Coach Thom provides a seminar on improving business websites to increase revenue. Some key points covered include: - Identifying the target audience and their goals/tasks when visiting the site to ensure it is easy for them to find what they need. - Using compelling keywords that customers are actually searching for to improve search engine optimization and visibility. - Structuring content in a clear, skimmable format with the most important information upfront since people rarely read entire pages online. - Testing the site through usability studies and analytics to ensure it is optimized for the audience and achieving their goals efficiently.

1. About Coach Thom
 Senior Partner ActionCoach Central
Pennsylvania
 Total of $9 Million new revenue created through
website improvements
 Named “GLOBAL Coach of the Year/Client
Results” -2009
 Beat out coaches from London, Mexico City,
Singapore and Sydney

2. Ugly Websites
Make More Money
Coach Thom Finn

3. Learnings….
BFO’s
.
n han.
ow tter T
m D s Be ten
The te i rgot
rite No t Fo
W ten
it
Wr t Tho ugh
orly rea
A Po A G
Blinding Flashes of the Obvious

4. And your Commitments to Do
 BFO’s  To Do’s

5. To Make Sure You Get the
Most Out of Your Learning ...
I
KNOW

6. Fold white piece of paper
over
1st Name
Type of business

8. A NEW way of looking at
websites
 Great question is “Whatcha gonna do?”
 It’s OUR time! Not the graphic folks, not the
geeks….but thanks for your pioneering
 Nobody knew HOW the web worked
 “I kind of think Coach Thom is a little crazy…” –
name withheld
 E*Marketing is HONEST
 Ford’s 7 different websites
 My guarantee: You’ll know more about
websites than your web guy does.

9. Increase Number of
Leads
x
Improve Conversion
Rate
=
Increase No. of
Customers
x
UP the No. of
Transactions
x
Increase Ave. $$$
Sale
=
Income
x
Improve the Margin
=
Profits

10. Increase Number of
Leads
x
Improve Conversion
Rate
=
Increase No. of
Customers
x
UP the No. of
Transactions
x
Increase Ave. $$$
Sale
=
Income
x
Improve the Margin
=
Profits

13. Who should you really listen
to?
 A. This blow hard at the
front of the room
 B. Your webmaster
 C. Your customer

14. Who is your reader?
 This marketing that is  What are their hobbies?
essential
 How are they
 Male/Female informed/educated?
 How old?  How do they approach
your product?
 Where do they live?
 How do they learn about
 Married? Kids?
your product?
 How much do they earn?  How do they use the web
 What's their house like? for your product?

15. PERSONAE/S*
 How long is the marketing cycle?
 What IS the marketing cycle?
 How long is the sale cycle?
 What IS the sales cycle?

16. Who do you write for?
 The retail customer?
 The Wholesale distributor?
 The person who got your direct mail?
 The folks that saw your ad?
 Should you clearly Define your site?
 Should you have separate site?

17. Pick a Personae..

18. Pick a Personae..

19. 5 Minute Exercise: Find
your Personae/s
 Personae #1 is_______________
 And they are________________
 __________________________
 And ______________________
 Personae #2 is_______________
 And they are _____________________
 ________________________________
 And _____________________________

20. “My main focus, as creator of my
company's website should be
on:”
Graphics
Animations
Tasks

21. Exhibit A: How your target
interacts with different mediums
 Newspaper reader
 Direct Mail and Catalogues
 Professional Trade Magazine
 Web user

22. Exhibit A: How your target
interacts with different mediums
 THINK! THINK! HOW will these people
typically interact with these mediums?
 Newspaper?
 Direct Mail/Catalogues?
 Trade Magazine?
 Web User?

24. Group Case Study:
 Volunteer or Prepared Case Study?
 Target: Colleen wants a new deck
 Will the web be the 1st thing she checks?
 How will she use the web? (LG? CR?)
 Once there, WHAT are 4 likely tasks she
wants to accomplish?
 Okay..remember this and compare these
FACTS with….

31. HOW the web is used
 Different from face to face
 From Sales letter
 From print ad
 Low % return to a site, book mark

33. Best Slide from Today
 What are the 4 tasks a reader wants to
accomplish when they visit your site
 What 3 questions will they have?
 What 3 objections will they raise
 All 10 must be on your site

34. Homework Assignment:
 What are the 4 tasks ______(insert name)
come to your website to do
 Can they currently complete these 4
tasks?
 List the steps you must take so that ____
can accomplish what they want when
they arrive.
 Think “effortlessly”

35. Less is More
 What does FILLER mean?
 USEFUL not big
 The “more” gene
 Who is going to manage all this stuff?
 If you are your staff haven’t made
necessary updates in the past 6 months,
get rid of it
 Analyze your site statistics for duds.

36. Limit Choices

37. Think “Signs”
Toilets
Taxis
Baggage Claim

41. Temperature Check..
 Who is motivated?
 Focus MORE on the contents..the
words..less on graphics and pictures
 Focus on EDUCATION
 Educate your customers
 Sally must learn something as a direct
result of coming to your website
 #1 Rapport, #2 Trusted Advisor

43. Creating Killer Websites…
 Test, test and test.
 Usability Studies
 Your webpage’s analytics
 Google Analytics for free
 Not a Murder Mystery- tell them “Who
Done it” right away

46. Navigation Basics
#1 Popular Task #2 Popular Task #3 Popular Task #4 Popular
2-dairy infor.
Popular pic. Popular pic.
2-dairy infor.
Popular pic.
Fishing.
2-dairy infor.
Boring/required Boring/required Boring/required

47. Navigation Basics
#1 Popular Task #2 Popular Task #3 Popular Task #4 Popular
2-dairy infor.
Popular pic. Popular pic.
2-dairy infor.
Popular pic.
Fishing.
2-dairy infor.
Boring/required Boring/required Boring/required

48. www.yourwebpage.com
 Try to write in bullets
 Since people Skim more than they
actually read, you’ll get your point across
to them
 Remember GIVE attention at this point,
not get attention
 Talk in the shape of the Pyramid.
 Lesser points at the bottom

49. www.yourwebpage.com
 Try to write in bullets
 Since people Skim more than they
actually read, you’ll get your point across
to them
 Remember GIVE attention at this point,
not get attention
 Talk in the shape of the Pyramid.
 Lesser points at the bottom

50. www.yourpage.com
 THISWORD and THESE words will
be more important to the reader when they
skim your sight. You know how I said people read, well in
truth they actually SKIM. I was just trying to make a point about
READING over graphics. So in a narrative (and use these sparingly)
you want to make sure you lead with your KEY words. Leading with the
Keywords will also get you rewards from the search engines, which we will talk about later..
 And then REPEAT this process with
your next. You want to get their attention
with these keywords and tell them “Who dunnit”
right away.

51. www.yourpage.com
Main
Page
More info.
On High
Lite from Lesser
Main page importance
Lesser
importance
Little
importance

52. Important content first on
pages
 After 100 words.. Lost 25%
 After 300 words…lost 40%
 By 500 words…lost 60%
 By 1000 words…lost 80%

53. “Thanks for scaring the pants off
me Coach Thom, just WHAT do
you suggest I write about?”
 Care?*
 Concise
 Compelling?*
 Clear?*
 Complete?
 Correct?
 * focus here

54. C= Who C ares?
 Rule for all advertising and marketing
 Write from their point of view
 You are NOT your target market

56. Is it C ompelling?
 WIIFM
 The purpose of the first word is to get you
to the 2nd..
 The purpose of the first sentence is to
you get to the 2nd…
 The purpose of the first page is to get you
to the 2nd…
 Draw the reader in using Keywords

57. Is it C lear?
Toilets
Taxis
Baggage Claim

58. In Short..

62. KEY WORDS
 We usually think of them as…..
 And we usually use key words to…
 Think of Key words more for your
customers
 Write for the readers, NOT the Search
Engines.
 The Search Engines will reward you.
Eventually. Be patient.

63. Key Words for Self Service
 What web users expect when they are
doing it themselves.
 Elements of Self Service
 Convenience
 Speed
 Price
A Successful web page is one that lets the
readers accomplish the text they came for.

65. Keywords Before S.E.O.
 The basis for Search Engine
Optimization are Key WORDS*
 When Larry sits down at the computer he
search is based on Key WORDS*
 Search Engines reward sights with higher
rankings by repeated views, which are
based on Key Words
*not pictures, not graphics, not out of the box web design, not flashy intros, not $90 and hour color schemes

66. Key Word cycle ...

67. How to (technically) submit Key
Words to the Search Engines
 www.google.com/addurl/
 http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html
 Outsource it to someone who knows the
extra technical tricks.
 Matt @ EZ Solution

68. Guaranteed 1st page placement on
Google or you don’t pay us!
Keyword Selection
Site Evaluations & Optimization
Link Building
EZ Solution: Matt Boaman
www.ezsolution.com
291.4689

71. Choose Keywords Wisely
 Letting the Search Engines use what is
currently on your sight……..F
 Putting 5 minutes of thought behind what
you think your customers will search and
submitting those to Search Engines….C
 Conducting 2 hours worth of informal
chats with customers finding out what
they type and submitting those
words….A

72. Create a list of KILLER Keywords
 Prepare a list of possible keywords
 Get customers to choose the ones most
likely to use
 Analyze the results
 Have these/submit these to Google,
yahoo, MSN, AltaVista or specialty
Search Engine

73. 3 Minute Workshop
Exercise
Brain Storm a list of possible
keywords
Put a CHECK by the ones you think
will be more popular

74. What we think VS. What they
think

75. What we think…what they
think
 Accomodation.2,479  Hershey………..263
 Special Offers..2,373  Harrisburg……..160
 Planning a trip..1,475  Capital Region….25
 About Hershey.1,234  HHC Visitors
Center.22
 Getting
Around..1,048  Tourism Bureau…21
Thom, quit
your job and
write copy..

76. What we think…what they
think
 Vacation Deals…………………17,623
 Vacation Special Offers…………….0
 Travel Special Offers………………46
 Cheap Travel……………………90,969
 Travel deals……………………..58,615
To hell
With your
brand!

77. Penn State

78. US vs. THEM
PSU Staff Prospective Students
ability to explore ideas with lecturers future job prospects
curriculum placement ratios
pedigree attrition
curriculum vitae career advice
syllabus social life
internships night life
class size housing
course content… fees
course objectives top ranking university
research registration
USDA lab getting the courses I want

80. The Long Neck
2500
2000
1500
Care Words
1000
500
0
1 20 40 60 80 100

81. Navigation Basics
#1 Popular Task #2 Popular Task #3 Popular Task #4 Popular
2-dairy infor.
Popular pic. Popular pic.
2-dairy infor.
Popular pic.
Fishing.
2-dairy infor.
Boring/required Boring/required Boring/required

82. Years of Education and
Experience on Copywriting in 4
points..
 1. Use Keywords as lead in
 2. Write in 2nd person…when considering
becoming a gazebo dealer, you should
consider..
 3. NEVER write in 1st person..We are
egotistical snobs who don’t care about
anyone
 4. Write as you they speak

83. Okay..so it wasn’t 4 points
 Limit your dead ends. “Return to”, next
step. Help your reader complete the task
you wanted them/they wanted
 Talk to one of your experts
 Request your free custom made quote here
 Receive a catalogue by mail
 Reserve your seat at the workshop now
 Learn more about the speaker
 See what other customers are saying

92. Search: Getting Found
 Links! Not gimmicky quantity- links
 Google Dance
 Google OBSESSED with customers’
tasks
 Reward you for linking in a logical pattern
 Go for quality
 Be a link snob
 Be tight with reciprocating links

93. Don’t vex Google & Yahoo
 Too good to be true?
 White words
 Messing with meta tags & headlines
 Be Patient. You shall be rewarded for
your content.

94. Why you should fill out your wrap
up surveys:
 “As the owner of commercial building firm
that specializes in car dealerships in
South Central Pennsylvania, we learned
so much from Coach Thom. He is
undoubtedly the smartest man to ever
walk the earth. We just don’t know how
we EVER managed to survive without
him. I shall name by next born child after
him”
- Joe
Smith,www.smithsconstruction.com

95. How GOOGLE works with
links..
Winner!

96. Last AND LEAST..”While I have
your attention…”
 Harvest leads
 Depending on size, use a CTA to get low
barrier information
 Easy & trustworthy
 Different CTA’s…more information
 Email communications
 Cheap effective way to stay in touch with
prospects and customers

98. “I don't look to jump over 7-foot bars:
“I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over.”
~Warren Buffet

99. From Your BFO Sheet….

100. And your Commitments to Do
 BFO’s  To Do’s

101. Do you REALLY want to get
this stuff done?
No….I just wrote stuff to get you off my back
Yes…but it’s really not that important
√ Yes! I do…I really do…
√ Sign up for FREE Accountability with
Will….or AccountaWility
List the items you want to be held
accountable to do, with a date, and the best
way he can follow up with you
(phone/Email/etc)
What would it be like if
you
EXECUTED what you
wrote down….

102. To Wrap It Up
Please Complete the Session Evaluation Form
 Please provide your feedback (our Test & Measure)
 See me with 1:1 Questions
 See Will about the Voucher
Thom Finn 717.215.4277
thomfinn@actioncoach.com