website visitors into buyers.

4. Your sales copy, how is it designed? Does it target your visitors’ goals, dreams and desires? Does it bring out the major benefits of your products and services? It’s important for your sales copy to attract both the emotional and physical needs of your visitors, or else they click away and don’t ever come back.

5. Provision of useful content: How is the content on your website? Is it good content that compels people to hang around your site? Does it make your website become a site of regular reference for most of your visitors? Does it help in building your credibility and believability for your customers to buy from you?

6. Provide a free promotional product that relates to your targeted audience. People love free things and the moment you provide something, you prompt them to take the actions you want them to perform. You can provide products like a free ebook, free software or any other product. You won’t ever know, it can turn your website visitors into buyers.

7. Give a discount on your products. Your visitors, like any other people, will enjoy good deals. Try it out, you can easily make a sale and turn many of your website visitors into buyers.

8. Giving your visitors a trial or a sample offer is one of the best tricks to turn your website visitors into buyers. For instance, if you deal in software, you can provide a frée trial to your potential customers for a short period. When they use the product and find it useful they are compelled to purchase it. I first tried out all the software I use for at least 15 days and when I felt satisfied, I finally bought them.

9. Make your ad banners and text adverts as attractive as possible. Use power words that can hardly be resisted by your visitors. It can easily attract your visitors to purchase your products.

10. Remove the risk by offering a money back guarántee on your product. Mention it on your sales copy or messages, on your ad banners and on your order pages. It will build your potential customers’ assurance and change their mindset.

11. Have an online customer support system. Guide your potential customers to fully understand your products, programs and services. Probably they are not buying just because they lack support and more knowledge about your products. Remember that most people do not want to venture into doing things about which they have scanty knowledge.

Finally, I would like to appeal to you to review your site to find out whether there are any issues that need to be resolved and take some steps to proactively turn your website visitors into buyers, based on the 11 tips given above.

Like millions of other website owners, I use Google Analytics to analyze my website stats. And while I actually like GA a lot, it isn’t perfect. My biggest pet-peeve with the software is the fact it doesn’t provide real-time results. It has a lag time of at least an hour or two before you can view most of your data, and a full 24-hour lag time on full data reporting. With all the brilliant engineers Google employs, that particular flaw hasn’t ever made any logical sense to me.

That negative aspect of GA has been bugging the heck out of me for years. Well, finally, that’s all about to change and fast.

How fast? By the time you read this article or shortly thereafter, GA will be providing real-time analytics. All I have to say is, it’s about time!

Google Analytics Announces Real-Time Reporting

On September 29th, John Jersin of the Google Analytics team announced:

“Today we’re very excited to bring real time data to Google Analytics with the launch of Google Analytics Real-Time: a set of new reports that show what’s happening on your site as it happens.

You’ll find the Real-Time reports only in the new version of Google Analytics. If you’re not already using the new version, you can start by clicking the “New Version” link in the top right of Google Analytics. Real-Time reports are in the Dashboards tab (though they will move to the Home tab in the updated interface next week). You will have access to Real-Time reports if you are an Administrator on your Analytics account, or if you have access to a profile without profile filters. Real-Time does not support profile filters.

We just turned the reports on for a number of you, and over the coming weeks, everybody will have access to Real-Time. If you can’t wait, sign up for early access here: https://services.google.com/fb/forms/realtimeanalytics/.” Source: (Google Analytics)

Obviously, this is great news. But having access to real-time data will be wasted if you don’t follow the practice of testing your marketing to obtain optimum results. While testing sounds like common sense on the surface, you’d be surprised how many marketers don’t bother testing at all. They operate blindly – throwing a bunch of crap against the wall to see what sticks. That’s no way to run a business and is a recipe for disaster.

So Why is Testing So Important? Testing allows your business to operate as efficiently and profitably as it possibly can. Or, in the words of Pat Benatar, testing allows you to “hit the competition with your best shot!” Testing is crucial to your overall business success. I can’t emphasize that enough. In my opinion, you should test every aspect of your marketing to make sure you’re obtaining maximum efficiency and profitability.

Me personally, I’m a fanatical tester. I test different advertising methods. I test the color of my websites. I test font styles and sizes. When I write articles and ads, I test headlines and copy. I test forum signatures. I test various website analytics programs for accuracy. I test domain names for SEO effectiveness. I test mailing list services for efficiency. In a nutshell, I test virtually everything, as it relates to the marketing of my business.

But whatever you do, don’t just test blindly. Closely monitor and record your results, so that your findings are as accurate as possible. Google’s Website Optimizer is an excellent free, multivariate testing software that allows you to test virtually every aspect of your marketing.

Split-Test Your Marketing

For example, Google Website Optimizer gives you the ability to split-test your marketing. What’s split-testing?

In a nutshell, split-testing is basically a method of testing multiple versions of your sales pages and ads in order to determine which version performs best, and is the most profitable. Testing should include fonts or font size, the size and wording of your headline, the images you use, the price of your product, paragraph text, text color, etc.

If that first definition wasn’t layman enough for you, here’s another one:

Split-testing is the method of creating multiple versions of your ads to see which version converts more visitors into sales.

Always Track Your Advertising

In order to ensure that you’re not throwing your money down the drain, when it comes to your marketing campaigns, it’s important to always track your advertising.

Always make sure to carefully track the results of your direct mail, pay-per-click ads, ezine ads, banner ads, etc.

Advertising is measurable by the amount of responses you get per dollar spent, and you can quickly analyze your results to determine whether or not your advertising is profitable, or if you need to make adjustments to your ads. If you’re not effectively tracking your advertising, you’re foolishly leaving money on the table. That’s what amateurs do, not professionals.

One last thing: Testing isn’t something you should do every now and then. For best results, you should develop the habit of testing your marketing constantly.

Is your website bringing in at least five new inquiries per day? If not, you need to look at its functionality.

Your website acts as a “storefront.” You should put as much thought and care into your website as you would to the display in your store’s window. Your website needs to attract customers and keep them coming back for more. The following should give you a place to start and a guideline of what a good website should have and what it should do:

1. Where Do Your Eyes Go First?

You only have a few seconds to catch a visitor’s attention. That means you need to make sure that you capture their interest immediately. You need a headline that stops them thinking whatever they’re thinking, and think instead: “hey, this looks interesting! I need to read this.”

2. Do You Know Right Away What This Website is About?

Don’t have any distractions from the message you are trying to get across. If you start talking about how great your company is instead of what the visitor is interested in, you lose them.

3. Is the Important Information Immediately Visible?

Site visitors want to know details as soon as possible. If they have to work too hard to find out what you’re offering, they will likely leave. You need to be clear on what you want them to do. Don’t sell more than one thing from your landing page. Decide on the main action you want them to take, and talk about only that. The best thing to do on your landing page is to provide your client something that will sign them up to your list.

4. Can You Easily Find the Benefits of the Product/Service?

Too many websites cite features rather than benefits. Features won’t get the visitor’s interest. They want to know what’s in it for them. Make sure your website makes it clear to them how your product or service will change their lives.

5. Is There a Clear Call to Action?

If the visitor likes what he sees, it is important to get him to take action quickly because delaying may lose his interest. Don’t have more than one call to action. This will only confuse them.

6. Are the Colors and Images Aesthetically Pleasing?

If your website has too many colors and pictures, it may put visitors off rather than catch their interest. Moreover, too many images will take too long to load, and if visitors have to wait, they will lose interest.

7. Is the Font Easy to Read?

Don’t use fancy fonts that are hard to read or colors that are too light. If visitors have to strain their eyes in order to read, they will lose interest and leave.

8. Are There Long Sentences or Long Paragraphs on the Page?

Keep your sentences and paragraphs short, and use bullet points. Long sentences and paragraphs make it difficult to read and understand.

9. Are the Menu Buttons Clear?

Make sure your site is well designed and that buttons and links are easy to click on. Your page should also have a “contact us” and “about us” page.

10. Is There an Easy Way to Contact the Business?

If your website is working well, it should generate inquiries for you. Make sure visitors can find out easily how to contact you. If you are not contactable, your visitors will think that you are not reliable. They want to know that they can contact you in the future if anything goes wrong with their purchase.

11. Can You Find Out More About the Owner or Employees of the Company?

Prospective customers want to know that they are dealing with a real person. That is why having an “about us” page is so important. Have a photo of you and a photo of your business at least. Make sure the visitor knows what makes your company different.

12. Do Your Visitors Feel Personally Connected?

If you connect to your visitors in a personal way, they will be more likely to become customers. Tell them your story and tell them what makes you different. Have a conversational writing style and be honest.

13. Is the Writing Corporate or Conversational?

Your language should be easy to read, conversational and at about a year 9 level. This will be to your benefit because customers will identify more with you. Big corporations write differently, making customers feel like a number.

14. Is There a Visible Contact Form?

A contact form is really the only way to capture the prospect’s details. Make sure you have one with a powerful magnet to help your visitor decide to join you.

15. Do You Have an Irresistible Offér?

You should offér a powerful magnet to give your visitor a reason to give you his contact details. This must be a problem you solve for your visitor or something he really needs.

16. Is There Multimedia?

Some people prefer watching a video or podcasts to reading. Offering these will make your site more appealing.

17. Are There Links to Social Media?

You can connect with your customers in different ways. Perhaps they will not want to sign up to your newsletter, but would prefer to follow you some other way: Facebook, Twitter or some other social media website. Make sure you have these available on your website.

Now all you need to do is to decide what needs to change on your website, and plan to implement those changes.

Traffic is essential to anyone who owns a website and/or blog. Without traffic we have no customers or sales. Unfortunately traffic does not just come to us, we have to work at it and we have to be consistent and persistent.

Sales conversion rates normally average less than 5%. What this means is that only 5% of the people who visit your site will become a paid customer. So, to grow your sales, you need to boost your traffic and/or your conversion rates. Below are twelve things you can do right now to start increasing your traffic to get those sales.

1. Launch an Article Marketing Campaign - Writing articles is not as hard as you might think and it can do wonders for your traffic! Write about something you know and just pretend you are telling a friend all about it. There is no need to use big, fancy words because people just want basic, straightforward information. Submit your articles to some of the more prominent article directories such as Ezine Articles.

2. Guest Posting and/or Commenting on Blogs – Do a search to find quality blogs in your niche and ask if they accept guest posts. Write helpful comments on existing posts and leave your link. Get involved and start building your reputation! A good place to find blogs that need guest posts is BloggerLinkUp.

3. Write Website Reviews – Review websites on Alexa and get more traffic and improve your Alexa rating. Go to Alexa, register an account and start reviewing and getting that traffic.

4. Relevant Keywords - There are a lot of free keyword suggestion tools you can use to find the top keyword searches for your niche. For example: if you own a pet care site, you would enter the words pet care and the tool would find the most relevant keywords for you to use on your site.

5. Yahoo Answers – Visit Yahoo Answers regularly and post as many answers as you can but be sure to follow their policies. You cannot try to directly lead people to your purchasing pages or leave low quality answers with your website link.

6. Interactive Site – Make your site interactive with forums, polls, surveys, etc. If your visitors feel more involved with your site, you will get repeat visits and longer stays. Add a little fun as well with contests, games, etc. Have a weekly or monthly scavenger hunt, trivia game, etc. Running a contest for a month can boost your traffic by thousands.

7. Business Cards – Produce an effective business card and hand them out wherever you go. Be sure to make it unique. Offer a discount on a first order. Add a personal message. Offer a freebie. Make your business card more than just your name and address.

8. Podcasting – A podcast is an audio or video broadcast which people can listen to and/or watch on many devices. Make your podcast informative but interesting. Talk about how your site can help the people listening and let them know about any contests or other interactive activities you offer. All you need to make a podcast is a working microphone and a voice editor such as Audacity. Once you have made your podcast, promote it in podcast forums and podcast directories such as PodcastBlaster.

9. Moving Billboard – Turn your vehicle into a moving billboard to advertise your website wherever you go. Use affordable vinyl coverings such as Car Wraps or magnetic signs from Esigns. A day of fun can bring you a lot of traffic from your mobile billboard!

10. Social Media – These days social media is a must for more traffic. Join Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and more. Visit message boards and forums and really get involved. Answer people’s questions, offer helpful advice and information. Becoming an active participant in social media can do wonders for your traffic.

11. Offer a Freebie – Write an informative report or ebook and offer it for free. Put in your website link and other business info. Let people know they can give it away on their sites as well. Add it to your email signature. Post it on your social media pages. Before you know it, your report could be all over the web bringing you new traffic every day.

12. Sitemap – Create an XML sitemap for your site and submit it to Google. A sitemap will allow more accessibility to your pages by the search engines, thus making your pages easier to find by people doing searches. You can easily create up to a 500 page sitemap with XML-Sitemaps. There are other options as well such as XSitemap. Do a search and find alternative options to choose from.

There are numerous ways to get more traffic to your site. Some will work for you and some will not. Try the ideas in this article and add to them, or mold them to work even better for you. Traffic does not come easily but by working hard, trying new ideas and finding out what works best for you will be very effective in boosting your traffic.

When I teach my SEO classes, I begin by telling the students all the things that SEO isn’t. I’ve always felt that it was important because they’re often expecting to hear some secret formula for SEO success. And why wouldn’t they, with all the myths and outright wrong/bad information that constantly swirls through the SEOsphere? When I finish telling them that everything they thought was SEO really isn’t, they stare at me with their mouths hanging open. So I tell them what SEO actually is:

Making your website the best it can be for the search engines and your site visitors.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t do much to alter their blank stares. After all, it’s an incredibly open-ended definition of SEO. Still, it’s the only one that truly encompasses what good SEO is all about, as well as why you need to do it. While my method of SEO has always been based on that principle, more people are coming around to it in the wake of Google’s Panda Algorithm.

Pre-Panda, many people built thriving businesses using the following basic SEO process:

* Buy a keyword-rich domain name that encompasses the products you want to sell.
* Build a templated website around it.
* Link internally to the product pages with descriptive anchor text.
* Use those same keyword phrases in the Title and H tags.
* Submit the website URL to lots of directories.
* Drop links to the website in other people’s blogs and forums.

Voila! Instant Google Success!

They’d repeat the process hundreds of times with different types of products, and then run on autopilot. While it might not have worked on every site they created, the sheer volume of websites they ran would be enough to make them a decent living.

So maybe there was a secret formula after all?

Perhaps, but after Google’s Panda Algorithm was implemented, many (but not all) who followed and succeeded with that formula for years suddenly lost a good chunk of their revenue.

What Changed?

My own speculation, based on numerous websites that I’ve reviewed where this happened, is that Google finally decided that there needed to be more to a website than having “SEO in all the right places.” And it makes sense. Why should one site do better than another just because they read up on SEO and knew the best places to stick their keywords? It shouldn’t. And by allowing exactly that to happen, Google was enabling sites with old-fashioned, by-the-book SEO to beat out potentially higher quality websites.

The result was Google not always giving their own users (the searchers) the best, most relevant sites for the search query at hand. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not totally blaming Google here. It has to be a daunting task for a machine to know the difference between an okay (but great with SEO) site and a great (but perhaps not so great with SEO) one. Especially when so much of how Google tried to determine relevancy and quality was based on links – and even more on anchor text. It simply became too easy to game that system.

Giving Google What They Wanted

I certainly understand and even empathize with those site owners who’ve lost a significant portion of their income. They were just giving Google what it wanted. And because it worked so well, they had no reason to go above and beyond their basic formula. Why build a brand for your company when a keyword-rich domain would provide a better return on investment? Why spend time becoming an expert in your industry and educating your target market on the intricacies of your products when you could hire someone to write low-quality “SEO articles” and submit them to article directory sites instead?

Interestingly enough, many of the business owners I’ve talked to who have been getting by with formula SEO all these years have told me that they have tons of happy customers. Yet there are no obvious signs of this online, such as glowing reviews on Google Places or other online review sites (there aren’t bad ones either). How are customers even supposed to remember the name of a company called something like WoodAndMetalDiningRoomChairs.com? (I just made that one up.)

Mainly, customers found these websites through Google, made their purchase and received their merchandise. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there was also no personal connection made. This is further illustrated by the fact that if you look at social media sites, you won’t see much chatter about these companies. In fact, many of them don’t even use social media, or simply have cursory accounts. Again, they didn’t need to.

No Marketing Budget

A marketing person, plan, or budget was never necessary nor even a consideration. Sadly, for those companies, they don’t have much choice anymore if they want to stay in business. But ironically, now that they really need a marketing budget, there’s no money in the till to go toward it.

If I’ve just described your business and websites – even if you haven’t lost a portion of your revenue (yet), you may have thought you could hire a new SEO company to mix in a little extra SEO mojo and fix up your Google problems. But while they might find some on-page or off-page things you could be doing better, I wouldn’t count on that to bring back your lost traffic and sales.

So What Should You Do?

You need to seriously rethink your online strategy. You need to stop saying, “Well, it always worked for me in the past.” You need to build a brand and you need to market the heck out of it. You may even need to consolidate all your related keyword-rich domain websites into one big brand website. (Don’t do that last one without consulting a professional.) You need to learn everything you can about social media marketing and start doing it. You need to get in contact with your happy customers and ask them to write reviews online as well as to evangelize about you to everyone they come in contact with. You need to also keep in contact with them in a variety of ways.

All of those things are going to make a much bigger difference over the long haul than rewriting your title tags or adjusting your keyword density. The big takeaway here is that while your website may already be the best it can be technically for search engines, it’s time to make it the best it can be for your users. Both parts of that equation are equally important. It’s not going to be quick or easy, but if you want to stay in business, it’s probably going to be necessary.
About The Author
Jill Whalen is the CEO of High Rankings, an SEO Consulting company in the Boston

Google, the internet giant based in California, has had a strangle hold on much of the online market for the past decade. Most would struggle to find a single person in the Western World who is not yet familiar with the Google Search Engine. In fact the search engine is so popular that the phrase ‘Google it’ has been adopted by many Gen-Yers.

In addition to their massive presence in the search marketplace, Google also commands a large percentage of the online advertising industry, generating revenues in the region of US$35 billion per annum.

Facebook, a relatively new comer to the internet, and center of popular film The Social Network, is quickly closing on Google’s market. Currently Facebook ranks as the 2nd most visited website online globally and holds over 750 million member accounts. Facebook is beginning to threaten Google’s market dominance in online advertising due to the huge volume of data that the social network holds about its members. While Google’s advertising model focuses around what people are looking for, specifically using search queries, Facebook’s model allows advertisers to utilize behavioural targeting. A Facebook advertiser can select very precise advertising audiences by focusing on:

- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Employment Type
- Education Level
- Likes and Dislikes

By selecting a narrow cross section of the global audience by one or all of the above variables, an advertiser can see significant improvement in their ROI when compared with search or conventional marketing.

This is where Google Plus enters the scene. In May Google released a limited Beta of their new social network, to approximately 10 Million users. Google Plus, similar to Facebook, allows users to create profiles, enter personal details, connect with friends and join a global community online. The Google +1 button is the equivalent of Facebook’s Like button – allowing users to show their approval of an idea, concept, website or product and broadcast this to their network.

It’s not a new concept that Google uses a number of user specific factors to influence their search results. These have historically included the user’s location, past search history, bounce rate from certain sites, browser setting and a host of other signals to indicate whether or not a search result is likely to fit the user’s specific requirements or reason for search.

While not officially announced as yet, the Google +1 button will affect the manner in which search results are returned to users. The very nature of a social network suggests that people who are connected will share similar likes, beliefs and ideas, and consequently are likely to be interested in the same websites, resources and search results.

It follows then, that the connections of a user who have historically +1ed any given search result will have these sites promoted up the list of future search results due to perceived validity and relevance of that result.

So, when will this new ranking factor, or as Google now refers to them signal, start influencing search results?

That’s a tough question, and it’s likely only to be once the Google Plus and +1 button programs reach a critical mass. That is where the number of +1s reaches a volume and velocity that indicates considerable adoption by the searching public.

You can already see the impact of +1 within your search results, i.e. complete a search; navigate to page 3 of the results and +1 a single result Google returned. Now complete the same search again, it’s likely that the result you +1ed will be elevated within the new set of results. This is exactly the same behaviour we expect to see once Google brings +1 and Plus into full swing.

We expect that this will become a ranking factor around the end of the year, likely in time for Christmas shopping season.

What can you do to gain the maximum benefit from +1?

At present the +1 signal is only being used to influence a user’s personal search results, but this is likely to change late this year so it’s time to get started on a strategy to make the most of this opportuníty. This way when Google flicks the switch you will receive all the benefits of being +1ed and you will surge ahead of your competitors within specific market segments.

By now your web developer or SEO firm should have already contacted you offering +1 integration; it’s a good idea to get Facebook Like done at the same time. If not, get in touch with the team that manages your website and request them to place the +1 button prominently on your site. The button is pretty funky and modern and is not likely to do any damage to your branding or design. Make sure you are communicating with your clients, visitors and connections to ensure they +1 your site. The earlier you start work the sooner you will see results.

Command, Contest, Cause and Connect

“We’ve got to have a Facebook page!” That’s the exclamation of every small business. And, while many pages go live, they sit almost lifeless, as one of an infinite number of silent trees in a dense forest.

Many small business owners are increasingly recognizing that Facebook is fast becoming their number one public relations tool. But in order to sustain the life-blood for that page, they need to incorporate public relations tactics to generate traffic and build brand awareness. An easy and creative way to do this is to incorporate 4C’s to “PR” your Facebook page: command, contest, cause and connect.

Creating command of an issue or topic is central to establishing a niche authority in your industry. Apple commands the portable music market. Google is the search authority. Nike is the running show king. They all sell other products or services, but have commanded a niche. Let’s say you’re a baker, with shelves full of cookies, cakes, pies, donuts, breads, etc. Pick one of your products. In this instance, let’s take the cake!

Establish your command as the local cake authority. Some suggestions might include posting fun articles on your page about cake related stories (Kim Kardashian’s desire to have a “William and Kate” cake), contacting local reporters offering yourself up as the local Cake Boss, and posting any ensuing coverage on your page. And, while we’re talking about “cake” TV shows, post comments that critique episodes of Ace of Cakes. Encourage your fans to send in their favorite cake recipes, or have them vote for their favorite cake. Gradually, your command of the subject of cakes will begin to spread, inevitably drawing more customers to your business, who, while there to purchase a cake, may pick up a dozen donuts and a loaf of bread as well. Substitute “cake” for any of your product offerings, then “command” becomes “cookie” cutter!

Contest

PR driven contests are a great way to build traffic and fans on your Facebook page so long as the contest raises and reinforces awareness about your service or product offerings. MasterCard and American Airlines, Dunkin’ Donuts and Captain America: The First Avenger, and EA Skate and Miracle Whip, all non-competing entities, recently teamed-up for co-sponsored Facebook contests.

Similarly, for a small business, Facebook contests are more successful and effective when co-sponsored with a non-competing local partner. Let’s go back to the bakery! We can indulge ourselves in pastries – almost guilt-free – as long as we keep up with our exercise. How about hitting the gym, literally and figuratively!

For example, the bakery works with a local gym for two weeks on a mutually beneficial promotion, and offers fans of the gym’s Facebook page 15% off of its whole wheat bread and gluten-free products; in exchange, the gym offers a 15% discount on products and services available at the health club to the bakery fans. During this promotion, new members of the bakery’s Facebook community will be eligible to wín a month’s free supply of whole wheat bread; similarly, new fans of the gym’s Facebook page can enter to win a free one-month membership. This “out of the box” contest and unlikely pairing allows the bakery (also the gym) to spread brand awareness to a brand new audience online.

Cause

Nothing spreads goodwill like supporting a local cause, particularly one that has an active fan base on Facebook. Every major corporation and business helps support a variety of causes, i.e. Toys “R” Us and Autism Speaks, Macy’s and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Kmart and the March of Dimes. Local businesses should adopt the same big-business mentality, and not only help support a local charity, but engage your fans (and theirs) in a clever campaign to raise awareness for the cause and for you. Let’s go back to the baker who is in the food business. Inevitably, the baker is providing day-old bagels to soup kitchens, which is noble, but is it helping grow brand awareness and business, particularly via social media?

So, let’s cook-up a cause campaign! Suppose the baker embarks on a “Pie-Us” (notice the synonym for noble) campaign to help the soup kitchen. The first order of business is to partner – again, as above, two heads are better than one – with a local restaurant (preferably one that the baker works with as a vendor, or any non-competing food business) for a new pie recipe contest via the bakery’s and restaurant’s Facebook pages. The champion pie (named after the winner), prepared by the bakery, is then sold to the restaurant and served there for one month. For each pie sold, the bakery and restaurant make an agreed-upon donation to the soup kitchen. The campaign helps a worthy cause, promotes brand awareness (for all three entities), solidifies the bakery as the local authority on pies, and creates excitement and new fans on the bakery’s Facebook page.

Connect

By its very nature, social media is meant to connect. Thus, Facebook initiatives should connect your business with new and potential customers. For every new fan you gain on Facebook through unique cause programs, contests or promotions, you’re automatically connecting with your new fans’ Facebook friends, introducing your brand to scores of potential new customers.

Many businesses “preach to the choir” by keeping their posts and activities limited to bland (can we say “stale” at this point) and business-centric posts, links and comments. Moreover, they treat the page as a circular, posting endless sales and specials. This was not how Facebook was intended to be used, and this will not connect you with new customers.

A famous automotive CEO once said that the secret to success for a business was to “communicate, communicate, communicate.” Today, that word can be replaced with connect. Connect by commanding an issue, connect with local and non-competing businesses, connect contests to causes and promotions, connect your brand to new customers by connecting PR to social media campaigns on Facebook!

Since we are over seven months into the year I decided it was time to give my take on what may happen in web design in 2011. (At least I thought I should probably write it before the year was over.)

So, over the past several weeks I have read a number of my favourite web design magazines, web design blogs and articles and viewed a number of cutting edge websites, particularly outside of North America, so that I could share some thoughts about what appears to be some of the major trends in website design for 2011. There is nothing scientific contained here, just some observations.

1. Less Use of Flash

It is not the fact that Flash is not a great technology…(when used appropriately it is)…but in the past year or so it has been over used, misused, abused to the point that it has developed a bad reputation. Certainly, the ongoing shenanigans between Adobe (creator of Flash) and Apple (iPhone and iPad) are not helping the situation. Today, websites need to have a clean, uncluttered design, fast loading and above all must be Search Engine friendly. This is a problem for Flash and now with the coming of the new web coding languages of HTML5 and CSS3, together with the explosive growth of web surfing on mobile devices perhaps it is the beginning of the end of Flash in web design.

2. Simpler and Cleaner Design

Simple. Minimal. Uncluttered. There’s nothing quite as “attention grabbing” as an honest, straightforward message on a quiet backdrop. Quiet can be interpreted several different ways. Forget black and white or shades of gray, although these are still very popular in certain industries. Think of green, yellow, red or even blue as your primary color. However, limit your palette to two or three colors. Work within the shades of each color for variety and depth. It can be truly remarkable what a few colors can do for effective messaging.

3. Mobile Ready Design

Smartphones, tablets, netbooks, the list goes on and on. There’s a dizzying amount of mobile products available to the consumer in 2011. This means your web design must be responsive to multiple devices. Creating a mobile ready website is not simply removing the bells and whistles from your existing design. One of the most important advances is that you can design a whole site and allow your coding to conform to the user’s viewing medium. It may be tempting to just create a dedicated mobile site, but that may no longer satisfy your audience. Increasingly, mobile sites include the option to visit the original site. If you do not offer this option or if your original site is not optimized to mobile standards, you are simply not ready for 2011. Forecasters predict that smartphones will outsell personal computers this year, and by 2013 more time will be spent surfing the internet on a mobile device than on a personal computer.

4. Large Photographic Backgrounds

Large scale backdrops will surge in 2011. These images will be high resolution, and covering the entire site. Large photos are an instant way to grab your audience. Massive images were once taboo for web designers, but thanks to better image optimization, faster internet connections, and smarter loading methods, designers can gain a lot in some sites by pushing image sizes to the maximum. Trends also point to soft and slightly transparent imagery that does not overshadow your content, but harmonizes with it.

5. QR: Quick Response

You may have noticed those square barcodes (looks like lots of squiggly unrelated lines) popping up on business cards, magazines or elsewhere, so you may already know that they are a hot trend for 2011. These barcodes are called QR, short for Quick Response. And how exactly does QR translate into web design? Quite well, in fact. Simply take a photo of the unique barcode with your camera phone. Like magic, your phone will call up the website associated with that barcode. The beautiful thing about QR is the flexibility. Feature your QR on your website, in order for site visitors to have a shortcut to your mobile site. 2011 is all about mobility and it will be smart to take advantage of this new medium.

6. Thumbnail Design

Our good friends at Google have introduced the average internet user to thumbnail browsing. The days of clicking through to see the content of a website are now gone. Now, you just click on the magnifying glass and hover. And just like magic before your eyes is a glimpse of what waits on the other side of your click. This is another issue for Flash-based design that is definitely going to be a problem. The preview will not display those elements of your design. As the average internet surfer becomes more internet-savvy in 2011, expect to see more people navigating by these means.

These are by no means a complete listing of all the trends. In fact, we could probably write an entire posting on the trends in the use of different fonts alone.

People long have loved to find new and innovative uses for the most innocuous technologies and advances. In the late 19th century, “moving pictures” were a nickel-arcade novelty. Today films such as Avatar are made on budgets comparable to military-grade hardware investments. Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone could barely call from one room to another; now the average iPhone has more uses and computing power than all the computers used in World War II combined. This trend is repeating itself with the rise of social media network marketing practices. What started as socialization programs only slightly more complex than the average e-mail client has grown into one of the newest and most promising marketing niches in the entire world. Taking advantage of this means familiarizing oneself with a few surprisingly simple concepts that have unusually far-reaching implications. In particular, marketers are finding that the “Like” and “Share” features on Facebook have become the newest and best tool in the marketing online arsenal.

We “Like” It

The “Like” function is a pretty simple one – people click “Like” for things that interest them. On the surface, this seems almost irrelevant, but thinking so ignores the way Facebook operates. Taking advantage of the “Like” function is actually the key to getting good marketing opportunities out of Facebook.

When a user clicks “Like,” whether on Facebook itself or through a site’s Facebook plug-in, Facebook records the data and uses it in a number of ways. First, a notification is put up on the user’s wall confirming the “Like.” This informs other users who are familiar with the wall about the product, news item or event, giving them an opportunity to examine and potentially “Like” it as well.

Therefore, if a user has even 200 friends, which is not that great a number given the increasing inter-connectedness of online communities, that’s 200 people who will see what their friend “Liked,” and who will have the chance to “Like” it themselves. This is the very foundation of viral content, or content with the ability to move rapidly along through intermediate connections of hundreds of people.

Additionally, Facebook makes recommendations to users based on things they have “Liked.” Thus if friend A has friend B, and friend A puts a “Like” on business C, friend B will not only get an announcement about the “Like,” but may have the business recommended to them since they “Like” friend A. This is still another route of communication and an indirect marketing opportunity that requires no more effort than a simple click. Thus it is to any business’ advantage to put a plug-in allowing people to “Like” them on Facebook via the business’ site.

“Share” a Little, Gain a Lot

“Sharing” is another process which allows users to spread information about themselves and the products, news items or events they enjoy across multiple networks. This level of extra-connectedness in essence performs the same function as “Like,” but with more data given which people can use to evaluate contacts and make connections.

“Like” simply gets a basic fact out there. “Share” will tell users more about each other, allowing for the kind of networking that drives modern business. It also expands the audience beyond the immediate momentary location of Facebook to other sources such as LinkedIn or Twitter. This further creates the potential for any post to go viral, allowing it to spread quickly among related yet distinct audiences.

Two-way Street

The communicative rather than broadcast model will serve marketers well in the area of “Liking” and “Sharing.” Yes, it is good when users “Like” a business – it drives referral traffic to the business and allows for more information to get out there. However, equally good is when a business provides “Likes” to others and for their material.

In the first, most mercenary example it will increase the business’ own traffic automatically. Consider friends A and B from before. If friend A puts up a post that Business C likes for whatever reason, friend B will see the “Like.” This creates another indirect marketing opportunity and referral traffic automatically. So it’s clearly to a business’ benefit to be active in the community and to consistently “Like” things that are interesting to the business.

Indirectly, it creates goodwill in the community. The model of the Internet is a place where people exchange ideas and information, so people respond well to good comments. If business C “Likes” friend A’s post, then friend A may “Like” them in return, for reciprocity if nothing else. This can be amplified by providing well-thought-out, insightful and proper comments on various walls throughout a given Facebook community.

At its roots, Facebook “Likes” and social networking “Shares” create opportunities to be more involved, and they reward increased and thoughtful involvement more than automatic, disinterested participation. Actively read through communities touching on a brand’s interests and look for the “Likes” and referrals others are following. Provide commentary for your brand, as well as for the interests of others, and people will respond out of courtesy. The brand that behaves like a human will receive human consideration, while the brand that acts like a robot will be blocked out automatically.