Seattle Community

Other cities:  More »
<span class="basic_member_name">Hilary Brooks</span>
Hilary Brooks
Internet Marketing Support
Milford, New Hampshire
Biztalk » Indie Biz Q&A »
Posted by Hilary Brooks, Milford, New Hampshire | Jan 26, 2008

Subscribe to Indie Biz Q&A Developing a Website - Looking for your thoughts

Hi all :)

I'm developing a website (www.AVirtualEdge.com) and I'm looking for input from everyone - those of you who have built your own sites, those who have a site, etc.

Originally I had some flash templates that I was going to work with, however I just realized that editing flash is a little too advanced for me. Also, the time spent on learning to do so would be put the better use in sales and marketing ;-) So, I've decided to built a CSS based site.

With that being said, I have so many questions on the content that I should include. For those of you that track your statistics and page hits, which pages seem to get the most traffic? Which pages do visitors seem to spend most time on? Are things like Google AdWords worth the investment? What type of things should be in consideration in regards to SEO? Are contact forms usefull or is it better to supply an email link....or both? Any other thoughts you guys have to share would also be wonderful.

Thanks for reading and any time you can spare to share your thoughts and experiences.

-Hilary


Closed_info

27 Bizniks have posted replies

« Previous 1 2 Next »
  • Mark Silver
    Posted by Mark Silver, Portland, Oregon | Feb 21, 2008

    Hi Hilary,

    I'm impressed by how quickly you've jumped into it. I actually have a different view- I'm not so focused on SEO- although it's worth paying attention to, the biggest thing to watch in my mind: is your site making a connection to potential clients, or not?

    I wrote an article What the heck really does belong on your home page? I'll load it into Biznik articles, but for right now, here it is: (http://heartofbusiness.com/articles/2006/Sep6.htm)

    the biggest thing I notice about your home page is that the very first thing you ask me to do is "learn more" about why I should outsource to you. But, you haven't made any connection to me. I don't know who you are. I don't know who you serve, or what you do. I don't even know if you really get who I am and what my problems are.

    Not to be too blunt, but that kind of a call to action is a classic "me" centered request.

    Read the article above, and it will explain how to begin to connect to a new visitor, and help them feel safe enough to take the next step with you.

    The biggest thing people underestimate is how much safety it takes for someone to purchase. Marketing is not about attraction- it's about creating safety- and safety is created through people feeling understood, seen, witnessed.

    Make sense? Let me know if the article is helpful.

  • Hilary Brooks
    Posted by Hilary Brooks, Milford, New Hampshire | Feb 29, 2008

    Thanks to everyone for all of your invaluable help! The huge amount of response and suggestions was overwhelming and such a benefit. I really appreciate everyone's time to provide feedback :)

    I have updated quite a bit to this point based on the suggestions received :) I feel very proud and think the site has greatly improved with these updates. What do you think?

    www.AVirtualEdge.com.

« Previous 1 2 Next »