Everybody listens to the same radio station: WIFM – “What’s In it For Me?” You’ll want to remember this if the main purpose of your website, social network and blog content is to get read and get customers.
First You Need to Get into the Game and Onto the Playing Field
One of the things that make the Internet so versatile is the fact that it creates a web of content that cross connects your websites, blogs and social networks to the search engines. Once you understand how to feed the six hundred pound gorilla in the room named Google, then you will find that generating page 1 results can come from any and sometimes more than one of these marketing nodes.
Therefore, to maximize response you must treat every post as a marketing page. Bearing in mind that Google is gaga for blogs, one of the quickest ways to generate a page 1 result on Google is to strategically target your titles. It isn’t at all unusual for a blog post to appear on page 1 in as little as 24-48 hours. If you really want to put your post on steroids, cross pollinate them by reprinting them in their entirety on a number of social networks that encourage blogging, such as merchantcircle.com and betternetwroker.com. You never know which link will get Google’s attention. Of course, you also want to post links for your blogs on Facebook and Twitter as well.
To Whom does Your Site Cater... and What Do They Want?
Once you have created a means to attract hundreds of eyeballs you can get down to business, right? Well yes and no. Before you go for the jugular and grab for the cash, keep in mind that in order to succeed financially, blogging should be 9 parts content to every one part advertisement. In other words, before you start pitching the prospects, you need to convince them that you are the man or woman for the job.
Lead from the top - Your headline should promise something of interest or solve a problem. If you want the mouse to take a nibble, you’ll need to provide some cheese. When reading headlines, potential readers are looking for what a page might do for them. They are looking for benefits and if your headline does not deliver, they are gone.
People don't purchase a drill because they are impressed with its power or color. People purchase a drill because they need to make a few holes.
• Features tell, benefits sell - tell the reader what the content will do for them.
• Don't try to be clever or make the reader think too much.
• Don't force readers to read the entire story in order to understand the headline.
Your First Paragraph is the Second Most Important Content Element
The lead paragraph needs to be as succinct, clear, and uncluttered as it can possibly be.
If a visitor shows enough interest in your headline to read on, the last thing they want to encounter is a long drawn out explanation of everything that the writer hopes to convey over the course of the article. So don’t try to explain everything in your first paragraph. Instead, try to find the most important idea you want to put across. Then give the reader a couple of compelling reasons to read yet further. (In the headline you showed the mouse the cheese. In the first paragraph you want to briefly describe where the cheese is located.)
The lead paragraph needs to be as succinct, clear, and uncluttered as it can possibly be.
If a visitor shows enough interest in your headline to read on, the last thing they want to encounter is a long drawn out explanation of everything that the writer hopes to convey over the course of the article. So don’t try to explain everything in your first paragraph. Instead, try to find the most important idea you want to put across. Then give the reader a couple of compelling reasons to read yet further. (In the headline you showed the mouse the cheese. In the first paragraph you want to briefly describe where the cheese is located.)
Then you can relate to the reader your experiences and mastery of the subject, always bearing in mind that people purchase benefits, not features. When you're busy creating content, it's easy to forget that your website and blog exists to sell your products and services to select groups of people. These people all have problems to be resolved and needs to be fulfilled. If you want your readers to do business with you, first they must get to know and trust you.
By creating compelling content that addresses your audience’s wants and needs, you will be perceived as a trusted authority. This trust can then be a lever to generating leads that can ultimately be converted into cash.
So place your ads where they will be seen with the understanding that only a small percentage of readers will respond at first. For the remainder of the crowd you will have to work a bit harder. You'll have to use your pages' content to make them consider coming back another day. Of course, this is what social networks and blogs are best at performing…the vaunted follow up.
Carl Weiss has been working the web professionally since 1995 with an eye toward generating results for himself and his clients. If you are looking to transform your website from an e-brochure into a lead generating, cash register ringing machine that works 24/7, goto http://access-jax.com and http://jacksonville-video-production.com and connect with Carl’s blog and social networks.
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