| It's said that beauty is in the eye of the | | | | pay-per-click ads lead to different landing |
| beholder, or that it's only skin deep. When | | | | pages, and pick the keywords to find the |
| it comes to your web site, beauty is | | | | people who are comparing, buying now, or just |
| expensive not just in designing the site, but | | | | browsing (using the same adword phrase with |
| in what it may do to your traffic. The | | | | "info", "buy" and "compare" is one way to do |
| internet is laden with gorgeous works of art | | | | this, albeit a basic one.) However, it's |
| for web sites. They have flashy graphics, | | | | worth it to hire someone who does this for a |
| subtle cues, beautiful work in cascading | | | | living, as there are a lot of tricks out |
| style sheets, and more. And they're losing | | | | there for conversion, and web design, to make |
| money. The internet is about commerce, and | | | | this all combine to raise your profits and |
| your web site should be about commerce, not | | | | sales conversions. |
| about art. | | | | |
| | | | People who hit your web site will be on one |
| As sad as it is to say, web site aesthetics | | | | of three phases of the customer cycle: |
| are not what drives a customer to pull out | | | | They'll either be looking for information |
| their card and order. Now, a bad (as in ugly, | | | | only, looking to do price and deal comparing, |
| or unusable) web site can drive people away, | | | | or looking to buy right now. Make sure that |
| but beyond the bare bones basics, your web | | | | your advertising leads them to the right |
| site should be attractive, and above all | | | | place depending on where in that cycle they |
| else, USABLE. | | | | are. |
| | | | |
| Rather, other key elements work to turn a | | | | The other thing to keep in mind is that your |
| targeted prospect into a customer. A majority | | | | time is valuable. It is absolutely worth your |
| of people use Google and Yahoo! to find what | | | | time to hire someone to do this for you. Pay |
| they are looking for online. Some are simply | | | | Per Click advertising, and landing page |
| doing research on a product or service they | | | | building, have a lot of subtleties as much or |
| want to purchase, but are looking for the | | | | more so than an eye-grabbing web site does. |
| best deal. Others want to buy something | | | | It's worth it to find someone who's trained |
| quickly and are ready with credit card in | | | | and certified on the ins and outs of the |
| hand. Still others are simply gathering | | | | Search ad products that both Google and |
| information. | | | | Yahoo! give. Google calls these folks Google |
| | | | Certified Professionals, and Yahoo calls them |
| Far better than spending your money on | | | | Search Advertising Ambassodors, but they both |
| experts on web design (or a web designer | | | | have the same job: They recommend ad words, |
| trying to build a portfolio site), build a | | | | look over landing pages, and help you find |
| functional, if somewhat basic web site, using | | | | ways to tune up your ad presence to get the |
| cascading style sheets so you can update the | | | | job done, while building a relationship with |
| look without massive trauma, and focus on | | | | visitors to your web site. |
| what your web site is supposed to do: Convert | | | | |
| browsers into buyers. | | | | So, just remember beauty is expensive, but |
| | | | expertise is affordable, and you'll be good |
| Now, it's possible to do this yourself have | | | | to go. |