From the Newfangled article

After reading my favorite blog’s latest post on Purposeful User Flow, I have new tool I am very excited to share. Thanks, Newfangled!

Finally an answer to the problem of conversion
…that is, getting visitors to “convert” by filling a form or make a call to your company. Most visitors stay on a website for less than ten seconds, experts say. It’s quite a challenge to interest your visitor enough to get a desired action. SEO (search engine optimization) is easy compared to this task, IMHO.

Purposeful User Flow is the organizing method that every business can use, Large organizations with hundreds of pages such as Boston hospitals also benefit from large agencies also apply this method.

What is Purposeful User Flow?
Purposeful User Flow is a structure that is used in organizing content in such a way that the visitor, or prospect, learns about the company and understands why they would want to do business with them.

How does it work?
You start with a statement on the top of the home page with a link (1) that points to the Capabilities section (2) of the business. Identify at least three capabilities. It is not the same as services. I’ll give you an example:

The three capabilities of my friend the Real Estate Attorney is:

1. He/she is knowledgeable and has experience
2. He/she solves problems for his clients calmly and reliably
3. He/she goes the extra mile to get the job done efficiently and on time

Several Capabilities text blocks are always found on the Home page of a website that each lead to their own Services (3) page. Each service explains what you do to earn money and are what make your capabilities possible. Our friend the Real Estate Attorney might list his services such as “real estate acquisitions and sales”, “residential mortgage loan closings”, “representing home buyers and sellers”, etc. Feel free to add descriptions of your services if you feel they are needed or can help with SEO. Next, you will want to point the reader to Case Studies and Testimonials (4).

As described by the Kissmetrics Blog, “Case studies are a great way to tell the world how valuable your products or services are. They go beyond simple testimonials by showing real-life examples of how you were able to satisfy your customer’s needs and help them accomplish their goals.” Sometimes they contain data to support goal success. Adding a testimonial along with the case study tells your customer in their own words how satisfied they are in their own words.

Don’t forget to place your Call to Action buttons in strategic places that link to a form or email. Make it easy for your prospects to reach you when they are motivated.

Purposeful User Flow is also beneficial to a first time visitor who enters the site via a web query and lands on an inside page, such as a blog post. The reader will read the post and then want to know more about the company. He or she will circle back to the home page and follow the flow to get all the information they need to make an informed decision and fill out the form. Chances are, they will!

Types of Video
There are a few different types of videos to consider. Are you selling a product? Is your primary interest to sign people up to your blog via a Call to Action? Or, are you trying to use it as a teaching tool? Whatever the reason, video is a great addition to your website, twitter ad or other social media. It’s a fact that viewers respond to human interaction. And, there is less bounce rate with videos. (The exception is a video without sound.) Place them in a blog post…on the home page, or even in the header.

What to Write
Write content that is easy to present and not overly complicated or too long. Create a plain background in your office that you can stand in front of. Some people use photo paper. Be sure to have your face well lit from all sides, so you don’t look dour. Supposedly, you can find the right lighting supplies at Home Depot or Lowes.

How to Perform
Loosen up before the presentation. Jump around and wave your arms! It may take a few takes to not be tongue tied. Surprisingly, your iphone, smart phone or ipad will work fine as the video camera. I suggest putting it on a tripod for support, so it’s not shaking. Music is also nice to have in the background.

About Wistia
Here is where Wistia comes in. It’s a high quality embed video hosting company with no strings attached. (No Ads) It’s free and includes analytics and video marketing tools. For $25 a month, you get advanced analytics tools and other tools such as email collection. Unlike You Tube, it is there for you, not for the advertisers. Don’t avoid You Tube altogether. You might attract a casual tube surfer to your site, they say.

Avinash Kaushik from Google

A few months back I talked about how to know when to update your website. The general rule is to update after three years. A lot can change in that time, and you may not be aware of what you can do to keep up. Two important ways are: 1. Running a Responsive theme and 2. Using Google Analytics.

Is your site responsive?
Does it have a simpler more vertical design for the phone and tablet? Nearly 60% of your viewers will see your site for the first time on their phone. If it is not legible, then you can bet they will immediately go elsewhere for the service or product they need. (See Bounce rate below)

Did you know that many WordPress themes, but not all, are built with responsive styling? Basically, this means that the design adapts to different browser sizes — so that instead of needing a separate mobile site or mobile plugin, the content will be resized and rearranged to fit smaller screens.

My favorite responsive theme is Divi by Elegant Themes. Not only is it responsive, but it comes packed with a module based design layout. You can drag and drop elements or blocks of information around your pages.

For instance: You find out that the Call to Action block is recommended to be at the top of the page. Or, you want to call attention to a sale or special event. You can go right into that block and change the color, text or photo without any other change and then move it into a different position. Likewise, any slide in the slider module can be moved to a different order, or you can remove one slide or add a new one.

Bounce rate may be more critical than seo
Many of my clients are concerned about search engine optimization. They want it, and they assume new customers will be calling immediately. But, what if the customer is browsing when they find your website? They won’t necessarily respond to your Call to Action or Contact Us page. Many visitors will stay less than 1 minute and not go beyond the home page or page of entry.

But what bounce rate is good? According to Rocket Fuel Team at gorocketfuel.com: “As a rule of thumb, a bounce rate in the range of 26 to 40 percent is excellent. 41 to 55 percent is roughly average. 56 to 70 percent is higher than average, but may not be cause for alarm depending on the website. Anything over 70 percent is disappointing for everything outside of blogs, news, events, etc.” To find out more about bounce rate, how its determined and how to improve it, go to this Google page.

Check out the video above from Google’s You Tube page: “If you could only choose one metric to look at, Bounce Rate might be your best choice. Learn why in this entertaining and informative segment from Avinash Kaushik.”

You can set up and see your bounce rate with Google Analytics. If you don’t already have Analytics up on your web site, do ask your webmaster to help.

I recently attended a small presentation at the Microsoft Store in the Natick Mall. They have a neat space in the back where you can sit and watch a large screen. (Apple take note!) Alicia Williams of Aliste Marketing gave an informative slide show on how CC can enhance what you are already trying to do….bring customers to your website. That really made sense to me. All the call-to-action buttons on your web site don’t do a bit of good if you aren’t directing your clients and associates to the home page.

The next step is to encourage those visitors to stay longer than the five seconds it takes most people to decide whether to stay or go. That’s where the special offers and coupons you create in the newsletter can come into play. Direct the newsletter link to a landing page where you explain in more detail what your offer includes. Add a form that people can fill out with an email address that you can capture. If you ask your customers to share your special offer to their associates, you gain even more customers. After they have read the landing page, they might look at the Blog, About Us, Services or Portfolio pages. You can track who came, through the analytics software included in the Constant Contact subscription. Another tool is the Online Surveys you can create in the Newsletter, another great way to engage your audience.

See what I mean? I’m excited to announce that I decided to become a CC Provider right at that meeting. I realized that CC was a great tool to add to our toolbox for only $15 per month, much less than SEO or Social Network Services. I think you will agree, it’s almost a no-brainer.

If you already have an account you’ve been managing yourself, you can still take advantage of this offer…and I’m offering the first ten new CC customers a newsletter setup FREE. Just sign up with me via THIS LINK!

But, I digress. Let’s talk about why videos are important for web content… Videos are not uploaded directly to WordPress. Instead, you place it on YouTube, which is the second most popular Search Engine on the planet. It’s also one of the top 5 most visited sites on the Internet. That means is good for Search Engine Optimization or SEO.

After your video is produced and placed on YouTube, Deb can show you how to capture the Embed Code and add it to home page or post. Video content adds traffic to your site, and it has been shown that many users prefer video to reading content.

Do you have a product or service to promote? Would an instruction video add value to your material online? Then consider hiring a videographer to capture the essence of your business. And don’t forget to add a Call to Action at the end of your video.