In Part 1 of my Website Conversion post I discussed how SEO will only be so valuable if the landing page isn’t set to convert the traffic. And as I wrote last week, having call-to-actions such as “Contact Us” and “Blog,” despite searchers familiarity with these terms, typically aren’t enough if one is serious about getting their traffic to convert into leads, sales, survey information…
This week I would like to discuss the values of considering the same questions brought up in Part 1 – Landing Page Design – and using them in Part 2 – Social Media integration.
Blog Integration with CTA
When a searcher comes to a site, leaving a link on your site that says “blog,” unless you already have a loyal following, isn’t going to be all that appetizing for the searcher. Why? Because for most people, a blog is just a blog is just a blog. It’s trendy, and when it’s just called a “blog” on a corporate or company site, the “blog” has no meaning. People don’t read blogs because they’re “blogs.” Sometimes, they’re even turned off to the page because it is a “blog,” feeling as if the site is just trying to use something trendy to get their attention.
People read blogs because of the value to them.
To paint a picture, my grandfather – oldold man Finn – likes classic outlaw country music. A couple days ago while we were roadtripping back from Gasparilla Island, I played a couple ‘modernized’ country songs for him: a cover of George Jones’ “The Race is On,” and the classic song, “Monkey and the Engineer.” He hummed along, even tried to sing them. When he asked where I got the tunes, I told him they were both of an acoustic album called, “Reckoning,” by none other than the Grateful Dead. Now oldold man Finn will never be confused as a Hippie. If I were to have told him in advance that it was the Grateful Dead, he would have shunned it. But when I simply told him the value of what he was about to hear and let him hear it, he was more apt to appreciate it. The next day when he was paying for our next grueling round of mini-golf, the lady asked him if he was gonna win today.
He said, “Oh, I dunno. I’m just an old Dead Head.”
A Philosophy Worth Integrating
When integrating social media on the website, don’t rest on the laurels of the application’s branding power to do the work for you. They’re just tools. Inform the visitor why they’re important. If the blog is to show the work you’ve done for past clients, let them know “check our recent work.” If it’s to tell them about coupons and deals, tell them, “Learn about our latest deals,” or the like.
It’s not that the searcher can’t figure it out for themselves. It’s that if the site doesn’t take the time to them what they can find, the searcher won’t feel that the site owner thinks its important. And, therefore, the searcher won’t find it important either.
If I can use the approach to get an 84-year-old man with conservative tendencies to like the Grateful Dead, I’m guessing most people can use the approach when integrating social media applications.
Don’t treat Social Media Tools as shiny new toys. To paraphrase and old NFL saying:
“Act like you’ve used them before.”
Check out The Adventures of SEO Boy: Heroic Feats of Search Engine Optimization at http://www.seoboy.com/. Copyright © 2008-2009 Hanapin Marketing, LLC.
