These are six surefire tricks of the trade that too many webmasters seem to ignore:

1. Professional Web Design

You’ve heard this before? That’s because it really matters. New visitors form their opinion of your services instantly based on your site design. If you are a legitimate business or service-provider, people assume you can afford to pay a professional designer to make your site purr like it’s 2010, not 2001.

2. “As Seen In”

Positioning yourself alongside trusted brands or news outlets gives credibility by association. More simply put, your new site visitor might not know your brand or name, but they do know The New York Times or the Better Business Bureau. Take advantage of any press or awards you’re received by placing the logos of those organizations on your main page. The more the merrier. Aaron Wall’s SEOBook.com does a great job of this.
3. Customer Testimonials (with pictures!)

Finding satisfied clients or customers should not be difficult. After all, you’re crushing it out there! Take the time to compile the nice notes and emails they’ve sent into a page on your site. Prominently display a few of the best examples on your main page or landing pages.

Be sure to provide the person’s name and location or title along with the testimonial. And here’s an extra tip — post real pictures of your happy customers next to the testimonials. Sites like VA Mortgage Center.com and a lot of universities do this well.

4. This is a Secure Place

Conveying that your website is a secure place to conduct business and exchange personal information is integral to turning a visitor into a conversion, especially in e-commerce.

Most Internet users will not scour the address bar for an “https” designation. You need to put blatant language on your site that says “Your information is secure” and show the logo of the security provider. Examples include Verisign and Truste. Also, have highly visible links to policies on shipping and how you will use customer information once it’s submitted.

5. Showcase Your Physical Assets

Another nuance that many web visitors notice is when you provide a physical address for your business. There is an entire checklist of one-off signals that most “legitimate” web businesses display — physical address, picture of your business, updated copyright date, phone number, business hours and the like. Don’t overlook the benefits these simple inclusions can add up to. Credibility goes a long, long way with consumers.

6. Embrace Interactivity

It may seem almost unoriginal to toss up some visible links to your Twitter and Facebook pages (or your RSS feed if you’re a blog), with even the local ice cream shop asking you to follow them on Twitter. Welcome to the new mainstream, delicious Gelateria.
Thank you

Hi

In a previous article I talked about a few similarities between writing direct mail packages and writing web sites. In short, I concluded that as online writers we could learn a lot from direct marketers.

In this article I'm going to take a look at just one of those similarities: both direct mail packages and web sites lose almost all of their readers before the 'task' is completed. Both media struggle with conversion rates that typically hover around the 2% rate.

Most of us throw out or recycle direct mail pieces almost every day. And most of us know how many of our site visitors leave before buying, signing up, registering or completing some other task.

Now for the difference. Direct mail copywriters work extremely hard to minimize the number of readers they lose, at every stage.

How hard do you work to keep and convert your readers?

Here are three tips taken from the world of direct marketing:

Make a promise

First, your homepage should make it very clear what you do. As in the statement, "We sell printer cartridges".

But also make a promise. As in, "You'll never run out of printer cartridges again".

The statement is about you. And it's useful in letting people know they are in the 'right place'.

The promise is about them. And there is a real benefit stated there. This may be copywriting 101, to lead with a benefit, but it's surprising how many sites don't follow this simple and proven principle.

Make an offer

This is standard in just about every direct mail package. This isn't the same as a promise. An offer is when you give someone something extra, at no cost to the buyer. Maybe it's a free calculator. Or a better price if you subscribe for longer. Or 30 days free. Even a free serving of garlic bread with your pizza.

Try to do the same with your web site. With a free report. Free shipping. A free download. A free consultation. A free gift. Or free gift wrapping.

Guarantee it

Direct marketers know that buyers are often nervous about buying over the phone or by mailing an envelope. So they wrap everything up in a guarantee. Be delighted or get your money back.

Online we also know that many people feel nervous about parting with their money over the Internet, particularly if it is the first time they have bought something at our site. But where are our guarantees? Too often they are found in the small print somewhere, qualified with all sorts of legal nonsense.

Thanks