MarkAttwood.com

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All the details were in the email, so all you need to do to confirm our booking is use the PayPal button below:

I’m a big fan of optimising websites for conversion – squeezing as much juice out of the lemon as possible by making changes to website elements based on user behaviour.

I found this fascinating piece of research today based on 46 people being “eyetracked” for one hour whilst looking at mock news websites and real multimedia content. The really interesting finding is something that backs up something I’ve been banging on about for a few years – that most people’s eyes engage the top left of the screen before being “engaged” enough to move down and around the screen. This is why being 1,2 and 3 on Google is SO important for grabbing maximum traffic. I call it the Golden Triangle – that part of the screen where most of the cash is.

On top of that, this research found that headlines grab people’s attention more than images! This is a deceptively profound piece of evidence that backs up the power of copywriting in SEO and CRO. I’m always banging on about the fact that you’ve got nano-seconds to grab their attention. If you don’t: poof! they’re gone!

I’ve borrowed their eye tracking image for you here (click to enlarge):

The eyes have it!

It’s common sense really – we’re conditioned to read from top left down to bottom right (in the West at least). So a web page should be a bit like a news story – put all the good, juicy, interesting headlines right at the top then lead them down into more detail that fleshes out the story/your proposition.

It also back up my other bug-bear with business website owners – stop listening to the designers! They don’t know what they’re doing. Looking pretty is NOT the purpose of your web page. Converting visitors to customers is!

Take a look at the full research results here, then pop back over here to discuss by leaving comments on this blog. It’s a great topic!

I just got this in from Wayne Connors. Wayne runs a national cabling installation company, heard me on the Rachel Elnaugh webinar last week and then grabbed my free internet marketing DVD offer. This is what he has to say about it:

“Hi Mark

I must get out more Mark? I started to view the DVD on Sunday, after
viewing it twice intermingled with me going to my PC to try and see if I
could emulate what I had see, it became apparent that I needed help. My
dad always said a little knowledge is dangerous. The DVD is packed with
an a lot of common sense information and structur. It highlighted to me,
that when we decided to tender the build of our site we put the cart
before the horse looking at the window front and not the structure or
content. I hope that by attending one of your clinics, we are able to
turn our site from a information tool into a revenue generation tool.

Thanks for opening my eyes.

Regards

Wayne”

Wayne is now booked to attend my Internet Marketing Clinic on June 12th and 13th. Are you coming?

I heard about this video in the car on Radio 4 yesterday. The audio clip made me laugh (which is a good thing in marketing), but I forgot to go on YouTube to find it due the demands of a very busy day. That it, until Andy Spinoza emailed it over just now.

It’s not as art-house as I expected it to be, and I think that because I knew what it was about before I actually saw it, the surprise was spoiled for me. Watch it before scrolling down for my thoughts on it.

Apparently, Blackpool wants to entice a higher number of French visitors to the UK to spend their Euros in Lancashire. They want the current level of tourists to divert from their usual haunts of London and Edinburgh to take in a day or two on the Golden Mile.

Now, I admit that I have happy memories of Blackpool as a kid. Crying on the rollercoaster, sitting in that knackered cast-iron Dalek, pissing the bed I shared with my Aunt Mandy (she was 11, I was 4), eating tooth-rotting candyfloss, going mad for the bumper cars, being amazed by the lights (we were so easy to please in the 70s).

But I’m having a bit of trouble with this advert. It’s knicking the old Boddingtons trick – remember the gondola with the beautiful woman that turns out to be on Manchester ship canal instead of in Venice when she sips some dodgy beer and says “by ‘eck, it’s gorgeous”. That had a phenomenal impact in the early nineties. Boddington’s was everywhere back then. Only problem was the product was crap, so unsustainable.

The other problem I’m having, as a food lover and a Francophile – why in God’s name would anyone from France want to come to Blackpool? Every time I’ve been there as an adult, I have been utterly appalled by the sheer awfulness of all the food on offer. Even when I stayed in the Imperial Hotel, it was shocking.

They try and turn this into a humerous positive by having cute French girl say ” ‘ot pot ” (“Papa” anyone?).

Why can’t they make a video showing what Blackpool’s really about? Still, 14,000 views on YouTube in a week ain’t bad and it’s got people talking. Bonnes vacances a Blackpool!

I got this question from Mark after my webiner with Rachel Elnaugh last night. The email address supplied by the guy who asked the question didn’t work, so I’m putting it up here in the hope that Mark will read the answer!

QUESTION:
Name: Mark

Enquiry: Hi, I was listening into your webinar last night. Thank you for your time. I did ask question that didnt get answered. I was wondering if you could direct me on how I can get a website built for little expense as I lost my business last year and have been left starting again from scratch having built up a good size company. The website would be similar to trip advisor.
Any ideas on how I could build one very cheap. Thanks

MY ANSWER:

Hi Mark

Thanks for your email. Once you have completed your keyword research, written optimised pages in a complete brief, I would then put the brief/job up on rentacoder.com and elance.com.

These are definitely the cheapest places you can get web design work done.

When you put a brief on there, make sure you pitch it to these people in a way they will understand (i.e. Showing you’re not a complete novice). Think about it from their point of view. Pitch it like: “I need a site building like tripadvisor.com, it will take you about XX hours, my budget is $XX”

This makes it easy for the designer to understand what you’re trying to achieve, and having a complete brief to deliver to them will make the whole thing run smoothly. Some of the people on there will work for incredibly cheap rates compared to the UK, but be advised to check their ratings before giving them the job, and make sure you can contact them via skype or IM before you pass them the work. There’s nothing worse than giving a job out without a proven way to contact the supplier when things aren’t going smoothly/quickly enough.

If you or anyone else needs really professional and optimised-from-the-ground up websites building, contact me to get a quote.

P.S. I will happily answer all questions sent to me on the proviso that I can reproduce my answers on this blog. I cannot guarantee to get back to you fast because I get asked a lot of questions and I’m also trying to run a growing company! If you have an urgent question for me email me

I just got this in from Stephen Thompson, owner of Sinks.co.uk. If you have any doubts about how good an investment coming to my Internet Marketing Clinic, read this…

“I have been running my own businesses for 20 years and have always considered myself reasonable at marketing. However, my marketing and my life have changed dramatically over the last eight months as a direct result of meeting Mark Attwood.

Like many small business owners I have been embracing internet marketing over the last 10 years, but without really knowing anything about it. I have been led by web designers, usually well meaning and quite good at design. But I now realise that they didn’t know much, if anything, about internet marketing either – even if they thought they did!

I attended an internet marketing clinic with Mark towards the end of last year and my eyes started to open. Since then my understanding and knowledge have gathered pace and, with Mark’s help, I have started channelling all my marketing experience in to the internet, as well as further developing my off-line marketing.

The exciting thing is that it is still early days but the results are gathering pace. For example a simple Google ad words campaign (which I am now able to develop myself) is delivering up to £1000 per week in profit, totally reversing the sales and profit decline we suffered last year due to the recession.

This year with help from Mark on the development of a new website, advanced search engine optimisation and conversion rate optimisation strategies we are expecting around a 50% increase in sales. I am confident that within three years we will increase turnover fivefold, regardless of economic conditions.

Attending Mark’s clinic gave me a kick start by lifting the internet marketing mist from my eyes. He openly tells you all, nothing is kept hidden and he shows you exactly how to do it. I still have plenty to learn, but I now have the confidence and understanding to use and test internet marketing to take my business to new levels. This has also boosted my energy and enthusiasm, which in turn will take the business to further levels of growth and profitability. I now have the great feeling feel there is virtually no limit to what I can achieve.

I would advise anyone wanting to succeed in internet marketing to start with Mark Attwood’s clinic. It is definitely the best investment I have made in my business career.

Stephen Thompson
Owner
Brass & Traditional Sinks
www.sinks.co.uk”

Here’s a video of Stephen and his PA Lynn when he came to one of my clinics in November 2009:

To join me on my next clinic: Internet Marketing Clinic