Search Marketing: Turning your Website Outside-in to Increase Sales

Many companies are disappointed in the results they get from their Web site. They spent a lot of money on design and content...there may be thousands of unique visits recorded, but very few calls are resulting. Most companies have Web sites that reflect an "inside-out" orientation, what we in the search engine marketing business call "brochure ware." The original purpose was met, to provide information, but as a result, the Web site is like a flyer that is skimmed once and then thrown away.

All the money spent on attracting interest from prospects is wasted if the interest isn't reciprocated. Reaching far beyond a brochure, the Web provides a rich media environment and two-way data-driven communication. This should drive a Web site with an "outside-in" approach, one that is wrapped around the wants and needs of the prospect. Your web site is the most valuable real estate you own. The web provides a single point of access between you and your market--it can offer 360-degree visual tours, audio or video testimonials, brochures on demand, discount coupons, and client references--at the same time it can gather information about your prospect and deliver instantaneous, completely free follow-up.

Especially on the web, successful marketers anticipate the needs of the prospect, and they work constantly to understand "the mind of the market." Search engine optimization helps your site focus on attracting prospects, giving them exactly what they are looking for. Once prospects get to your site, the images and words you use are important, but they have to be part of a larger sales strategy, one that incorporates powerful, motivating messages and two-way methods of communication. This "sales flow optimization" is just as important to your success as SEO.

Sales Flow: The Secret to Successful Search Engine Marketing

Historically, sales organizations have been very poor at converting leads into sales. They have asked the marketing team to give them only hot leads: prospects with budget, a timetable, and a list of people involved in the decision. Marketing was expected to "qualify" each prospect and deliver the hot leads to sales. Today, the prospect qualifies YOU, not the other way around. One of our largest clients was using a lead form with 19 fields...not just name and phone number, but size of the expected order and time-to-decision! We told the marketing team that their "sales" department ought to be renamed the "order taker" department! This form was used by prospects only 3% of the time...meaning, 97% abandoned the site rather than fill out the form. Now, this company gets the information incrementally, over a few weeks...but they are closing over 200% more business from the web.

Converting a prospect into an active lead on the web takes courtship. You are wooing, building a relationship. That takes really trying to learn what people are looking for, to get into the customer's head. Knowing that most prospects are looking for specifications and pricing, you can make your data sheets easy to find, and maybe even have a downloadable price list. When they print out the price list or the data sheet, they get the contact information to follow up. These days, companies find out they are on the short list just a short time before the customer buys. That's the power of effective search engine marketing, but it's a brave new world for the sales person who thinks he or she is in control of the relationship with the prospect.