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Content Marketing 101: What is a Call-To-Action?

Posted on September 13, 2013 by Hosting

The post Content Marketing 101: What is a Call-To-Action? appeared first on HostGator Web Hosting Blog | Gator Crossing . You want to prompt your website visitors to take some sort of action. That’s the main point of having a website, to ultimately influence users to do something. The something that they do—whether it be signing up for a newsletter, signing up for a free trial, or buying a product—is called a call to action (CTA).  A strong call to action is essential to the success of any website, whether or not you’re using it to sell products and services. Some examples of calls to action include: Download our free ebook or industry report Sign up for a free trial Register for our free webinar View a demo Sign up to receive a free coupon Order now and get a discount   Why Have a Strong Call to Action? There are three main reasons for having a strong CTA on your website: Provides direction to your users. If ever your users are unsure of what to do with the information you provide them, a call to action gives them a clear step to take next. Measuring the success of your site. You can tell how your website is doing with the public from the number of visitors you have vs. the number of people who accept your CTA (otherwise known as a conversion rate). Adds an objective to your website. Your call to action leaves no doubt as to what your website is about. For example, if you visit the Adobe Photoshop download page, you know immediately that they want you to download a free trial.   How To Create One Creating an effective CTA requires some marketing knowledge, but it’s nothing you can’t pick up quickly. Here are some tricks to use in creating one that will catch eyes. Use actionable language. This might seem obvious, given the “action” in “call-to-action,” yet the internet is still full of vague language and information. Be clear about what you want your prospect to do. Use exact language. “You can register for our newsletter here” isn’t as strong as “Sign up for our newsletter.” Point out benefits. A CTA should be brief, but you can still express benefits in just a few words. State that the report they’re downloading is industry award winning, or that it will teach them profitable secrets to increasing their sales. Point out that the free trial is for 30 days and comes with 24/7 email support. Basically, give your customer a reason to respond to your call. Offer an incentive. A report published by Small Business Trends found that of the 200 small business websites they surveyed, 96% of them didn’t offer any sort of industry report, white paper, or otherwise helpful incentive. People like “insider” information, and offering it in the form of a free download makes it even more appealing. Keep it simple. You don’t want to overwhelm or confuse your visitors, so limit the number of CTAs you have on your website. For instance, Hubspot has three CTAs on the bottom of their homepage: Call us, request a demo, or start a free trial. You also want to keep the amount of information you collect from your visitors to a minimum. The marketer in you might be tempted to collect lots of juicy demographics, but a CTA form isn’t the place to do that. Studies have found that the more fields a response form has, the smaller the website’s conversion rate. Keep it simple, and you won’t overwhelm your visitors. Make it stand out. Your call to action should stand out from the rest of the page, and be in a place where users can easily locate it. Choose a contrasting background color, and place it above the fold where people can see it immediately. Some internet marketers would argue that a call to action need not always be above the fold. Just keep in mind that you want it to stand out to your audience and prompt them to take immediate action. Have it on every page. The same Small Business Trends report found that 72% of the surveyed websites didn’t have a CTA on any of their internal pages. The chances of a conversion increase when the site visitor always has access to the CTA, so make sure you include it in the same spot on all of your pages.   Having a strong call to action is an overlooked yet fundamental part of optimizing your website for conversions. Whether building a prospect list, rallying activists, or getting your name out there as a blogger, CTAs add needed direction for both the website itself and your visitors. Now that you know the importance of it, there’s no reason not to have one! Continue reading →

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Blogging 101: How to Be a Better Blogger

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Hosting

The post Blogging 101: How to Be a Better Blogger appeared first on HostGator Web Hosting Blog | Gator Crossing . There is no shortage of advice out there on how to be a better blogger. It seems everyone has their own take on what it means to succeed in the blogosphere. That’s because successful blogging is a multifaceted accomplishment, requiring you to be more than just a good writer. Blogging requires an amazing amount of focus, determination, and (overall) passion about the topics that you’re blogging about. Read on to see what it takes to make your blog successful.   Get Direction What is the purpose of your blog? You should be able to answer this question before you ever start writing. For this reason, it’s a good idea to have a mission statement. You don’t have to define your blog too narrowly, or publish your mission statement for all to see, but having one written down will help to guide you with each new piece of content you write. Next, establish three to five topic buckets. As blogger Mark Collier puts it, topic buckets fold under the larger umbrella of your website’s purpose. For example, if the focus of your blog is to help people with personal development, you might choose motivation, productivity, wealth management, and relationships as your topic buckets. All of your categories would fall under one of these buckets, and every one of your blog posts would fall under one of your categories.   Be Consistent A blogger who only publishes when he feels like it isn’t very likely to have an audience. The truth is, you won’t feel like writing most of the time. However, if you want to create an audience, you will need to blog consistently, whether it be a few times a week or a couple times a month. The important thing is to let your readers know what to expect from you. Keeping an editorial calendar is a great way to stay on track with your blogging. You might also consider writing blog posts in batches instead of one at a time, and publishing each one when the time comes. When you plan ahead, you’re more likely to succeed in staying consistent with your blog.   Appearance Matters Human beings are very driven by visual appearance, so you can bet that a user’s first impression of your blog will include the appearance of your website. Your website appearance should reflect your personal style, your business brand, and/or the aim of your blog. Keep this in mind if choosing a theme for your blog. It’s also important to keep your pages clean and clutter-free. If you have distracting pictures, animations, old content, or banners that don’t contribute to the overall look of your site, then it is time to clean them up. If you have a lot of pictures on your website, consider using a photo gallery theme to keep things in order.   Be Creative Coming up with content ideas is probably the most difficult part of blogging, so mastering the art of idea generation is one of the best things you can do. First off, you should keep a running list of blog post ideas that you can refer back to. From there you can come up with ideas in a number of ways. Spend an hour or two each week brainstorming topic ideas. Just write down everything that comes to you, no matter how unpolished the idea seems at first. Sometimes they just need some time to marinate. Set Google Alerts for your chosen topics and see what news items you can write on. Visit sites like Yahoo Answers and Quora to see what people are asking about in different categories. Create blog posts around reader emails. Ask readers directly what topics they’d like you to address.   Stay on Task If you have trouble staying on task, then there are a number of tools that can help. Ommwriter is a free tool that creates a writing space within your desktop, and even provides ambient music and appealing keyboard sound effects. Time Doctor is another great tool. Not only does it track the amount of time you spend on a task, but it also checks up on you, should you drift off to Facebook or YouTube. A lot of bloggers have had great success with Focus Booster . This little program uses the Pomodoro technique of working for a set amount of time followed by a short break. Which ever tool you use, the most important thing is that you choose something that works for you and follow through with it.   Get Out More As much as productivity and focus matter in blogging, unplugging and living your life is just as important. Neglecting your other hobbies and passions in favor of blogging can not only drain you, but it can also hurt your writing. As Vincent Van Gogh once said, “Whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done.”   Though blogging can sometimes be a challenge, it can also be a great joy when your audience appreciates what you do. Remember that no great blogger became that way overnight, not even Seth Godin or Brian Clark. Use these tips to improve on your blogging life, and watch your efforts blossom as a result. Continue reading →

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Infographic: Internet Privacy, Killing Bills

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Hosting

HostGator will always support a free and open Internet.  As such, we oppose all legislation that isn’t properly written to avoid removing any existing rights or liberties that need not be removed from the general populace in an effort to limit the abilities of those with nefarious intent.  In other words, we want laws that punish the bad guys without also punishing the good guys.  This can be accomplished via the passing of intelligent legislation.  In the interim, we have experienced the proposed bills outlined in the following infographic: Internet Privacy, Killing Bills via HostGator Continue reading →

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12 Simple Mistakes You Might Be Making on Your Website

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Hosting

When creating a website, it’s quite easy to get swept up in the trap of putting creativity before the end user’s needs. Practicality can be understandably boring. However, an unusable website is about as much good as a car with no engine. See if you’re making any of these common website mistakes, then go fix them!   Unscannable Content The average person comes online to find what they want, and find it quickly. If your content isn’t easily scannable, it will lose you readers and fast. The fix: Use headings, bullet lists, and numbered lists whenever possible. You should also use images to break up the monotony of a long read.   No Search Box This is especially important if you have a large website with lots of content. The internet is a big place, and people have come to depend on search engines to find what they need. The fix: Add a search box to the top right corner of your website, since that’s where people are used to finding the search option.   Not Using Analytics Analytics is the tool that keeps your finger on the pulse of your website. If you don’t know what people are doing on your site, then you can’t truly know how it is performing, or what is working for your company. The fix: Stop putting it off. Go to Google Webmaster Tools and install Google Analytics on your website for free. If you need help, visit Google Analytics Getting Started page .   Cluttered Pages Cluttered websites are universally unappealing. When faced with sidebars stuffed with ads, an abundance of images, and unorganized text, most people will simply leave the website. The fix: Simplify the layout of your website by getting rid of what you don’t really need. Be sure you’re utilizing the space above the fold with your header, sign up form, and the welcome text of your page.   No Clear Direction Every page of your website should work toward a common goal. Is the purpose of your website to promote your product? To showcase your talents? To raise money for an organization? The fix: Establish the aim of your website, and make sure all of your content is in alignment with that aim.   Poor Readability Text that is too large, too small, or made up of difficult-to-read fonts and glaring colors can easily put off your visitors. The fix: For the body of your text, use 12-point font, and colors that contrast with the background. Also, stick with fonts you can read easily yourself. It helps to have a second pair of eyes. Hard to Navigate Your navigation is the window to the rest of your website. If it’s difficult to find, ambiguous, or gives no cues to the user, then they could easily get frustrated. The fix: Put your navigation bar in a visible place on your website. Use simple, easily recognizable words like “About,” “Services,” and “Contact.” The navigation should also give the user cues as to which page they’re on, such as the color of the current page turning color. Bad Screen Resolution Your users shouldn’t have to scroll horizontally to see the full contents of your website. That was okay back in 1996, but not anymore. The fix: You can fix this problem by using relative width to make the page fit any screen. Use the tag in your HTML to set relative width, or use the body{width:100%;}tag in the style sheet.   Non-Cohesive Pages If your layout, color scheme, and overall theme vary from one page to another, it makes your website seem disjointed. The fix: Treat your website like a book. The pages should look like they’re all somehow related.   Music or Video Loads with Page Video that automatically plays on page load can be annoying and even startling. Music that loads with the page is just as bad. The fix: Disable the automatic play feature for all of your site’s content. Give your visitors a choice as to what they want to watch or listen to.   Browser and Device Incompatibility This is one simple yet important aspect of web design that too often gets overlooked. Just because your website looks flawless in Firefox doesn’t mean it also looks great in Safari. The fix: Test your website across all browsers and devices. Mobile emulators are good for testing, but use the actual device whenever you can.   No List A huge mistake a lot of website owners make is not having a way to keep in touch with the people who visit their website. The fix: Sign up for an email list service like Mail Chimp or Aweber , then add a simple sign up form to your website. An even more effective approach is to offer an incentive for signing up, such as a free ebook or report.   Every website has something it can improve on. A user friendly website is a great asset to an organization, so be sure that yours is as mistake-free as possible. Continue reading →

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10 Blogging Strategies That Will Help Bring More People To Your Website

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Hosting

Every blogger has faced the lack of readership dilemma at one point or another. After all, there’s no point in creating an archive of content if there’s no one there to read it. Contrary to what you may believe, that super star blogger you admire so much didn’t burst into notoriety overnight. Gaining a readership is something that requires consistent effort. Below you will find ten building blocks on which you can build your blogging strategy.   1. Share and Share Often If you’ve written something great that you’ve put your heart into, then let everyone know about it. Put it on your Facebook wall, tweet about it, bookmark it on StumbleUpon, Digg it, and put it out there for the world to see. Ask your friends to do the same. You can continue to do this long after you originally publish your post. Consider re-sharing your post again at a later time as a “throwback” or a “best of” promotion. You can also compile a list of your most helpful blog posts and share the comprehensive list with your readers.   2. Make List Posts People like lists. They’re easy to read, and offer a quick way for readers to digest information they find interesting or useful. Make lists that are relevant to your blog, such as top tools to use, best blogs to follow, most helpful Youtube videos, or most influential people in your field.   3. Learn to Write Headlines The blog post title is the hook that grabs your reader’s attention. You can have a great blog post, but if the title is boring, then you might as well toss it. John Morrow of Copyblogger has a wildly popular post on writing catchy headlines.   4. Blog Commenting Engaging in communities built around other blogs is a great way to interact with other readers. Leave thoughtful blog comments that help show you’re interested, knowledgeable, and passionate about the subject at hand. Link back to your website in the box provided. Avoid including links directly in your blog comment though, as this could come off as too spammy to the existing readers in the blog community.   5. Make Posts “Scannable” Have you ever been faced with pages and pages of textbook material that just make your eyes glaze over? You don’t want to do that to your readers. This is why making your posts scannable is so important. Use subheadings, bullet points, lists, and use short paragraphs of three to five sentences when composing your blog post. This will help ensure that your readers can quickly scan over the post and quickly get the gist of what the post is about, before actually having to read the whole thing.   6. Contests and Giveaways If there’s anything that people love more than lists, it’s free stuff. Give away a free copy of your latest product, or a much-coveted item like a Kindle or iPod. You can also give away copies of books and other items from guest bloggers or other people you deliberately feature in posts.   7. Guest posting Guest posting is probably the best way to get your name in front of new audiences. A few guest posts a month on other relevant blogs can get you a nice stream of new visitors. This also works in reverse. Have a well-known person guest post on your blog to draw in new visitors. You can also conduct an interview or Q&A session with an industry expert.   8. Blog Carnivals and Link Parties A blog carnival is a compilation of blog posts that a blogger puts together on a particular subject. Blog Carnivals give bloggers a chance at exposure, and give the blog owner a helpful piece of content to present to their readers. See a good example of this at Kelly the Kitchen Kop . A link party is similar to a blog carnival, except bloggers submit a link directly to the host blog. See the blog of writer Carol Tice as an example.   9. Tell Stories Telling stories is an art. People have long been captivated by good stories, whether they’re written, spoken, or featured on the silver screen. Engage your readers with a good story related to your topic to really draw them into what you’re saying.   10. Use Visuals There’s a reason why infographics have sharply risen in popularity in the past couple years. Humans are very visual creatures, and visuals are a very effective way to illustrate what you’re talking about. Graphs, illustrations, photos, and slide shows are great ways to catch a reader’s attention, and can also help break up the monotony of a longer post.   Bonus Tip: Check Your Motives at the Door You probably already know the number one rule of blogging: Write great content. But why are you writing great content? Is it to offer a helpful resource to your readers, or just to attract attention? Your number one priority must be to help and/or entertain the reader. If your priority is to attract attention, it will show in the quality of your writing. The best bloggers are passionate about what they blog about, and know how to effectively captivate their readers. Continue reading →

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