Seven Tips to Make Your Website More Effective

If you want your website to help generate more business for your company, keep the following tips in mind:

Tip #1 Let your prospective clients know about your track record. People who are looking for coaches want to see that you have succeeded in what you say you do. Post to your website all recent news articles that mention your coaching practice, and include press releases. Some top free online press release distribution sites include:

http://www.prlog.org/
http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/
http://www.free-press-release.com/
http://www.live-pr.com/en/ - (Google News Listed)
http://www.newswiretoday.com/

Tip #2 List your community involvement, speaking engagements, etc. When you plan to do a presentation, make an announcement. Make sure the folks on your mailing list know. Make sure the professionals whose businesses complement yours know. Add these scheduled appearances in your social media marketing (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, your groups' discussion areas on linkedin.com, etc). Inform the keeper of the bulletin board of the organizations you belong to so they can post them. Go where your market goes, and shout it out somehow.

However, before you do that, read up on the most effective ways to write it up, so that your announcement can be as successful as possible.

Check the end of this blog post article for everything a coach needs to know about Twitter. If you are serious about getting the word out about your coaching practice, YOU MUST READ THIS!

Tip #3 Have a page on your website that talks about your specialty. Visitors who come to your site, particularly people who are of your niche market, will be looking to see your experience with their problem. On that page, you can include articles that you have written on the subject, breakthroughs that you've had dealing with the behavioral area, tips you've shared, testimonials or anything that shows your expertise.

Tips #4 Keep your information current. Check the information on your site. Recently I was checking out a legal consultant's information, and he was listed in a publication that annually rates his profession. Using a plaque they gave him, he touted a superior rating received many many years ago. So, what's wrong with that? Well, if this publication annually rates your profession and the last time you were awarded a high rating was years ago, it makes me think, at first glance, what's wrong with you that it's been that long since you were worthy of a high accolade and now you're not. It's okay to talk about past achievements, but you need to also talk about what makes you wonderful now. What have you done lately? If you haven't done anything . . . do something! Then, of course, brag about it.

Tip #5 Broken links are annoying. Have your webmaster check this regularly to make sure all the links on your site work. This is frustrating for your visitors who are looking forward to visiting the site of the authority you are recommending and can't.

Tip #6 Provide FAQ's to educate your visitors. The more information you put on your site, the more qualified leads you will get.

Tip #7 Call to Action should never be forgotten. Don't leave your visitors hanging now that you've peaked their interest in your practice or your skills as a coach. Tell them what you want them to do with a clear marketing “call to action”. For example: Get a free e-book when you join our newsletter; Call now for your free consultation; For a short time only . . .

When creating or revamping your website, always put your best foot forward. Your website is where many people develop their first impression of your coaching practice.

For free tips on how to design your call to action, shoot me an email.

Twitter Explained:

1. Create a Twitter account. (This takes less than 5 minutes)

2. Make sure you are being "followed" by people in your target audience.

Here's How: Once you sign up for Twitter (which takes less than five minutes) go to search.twitter.com. If lawyers, for example, are your core market, type in the word "lawyers" in the box at the top of the page. Lawyers who have Twitter accounts will appear on the page. Click on their icons or pictures, and you will be taken to their Twitter page. You will sign on to your account from their page. Click on the "Follow" tab under their picture on the left. You are now "following" them, which has two major bonuses:

(a) It means when they post something on Twitter, you can now see it from your Twitter page. This allows you to keep tabs on things that can clue you in to their needs, etc.

(b) They will get an email telling them you are following them. They will then go to your Twitter page, which, when you first set it up, allows you to provide a link to your website. They will then accept and follow you back, if they are interested. I find that, so long as you don't seem like a nut or a spammer, most people have no problem following you back. Now every time you post a scheduled appearance or anything else on Twitter, they can see your post about it, link to it, sign up or email you, or call you about it, etc. It's up to you to make your post appealing.

3. How To Put up a Post (also known as a tweet) on Twitter: Sign on to your Twitter account, now that you have one. Type the headline or the title of your presentation, etc., in the "what are you doing now" box, and add your website address that leads to the page where information on this presentation is posted. If you have an article posted on your blog or your website, you can add the headline/title of that article in the "what are you doing now" box and add the address that leads to that blog post's page or that particular website page. You can tweet about some interesting tidbit that you think your followers should know or may want to know and add the web address that leads to further information. This does not necessarily have to be your website. However, it shows that you have interesting things to tweet about and will make people interested in checking you or your tweets out, because you are that tweeter who's in-the-know.

If your website URL is too long (because you are only allowed 140 characters in Twitter), go here and get a smaller version of your website address called a "tinyurl," then put your tinyurl in the box, instead of your long web address. When people click on the tinyurl, it will take them to your site. This takes less two minute to do!

In that same box, after your web address, type: Please RT.

RT stands for "retweet". Twitter users love to retweet (RT) good articles, witty comments, etc. and being viral is what you want. So what happens? Your followers can now take your twitter message and rebroadcast that same message to their followers and them to their followers and so on. This information about you or your program or your article or your presentation . . . flies across the Internet and, particularly, to those people likely to be interested in your services or who know people who are likely to be interested in your services. Remember, you have sought out people in your target market to be followed by.

Many of you - professionals -are missing out on the value of Twitter, because you don't understand how Twitter can really help your business grow. It goes way beyond "what are you doing now?" that's it's known for.

There's a wonderful article on how to use Twitter to grow your business on Copyblogger that I highly recommend.

Good luck