Think Like a Spammer

This article has been updated on 3/31/2020 with the article entitled “What Can You Learn from Spammers, Hackers, and Pushy Salespeople?.”

Set Goals

"My website isn't working for me" is a common complaint we hear, yet we often get blank stares if we ask "What do you want your website to do?" You can't fulfill a goal until you make it.

"To make money" is not a goal. "To sell widgets" is a goal, as is "To gather contact info", "To build my newsletter list" and "To get referrals." Think through what exactly you want your website to do so you and your web builder can prepare a clear plan on how to achieve that goal.

Plan Strategy

Do you delete spam emails without reading them and wonder who on earth would click to open that and then actually make a purchase? If no one ever did spammers would stop sending them, but enough people respond to those emails that it's worthwhile to continue that kind of marketing campaigns.

It's a numbers game. They know that if it takes 100,000 emails to get 100 opens which result in 10 purchases, then the sooner they get emailing, the sooner they'll make sales. Planning the work and working the plan is important to meeting your website goals, but you can't know if the numbers are valid unless you --

Measure

How many visitors to your site does it take before someone makes a purchase? What pages do they visit before the purchase decision is made? Where do purchasers come from? Once you know those answers you can tweak your site to attract more visitors just like those. 

Some folks just want their website available as an electronic brochure. They "hand it" to potential customers via an email or article and if others stumble upon it, that's just good, too. But if you want your site to do more, you have to prepare. If you aren't seeing the performance you expected from your site, it might be time to rethink your goals and strategies. Contact us today to talk over the possibilities. We're happy to help!

Kate GingoldKate Gingold

I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

Other posts by Kate Gingold

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Full biography

I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

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