Have you achieved your sales targets and business objectives for 2011? Regardless of your answer I am sure that you want to ‘do better’ next year, right? Perhaps you want to aim higher, increase your sales volume, boost your profits or stop worrying where your next lead, sale or client comes from.

Maybe you’re even thinking of hiring a professional copywriter…

To improve your business results you need to figure out where you are TODAY and where you want to by December next year. You need CLARITY. Because 12 months from today you will either be proud of your accomplishments or you’ll be stressed and worried.

You need to get clear. You need to figure what works and what doesn’t on your website…I present a practical action plan below:

Simply log into your Google Analytics (if you don’t have one, you can sign up here) and study the following:

Your site’s bounce rate: a 65% bounce rate means that you fail to engage or interest 65% of those eyeballs visiting your website. In other words, the majority of the people that click to your website simply click away or leave.

• Your keywords: in your Google Analytics you will see what keywords drive traffic to your website. Check those keywords and phrases that have a low exit rate indicating that the visitor decided to go deeper into your website.
• Your top landing pages: which pages receive the most traffic?
• Your top exit pages: pages where your visitors decide to leave.
• Your traffic sources: who are your top referrers?

The steps above will give you much feedback into what’s working and what obviously isn’t on your site. Simply STOP doing what isn’t producing best results and continue doing (and keep tweaking!) what is working for you. Next…

Change your content. That’s where a good copywriter comes handy. The right content will engage your audience and improve your online results.

Now content is important. The best ranking websites in Google are those sites that offer massive relevant value to their audiences. Your copy must be relevant. That’s why it’s a good idea to revisit your objectives and ask yourself WHY you do what you do…

Don’t write another blog post or even hire a copywriter before you first get clear on the following 3 questions:

Why does your website exist?

How do you want to be perceived by your online clients?

What are your top objectives that you want to achieve online?

 

Clarity is key. Clarity will help you have relevant conversations with your site visitors. And being relevant is one of the best ways to rank higher in Google. So, why does your blog or website exist? Do you want to sell your products or service, attract the best leads or build your online presence? When people land on your site…do you want them to think of you as serious and buttoned up, or funny, funky, innovative and creative type? Do you want to be perceived as dependable, a customer champion or the lowest price provider? Is your company a Mercedes Benz or a Toyota? Don’t try to be both!

Next, what do you want people to do once they visit your site?

What are you top 3 objectives? Do you want them to pick up the phone, contact you for more information, register online or download a whitepaper? Get clear on your objectives and your copywriter will be more likely to produce relevant sales copy and copywriting that gets results.

In Google Analytics, you can set goals to track the campaigns you run. For instance, you can track your banner ads, affiliate deals and social media efforts. You can also track how many people click to a particular page or download your free report or post an enquiry.

Remember, clarity is key. You want to understand WHERE your website traffic comes from. Did they just show up ‘organically’ or was it because of something you did? Google’s Goal Flow help you understand what they do once they are on your site – at what point they simply drop off or take action.

So, perhaps part of your New Year’s resolution could be to gain more clarity. Stop learning new SEO tricks and techniques. Find out what’s working and what’s not. Master the fundamentals first before working on more advanced stuff.

My mentor, Dr. Marc Dussault, says that most business owners focus on the wrong things or on the right things but in the wrong order. They try to take steps seven, eight and nine when they still haven’t successful taken steps four, five or maybe even two!

Next, start focusing on conversions and results instead of traffic generation.

Traffic is good. Sales are better. The former may be great for your ego but the latter will roll money into your bank account. Make sure that the next copywriter you hire to work on your sales copy understands this.

Keep in mind that most copywriters will do what you ask. Only a few have the ‘guts’ to question your perceived objectives and only a handful are flexible enough to question theirs. The idea is to approach every project with an open, flexible mind and a dose of humility. Nobody has all the answers no matter how much of an expert they profess to be. So, here is another idea…

Find agreeable people to work with in 2012 – let go of the rest… 

Ever said: “It’s either my way or the highway.” Unfortunately, some copywriters and web experts, either consciously or subconsciously, live by that philosophy.

Recently, I presented a fresh copywriting idea to a client. Only problem, one of her suppliers had a vested interest in sticking to his (original) idea. Now my client decided to get some feedback from her employees and business partner. I am not expecting a round of applause here but my idea won by a vote of 5 to 1. Still, the supplier (gasp!) decided to stick to his guns and he almost lost an account. My response, what a fool!

I think his ego was bigger than his brains.

Yes, some people have an agenda but if it’s drastically different to yours, give them a flick. The sooner the better.

In summary…
Time flies. Are you surprised how quickly 2011 has passed you by? Happy about the results you’ve achieved? 2012 won’t be any different unless you change your approach. So, step one, get clear on what’s working and what isn’t on your website. Remove guesswork. Use Google Analytics to get the facts – it’s not 100% accurate but it can help you improve your online results if you use it properly. A word of warning, don’t fall into the ‘analysis paralysis’ trap. There’s an avalanche of metrics you can track. KISS and focus on the essentials. Step two, hire an SEO copywriter. He can give you the extra perspective you need and the expertise to help you improve your online results in 2012!