Ever get one of those box of chocolates with the different flavored “goop” inside?  You try to choose the “right” one to pick, but you have no way of knowing what’s REALLY inside?

When it’s your box it’s ok to take a bite… and either put it back (my son’s strategy) or throw it out and grab another.

Now, the important question for you is: why didn’t they ever just include a map or outline so you could find the ones you really want?

So What Does This Have to do with Web Marketing?

Online business success is all about how you position yourself and your service.  And that includes your language.

Not to mention giving your potential customer a useful “map” so he or she can follow along and not get sidetracked.

No doubt you want to make your offerings clear to your potential client or customer when they visit your site.  But more often than not your message is confused, lost in a sea of navigation buttons and tons of content that may or may not interest them.

Give them a chocolate with flavored “goop” they don’t like, and you could lose them for good.

There is a delicate balance between wanting to educate your web visitor, and losing them in a sea of confusion.  Often business owners get wrapped up in what they think is great, but it gets lost in a mouthful of words that your potential customer could do without.

This is a classic language mismatch.  You’re talking about one thing, your web visitor wants to hear about something else.

To Position Yourself for Success…

You need to give them a taste of what’s to come so they have an idea what you are truly offering.

Here’s how this works.

Have you ever bought something that seemed really great, the package said it was everything you were looking for in the product? However, when you opened it and went to use it or try it out, it just didn’t meet up with the advertising and your expectations?

That might be what your website is doing to the people who visit. Either…

1. it doesn’t do a good enough job giving them what they came looking for,
2. or it just isn’t living up to their expectations of what it really should be and do for them.

Either one of those spells disaster.  You lose potential leads because they just don’t stick around long enough to enter into a conversation with you. In web terms, this is a “bounce.”

So How Can You Reduce Bounce Rate?

Well, that’s a great question.  Here are a few tips that can help you in determining if you are Hitting your targets or missing the mark altogether:

1.  Ask your clients and visitors what they want to solve their problems.  And then speak to that need.

It doesn’t cost you anything to ask.  And you might just find out what you thought they wanted isn’t what they are looking for.

2.  Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback.

Look, no one wants to hear complaints or arguments, however, that same feedback could just be the ticket to increasing your conversions overnight by addressing these same issues.

Remember this one important Rule: It’s NOT about YOU. It’s all about them!

In other words the customer is king, and they need to be respected.  They will vote with their dollars.  Now, I don’t know about you, but that’s a vote I’d like to win on a daily basis.

3.  Match the Message on your site to the Offer that got folks to the site.

This one is essential.  Regardless of the marketing and traffic methods you are using, you have literally 1 second to get it right.

Meaning, when someone lands on your site, they are already predisposed to do one of two things:

1. dig deeper
2. leave immediately

Now, your obvious goal is to have them remain on your site.  To do that, you have to remember one critical factor.  They didn’t land on your site from nowhere.

Your marketing message brought most of them calling.  Your chosen keywords, articles, pay-per-click campaign, whatever, laid the foundation for that visit.

If what the message on your site does NOT match with the message that attracted to them in the first place, they are out of there!  In a flash.

Does that make sense?

One example to illustrate. A friend of mine sells promotional items (pens, hats, etc.).  She ran a pay-per-click campaign about pens (her idea, not mine – and no, she is not a client… yet).

But the critical error was sending that traffic to her HOME page.  Not the page about pens.

Can you see the complete disconnect here?  No one is going connect the dots for you.

To say the least, that pay-per-click campaign was short lived, and dollars were needlessly wasted.

If you follow these tips, no doubt you’ll reduce your bounce rate and keep visitors interested in the message on your site.

How We Can Help

Would you like an initial evaluation of your site?

Getting another pair of eyes always helps.  Especially when it’s from someone outside of your niche/industry.

To get started, just send us an email along with your URL.  We’ll work up an initial 10 point evaluation of your site to see what you’re doing right, and what may need improvement.

Any questions?  Comments?  Did we hit a nerve?

Drop us a line by leaving a comment.  We will reply (here, and by email if you’d like) as soon as we’re able.  And if there’s a topic you want us to discuss, let us know.

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