publishingmadeeasy.org
by Rebecca Leboho
The ABC of Publishing home page
Author's website: publishingmadeeasy.org Rebecca, hi. Thanks for stopping by the site. Okay, I've taken a look at your site, and I have to warn you: I have a lot more negative than positive things to say! First, there are problems that would be problems regardless of whether I was looking at a website or brochure.
(By the way, nobody says, "The ABC of." They say, "The ABCs" or "The ABC's.") Now, these wouldn't be huge problems if you were offering landscaping services, but you're holding yourself out as an author and publisher! If I were considering your company's services, I would be concerned about design and proofreading at a minimum. If I'm looking for a publishing service, I want people with an eye for detail. Almost as much as if I were hiring a bookkeeper! Let's consider now the more web-based aspects of what's going on with your site. I don't know what that flashing white spot in the upper left hand corner is supposed to signify. I also find myself quite stunned when I click on your products. Your site leaves me unclear as to precisely what I would be purchasing, and yet I find myself taken to a page that asks from $200.00-$400.00 for your various goods! Is the "Leadership Essential Tool Training Kit" simply a book? I'm not sure. Why would I pay $400 for it? Here's a basic truth about the internet: people come to it expecting to get all the information they want for free. People trying to SELL information generally have to do quite the song and dance. I'm not sure you're even humming! The standard ebook sales page looks like the text version of an infomercial. They tend to go on forever. That's generally what it takes to get people to purchase on the internet - at least if they didn't come LOOKING for your product. Which brings me to a key question... Is your site intended merely as a calling card (that is, as an online presence to which you can send people whom you encounter in other venues) or is it meant to attract traffic from strangers as well? As a calling card, it has the problems I've described above. As a traffic attracter, it shares problems with most sites on the web - most of which get the kind of minimal to non-existent traffic you're experiencing! The only sure-fire way to attract traffic without paying to advertise is to have the search engines recommend you highly. Of course, that's not easy. When we see a set of search engine results that lists a million webpages, we know from experience that we only look at the first ten or so. How do those other sites come up in the first 10??? Here's a fun tool for you to play with: https://adwords.google.co.uk/select/KeywordToolExternal Using this, you can find out what are the popular search terms in your field. You sell video services to ministers. Well, I just found out that Google reports 1000 searches per month for ministry video. Wouldn't it be nice to come up on the first page of those search results! It can be done, but it requires more of a website - and more strategically structured - than what you have. Among the things it would require is a single page on your site DEVOTED to attracting traffic for that search term.
Would taking these actions guarantee you a top rating for the keyword phrase? No. But they would guarantee you a higher ranking than you receive now. Attracting traffic via the search engines requires a site of decent size, with keyword focused pages (such as I've just described). Of course, a simple calling card site needn't have these features. Now, let's go back to your grammar. I'm wondering if English is your first language. You may want to read an article I once wrote (which has since been plastered all over the internet). I call it Writing in English (When English isn't Your First Language). It offers ideas on how to present your imperfect English as a strength, rather than a weakness. My strongest suggestion is to look at your site as a visitor, rather than as its creator. What information did you come looking for? Is it easy to find? Why should I be interested in the services or goods offered by this website? What is its author's expertise? Why should I value her information over that offered by others? Your website may not be filling your expectations partly because it's not meeting the expectations of your visitors...or of the search engines! The service I used to build this website as a do-it-yourself project also has a service whereby they'll build a site for you. Frankly, I think they would have done a better job for your £700! Sigh. I know I've been negative, but please know that it's not out of meanness. I just see a site that, in its current incarnation, isn't likely to do for you what you want it to do. Remember that a website is an authenticator. Anyone can put up a website offering something for sale, but it's the rare author who can get others to buy. If your website were to do a better job of authenticating you as a person who can be trusted to provide the services and products you're offering, results would likely be better. That's called PRE-selling. I hope this helped!
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