Internet Marketing Secrets (Part 2)

Internet Marketing Secrets

I received several requests from my last blog to expand on testing. So I thought I would list things that you should be testing in the order of their importance. But please beware that ANY change can potentially make a big difference in the response you receive.

I should point out that you should try 3 or 4 versions of your ads and sales letters before choosing the one that produces the best overall results to use as your "control ad". From that point on, only test one thing at a time. That way you’ll know exactly how each little change effects your overall sales.

1. Test your headline.
This is your title or your opening sentence. This one thing alone can make a huge difference in the response you receive. Spend a lot of time working on it. Your title or headline will be the first impression that your reader or visitor has of you, so it is very important. If you don't get their attention with your headline, the game is over.

2. Test your offer.
Your offer is different than your price. It is the total package that you are selling. It includes your main item plus any bonus items you have included. You can try changing your offer, try emphasizing different benefits, or try using different motivating words and phrases.

3. Test your price.
A price that is too high is just as bad as a price that is too low! You might wonder how any price could be too low. Well, a low price could devalue your product or service. Potential customers might think, "If it's THAT cheap, there must be something wrong with it!" Test your prices, starting at what you would consider too high and slowly go down. It goes without saying that you have already figured out your cost per sale and know your breakeven prices by heart!

4. Test the body copy.
Try adding some testimonials or experiment with a photo or two. Try redoing your opening page and your closing page. If you are not using a P.S., you should. Are you stressing benefits and features by using bullets? You can also test long versus short paragraphs. Or you can try running one long sales letter ... and try breaking the copy up into several pages.

5. Test where your banner is being run.
On the Internet, it is easy to test a classified you place in a newsletter or e-zine, but it is a little harder to get consistent test results from banner ads that are displayed on a variety of sites, especially if you cannot choose the sites.

6. Test your site layout.
A good site statistics program will tell you where people are entering your site and where they are exiting it. If they are consistently exiting on a certain page (before ordering), then changes need to be made.

7. Test your order process.
Again, a good site statistics program will tell you if there are potential problems with your ordering process. If people enter the order section (already knowing the offer and the price) and then exit it without ordering, this may indicate that there is a problem with your order form or process. Ask a few people to run through your ordering process… and tell them that you want their honest opinions.

After you have tested all of these things, you can then test the colors you use, the text typeface, and design elements. Your web site should be fast loading and easy to navigate and it must be visually attractive. You should be testing and tweaking every aspect of your web site!

Until next time... to Your Cyber Success!

~Your Cyber Coach

P.S. Don't forget to post your comments and let us know what you thought of the course and update us on your success.