Weekly Web Tips Podcast

Every website needs a sales funnel.  If you don't have a sales funnel or don't know how to make one, you need to listen to this episode.  We talk about the free programs out there that you can use today to create a great-looking PDF guide and an automated email sequence to get your sales funnel up and running.

 

Basically, you need some sort of lead-generating document that people are willing to give their email address to download.  Then, you follow up with them over the course of time providing more and more value.  Doing this creates subconscious reciprocity.  Big words that mean "people will intuitively want to do business with you."  This is a good thing and it happens without people knowing it.  

Two programs that are really easy to use are Canva and ConverKit.  Canva is great for creating professional-looking PDF documents.  ConvertKit is great for automating email sequences to nurture your new relationships.

 

If this seems like too much to take on, we can help.  But with a little bit of time, curiosity, and YouTube, you can do this.  You can create a sales funnel on your own website.  The ability to build an email list that you can reach out to is priceless and creating a sales funnel is the best way to build your email list. 

There are so many options out there when it comes to choosing someone to build your website for you.  From $500 freelancers to $50,000 marketing agencies, how do you find the right team to build your website and put your vision into code?

 

Today we talk about the different options you have when it comes to finding a web design agency.  Yes, there are a ton of freelancers out there that will give you a cheap price, but chances are you are going to come out with a cheap product.  

 

For most small businesses, the $8,000-$15,000 price range is a reasonable price for a great website.  But there are some things to consider when it comes to building a relationship with an agency.  

 

1. How are changes and updates handled?
2. Who owns the legal rights to the website?
3. How much does it cost to add additional pages?
4. What sort of SEO strategy is involved post-launch?
5. Is a sales funnel included?

 

These are all questions to ask when it comes to building your window to the world.  

 

At The Virtual Marketing Directors, we pride ourselves on producing marketing agency quality websites at reasonable prices for small businesses.  If you are ready to upgrade your website, we would love to talk with you.  

 

Schedule a call with The Virtual Marketing Directors

A story doesn't really get started until there is a problem.  We know this from every good book and movie we've read and seen.  But how do you translate that storytelling technique into a website?

 

You create a hook on your website by opening a story loop question.  'But David, what is a story loop question?'  I am so glad you asked.  It is a question that causes people to stick around to find out the answer.  When you open a story loop, people intuitively want to stick around to learn the ending to the story.  They stick around because they want to know the answer, how the story ends.  

 

So we do that on our website by asking questions on our website that relate to the questions that people are asking.  We can break these three questions down to their physical, internal, and philosophical questions.  

 

In today's episode, you will learn how to ask these three questions on your website to help open that story loop in your visitor's mind.  That will cause them to stay on your website and see how you solve those problems.

 

If we don't talk about the problem our visitors are having, they aren't going to stick around.  Stories don't really start until there is a problem.  So let's talk about problems.

 

Link to Storybrand Marketing Workshop

Link to Virtual Marketing Directors Storybrand Page

Schedule a call with the Virtual Marketing Directors

We all want more leads, right?  If your website already gets a bunch of traffic and you aren't converting that traffic to leads, you have an engagement issue.  The way you solve an engagement issue is to make working with you easier.  The way you do that is you provide a plan.

 

A simple 3-step plan is the best way to convert visitors to leads.  Providing a plan helps "clear the fog" for visitors so they can see what working with you looks like.  

 

How do you create a 3-step plan when working with you might actually include 47 steps?  In today's episode, we lay out a simple strategy to create your own 3 step plan.  First, you need to make a very simple first step.  It should be as easy as "click this button."  Then you create your third step.  This should be whatever successful ending the visitor is looking for.  Once you have your first and third step, now you can create step two, which is where you provide value.  Maybe you have a proven system or a specific process.  Make that your "Step 2."

 

By the end of this podcast, you should have the tools you need to create your very own 3-step process.  Then you need to put this three-step process on the homepage of your website.  Include the "step 1" button right under Step 1.  Make sure that it is obvious to the oblivious.  

 

If you are enjoying these tips make sure you read "Building a Storybrand" by Donald Miller. In this book, Don explains how to use a narrative framework to craft your own message.  He explains why it is so important to be clear over clever.  If you want to learn more about implementing the Storybrand Framework on your website, talk to us.  We are Storybrand Certified Guides that have been specifically trained to create Storybrand content.  We can't wait to chat with you!

 

Link to Building a Storybrand on Amazon

Link to Storybrand Marketing Workshop

Link to Virtual Marketing Directors Storybrand Page

Chances are you probably already have a website and have chosen your platform.  But it is important to know that you have options.  It is not hard to build your website on a new platform if it will provide a better user experience.  Today we talk about the pros and cons of building on WordPress, Squarespace, and Wix.  We also talk about a new platform out there called SiteJet.  

 

While most websites are built on WordPress, there are actually a lot of reasons why WordPress may not be the best platform for you.  I am partial to Squarespace for most DYI'ers.  Especially if you don't have a "techie" background.  Squarespace offers a bunch of great starter designs and has a vast audience of technical experts who can help you along the way.

 

But if you are ever going to manage multiple websites, it would be good to look into SiteJet.  SiteJet is a platform built especially for building multiple websites and managing them.  While this may not be for most people, we just wanted to throw it out there.  It is the platform we use to build all of our websites.  It still uses a graphic interface while giving you complete access to the code behind your website.  This allows you to build a very "clean code" site that performs very well on Google Page Speed tests. 

 

Either way, you need to find the right platform for your needs.  Be sure to explore all of your options.  Avoid overly basic designers provided by your hosting provider (GoDaddy, BlueHost, HostGator, Google Domains).  With just a little bit of effort, you can put together a much better site than what is offered by these companies.  

 

Keep in mind that user experience is the most important factor.  Make it simple for people to use your site and make it enjoyable. Doing that is more than half the battle.  Beyond that, keep it simple.  Be clear in what you do and don't overcomplicate it with jargon.  

 

That's it for this week.  

 

If you are ready to get serious about your website, schedule a call with a Virtual Marketing Director today!

Your website is the first place people often go to learn about your business.  If they want to do business with you they will often find your contact form or your scheduling tool or call you directly.  But how do you make sure that the people calling you are a good fit?

 

Today we are going to talk about how to qualify leads on your website.  The great thing about using your website to qualify leads is that once it is built, you don't have to actively manage it.  You simply let your website do the work and the qualified leads will make it through your funnel.

 

So when you are building your website to qualify a lead you want to think about 4 things.

1. Need - are they the right fit for what you offer?
2. Budget - can they afford your product or service?
3. Authority - are they the decision-maker?
4. Timing - how important is this to them right now?

 

We talk about how to use clear simple language in your website so that your offer is not confusing to your visitors.  That helps them determine if you are a good fit.  Have a pricing page on your website is the way you can help to determine if they have a budget that you can work with.  I am a fan of pricing pages.  That is often the first thing I look for when I am shopping around for a new product or service.  If there isn't a pricing page, I will usually look for a different website.  You also want to make sure that you eventually speak to the person who has the authority to make the decision.  Often, the decision-maker has an assistant or someone else doing the research and initial conversations before they invest time to speak with you.  You want to make sure that you eventually get that time.  Lastly, you want to make sure there is a little bit of urgency.  Projects that don't have deadlines don't get done.  Hopefully, they have a realistic timeline but if they don't you can create a little bit of urgency by providing your own deadlines or timetables.  

 

Knowing how to qualify leads is an important skill and will save you lots of time.  If you can automate the process by using your website, you will save even more time.  

If you would like to get a fresh set of eyes on your website, we would love to help.  Go over to https://virtualmarketingdirectors.com and complete our contact form there and let us know that you would like a video review.  Include your website in the message of the form and we will create a screen recorded video of your website along with a few simple tips that you can do on your own. 

Google is really starting to analyze your page speed metrics and including them in ranking factors when determining where your website will show up on a search engine results page.  

 

Today we are going to talk about how to improve your page speed rankings.  A lot of what we are going to talk about can be handled by your web designer.  But if you don't have a web designer, we are going to teach you how to make a few simple tweaks to your website that should help.

 

Our list of improvement items includes:

1. Checking your Core Vitals (complex words for how fast your page loads)
2. How to optimize your images (click here for our favorite tool)
3. Using 3rd party video hosting platforms
4. Managing your plugins and using straight code instead of bloated plugins
5. Improving your mobile experience

 

Some of this stuff probably seems way over your head and more than you are likely to take on in an afternoon.  But take the first step and become knowledgeable about where you are today.  Go to Google's Page Speed test website.  This will at least let you know where you are right now.  The report it generates is great information to pass along to your current web developer.  They will know what all of the confusing language means and can provide a plan to help you improve your website load speeds.

If you don't have a web developer and would like someone to help you translate what Google is telling you about your website, schedule a consultation with one of our Virtual Marketing Directors and we would be happy to meet with you.  We can provide all sorts of information about your page load speed as well as your search engine optimization.  Schedule an appointment with a Virtual Marketing Director by clicking the link here.

Everyone wants to be a hero, right?  That is why the Marvel franchise is so popular.  We all want superpowers and have the ability to save the day.  But do you know what is better than a Hero?  A Guide!

 

Today we are going to talk about how you can become a guide to your potential customers.  Everyone wakes up at the beginning of the day as the hero in their own story.  Hero's are looking for Guides, not other Heros.  So if you are playing the role of "Hero" on your website, you are not getting as much engagement as you could be.

 

Today we talk about why it is important to be a guide and how to do it.  You will learn the two key skills every hero needs.  When you position yourself as the guide, you attract other heroes to you.  When you attract more people, you get more leads, you get more leads you get more customers, you get more customers and you make more revenue.  And who doesn't want more revenue?  Right?

If you want to learn more about The Virtual Marketing Directors you can always visit their website and even schedule a call with them at https://virtualmarketingdirectors.com/schedule.

In this episode, we get right down to business. Every business owner wants to drive more traffic to their website. Today we talk about 6 ways you can do that on your own website this week.  They are:

 

1. Play the long game with SEO rather than PPC ads
2. Create content that solves a problem
3. Try to answer common questions that can be used as featured snippets
4. Create visually appealing lead generators
5. Customize your website's metadata
6. Spy on your competition to see how they are ranking at the top

 

While you may know some of these tactics, if you are not seeing the traffic you think you should be getting, chances are you can improve in one or more of these areas.  Improving your overall SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is critical in driving more traffic to your website.  

 

If you are looking for an additional guide to help you understand SEO, we have created a guide just for you. It is our SEO Crash Course.  It is a quick read PDF that you can download for free today. Just click on this link here: seo.virtualmarketingdirectors.com. You will have a better understanding of how SEO works and what you can do to begin to see higher rankings on Google. 

 

If you want to learn more about The Virtual Marketing Directors you can always visit their website and even schedule a call with them at https://virtualmarketingdirectors.com/schedule.

A story doesn’t really get started until there is a problem.  We know this from every good book and movie we’ve read and seen.  But how do you translate that storytelling technique into a website?

You create a hook on your website by opening a story loop.  What is a story loop?  It is a question about a problem your visitors are facing. They relate to the question and then they want to know how to resolve the problem. Your product or service is the solution and will resolve the story loop.