Website Success – 5 Tricks From a Child’s Birthday Party
by Vanessa Wood
I recently helped supervise a kid’s birthday party. So much chaos created by such small people! Despite a mishap with an extremely red fruit punch and a white carpet, and the one child who sat on a piece of the ooey-gooey chocolate cake, every one left looking happy and satisfied. I bet if you asked any one of the kids if they would like come back again, you’d hear a resounding “Yes!” So the question is, how do you get web visitors so happy they want to come back? Every mom knows the tricks that make a birthday a success, so let’s apply them to Internet marketing and let the party begin!
Trick #1: Everybody gets an invitation. It’s not a party without guests so you’ll want to bring in visitors to your website. Start with keywords and search engine optimizing, but don’t stop there. Publicize your website address on all your social media sites, your printed marketing materials, and through traditional PR such as press releases.
Trick #2: Put out the cake. Have you ever notice that a beautifully decorated birthday cake is often the party center piece? Seeing a gorgeous cake or a beautiful website draws in the guest or the website visitor with the promise of good things to come. When you think of starting a website from scratch, think of the analogy of box vs. bakery cake. You may have the wherewithal for the box cake or a beginners’ website, but when it comes to all the decorating and frosting that make a spectacular party cake or the interactive bells and whistles needed for full website functionality, a professional is the recipe for success.
Trick #3: Bring out the fun and games. Party games aren’t just to tire out the kids so they’ll take a good nap. Fun-time connects them in play and keeps them interested in the experience. Same thing goes for your website – if you don’t give people something to do on your website, you’ll lose them. Considering entertaining your guests with downloadable media files, polls, or online forms to complete and send, products to purchase, etc.
Trick #4: Send ’em home with a goody bag. You wouldn’t have a kids’ party without sending guests home with something in hand. Back to business, are you working with clients or customers and letting them leave your website without a treat? Give your client a “white” paper report or email a coupon for a special package or discounted product/services to obtain their return business within a time period. Any promotional item you can offer for free will have your web visitors saying “goody-goody.”
Trick #5: Send a thank you. Didn’t mom urge you to write those thank you notes? Whether a paper card or an electronic email, a thank-you is good etiquette, a cog in the wheel of building a relationship to convert web visitors into customers, and remind them you are “thankful” for their business. Be sure you have acknowledgement files and “thank you” text in place for whenever someone uses a form on your website or purchase something, they are thanked properly.
The Internet shouldn’t be an intimidating place; skills you’ve already mastered in one arena can often be applied to the web. Relax, using what you know can make your business website go as smooth, and hopefully smoother than a party-tent full of second graders.
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Vanessa Wood is the technology partner in Mac and Cheese Web Marketing, where she creates customized WordPress blogs, ecommerce websites. She works with clients to “Get comfy with Internet marketing” by developing a social media strategy. Vanessa is a platinum author for Ezine Articles and is an avid blogger on social media topics and the best practices for the web.
Contact: [email protected]
VentureMom Tip
Make your website like a great birthday party.
