margaretspoetrykorner.com

by Margaret High
(Kitchener , Ontario, Canada)

Author's website: Margaret's Poetry Korner

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Margaret, I'm very intrigued by your site, as well as by your notion of selling personalized poetry. I think you have the framework of a site that could attract a lot more traffic than it is now.

One thing in your favor: you have the word "poetry" in your domain name. That's an important clue to the search engines about the subject of your site! That may seem obvious, but you'd be surprised how many authors simply name their sites after themselves or their books.

That tells the search engines that the site is mainly about the author...or the book.

I also like that your home page consists largely of text! After all, you're a writer, and the search engines search for words. You're showing some good instincts. Now, what you need are...

More pages, with more words.

What this internet game is largely about is "winning" searches.

A fair amount of people search personalized poetry every month. (A good deal more, by the way, search personalized POEMS.) Still more search for inspirational poetry and inspirational poems.

But a good number more offer it. So let's focus on the notion of personalized poems for awhile.

A good goal for you would be to "win" - to be a high-ranking site - in any search for "personalized poetry" or "personalized poems." What does that require?

It requires a LOT more than merely offering the service. It requires saying a lot about it. On a number of web pages.

When I first looked at your site, I thought that the list along the left margin was a set of links.

I expected to be able to see some of Margaret's wedding poems, and birthday poems, and Father's Day poems.

Alas, it was not to be. But it should be! Imagine...

Writing a page on the subject personalized anniversary poems, and another on personalized engagement poems.

You would write about your process and what your customers could expect. You could give examples of your poems in each category. Imagine coming in on the first page of results for personalized birthday poems.

It's doable, but it requires the kind of specificity and detail I'm talking about. Google personalized birthday poems for yourself. See how almost all the pages that come up are DEDICATED pages? The subject of each page IS personalized birthday poems.

Therein lies rule #1 of the web: sites that rank don't just mention their subject matter, they delve into their subject matter. Winning a search requires quantity and quality. The search engines are generally smart enough to discern glossing over a subject from seriously addressing a subject.

Another thing: people expect to receive FREE over the internet. If you want to sell something, you better offer a whole lot of FREE as well!

FREE authenticates you. Free says, "I'm not just going to share one of my poems, I'm going to share a bunch, and it's STILL not going to be enough for you. I'm THAT good and THAT prolific!"

More poems will give you a better chance of selling Heartstrings as well. If there are 74 pages, surely you could spare a few more to share.

(Some authors would even recommend that you share them ALL. People don't necessarily buy your book just to get your poems. They can buy your book to get them in keepsake form. Or to give them as a gift.)

You should never be afraid to give away too much on the web because, frankly, it's the giving that results in getting. (See my newsletter article on that precise subject.)

Finally - and relatedly - I think you might be asking a bit too much in asking buyers to hire you at $50/poem based on the one sample on your home page. If I were buying a poem from you I would want not only more samples...

...but more back and forth. I'd want to know more about what to expect, when to expect it, and the extent to which it would be personalized.

Toward that end, I'd consider getting rid of your purchase button. (Unless your personalized poems are really selling with this format. In which case I stand corrected!)

I would encourage an emailed back and forth instead. This gives you a chance to build relationships and have a "personalized" shot at making the sale. You can also upsell or downsell if you sense the prospect is interested in something more or something less than what you usually offer.

You could also up your price a little and toss in a copy of Heartstrings with each personalized order. That way they get two gifts for the price of one!

In summary, I think you're on the right track. I can't promise you more sales, but I can pretty much guarantee you that if you follow through on the promise of your home page - by writing separate pages for each of your poetry subjects - that you WILL get more traffic.

I hope you'll give it a try! Write back by commenting if you have further questions.