3 Simple Ways To Beat Your Competition Online

1. Monitoring Proper Web Analytics. About 75% of organisations measure basic web stats (some unique visitor numbers, maybe Top 10 pages). About 5% measure things that are easily measurable and hugely illuminating like average sales value of Pay Per Click advertising key word terms. With a package as powerful and usable as Google Analytics free of charge there is no excuse to be investing $$$ in PPC without understanding the true end-to-end picture of what's actually generating results at the far end of the process (remember clicks are just CLICKS!). Monitor your analytics and you will generate regular and informed ideas to improve the performance of your website (and in doing so close the feedback loop).
2. Wrapping up unique knowledge and giving it away online. Unique and highly valuable knowledge exists within your organisation. Do you: A) hide it in those people's heads, hoping that the world will beat a path to your doorway with their wallets open - entrusting in your unproven expertise, and pray that those knowledgeable people never leave your organisation? or B) Share that knowledge on a daily, weekly and monthly basis by thinking of valuable ways to package up and distribute that knowledge far and wide, so that your reputation, brand and enquiry levels steadily rise, and you become the recognised thought-leaders in your marketplace? (Most customers when we first talk to them believe Option A is best...). A two page PDF with a snappy headline and 10 practical tips is your marketing friend.
3. Putting REAL HUMANS at the forefront of their web presence. Business cliche: 'people buy from people'. OK...so how do we apply this to the web? Put your people at the forefront of your website, whether you are in telecoms or employment law. Your prospects will probably have five or six websites to check out, possibly lots more, before they make contact with a prospective new supplier. Do you think it'll make a difference if they can find out more about who they might talk to, before they actually do? Do you think they might secretly prefer the real person whose picture they've seen to the faceless slightly aloof firm? Do you believe that people buy from people? Because if you do, you need to get real people profiles on your website - not just management, and not just stern, macho head shots in suits. Tech support engineers, nurses, those at the coal face - the service deliverers, not just head honchos. C'mon. It's a no-brainer.