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Marte Cliff
writer@marte-cliff.com
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The e-zine Archives
New to Real Estate Help?
Accidentally delete information you wanted to save?
Are you sending your prospects to the wrong web pages?
Convincing yourself that a bad idea is a good one is a bad idea...
Dear Marketer,
Using your marketing efforts to send visitors to the wrong web page is a bad idea, and there's no way to turn it into a good one.
It happened to me again today, so I have to talk about it.
I got an email from a credit card that offers "miles" points. It told me how many miles I have, and invited me to log on to see their cash value. So I did. But guess what? After I got there, I couldn't find out!
I clicked links, re-read the landing page, wandered all over the site, and no information was there to be had. Now, I'm not saying it wasn't there someplace, had I known where to look. But it wasn't on the page I landed on - and that's a huge mistake.
Capital One doesn't care - if I don't see my cash value it's no skin off anyone's nose. They don't care if I ever redeem my rewards, and in fact, probably hope that I don't.
But the trouble is, I see this with all kinds of other sites as well - sites that are attempting to sell a product or service, and that really want me to see and read the page they advertised in their e-mail to me.
When you send an email to your prospects asking them to visit your site, are you sending them to the correct page? Or are you assuming that once they get there they'll be so enthused that they'll spend the 10 or 20 minutes to find the page you wanted them to see?
Sounds goofy when I say it that way, doesn't it?
Before I go on - I apologize to you if you're on more than one of my ezine lists. Because this message needs to go out to everyone, you may get more than one copy. I hope the autoresponder sorts and doesn't send you extras, but if it does, please forgive.
That said, please take a little time to look at your promotions and make sure you're sending people to the correct pages.
If you're a Realtor sending a message to buyers, send them to your buyer page. If the message is for sellers, send them to your seller page. If you have a special event or a particular listing you want them to know about, send them directly to the page that describes it.
If you're a retailer and have a special on widgets on your retail site, direct your prospects to that specific page - not to a home page that lets them have the privilege of deciding which category this product falls under and then sorting through all the products for sale in hopes of finding this specific one. If you're running several specials and have a page set up just for them, direct visitors there - not to a home page where they can try to find a link that says "specials."
And if you're a non-profit hoping to raise funds for a specific project, direct people to the page that explains that project.
If you're an animal rescue and you need help with surgery for an injured dog, don't direct visitors to your spay and neuter program. If you're recruiting volunteers to help tutor children in reading, don't send them to a page about your summer camp. And if you're seeking funds to clean up a river, don't send visitors to a corporate page that tells how long your organization has been operating.
You may be the laid-back patient type who will spend a half hour or more digging around in a website to find what you want. If so, you are an exception. Most of us are in a hurry, impatient, and won't bother hunting if we can't see what we're looking for right in front of our eyes when we click to a page.
On average, you have only 5 seconds to capture a visitor's attention. You can and must do that with a compelling headline, but if you're directing visitors to your site you must ALSO do it by showing them that they're in the right place.
Think about this. What do you think will happen if I advertise my Land Buyers' Guidebook , telling people all about how it will help them make a successful land purchase, and then send visitors to a page with this headline:
"What is the secret to building a custom home
without stress, strain,
or an empty bank account?"
… Do you think they'll stay and search for the information about buying land, or will they leave?
The end of that page does give a link to the Land Buyer's Guidebook, but it sure isn't evident from the headline.
Don't expect your visitors to want to learn all about you and the many products and/or services you offer. Satisfy their curiosity about the specific reason why they went to your site. If they want to know more, they'll stick around and learn more - but only after they've seen that you have what they were looking for.
Inserting the correct link is one of the easiest things you can do to boost the effectiveness of your promotions - so just do it!
Yours for success,
Marte
writer@marte-cliff.com
P.S. Remember, call on me when you need help constructing those e-mail blasts, sales letters, or web pages. Showing the world why it wants to do business with you is what I do best.
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