Who are you talking to?

While I write all my own content for this blog, I get inspiration from a variety of sources. Today I'm simply going to cut and paste from Margie Hanson of Today's Way, a very effective coach on the Internet and also a very cool lady. She sends out a regular e-mail and this was what was in today's e-mail. You might also consider contacting her for web services. 

From Margie Hanson at Today's Way: 

Decided to talk about this as my own website needs some updating!  I have added to my services and no longer offer some of the items seen on my site  ~ so it happens to us all! 

All that said, August is a great month to review your website and get it ready for the coming year.  Here is a guide to use that allows you to test how well your are communicating via your website. Go through the following questions with a fresh mind and then compare your answers to what you see on your website.  You'll know what your next step is then! 


Here we go .. 

• Define Your Voice 
  
• Know who you are speaking to
  
• What are the demographics of your desired readers?
  
• What do your buyers need? What are they looking for?   
  
• Know what actions you want your readers to take once they come to your site.  For example, call up and place an order, know that you exist, be educated, make a referral ... what ever it is that you want them to do?  
  
• What do you offer to make your readers take the actions you just listed. What compelling information do you offer that they need? 
  

Develop Your Theme 
Based upon the above "facts" the presentation of your information should "connect" your readers to your business. Remember you only have a nano second for a website visitor to land on your site and know that they are where they want to be and choose to stay.

Make sure your navigation and places for interactive conversation also connect your readers to your business. 

Do your colors, font styles, font sizes all reflect your theme of conversation ... the mood .. the culture .. the energy  ..that again, will connect your readers to your business?  

Reaching Your Market 
Knowing where your readers are coming from is imperative to planning for the use of your website to build your business. Are people coming from search engines, from other sites that display your link, from just knowing what your website address is from your business card, etc.   

Google Analytics is the easiest and most complete way to know what is happening.  You can find Google Analytics at Google. Create an account and go to business solutions. Unless you do your own website, you will probably want to refer to your webmaster to create and place the Google Analytic code on each of your webpages. 

Hope this helps you know where your website stands in terms of your current business activities and interests.