10 Successful Steps to Converting Ezine Subscribers to Clients

A business website may inevitably attract a lot of traffic and can have the potential to create clientele from the traffic attracted, but without a proper Ezine subscription process, the odds of creating clients from web traffic is low.

Websites rarely attract clients without offering resources that would be of interest to a specific audience. And even when there is an abundance of information, visitors to a specific website don't always purchase the service or product being advertised.

People don't usually purchase a product or service without knowing more about the business providing it. Because of this, giving a reason for visitors to remain interested in your business is integral. The best way to do this is by offering an Ezine - a periodic free publication usually distributed by email and usually in the form of a newsletter, Ebook, video or any other type of useful information that may be of interest to the audience you are trying to attract.

Terry Z. a self employed business strategist and marketing consultant, as well as owner of Solo Entrepreneur, was able to increase subscriptions and web traffic by 70 per cent using thoughtful and ultimately useful steps. In turn Terry Z. developed a 10 sure-fire step process to getting people to your website, subscribing to your Ezine and eventually becoming a customer.

Step 1 - Do you have the right visitors?

In order to convert website traffic to clients, you have to have the right visitors. In order to attract the right visitors - visitors who would benefit from your product or service - you must ensure you are using the right keywords and linking your site to businesses that would be appropriate to the message your website is trying to convey.

Google Analytics, a free program, is an excellent tool for helping you see how much web traffic is landing on your website, and where the traffic is coming from; helping you determine what is and isn't working in regards to your site set up and information.

It should be kept in mind that while web traffic is an integral part of your business success, traffic from referrals are more likely to develop into clients. You can refer traffic to your website through writing articles, trading links with appropriate businesses and guest blogging.

Step 2 - Do your visitors know what you want them to do?

Visitors to your website won't know what to do with the information you have provided them if you don't tell them. It is best to keep information and direction on your homepage simple, meaning, do not confuse the visitor with too much information and choices. Be sure to clearly tell your visitors to sign up for your Ezine and remember to tell them what it is all about; whether it is a newsletter, Ebook, or other form of valuable information.

Step 3 - Is it easy for visitors to take action?

You have valuable information to share with your visitors, but it won’t help if they cannot find it. Research has revealed that the majority of people scan websites from the top left down. This valuable information therefore tells us to place your subscription box in the top left of your homepage for easy visibility.

You may want to also consider placing your sign up form on every page, increasing visibility regardless of what page traffic lands. Be sure to also make the sign up form as effortless as possible. Consider having a form that doesn't require too many clicks to achieve the end result.

Step 4 - What's in it for your visitors?

Most successful Ezines offer some kind of incentive to sign up. Whether you are giving away an Ebook, an audio, a video, or an Ecourse; be sure to describe what the freebie is, and how it can add value to them. Also provide clear instruction on how they will access the valuable information; can they download it? Or will the information be emailed?

Also, tell subscribers that they will hear from you again and how often. You may wish to provide a sample of what they will be receiving.

Step 5 - Are your visitors put at ease?

Subscribers to your Ezine are providing you with valuable information - their personal information! Be sure to ease their minds by assuring them that you will not sell names and email addresses or allow their information to get into the wrong hands. Be sure to provide clear information surrounding your privacy policy and let them know that they can unsubscribe at any time.

Step 6 - Do your subscribers know to the next steps?

Often times, Ezines subscriptions require confirmation once sign up is complete. Therefore, remind visitors on the thank you page that they will need to confirm to receive the subscription they have signed up for.

Step 7 - Do your subscribers know how to white list?

Many email programs send unknown senders straight to junk mail. In order to avoid getting tossed in the junk mail folder, you need to tell your subscribers how to white list you.

White listing is a method used to ensure an email program recognizes and accepts an address. Provide clear instructions and be as specific as possible when you tell them how to white list. Inform them to not only white list just your Ezine information but your entire website.

Step 8 - Is your confirmation email customized?

Customize your confirmation emails and use the same language and graphics used on your website. This will help trigger people's memory as to what they are subscribing to and who is sending it to them. Keep things consistent and clear. Don't use generic language!

Step 9 - Are you delivering what you promised?

Resist from having subscribers wait for the Ezine. As soon as they receive the confirmation email and link, you should send them to a page that gives them the information right then and there. Also be sure to provide clear instructions if necessary to retrieve the information. If they have to download it, you may wish to provide instructions according to PC or MAC software. Provide them with as much information as possible. Make it easy for them.

Step 10 - Are you sending a thank you email? And is it customized?

Just like the confirmation email; the thank you email should be clear, consistent and provide helpful information. Tell subscribers to your Ezine how they can contact you if they need help and send the download link again. It is also a great idea to tell them in the thank you email what they should expect next. If your newsletter is weekly or monthly, remind them of this. Also let them know how often they will be hearing from you.

Also let your subscribers know that they can unsubscribe at anytime by clicking the link at the bottom of the email and/or by sending you an email.

Remember to put yourself in the shoes of the person on the other end. Would you sign up for your Ezine? Make the process as simple as possible and continue to look for improvements. You will soon be well on your way to increasing web traffic and establishing a valuable client base.

Keyword suggestion tips

Choosing the right keywords is critical for a success of a website. Target the wrong keywords and you have lost. There is pure gold hidden in less competitive keyword combinations and variations. Here are some more keyword suggestion tips for your success:

1. Start your research with more general terms. Let's say your website is about widgets. Type in "widgests" into our keyword suggestion box and study the results. Write down all results that are somehow relevant for your website.
   
   
2. Dig for more specific keywords. Based on the list you have just created, do a search for every keyword combination (let's say "red widget", "discount widget" and so on) and write down the new keyword combinations. It makes no sense to search for those new terms as you would not get anything new.
   
   
3. Now think about synonyms that people might search for like "buy widgets" and "purchase widgets". Do a research for them too.
   
   
4. Now you should have a decent list of relevant keywords. Optimize your pages for them. Create new pages optimized for the missing keyword combinations and link to them from your existing pages.
   
   
5. If you are serious about keyword research, we suggest to sign up for Keyword Discovery. You will be able to search their huge database of terms that people search for. Here are just some of their advantages:
   
   
   • Search for keywords and get hundreds of keyword combinations
   • Search for related terms (like if you enter "golf", you will get "tee time", "tiger wood" etc !)
   • Search for common misspellings
   • Check the popularity of all search terms
   • Find the balance between the total number of competing web pages for each search engine, and popularity of the search term. Then attack the niches!
   • Keyword Research
   • Industry Keywords
   • Spelling Mistake Research
   • Seasonal Search Trends
   • Related Keywords
   • KEI Analysis
   • Keyword Density Analysis
   • Domain Researcher Tool
   • Wordtracker™ Comparison
   
   All of these tools will bring you a lot of targeted traffic relevant to your website. Trust us - you will get your investition back in no time.
   
   You can take advantage of this information to:
   
   
   • Optimize the content of your web pages and your meta tags
   • Maximize your pay per click campaigns
   • Take traffic away from your competitors

And if you like our keyword popularity tool, please support us and place a link to Self SEO on your website or blog. Thank you !

Link popularity checker

The link popularity (the amount of incoming links to a particular website) is one of the most important factors for achieving top positions in search engines. The more quality links you can get the better.

With this tool you can check the link popularity for any given page - just enter the URL in the box below. You will see how many links has been already "noticed" by the major search engines - Google, Yahoo, MSN, Altavista, Alltheweb & Hotbot.



Website URL




Here are some tips to improve your link popularity:

1. Submit to the major link directories
   Google seems to add weight to the websites that are listed in DMOZ and Yahoo directories. If your site will be accepted in DMOZ, soon it will appear in the Google directory and in hundreds of DMOZ clones out there. If you've got budget, submit your site to the Yahoo directory. If you don't have the budget, try the free submission (don't expect too much though). For non-commercial sites a submission to Zeal.com could be worth the time you need to understand their submission guidelines.
   
   
2. Free directories
   Almost every topic has a directory that accept free submissions. Submit your site there. Do a search on your favorite search engine for "yourkeyword directory", "yourkeyword links" etc.
   
   
3. Link exchanges
   The link exchanges are not as effective as one way links to your website and pretty time consuming but still worth it sometimes. Look around in the Google directory for your keywords. You will find a lot of sites with link pages that do link exchanges with other sites. Simply ask for a link swap. A non-templated personal message can do wonders. A search for "yourkeyword add url", "yourkeyword submit site" etc will pop up hundreds of websites to exchange links with.



4. Links Quality
   Quality, on topic links work best. Don't waste your time by submitting your site to FFA pages and by spamming guestbooks and forums - this is not a long term solution and those links seems to count less and less in the last time.
   
   
5. The secret to get a lot of good one-way links for free
   Write quality content for your website. Provide some free services that everyone would love. Work really hard and with passion and you will wonder how many people will link to you. Not because of the link exchanges or PR, but because they like your website. At last, that is what the web is about - the links from some sites to other.