perspectives
You’re Getting the Clicks But Where Are the Sales?
By now most companies are aware of, and many are even employing, a paid search strategy to help generate inbound traffic to their website. Services like Google AdWords make it easy to create ads and choose keywords in the hopes of generating clicks. And perhaps even better, you can see which of those keywords are performing the best. But what do you do when you know which keywords and ads are getting the most clicks, but they aren’t converting to requests for information, meetings and ultimately sales?
This has become a real challenge for many businesses. You’re halfway there but yet somehow it’s not enough. We recommend asking a few questions aimed at hitting this issue head on:
1. What Type of Experience Are You Delivering Post-Click?
Your ad worked. They are now in your website. This can logically be the first place things can start to go awry. What type of experience do they have once they are there? Can they easily find what they are looking for? Is the content aimed at addressing the very reason they clicked in the first place? Many times a “clicker” will leave after a few seconds because the content they are receiving is not aligned with their needs and wants.
2. Did You Ask Them To Do Anything?
This may seem simple but you paid to get them into your site, although you may not have given them an opportunity to take action. Most business-to-business sites are not e-commerce sites so you may not be selling a product via your website. But you must want these visitors to do something. Are you hoping to capture their email address for database building? Perhaps you want them to sign up to receive your newsletter or join your online community? If so, make sure you’ve created ample opportunity for them to do just that by designating proper real estate on the page for them to make contact.
3. What Are the Analytics Telling You?
The analytics are there to help you determine the overall marketing effectiveness of your efforts. Many people don’t realize that services like Google Analytics and Mint allow you to filter the data to show you only those keywords that attracted visitors that stayed for two minutes or more on your site. This doesn’t tell you everything, but at least you know that this “clicker” came to your site and didn’t jump out right away. Use this information to focus and optimize your key word listing. This may not lead to a conversion but you will be getting more for your dollar once your keywords are fully optimized.
In summary, capturing leads and maintaining your website is hard work. The minute you think you’ve done all you could something changes. Your overall message needs to be revisited, the web architecture isn’t working as you’d intended or the keywords you’ve chosen aren’t performing. As marketers we understand these challenges and empathize with the relentless work they require. This fall may be a good time to take a critical eye to your online efforts. Trinity Marketing is eager and interested in helping you do that.
Call us at 617.292.7399, or email us.