Back9 Creative Logo

While people stay in all day the scammers come out to play

Posted on by Phil

Dear Sir and/or Madam,

My name is Sir Richard Wellington, Knight of the Round Table. I am writing to inform you that as the last surviving heir of the late King Arthur Pendragon, you are entitled to the inheritance of the treasure of Camelot, amounting to approximately 3.2 Trillion Great British Pounds. Having newly-arrived to this century via portal, I am still familiarising myself with modern contrivances such as electronic currency centralised wealth depositories. As a result, I have a proposal by the which I believe we may assist each other. If you would kindly send me your credentials for a so-called “online banking account” including the username, password, and name of first pet, I will, in turn, send you the treasure that is rightfully yours via carrier pigeon. The Legendary Wealth of Camelot awaits you. 

Best Regards,
Richard Wellington, Sir Knight of Camelot

If only all scams were that easy to spot. Some scammers target large groups of people in the hopes of picking up one or two unsuspecting people. They don’t bother wasting time with spelling, grammar, or reasonable requests. Other scams are more intricate, and can even make the most cynical among us do a double-take before noticing that something doesn’t feel quite right.

Whenever there is a major event, there will be people trying to profit off it. And COVID-19 is no exception. In the UK, scammers have already gotten away with over 1.5 million pounds. And some of these are in NZ too. With the country on lockdown in Level 4 alert, there are some scams in particular that you should know about to stay vigilant in these tough times and not have to endure any more hardships from people trying to profit from it.

The Bad Bank Account Scam

This one is dangerous because it looks official. If you get an email from your bank asking for details, you should always be wary. They’re the ones that created it after all, so why would they ask their customers to provide that information?

It’s not so easy to think about all of that when you’re presented with an email with the bank’s logo saying there’s an issue with your account though. The links in the email will take you to an official-looking but fake site, and once you enter your credentials, you’ll get a message confirming that your account is safe–safe in the hands of a scammer, that is.

With events like COVID-19, you might see more specific wording in your bank scam emails. The bank might reference that certain policies are changing due to the virus or that your account will need to be migrated or in danger of closing. They may also reference safety measures via a link that you click–which will give your computer a virus.

If you ever do decide to change your password or update your details, go your bank’s website from a browser, not by clicking the links in the email. (Actually, this is good advice for any time you update your info, not just with your bank!)

The Fake Donation Scam

The fake donation scam preys on the goodwill of people wanting to help in hard times. Fake charities have been around as long as charities have existed, but some of them are more nefarious than others.

COVID-19 has already had its fair share of fake charities. Some of them are asking for help to fund research on a vaccine, others say that you can help the victims themselves with your generous donation; which will go straight to the scammers pocket.

How can you know if a charity is legitimate or not? The most straightforward way is to donate to organisations you already recognise, or reputable organisations that have been around for many years like The Red Cross or The Salvation Army. If you want to donate to somewhere specifically about COVID-19, take the time to research any new organisations to make sure the money goes to the right place.

One of the worst parts about this scam is that many victims are unware that they were duped. The scammer gets the money and the victim feels good they could help… Only the funds don’t end up going to a good cause.

The Health Worker Impersonator Scam

Many governments around the world have put strict policies in place to try and stem the spread of COVID-19. Leading up to the Level 4 lockdown, for instance, food places and other places in NZ with many visitors had a sign-in sheet asking for personal information. The idea was that if a person with a confirmed case visited the location, other people could be alerted and get tested.

Some scammers have used this principle to their advantage and began contacting people asking for personal information. And people unaware with the scams have given them that info in an effort to help.

There are a few variations of the scam. Emails with officially looking headers–like The Bad Bank Account Scam–are one method. Another is to get a phone call from someone from an organisation like WHO asking for this information. Some bolder scammers even go door-to-door in a double scam; first, they get your info, then they case your place and see if you have valuables worth stealing.

Other Coronavirus Scams

There are a lot of other scams related to the Coronavirus going on right now. Scammers are selling fake “medical-grade equipment” that is unsuitable to protect from the virus (if it ever arrives at all). Fake test kits and “cures” are also being sold online. Some apps that claim they’ll track the pandemic simply put malware on your device. And then there are “guaranteed investments” claiming that increased demand for items like pharmaceuticals means investing now will guarantee a huge payout.

Know of any other scams? Have you or someone you know dealt with a COVID-19 scammer? Let us know! And if you want help protecting your website against security threats on the virtual end, our team is here to help!

 

Today’s Marketing is Tomorrow’s Sales

Posted on by Phil

*UPDATE May 2021. Fortunately, New Zealand faired pretty well during COVID-19. Although we got out of lockdown, many of these tips still apply; today’s marketing is still tomorrow’s sales!

With Covid-19 / Coronavirus affecting the world, should you still be spending money on Marketing?

We’re certainly in a strange time right now – historically, downturns like this traditionally spell trouble for Marketing Agencies like us. Businesses get cold feet and see Marketing and Technology as a cost they can cut, rather than an opportunity to capitalise on. But cutting your marketing spend could mean you cost you a lot more than the brief savings you get back. Don’t forget that today’s marketing is tomorrow’s sales!

How does a business get through hard times?

To survive these rough times a business needs 3 things:

  1. A plan to mitigate the impact on their business
  2. Identify any hidden opportunities and capitalise on them ASAP
  3. Plan and prepare now to launch ahead of the competition when the eventual upturn occurs.

What are some of these hidden opportunities right now?

So what are these hidden opportunities that you can capitalise on right now? Below are 9 points to help reframe the strategy and identify the hidden opportunities with your clients:

  1. Right now, a lot of people are cautious about going out and travelling. But that doesn’t mean people will stop buying things, or looking for things to buy once they go out and about again. Buyers are now spending more time than ever online, doing research, reading content, checking LinkedIn, etc. Right now, it’s imperative to be present online. If you aren’t where your customers are, you will fall behind.
  2. Getting new customers might slow down for many businesses, but remember that today’s marketing is tomorrow’s sales. By neglecting your marketing now, you could seriously prolong the effects of the current situation.
  3. Online marketing doesn’t just mean ad spend. Advertising is just one part of digital marketing. In fact these days, organic trust and Authority is key. With businesses being more risk-averse and less likely to buy, investing money in ads could see a pretty significant immediate outlay for not much return. This is the time for more sustainable long-term approaches to lead generation, such as focusing on inbound marketing that can bring customers to you.
  4. Brand will win in the long run. You need to create great content that is helpful and educational that builds trust with your audience. People will only buy from companies they know and trust – make sure your marketing takes that into account, and that your business is seen as one of these trusted brands.
  5. We could be looking at a recession where budgets get cut. That means it’s more important than ever to make sure you’re cutting the ad budgets that aren’t yielding any return and optimising or doubling down on the ones that are working. Now is the time to start making smarter money decisions with your ad budget.
  6. Event marketing is all but over for the next quarter; perhaps the year. Just look at all the major events globally that have been cancelled! Relying on your booth at those trade shows you had planned to get leads for the year is unrealistic. Even if some events do go ahead, decision-makers probably won’t be the ones who show up. While you could save that money for events later on, now is a great time to reallocate that spend into digital channels so you can meet your customers where they’re going to be–online!
  7. Related to events being canceled, have you been considering looking into things like social media marketing or Google Ads? Now is the perfect opportunity to “try-out” digital marketing strategies that have been put on the back-burner for ages.
  8. Aim to gain visibility now. Use the added visibility from people spending more time online to turn marketing into a revenue centre. Now is the time to stop campaigns that simply don’t provide a return and double down on the campaigns that do. Ad spend is about to get super competitive with big brand out-bidding smaller businesses, so unless you have an unlimited budget you need to know where the ROI is coming from!
  9. Businesses are often scared to invest because they don’t know how the market will perform. Should they be tactical or strategic? Well, the blessing in disguise here is we know exactly how it will perform for the next two months – Poorly. With the market heading the way it is for the next while, what can you do to stand out and show that you have something more to offer? Now’s the chance to invest in those opportunities and be prepared for when things go back to normal.

Tomorrow's sales will increase with marketing today

Keep your online presence going strong

Right now, we don’t know how long things will be the way they are. A lot of things might change in the future. But one thing that will likely grow even stronger is the importance of the internet. Start building your online presence now if you haven’t started yet. Make sure that people can out about you, what you offer, and how you can help them. If you’re already online, make sure to keep your content current and updated. Let people know that you’re out there and ready to do business and have what they’re looking for. Continue to reach out to customers and keep up with your marketing. Marketing is an investment, but one that will pay off in the long run if done right. Feel free to get in touch with us to see how your business can improve its marketing.

Why Can’t People Find my New Website?

Posted on by Phil

After all the blood, sweat, and digital tears, your website is done.  Yet when you tell people about it, they can’t find it–sometimes even when they type your business name directly into Google. A common misconception many people have is that once their new website goes up people will flock to it like seagulls to your lunch at the beach. But getting results can take a bit of time. Even with the seagulls, if you toss food to one, it will take a little bit for others to notice and come over to see you. And the same is true for your website.

If you aren’t familiar with digital marketing, it can be confusing why a great-looking, easy-to-use site gets lost in cyberspace.  Why is that? And is there anything you can do to speed up the process and what is a realistic timeframe to see SEO results?

How-Long-Does-SEO-Take-to-see-results

My new website went live a week ago, where are the results?

As big and omnipresent as Google seems to be, they have their limitations. In 2020, there are over 1.5 billion live websites and 17 quadrillion pages online. It takes a lot of resources to get through all of that!

Think of your new site like a small, amazing restaurant at the outskirts of town. When the place first opens, it probably won’t get too many visitors. But then a few people might visit out of curiosity. If they like it, they might come back. And if they love it, they’ll probably tell their friends. Then those friends will spread the word until eventually, you can’t find a table without a reservation. With enough business, that restaurant may even have to move to a more centralised location where it becomes well known for its value and quality.

With new websites, Google takes a lot of things into account before it will put a site high in the search results. Sometimes this can take a while as it decides that the content on the site is useful and relevant to visitors. For example, if an unusually high amount people come to the site and leave quickly without visiting another page–known as a “bounce”–then the site will be less likely to be at the top of search results. But that means the opposite is true as well; sites that prove they provide value to visitors are more likely to be rewarded for the effort and hard work they put into giving a strong user experience.

Was your site built with SEO in mind?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation, a series of over 200 factors Google uses to decide who ranks high.

When done right, websites can be like staff and can help you bring customers at any time. Like if some night owl wants to look into buying a boat at 4:00 AM on Christmas Day and you sell boats, your site will do the work for you when nearly all of the world is asleep. Your new website can do a lot of good!

However, for this to happen, the site needs to be built and developed with SEO in mind. It’s a lot more difficult to backtrack and try to add it afterwards. This is because the site structure–the way users get to pages and the way pages link to each other–needs to be done appropriately for best results with SEO. If the site structure is wrong, it’s a lot of work to rebuild the site the right way. It’s worth the effort to get it right the first time!

Luckily, Google has general guidelines about how to help them find your pages. Some of these include:

  • Making sure that every page is linked to by at least one other page.
  • Limiting links on a single page to “a few thousand at most”.
  • Adding a sitemap–a list with links to every page on your site.
  • Using proper server setup and a robots.txt file.

How long will it take before people find my site?

There’s no straight answer for how long it will take for your site to appear on Google. In general, it will take between several days and a few weeks to show up. You might be able to speed up the process by submitting the site to Google Search Console. Doing this improves the chances that your site will be crawled–checked over by Google–but is unlikely to speed up the process. Following the suggested guidelines and requesting Google to crawl it is your best bet. Even still, the timeframe will be several days to a few weeks.

What if several weeks pass and I still can’t find my new website?

If you wait through the time frame and still aren’t finding your site, it’s most likely missing something important. Does the site follow Google’s Guidelines? Was it set up with SEO in mind? If you think it was, double-check everything to make sure. If you’re unsure or don’t know how, the team here at Back9 can help. We have years of experience building and maintaining websites and know just what to look for. Give us a ring or stop by today to find out how we can help you.

What are Internet Cookies?

Posted on by Phil

Consuming internet cookies

You’ve probably heard of internet cookies in one way or another. And although they sound tasty, you probably haven’t eaten one. Internet cookies are small bits of data that get recorded and stored when you visit certain websites. Sounds innocent enough, and sometimes they are. But some cookies have an ulterior motive, and by accepting cookies on every site you go to, you could end up with some random person in a giant data centre knowing more about your personal life than you care to share.

So how can you tell which cookies are delicious and which are rotten, and how do you only get the good ones?

Why are they called “cookies” anyway?

Because some programmer a few decades ago thought it was cool. The term relates to the term “magic cookie” aka fortune cookie, because those cookies hold small bits of information, just like the cookies on the internet hold small bits of information about you when you use a web browser like Chrome or Safari. They could also be called cookies because cookies tend to be messy and leave crumbs so mum can trace it back and get the information on the culprit. But the fortune cookie is cool too.

Are there different kinds of internet cookies?

Like their edible namesake, internet cookies come in different flavours, er, varieties too. Cookies will generally fall into one or two types: First-party cookies and third-party cookies.

First-party Cookies

A first-party cookie comes directly from a site that you visit. We’ll call them the homemade cookie. It’s the kind that saves your username and password, your site preferences, and pages that you’ve visited. First-party cookies can be quite helpful, convenient, and often, nothing to worry about.

First-party cookies are essential to make some sites function properly. Have you ever gone to a website that has an online store, then you search through multiple categories, choose your products, and buy them all at once in a single transaction? That wouldn’t be possible without first-party cookies, because the site wouldn’t know what you’ve done before. Each page change would be like visiting the site for the first time. As you can probably guess, that would make visiting sites frustrating very fast.

There’s no reason to be worried about first-party cookies, although choosing to have all your usernames and passwords saved is a related issue. If you choose to keep those credentials saved, keep your device even more safe!

Third-Party Cookies

 

Since first-party cookies are homemade, We’ll call third-party internet cookies the boxed cookies you find on the shelf of the grocery store. Unlike cookies that come directly from the site you visited, Third-party are… You guessed it, cookies that come from a different site than the one you’re on.

How are sites you don’t visit allowed to keep information about you, you ask? That’s actually been a hot topic of discussion lately and even Google’s jumped on board. In fact, Google Chrome recently announced that they will be ending support for third-party cookies. As the most popular web browser, this will be a big deal on changing how the internet works, hopefully, for the better. Safari and Firefox already have them disabled by default.

But why did they ban them in the first place?

Unlike first-party cookies, third-party cookies are often used by advertisers and websites you never visited to track your activity. They’re why you can do a search for a random thing and then suddenly see ads for it on completely unrelated sites. And they can be more than stalkerish too. For instance, Malicious sites you never visited can track you for scams or even sell your data to another company. Some governments were also using them to track information about individuals. So much for privacy.

However, third-party cookies aren’t inherently bad. Some of them are used to help site features work effectively. They can also help make sure you see ads that are relevant, like sales on flights to places you’ve shown an interest in.

Can I find this cookie data and should I delete my cookies?

All website browsers let you see cookie data. But depending on which browser you’re using, how you access them is different. To see how to check internet cookies in your browser, follow this handy guide.

While you probably don’t want random organisations tracking you, deleting ALL cookies can be a bad idea. You’ll lose both kinds of cookies, including your saved passwords. Hopefully, you can remember the one you came up with years ago for Facebook!

 

Should I enable cookies when sites ask me to?

 

With Google joining in, third-party cookies are going to be permanently stomped into tiny crumbs shortly. In the meantime, many websites are now asking for permission to use cookies. Should you grant it? The short answer is only if you plan on coming back at least a few times. If you did a search and found the site randomly from the search results and only care about the one topic, it might be best to say no. But if you’re a regular, you might want to enable them.

New website development best practices will keep in mind Third-Party cookies will be trashed soon. There are plenty of other ways to keep track of customer information like through a CRM where you can use customer data in a helpful way. If you want to know more about building great websites or want to improve your existing site, give us a call or get in touch today.

Who is the best Web Design Company in Invercargill?

Posted on by Phil

Narrowing down the best business in an industry can be tricky. This is especially hard when it comes to Web Design and Development Companies. Whether you’re searching for the best web design company in your region or the best web designers in New Zealand, there are a few things to keep in mind. The most important factor for one person might be negligible to another, and vice versa. With web design and development, aesthetics, price, ongoing service, and other factors all play different roles. One aspect can stand out among the rest for you and something else for your neighbour. So how do we define who is the best?

Business is not a finite thing, in fact, if the business were a sporting match, it would be a draw with endless overtime. There is no official way to measure who is better. Or is there? We have business awards, design awards, and a number of other ways to measure who is best, but these are still finite and somewhat subjective things within the infinite.

The best way to decide is by reframing the question – or adding to the end of it – Ask not “Who is the best Website Design Company?” but “Who is the best Website Design Company for me and my business?”

Who are the best web design companies in Invercargill?

Which company will be the best for you depends on your needs and circumstances. What are your criteria for partnering with a web designer? What do you want them to do for you?

One of the most important parts of teaming up with a company is working with people who believe what you believe! You can usually feel that in your gut. And from my experience, I would say trust your instinct! It’s easy in an online world to bend the truth or manipulate Google’s Search Engine Results Pages (or SERP). But it is getting harder to do. Consumers want trust from their providers, whether that be from their mechanic, their power company, or theor website design team.

Below are six of the most popular design and digital marketing companies that do business in Invercargill, New Zealand.

CSL Design

At CSL Design they like to combine professional and affordable, to ensure that their customers receive the highest quality website within their budget. They are focused on providing a friendly, open and stress-free service.

CSL Design offers a wide range of design solutions including, web design, graphic design, and online marketing. While the business itself is located in Southland, Invercargill but say their design services are not only for the locals but for the whole of New Zealand. They are a friendly group and do not mind any questions no matter how simple they may be. CSL offers FREE consultations during normal business hours so it’s easy to find out if their services are a good fit.

The Custom Bubble

The Custom Bubble is a freelance design company offering affordable and innovative website/design solutions. They work in a co-working space for international and local clients (….from down at the bottom of the world in Invercargill).

At The Custom Bubble, you work directly with the designer, to meet your brief and deliver what you want.

Emotive Design

Emotive is an eclectic mix of creative, strategic, and technical minds. They are based in Invercargill, New Zealand, and specialize in website development, branding, and graphic design.

Emotive Design promises they will work with you, one on one, from beginning to end. They claim they will work way more hours than you are paying them to work in order to make your next project a success if that’s what it takes to do it right because they take pride in their work.

Emotive Design makes it their priority to understand your business needs and what makes you unique. They listen, apply creativity, and are passionate about delivering solutions that provide a real return on investment for their clients.

Big or small, your business is important to you, and therefore important to them. They approach all projects with the same simple yet effective process: Listen. Think. Create.

Cool Websites NZ

Cool Websites NZ is an Invercargill-based web design company in New Zealand. They say they specialise in offering quality, cost-effective, user-friendly, and result-oriented web design and digital marketing services. Their professional, creative and expert design/marketing team offers a customer-focused approach to turning your website into a sales engine.

Flat Out Web Design

Flat Out says they’re wizards in custom web development and web design. They service Dunedin, Invercargill, and the rest of New Zealand.

They aim to take your vision and work their magic, turning it into a kickass website that’s eye-catching, original, and user-friendly. And they also say they love a challenge and there’s really no task too small or too large for their team to take on.

The Flat Out team create e-commerce websites, upgrade websites, and design bespoke websites using their own content management system. They also can develop effective WordPress websites, Custom Plugins, and build websites from scratch.

GraphX

Graphx is an Invercargill-based agency providing a range of graphic design, website design and digital marketing services to small and medium scale businesses at an affordable price.

Their mission is to promote their client’s online presence in the competitive market and increase their online visibility level by the website optimisation and social media marketing services. GraphX say their “responsive websites are designed to gain a high search ranking and work great on all devices”.

Whether you are looking for business brochure design, business cards, flyer design, social media advertisement, website design, logo design, or any other graphic design service to promote your business, they say they are here to help you with eye-catching designs.

Business IT South

Business IT South offers web design and development, E-commerce website design services to businesses in Invercargil and Southland, as well as all over New Zealand. B IT South, endeavor to ensure their websites are designed to suit each business’s needs.

They primarily design simple, responsive, and powerful websites on WordPress to help NZ small businesses to succeed. They believe their clean, modern, and user-friendly designs make websites more useful and eye-catching.

 

So, who is the best Web Design Company for me and my business?

So which Web design and digital marketing company based in Invercargill, is the best for you and your business? Well… That still depends on what you’re looking for.

CSL Design, Emotive Design, Cool Websites NZ and GraphX all aim to provide full-service offerings. So say they can handle any level of marketing and web design. From managing social media to building a brand new website they say they can do it. Webstudio and Flat Out appear to be more focused on the web side of things. That makes them good options if you are looking to go fully digital and don’t need traditional marketing campaigns.

If you’re looking to partner with a Web Design Company, it’s worth taking the time to research. Ultimately a website should work for your business. A great website should deliver on the following 3 things:

  1. Marketing – attracting and engaging the right people and telling your story.
  2. Education – Educating the buyer on what you do, what you offer, your industry and more…
  3. Sales – If you’re selling online of course, but also, converting visitors into leads or contacts.

Do some Research

When you’re deciding who to contact, look over their website. If their site seems easy to use, and it answers most of your questions, chances are they could be a good fit. One tip is to check right at the bottom of their website and looks for the “Copyright ©” info. If it says 2014, chances are they may be a bit out of touch. Read up on their services, and testimonials. Ultimately if their style and tone match what you want for your own business, they may be worth talking to. Taking time to find that right fit and work with credible, reliable businesses can save time and trouble later on. So it’s worth the effort!

Image-link-about-growth-driven-web-design-back9-creative

The Path to Conversion – Is Your Website Doing as Much as it Could?

Posted on by Phil

If you’ve built a website but haven’t noticed an increase in leads or sales, it might not all be in your head. It’s true that a good website can bring home the bacon, but what if you have a well-designed site that people are finding but you aren’t seeing the results? What gives?

A common mistake people make is to get a website built and leave it at that. Then they go out and share it with the world. But what are people supposed to do once they get there? How can you turn anonymous visitors into qualified leads? Sure, some people might read your content decide to call you and that can be hard to quantify and attribute to your website. But your website can do much more.

 

Designing a conversion path can help you turn strangers into leads. It can help guide people into doing a positive action on your page and make it so the website you already put time, effort, and resources towards can pay you back.

What’s the goal of your website?

Depending on what type of business you have, your website might serve a different purpose. If you have an online store, for instance, you likely want people to buy your products directly. If not, you might want to use it as a first step for people calling your or coming to visit you in person. Your Call to Actions on your site should reflect your goal.

What is a Call to Action and why do I need them?

Before we jump into conversion paths, we need to talk about what a Call to Action (CTA) is. A CTA is a statement with the goal of getting someone to do something. It’s the type of thing you see at the end of web pages and ads, “Call now”, “Stop by today”, “Get yours here”, those types of phrases. The goal of a Call to Action is to tell the person what you want them to do next. Usually, they’re near the end of a piece of content because if someone read to the end to see it, they’re already interested in what you have to say. A CTA is the opportunity to suggest the next step in doing business with you while the information is still fresh.

Some business owners don’t use any kind of CTA because they believe that the visitor will already know what to do next, or that CTAs will be annoying. While this might be true for a segment of the population, they are used frequently enough that someone who was interested is unlikely to get soured and leave just because you ask them to call you for a free estimate. It might not be obvious to everyone what you expect them to do, and having a little reminder could make all the difference.

 

Your Call to Action doesn’t need to be obvious and straightforward either. Feel free to get creative if that matches your brand’s tone and style. Like “Pounce on our deal now before it goes in the litter box” for a cat toy company is purrfectly fine. A good CTA can help someone along the path to conversion.

What is a conversion path?

Simply put, a conversion path is a series of steps a visitor takes to make a desired action. That action could be signing up for your newsletter, making a purchase, giving you their contact information, or any number of things. If you have a CTA, a conversion is when somebody does the action the Call to Action suggests.

For many people, a conversion is a journey. People tend to do research and follow the steps on the Buyer’s Journey before making a purchase. And for the most part, the higher the price tag, the longer it takes to make a decision. A good conversion path takes this into account and provides visitors with information, helps explain why you’re the right choice, then finishes with an effective Call to Action.

How can I make effective conversion paths?

When done right, a conversion path can be very smooth. Instead of a serious of separate steps, it can be more likely an escalator, naturally guiding people to the top with minimal effort. If one company is unclear on what they want to do and hard to figure out, the potential customer might look to a competitor. After all, who wants to spend all that extra effort when there’s an easier option nearby?

Probably the most effective way to make conversion paths to work is to offer something of value to your visitors. This can be additional content like an eBook, a way to subscribe to your newsletter, or a coupon for a discount. What works best for you depends on what kind of products or services you offer and your target market.

If you have competitors who are active online, you can see what they’re up to as well. If they have a Facebook, which type of their posts are getting more results? You can emulate the successful posts not only online, but through your website too.

Becoming a convert

A standard place to add a CTA and the end of your conversion path for your pages is to add a contact form at the side or bottom of the page, like we have here. But it isn’t your only option. Some other varieties include:

  • Linking to a resources page with other related content
  • Having a quick animated pop-up message appear on intent to exit with an offer
  • Ending with a call-to-action that calls the business number directly if the user is on a mobile device
  • You can also add a welcome gate–a full-screen welcome pop-up–but we recommend having it based on cookies so it only happens on the first visit

There are plenty of options, but always make sure to take your target market’s preferences and your various buyer personas in mind. And once you do manage to get some new customers, it’s only the first step. By focusing on a positive customer experience on every step of the conversion path, you can earn regular customers or customers that might promote your business themselves. To learn more about effective websites and trends for 2020, you can download our eBook here. You can also call or come in and talk with us here at Back9 and we’ll be happy to show what we can do to make your marketing efforts more effective.