A double dose of design is not nearly as potent as performance for a site that needs a checkup.What does design mean to you? Since the goal of this column is to teach website owners, Internet marketers and developers how to design home pages and landing pages that meet business objectives, it's important that we are on the same page, the same line - the same word - as we … [Read more...]
A Brand New Day for BrandNewDad.com
Not every website sells widgets. But that doesn't mean every website doesn't need an effective home page.In this column, we chose an information portal as our subject. So instead of addressing questions like what the site is selling, and how to make a purchase, our focus was on the proper display of content, use of colors and communicating the benefits of registration.Our … [Read more...]
Lost in Translation
Ten years ago, Jaime lived outside Managua, Nicaragua, worked in a shoe factory and took college classes. The then-35-year-old did not own a car and shared a house, a TV and a stereo with his parents, along with his brother and sister- in-law. Both Jaime and his brother helped his parents pay the rent, and the rest of Jaime's paycheck went toward saving for a move to the United … [Read more...]
It’s Just Direct Marketing
As I go around the country teaching workshops on pay per click (PPC) I get asked many varied questions on search engine marketing (SEM), depending on which city I happen to be in. Larger marketers seem to have more sophisticated questions; smaller marketers tend to focus on subsistence tactics. However, one theme seems to reoccur frequently: the myth that SEM is some kind of … [Read more...]
Home Page Makeover Unleashed
In this first installment of Revenue Magazine's "By Design Makeover," I worked with my team at Sostre & Associates to choose one site and give that lucky winner a visual redesign of its home page. After reviewing more than 50 submissions from readers like you, we finally selected - drum roll, please - OriginalDogBiscuit.com.We chose this site because it serves as a prime … [Read more...]
Pedro Sostre: Follow Your Passion
Pedro Sostre is all about art and good design. And he's not afraid to voice his opinions on either subject."Most websites suck in terms of design," he says, though he also admits there are many design-oriented sites that are extremely well-done and that he'd be hard-pressed to single out just a handful of them.When it comes to art, he's fond of the impressionist style of … [Read more...]
Analyze This
Affiliates are capitalizing on the predictable behavioral patterns of consumers by using Web analytics tools to decode customers' habits and boost revenue. So if you're a publisher and want to know who exactly is visiting your site, how different types of visitors come back, what they are looking for when they arrive and what specifically makes them want to leave, you should … [Read more...]
The Myths of Affiliate Marketing
There are many myths regarding affiliate marketing that ought to be tucked away where you keep the collected works of the Brothers Grimm, Aesop and Mother Goose. They may be fun to read, but they are disastrous to any affiliate marketing campaign. There are hundreds of these myths circulating, but I'll deal with the top 10 of them here: MYTH: It's good to have a lot of white … [Read more...]
Converting Visitors to Buyers
While affiliate Web sites can measure how many visitors and clicks they receive and send on through to merchants, that's only part of the story when making decisions on maximizing revenue potential. There is still that magical measurement of conversions; how many of the visitors that affiliates send to a merchant actually buy something? "It's really all about nuance now. Web … [Read more...]
Know Your Audience
When designing a Web site, you must take the intended audience into careful consideration. Whether the Web site is business-to-business or business-to-consumer, the design will require a format that caters to the desired type of visitor, and it must also guide them through the intended process as comfortably and efficiently as possible.First, take into account whether the … [Read more...]
Keeping Design Simple
When building a Web site to convert sales, one must make the visitor very comfortable and try to avoid the frustrating pitfalls that commonly plague online merchants.It's important to remember that keeping visitors on a Web site and guiding them through the sales process is just as important as getting them there in the first place. Here are several simple tips for attracting … [Read more...]
First Impressions and Beyond
What's worse than a poor shopping experience? Rank it down there next to a really bad haircut, or waiting in line at the bank on Saturday morning. It's not fun.Affiliates and merchants should take note. Just because you have a Web site instead of a retail storefront, doesn't mean that you have it easy. In fact, some would argue it's more difficult to sell online than offline. … [Read more...]
Profits By Design
Link all you want, but unless your site helps visitors find what they want while enjoying the process, they won't stick around long enough to buy anything. The big secret is creating a well-designed Web site. That's easily said, but difficult to accomplish. Quality sites have fresh, interesting content; easy-to-understand organization; visual appeal; and affiliate links that … [Read more...]
A Nose For Data
As a canny entrepreneur, you'll want to monitor all aspects of your business. On the Internet, that comes down to tracking data, all kinds of it.Remember, an affiliate is really an Internet marketer and successful marketers of all persuasions love data. Marketers burn to know who their customers are, where they heard about the company, what makes them come back, what makes them … [Read more...]