We have come to realize that there is a common
theme among how we begin to work with our clients: We are invited to work on their websites. We increase digital strength
for them. While you are saving lives, our focus stays on your interactive and marketing matters. Together, “Digital
Strength” is where we both excel. This month’s newsletter was supposed to be on positioning; however, based
on a few positions of my own, I felt the need to table that topic until a later date – I think this month’s “Search
Engine Optimization (SEO) is for Dummies” article will make my reasoning crystal clear.
Since I am not the first person to mock the lengthy holiday missives, I want to be the first to draw a comparison between the "dreaded" holiday letter and your website. Maybe not YOUR website, but MANY websites alienate visitors because they are too self-centered. Too self-absorbed and "puffed-up."
When people visit a "self-centered" site, they leave it quickly and do not retain valuable information. Valuable information will be overlooked if it is embedded in a long-winded, one-sided "conversation." To understand what makes a website selfish and arrogant, try to recall your last conversation with a self-serving and arrogant individual. Can I safely assume that most of the words spoken included: I, me, my, myself and mine? A startling number of websites commit this same crime.
SEO IS FOR DUMMIES
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the least of your worries this year. Before you call me crazy, realize that the goal of SEO is to attract clients-to-be to your website. It is comforting to think that a decline in market share or an inability to grow can be blamed on people just not being able to find your website. With SEO, your problems will be solved… right?
News flash: Your customers are not only able to find you — they are also able to find your competitors and every other substitute in a matter of seconds on Google, LinkedIn or Blogger. So it is important that you increase the ranking of your website… right? Wrong. SEO is the least of your problems. In fact, if you have not yet optimized your website, you have probably done yourself a favor.
The SEO concept has become a mainstream topic. Most of the newspaper and magazine articles, newsletters, RSS feeds support the party line: “optimize, optimize, optimize!” Urgent messages flood my inbox, “Rick, you need more links leading to your website!” and “Rick, we can help you optimize for as little as $50!” These claims are seriously lacking substance.
Stop for a second, and think about this . . . is your website actually ready for the people you want to attract, for your important “clients-to-be?” Most marketers have an immediate and visceral response, “Of course it is!” When I say “ready,” I really mean “worthy.” The same people who insist that their websites are “ready” are attracting clients-to-be to websites that (1) lack strategic direction (2) offer “news” that is 3 months or 3 years old (3) embrace design concepts that undermine their brand identities. For example, your company offers a product or service that promises to streamline operations for clients-to-be, but your website has convoluted navigation, lengthy blocks of copy, low-end graphics, lots of numbers and complicated concepts. You get the idea because you have encountered these websites, too. They make you frustrated and angry. This is how clients-to-be feel when they encounter websites that are “ready” yet not “worthy” of their time and attention. Now imagine that your competitor offers an inferior product/service, but they have a strategically sound, popular website that is able to win the hearts and minds of your marketplace. If the thought of this scenario makes you uncomfortable, your website is probably “ready.”
Some websites make it impossible to find the most basic contact information. The simplest “call to action” is next to impossible to fulfill. Worse yet, most firms do not carve out solid positioning based on what they actually do (let alone “do well”) in the marketplace. With no real differentiation, websites are often created that lack identity to the point of no return: competitor logos could be swapped out and it would not make a whit of difference. If the words are bland (but true) and if the promises made can be easily fulfilled by your company (as well as by five of your top competitors), you might think your website is “ready” – for search engine optimization. Think about this before you proceed any further.
A brand is not a name and a logo – it is a promise set high on a platform within the marketplace that is held up by delivering on that promise with great care, integrity and consistency. Your website is one of the main pillars holding up your brand promise. If your website is perceived as being neglected, having obsolete and/or irrelevant content and poorly written copy — what does that say about your product or service?
If you want your website to support marketing and sales goals and to be used as a sales tool, your website must be based on an interactive marketing strategy. Seriously, stop buying tickets to the SEO rodeo. There are a bunch of rodeo clowns out there distracting you from the bigger, more serious issues affecting your digital strength. The worst part of it is that you may be paying big bucks for help that is making a bad impression on even more of your clients-to-be. Put the horse before the cart. Do not lead more people to your website if is chock-full of information about “you” that no one, not even your customers (or competitors) care about, nor believe.
Websites should be a tool of inspiration, self-evaluation and stimulation.
Help the unaware, inspire the interested and reassure the intent of your clients-to-be. If your website does not accomplish all three things – you will be wasting more than your time and money bringing anyone to it.
I can only imagine the feedback I will receive from this newsletter, but it is about time that someone blows the whistle. You have a mechanic who keeps your car on the road, a personal trainer who challenges you at the gym and a dog walker to walk your dog – but who is vigilantly guarding against brand infringements while making the necessary updates to your website – protecting the mind, body and spirit of the website?
What led me to take a stand on this is having seen so many clients in this untenable position prior to working with us. To remedy it, we started putting our clients on a Website Wellness Program. Beginning with a solid website strategy, we conduct a monthly review that focuses on the Mind, Body and Spirit of the website. We also include plans for what tactical steps need to be taken moving forward. They can use internal resources or hire an external firm (JDAnthony or any other firm they choose) to implement. What matters to me is that our clients’ websites represent a strong, healthy brand to their marketplace – most importantly for their prospects. Then, and only then, SEO is worth considering. The reverse is a perverse concept to me. Would you pay for a full-page ad on the front of the Wall Street Journal so that an unflattering or downright awkward photo of you could be placed there? After all, it is the season for office holiday parties!
Make some New Years’ resolutions that include building the digital strength and wellness of your website this year. Ask yourself these questions and then follow our five-step program to Website Wellness:
The JDAnthony MIND, BODY and SPIRIT Web Wellness Program
MIND - THE INTELLEGENCE
- Does your marketing strategy have a web-focused component?
- Is your website based on an interactive strategy / strategic plan?
- Have you set goals and metrics to measure the success of your website?
- How clearly have you defined and researched the demographic profile of your visitors?
- How complicated is it for all users to specifically find what they came for?
- How well are you serving the primary and secondary needs of your audience?
- Are you addressing current and returning clients in each stage of their buying cycles?
- Is there a clear call to action for users at each point in the buying cycle?
- How is the website compelling and inspiring the interest of clients-to-be?
- How is your website logistically and emotively reassuring customer intent?
BODY – THE PHYSICAL STRENGTH
- What kind of consistent, research-based maintenance schedule have you implemented for your website?
- Are your highly qualified clients-to-be able to easily find your website in an organic search?
- Where do you currently rank in searches performed based on your most relevant search terms?
- Who is (or who is not) being served by your current navigation?
- Have you checked all of your links to ensure that your website is operating free of broken links?
- Does your website stand up to the website usability standards?
- Will your website pass a thorough HTML validation?
- Are the aesthetics of your site impeding its performance?
- Can the content on your site be easily updated? in a timely manner?
- Is the coding of your site “spider friendly” (optimized for search engines)?
- Is your website compatible with all of the major browsers (IE, Firefox, etc.)?
- Is your website conveniently viewed by the least to the most web-savvy user?
SPIRIT – THE BRAND PERSONALITY
- What brand promise and brand equities are communicated via your website?
- Does an encounter with your website demonstrate your brand promise?
- How well does your website reflect your brand strategy; in other words, illustrate what you are trying to accomplish with your brand identity?
- How well does your website positioning communicate what it is that differentiates you from the competition?
- Is the copy and content in line with the overall strategic direction?
- Is content irrelevant, neglected and/or obsolete?
- Does your website personally connect with users seeking your expertise?
- Does your website inspire your clients-to-be to re-evaluate their current situation against what you can do for them?
- Is the website demonstrating leadership and/or thought leadership?
- How does your website empower past and current clients?
- How much of your website is about you (insignificant) vs. them (worthwhile)?
- How is your website fostering activism from your loyal customer base?
I know this exercise is not easy – perhaps even painful. However, if you regretted not jumping on the SEO bandwagon sooner, maybe now you are now relieved.
It is time to make some tough decisions though. Welcome to the information age. Nowadays, clients-to-be check your website as the first step in the relationship-building process. If that experience empowers the buying process, you win their business and the opportunity to earn their loyalty and advocacy as well. If your website does not empower the buying process, it will cost you time, money or both. What advantages have your substitutes and competitors created? If your website is out of shape, how much harder do you have to work to fill the gaps? Can you qualify faster, overcome objections before they come up, or more deeply uncover and understand need?
Remove the unwarranted limitations you may have and imagine the potential and possibilities currently locked within your website by following this five-step program to website wellness.
FIVE STEPS TO WEBSITE WELLNESS
- Diagnose. Audit your website and each of your competitors’ or substitutes’ websites and answer
each of the wellness framework questions listed above in order to define what is or is not acceptable about your website.
- Strategy. Present your discoveries and work with an experienced interactive marketing strategist to clearly articulate a short-term and long-term website strategy complete with goals and metrics for success. This is the point where SEO implications should be addressed and built into a solid website strategy.
- Plan. Work with your strategist to structure a research-based Website Wellness schedule.
- Implement. Execute your short-term strategy by making make minor changes while you alter the
long-term website according to the approach defined within your long-term strategy.
- Wellness. Maintain the Website Wellness schedule defined with your strategist throughout the
planning process.
Here’s to your website health this year – and until next month – all the best!
The next issue of the Digital Strength newsletter will
dig deeper into the concept of how medical service companies can use their websites to nurture the stages of change involved in the buying cycle. Your website is a highly instrumental tool in the selling process. Your feedback on this article is most welcome; please feel free to share your experiences, thoughts and insights.
Rick Cancelliere
Principal and Creative Director
JDAnthony Medical Marketing
rick@jdanthony.com
800.983.6792 USA
412.682.2522 International |
800.983.6792 
