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By Karl Staib

How to Use Google Analytics for a Better Website Experience

Jeff came to me with a problem that many people come to me for. The funny thing was, he wasn’t sure how I could help him.

Many of my clients aren’t sure how to solve their traffic issues. Many of them think they need to increase their advertising budget.

The reality is that adding more website traffic is not the first step.

Getting more traffic only works when your website works well.

It starts with this 5 step process:

  1. Attention
  2. Interest
  3. Desire
  4. Trust
  5. Action

AIDTA

I added the T for trust from an old advertising acronym AIDA from the 1950’s.

It was created to help simplify the process for advertising agencies. Of course once they were able to get people into stores it was up to the store to close the deal.

Same thing goes for your website.

If you are running a Facebook ad, creating sufficient enough desire the next step is to earn their trust as quickly as you can. It’s this Domino Effect that is so important. Each stage tips into the next, either building trust or quickly losing it.

If they go to your site and they are confused or distracted then you’ll lose them.

That’s why every step of the customer experience matters. If you give them a shimmer of a reason to leave they will.

The Importance of a Good Offer

That’s why the offer is so important. They get all the way to the end, they are about to check out and they stop.

Should they buy from you or maybe they should keep looking. Getting them to say “yes” is the hardest part of the whole process.

That moment when your customer says that the product or service that you have is more important than the money they have.

It’s a simple equation:

What you have is more valuable than them keeping their money and spending it someplace else.

The higher the price is the more they’ll hesitate. This is all relative to their income of course. A billion dollar company won’t balk at a $50,000 price tag vs a small company.

More Traffic vs Improving Website Flow

Jeff wanted more traffic for his site, so he could get more sign-ups for his Lego camps over the summer. The thing was a lot of his traffic wasn’t getting getting to the right place on his site.

So we made one significant adjustment.

This is a screenshot of his homepage. As you can see on the right is a super cute kid on the right next to the video, but this wasn’t helping their visitors take the action they they wanted them to take.

play-well-camp-map-increase-02-595

So we removed the cute kid and replaced it with a map on April 19th that shows all the states that they run camps in. This made the video bigger and more clickable. It’s also easy for them to get enticed by the video and find a camp near them. A type of layout that make for a better website experience.

play-well-camp-map-increase-03-595

When we made this chance we started directing the traffic to where Play-well wanted them to go. You can see the previous time period before we made the change. March 20th thru April 18th.

play-well-camp-map-increase-01-arrows-595

The main goal was to get them to find a camp near them. That’s exactly what happened.

We increased the traffic to this page by 110.06%. That’s huge!

Our main goal was to get more traffic to this page, so they could get more sign-ups for their camps. We more than double the traffic with that one change.

The bounce rate, which shows you whether they left without engaging with your site improved by 29.83%. The negative number is good here. You want your bounce rate to go down.

After we made the change we increased the traffic to their most important page by 6,984 visits over the same previous time span.

And as you can see the two main pages that feed their most important “course finder” page, the home page and the camps page didn’t increase in traffic. We just utilized the traffic that they were getting and funneled them to the right page on their site.

We effectively more than doubled the traffic to the right page.

Next Step

The next step is to increase traffic. Now that they are getting to the right page we’ll be able to better utilize the organic traffic as well as the paid traffic.

What do you think? Is there something on your site that you could remove or move to another location that will help you encourage them to take action on your site?

By Karl Staib

By Karl Staib

7 Powerful Steps to Turn a Visitor into a Buyer

Visitor into customer

You might reasonably assume that customers make logical decisions when they choose to buy from you or not, but they don’t. Do you know why?

Emotions get in the way of rational decisions.

Think about your last big purchase. Was it rational?

I recently bought a new iPhone. Did I need it? Nope my old iPhone was fine. I could make calls, check my email and take notes. Or I could get a phone for free, but maybe not quite as good.

$800 dollars for a phone. That’s more than many laptops. Crazy, right?

I did it because I wanted (emotional choice) something better. Wanted and needed are very different.

Same thing goes for your customers. Do they really need what you offer? Probably not. If so then they are using emotions to make their decisions.

So the next question is how do I convince more people to buy my stuff?

It’s a common question I get when I start working with a lot of my clients. It really isn’t a great question though.

You don’t want just anyone buying from you. You want people who will get a lot of value out of using your products/services. You want people who will be so happy that they share your company with their friends. You want fans. People that love you even when the experience isn’t perfect.

Turning a visitor into a buyer starts with building trust. What happens at the first connection point until they are ready to buy from you?

There is something special about sharing cool products/services that can help people live better lives. I do this because I care about my friends, colleagues and family. I want them to feel more energized and happy.

The 4 Hour Chef (Link that buys my coffee) by Tim Ferris was recommended to me by a friend and I in turn have recommended it to thousands of people.

So how do you create this for yourself? Let’s look at how you can do this too.

Remove Your Customers Trust Barriers

The customer of your dreams deserves a customer-of-your-dreams experience. Easy to say, but hard to do when you have 100 things that you need to do today. You want each step to be so easy and enticing that it doesn’t feel like they are going through a buying experience.

It’s why your favorite website that you buy from keeps you coming back. From Amazon to iTunes, they aren’t perfect, but they make it very easy to make a purchase. Everything is right at your finger tips and helps you make an informed decision.

We have talked before about Selling to the Spark, the spark that stems from their pain that you can solve. Now that they are interested, you have to remove the barriers that stop them from connecting and allowing you to earn their trust.

A client was struggling to get their conversion up on their product. They have very good traffic, but people are dropping off when they hit the sales page. As I looked over the sales page, I began to see why.

There were too many hoops to jump through. Small barriers that made the process less inviting. We went through a 7-step process to improve her sales page.

Step 1 – Tell a Compelling Story

The foundation of conversion is connection. People must connect with you before they buy. This starts with a great story. A story that compels them to want to learn more. A man walks into a coffee shop. He tells the barista that most coffee shops don’t make coffee hot enough. He takes a seat and waits. They call his name after just a few minutes. He walks up grabs the cup, pulls off the lid and puts it to his lips.

You want to know what happens next. Did he burn his lips on the coffee? This simple story is an example of how to draw a person into your website.

Step 2 – Improve Layout

We started by looking at the layout of how each piece flowed into each other. This is where most people get tripped up. They know what they need to say, but aren’t sure how to start. The start point is the most important aspect part of your sales page. If it doesn’t grip them quickly, they’re gone.

Step 3 – Remove extraneous copy and images

We started by eliminating anything that was extraneous. If each sentence didn’t help walk the visitor down the path of why the product was valuable, we got rid of it. If the image wasn’t focused on telling the story of the product’s value, we got rid of it. If the video dragged on too long, we cut it down to essentials or removed it.

Step 4 – Remove links to other pages

This is a simple step that many people forget. There shouldn’t be links to other sites or pages on your site. You want to keep their focus on the content on your page without giving them an excuse to click away.

Step 5 – Create a Domino Effect

You’ve seen dominoes tipping into each other. All the energy comes from the first domino, and as long as they rest are in their proper place, the effect is exhilarating. This is how your customer should feel as they go through your website and your sales process. You need to create a emotional hook at each step, that’s why the layout is so important. If you try to sell them before they are excited to buy, you’ve lost the sale. Make sure each section builds on the previous and helps earn their trust as they find out more about your product.

Step 6 – Make a Compelling Offer that Shows the Value of Your Product

The last step is creating a compelling offer that speaks to your ideal critical buyer. The buyer that needs what you are selling, but it’s hard to convince them to buy. This buyer is the one you should focus on because if you can win them over, the rest will fall into line. The last step is making your sales page feel like it’s very calmly arguing its point. Each barrier is addressed and answered to make it easier to trust you. Then when they get to your offer they know that you will follow through on what you say you will deliver. This is not the time to do the hard sell. You should have won them over by the time they get to your offer. It’s best to be straightforward to have an offer that makes them feel comfortable.

Step 7 – Follow up

This last step will help you turn a buyer into a fan of your company. This is important because you’ll find that it’s easier to get someone who bought from you to buy again. The better you get at follow-up the more they realize that you care. Truly care about their experience.

After going through this 7 step process, we are usually able to double the conversion rate on 50% of my clients sales and landing pages. Would you like to double your conversion? Then let’s set up a time to chat. I get to learn more about your business and you get to talk with a customer conversion expert. A nice win-win for both of us.

Let’s Review

Your connection system has to tip them from one section to the next. This connection must strengthen the longer they stay on your page. The sales page detail is usually congruent with the cost of the product. The more expensive the product, the more you have to show them the value that they will receive.

Do you need help with your conversion systems? Let’s set up a time to chat. Just click here to fill out the contact form and I’ll send you my calendar schedule ASAP, so you can pick a time that’s good for you.

By Karl Staib

By Karl Staib

Where are you getting stuck in your business connection systems?

There are times in every business person’s life that make you throw up your hands. You just can’t believe the results.

Last week you made 112 sales on your website and at the end of this week you made 32 sales.

Or

Last month 7 people contacted you about your services and this month only one person.

What is going on!

Why the significant drop?

This is when we need to take a deep breath and remind ourselves how lucky we are to still be in business instead of how much money we spent this month and how we need to catch up.

Your sales will fluctuate due to fluctuations in traffic, time of year, improvements to your website, the outreach effort you put in over the past 6 months, and many other factors. Sometimes we hit snags and there is nothing we can do but smile and keep plugging along.

That’s the hardest part of being a business owner. We feel like the little boy who put his thumb in a crack to stop the leaking dam, then another pops up and another. Before we know it we have 25 small cracks that can’t be plugged unless we get more helping thumbs.

Then someone comes along with a bag of quick drying cement to help solve the problem instead of all the townspeople putting their thumbs in the dam with us.

That’s why I’m working on a video course to help you. So I want to learn about what are your greatest struggles in bringing in more leads and closing sales?

In other words, where are you getting stuck?

Please let me know by filling out this quick survey or reply back to this email (leave a comment below).

For example, I had a client who was selling nutritional coaching services. She was tired of her business’s monthly fluctuations and felt like quitting. She would have 12 clients one month then 3 the next, so she would freak out and go into hyper outreach mode, driving traffic to her site and connecting with people who could use her services. Then she might have 15 clients, but be back down to 4 the next.

The grind was wearing her down.

We talked about how to create a more consistent income, and what that would mean for her business and her sanity. We created a survey to find out how she could bring more value to past and future clients.

We found out that they would like to be able to have the flexibility to schedule a call 3-4 times a year with her and also be able to ask her questions via email.

So we created a yearly program that allowed people to have access to her at a reduced cost, but also reduced the number of hours of access to her per person.

The program was a hit. She had multiple people sign ups for the year, and now knows she will generate $2,500 each month from it. This being her baseline, she doesn’t feel as stressed to generate income when she has a down month.

Again, I’m curious about what struggles you may be having from difficulties in selling your product to growing your email list. If you want your struggles to be private, just fill out this survey to let me know.

By Karl Staib

By Karl Staib

Top 5 Website Mistakes You Can Fix

You understand that you provide valuable products and services, but conveying this message clearly to your ideal customers is difficult. The closer you can get your message to making your ideal customer feel a connection with your site the easier it is for them to want to deepen the connection with you.

And please be very aware that your landing and sales pages are the most important part of your online conversion process. From first connection to the sale, each step must feel comfortable. If the first thing they see is an awkward landing or sales page they won’t stick around to deepen the connection with you.

When people come to check out your product or service, they make their yes or no decision based on how trustworthy you seem to them. That’s why every stage of the buying process is important. One domino out of place the trust dissipates and they leave your site.

The foundation of a great message is showing vs. telling. When you tell someone you are great, it’s 1/10th as valuable as showing them through stories, data, testimonials, images, etc.

So let’s look at the five most common mistakes businesses make as they try to attract customers with their website. I looked at other companies organic search and paid search terms that they were using. I picked terms that I’m interested in, so if I liked the product I would be willing to buy instead of wasting their money to write this blog post.

It’s amazing to me that people who spend a lot of money on ads have a landing page that falls flat. With just a little work they could bring in a lot more sales.

Are you interested in improving your website’s ability to connect with your ideal customers? Then order a website review today. You will understand where you can close these connection gaps to generate more sales.

Top 5 Website Mistakes You Can Fix

I focused on the health and wellness industry since this is the industry most of my clients are in. I’ve found the same 5 common mistakes that occur again and again. If you aren’t sure where to start improving your connection system, this article will help simplify it.

1. Too Complex

Your visitor should be able to understand what you do well in less than 5 seconds. A crowded website will confuse them and make them click away. Your website should lead them toward the next step that you want them to take. If they don’t see this, they will leave.

It’s a harsh truth that many business owners have trouble facing. Your potential customers actually don’t have time or want to hunt for what problem you solve for them and how to connect with you. They want it to be easy, intriguing, and worth their time.

My search term:

01-google-search-health-food-stores-590

The result:

01-health-stores-heb-590

The fix:

I’m actually a fan of HEB. They are my go to store for many items, but if I want specific type of healthy food I don’t usually go to them. I go to their competitor.

Your site should focus on creating landing pages that speak directly to the person searching for you. If they land on a page about Toys then you will lose their interest very quickly. Look at the top entry pages on your site. Where are these pages leading your prospects, and if they click through to those pages, does it help you generate more leads and close more sales?

2. Lack of Connection Points

Every step of the connection process needs to feel easy and fun. If they aren’t intrigued to take the next step, the dominoes stop tipping and they leave.

Is everything congruent from one page to the next? For example, this is very important from social media to your landing page. Is the tone of voice similar? If it isn’t, red flags start to pop up. They pause and begin to question what they are reading.

Once they begin to doubt you, they find a reason to click away.

The more congruent your message is, the more likely they are to keep tipping toward connecting with you.

My search term:

02-lose-weight-search-590

The result:

02-Connection-Points-health-590

The fix:

Look at what happens when you are too focused on selling instead of creating a great experience. In the above example they are going straight for the buy without building trust.

Do your visitors have chances to connect with who you are and what you do? Are they intrigued by the next action that you want them to take?

3. Weak Offers

Simply put, your offer is the most important part of any connection system. It’s why people keep reading. If you are selling a weight loss product to overweight people, you had better create an amazing, honest and compelling offer that gets them excited to use your product or service such as “My friend lost 50 pounds in 6 months using this product and never felt hungry”.

The biggest mistake people make when creating an offer is writing about all the great features of a product or service. They talk about what it is and how it works, but not the benefits of using the product or service. Creating a clear offer that explains how your product or service has helped other people and how it will help them is crucial to your sales page’s success.

The key to figuring out how to create a clear offer is having someone help you dig down. I have a few friends who are way smarter than me to help me bring clarity to my offer. I also use Toyota’s “5 Why Method”… I have a colleague keep asking me why I created or want to create this product. After I answer, they listen, let it sink in and ask why again. They really force me to figure out why someone should spend their hard earned money on something I created.

The search term:

03-google-search-healthy-living

The result:

03-liberty-mutual-healthy eatying

The fix:

Where does Liberty Mutual want you to go next? It’s confusing. This page has an article that can help, but how can they deepen the relationship quickly if they want more information?

Look at your current offer. Is it clear and easy, so they know what they need to do next? What are you doing to ease their fears and make it easy for them to say YES?

4. Boring Stories

Every customer connection system needs a narrative that helps people see how valuable your product or service can be for them. They need to see themselves in the story. That’s why using the word “you” is so important. People want to know you are speaking to them and how you can help them.

Look at the story you are creating and ask yourself who does it speak to? Does it speak to your “ideal” client or is it just slightly missing the target?

Your copy and the design you choose also make a difference between keeping them on your website and taking action versus clicking away.

After you create or modify your sales page, ask a friend to read it and tell you what they think is the main story of what problem you are solving. Hopefully they see a clear narrative that grips them. If it does grip them and they want to know more, then you know you are on to something special.

The search term:

04-exercise-equipment

The result:

04-no-narrative

The fix:

Look at your main pages. What are you doing to tell a compelling story that makes them want to learn more about you and what you have to offer?

Remember you don’t need to write a novel, but you do need to help them envision how they will feel after they buy the product. You can do this in a myriad of ways through images, video, audio, and words. You just have to look at what your ideal customer would prefer then focus on creating a compelling story.

5. Missing Details

Anyone can throw up a website and sales page, and this is exactly what happens at the beginning of a new product or service. But people get caught up in creating a great product that they don’t take the time to put details into their sales and landing pages that build trust with their audience, like testimonials or concrete facts about a product’s success rate

I’ve had a client tell me, “If they don’t trust me, it’s their fault.” This may be true, but he was losing out on a lot of sales because he didn’t take the time to create detail that walked people step by step through the benefits of using his product.

Sometimes it’s a lazy sentence that doesn’t sound quite right. Other times it’s the look and feel of the website. Whatever is holding people back from buying, it’s holding your product or service back from success.

It helps to have an expert read your sales page and give you feedback. I suggest that they read through the sales page with you in person or over the phone. It helps if they actually read it out loud. You can see where they get tripped up.

The search term:

05-exercise-equipment

The result:

05-no-detail

The fix:

Look at where you might have missing pieces that would help show your visitors what it’s like to work with you. It’s the missing details that make people feel slightly uncomfortable and stop them from tipping toward connecting with you and ultimately buying something that can help them feel better.

Where are you missing little details that could help build trust with your ideal customer?

Let’s Review

It’s important that you don’t try to apply all 5 ideas at once. Pick one idea and apply it over the next 30 days. I suggest that you A/B test it to get actual data. Create a little intrigue for yourself by creating a hypothesis.

For example, you can start really simple and test out a different headline at the top of your site and see how people respond. Do they like it? Do they stick around on the website longer? Does it increase email sign-ups?

The more you can have fun with testing out different ideas, the more you will enjoy measuring and refining your connection systems. That’s why you are in business, right?  To have fun helping people from your place of strength while making money doing it?

Would you like help finding your website’s connection gaps so you can close more leads and sales? You can order a website review from me today.  You’ll get a full report that breaks down where you have connection gaps and how to close them so you can generate more sales.

By Karl Staib

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