Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I`m just going to look at your home page right now (which is where a majority of your visitors will come from).

To start:
I`m working under the assumption that your primary goal is to build your lists (email).  That means that you`re goal is to get them to fill in that box.  From there, you`re email marketing will get them to go to a conference or buy something or whatever.  But the primary goal of the website is to get them on that list.


Design:
Your main site is boring to look at.  But that`s okay.  Your primary market probably isn`t the 20-somethings looking for trendy web design. In fact, the design of the site probably works as one of the best simply because it`s... simple.  And understandable.
A couple of changes I would recommend.  You`ve got links at the bottom (under the heading of The Value of Training which are very small.  I would increase the size.  And I would keep it underlined.  Everyone knows that a blue underlined word or phrase is a link.  If you change that, you start to lose people.  I would also probably keep it to single column (at the bottom you break off into two columns where the contact us is).  Good work emphasizing the signup form.  But you do have a red astrix -- and no explination.  I`m not sure if that`s signalling optional or required information.  You might remove the star, or explain it.  I would recommend removing it, simply because the form is simple and not asking for much information.
The links you`ve provided are very smart!  You`ve opened a new window so that the user won`t lose your site.  You might consider having it open in a new window with a frame so that you could have even more control over the users` experience (but not necessary - I won`t expand on it unless you want to know more information about what I`m talking about).   One thing to note however, the last link is not formatted properly and the link is actually the html tags... you`ll just want to fix that quickly.

Content:
Your content follows a sales-letter approach.  Which is a good idea.  But the first page lacks any real detail or interest.  You have a page "What Others Are Saying": I would move a couple of these into your `sales` pitch on the front page.  I would also introduce what you do with more detail, or what you offer at least.
Your links to other expert sites is also a good idea, but you might include some quotes from them in your sales letter (and then link to them in a footnote like reference in brackets following the quote -- this will add the feel that you are well read and an expert, and then let the user explore the topic as well -- that might even replace the links at the bottom of your site).
Your call to action should be clearer - and the benefits for the user could be more enthusiastic.  "Sign up for more information" is the worst way to get someone`s details.  It should read more like "Become a better leader and learn to empower your team to work harder and smarter. Start making more money today!  Begin by entering your name..."
You say "Call today" but you don`t put a phone number. Maybe you should.  I`m assuming you`ve got two goals -- which is fine, but which is more important (let it take the lead) and be clearer about both.
Because your website is more like a sales letter, it is imperitive that it is written well.  You might consider hiring a content writer to write up the front page.  For about $100 you could have a really well written introduction/call to action for your site which would increase conversions. But make sure they can write for the web (which brings me to my next point)...

SEO (or search engine optimization)
How are people going to hear about your website?  Are others promoting it?  Probably search engines should be playing a role in this.  Which means you`ve got to get your site listed in Google and then move it on up the ranks so you`re in the top 10.  But this isn`t easy, and it isn`t fast.  But a few of the things you can do are:

1. use keywords on your site and frequently (keywords are words that people would use to find your website in a search engine)
2. use keywords in html tags (like <h1> or <title>)
3. submit your site to directories (but be careful not to pay for a service that will list you to hundreds in a single day!  That makes the Google robot mad!  You should list yourself in a couple every day.  Start with dmoz.org and yahoo.
4. Add a signature to all your forum accounts (like you`ve done)... But place the link to your website in a keyword.  For example you could put the link as a title beneath your name: Leadership Coach or Learn Project Leadership from the Coach.  This has the added benefit of probably driving more clicks to your site too.
5. Participate in multiple forums and add unique, helpful content to the users of the forum.  This has two advantages.  The content you place will probably have keywords since you`ll be talking about leadership issues as you help people -- but it will also position you as an `expert` in that forum - which then gets clickthrus to your website.  Real click thrus are very valuable too!
6. Offer articles to sites that offer advice to people looking for more information relevant in your field.  You could write an article and submit it to a leadership development website (you must be aware of some, or being searching).  They will allow a byline where you can then put in a signature.  Your signature should basically hail you as a leader in your field, and offer a link to your website similar to your signature (where it uses a keyword).  This will get your page rank up faster, but also provide you with human clicks!
7. Subscribe to a website development newsletter, especially one that can give you tips for SEO.  I have one on my website (and you can sign up here).
   

If you`re interested in more information, you can message me directly.  I can point you in the direction of some good reading and sign you up to my company`s newsletter.  This month we will be profiling SEO for our clients.  I can also edit any copy writing you try (and offer more tips) or we can arrange for a copy write for your site.

If you are very new to all this I can also give you some links to some excellent tools to manage your contact lists - or our company can manage it for you for a reasonably low fee.  If you are using outlook or your email to manage and contact lists there are much better ways!  And free too!

Message me or reply here :)



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