Are you checking the right things in the wrong order and not getting the results that you want?

Too many times when I speak to clients, they are using the right tool at the wrong time.

Having the best technology in the world will do you no good, if you're using it at the wrong time in the process.

There's not a lot of attention paid to sequencing. That's because we work in a tactical environment (mindset) and we are just looking to get things done. Getting things done is great. But, are you doing things in the right order? And are you using the right tools at the right time to accomplish your task?

As business owners we have been taught to operate tactically. This is good if we have a business that is working like a clock and there is nothing to adjust. But as soon as something changes, we have to change our approach and thinking.

Tactics are isolated actions. Strategy on the other hand dictates order, importance and timing within an overall structure. Most times as business owners, we focus on the tactics and not the strategy within our business.

Tool use is just one of the areas where this is the case:

This story will illustrate the point…

I got a call from a prospect the other day.

His request was that I work on his landing page to increase conversions.

I asked a couple questions:

1. What is the source of the traffic to your website? SEO or PPC?
2. Is it converting? At what rate?
3. Do you know which keywords are converting to sales? The most? The least?
4. How many sales a day per keyword that you are tracking?

Immediately, he stops me mid-sentence and says, "I just want you to fix my landing page."

I tell them that to fix his landing page is the end of the process and that there are at least five to 10 things are going on before visitor gets to his landing page that affect the landing page's performance.

And, several more events that are happening after the landing page that effect the overall site performance. To isolate the landing page only may not give him the overall effect he wants within his process.

I tried to gently explained to him that there is no way for me to just walk in and fix the landing page without knowing what's feeding that landing page.

The landing page itself is a system. It's a conversion machine so to speak.

If the inputs in this system are not of good quality or are coming from an unstable source, the outputs of the system, which in this case are sales, will not occur in a repeatable consistent manner.

For Example With The PPC to Landing Page System:

The sequence is:

Before Landing Page:

• Keywords
• Keyword Segmentation
• Impressions
• Clicks

On Page Mechanics For PPC Quality Scoring

• On Page Factors

On Landing Page (People Factors)

• Emotional Appeal
• Messaging
• Design
• Redirection To Desired Action

After Landing Page

• Conversions Within Sales Process
• Profits

The beauty is that all of these things that affect your sales cycle can be tracked, tested and optimized. The tools are available. It is only a matter of knowing which is the proper tool to use for the situation at hand.

It's really easy to remember…

You don't use a telescope to do cellular research. A telescope is indeed the right tool for another situation.

Here it just gets in the way and may even give you bad information.

It's the same online with your business. Use the right tool at the right time to see what you need to see to improve your processes.

At the SEO Rainmaker Conference, we go over not only the tools but the tools and process sequence to unlock the potential of your business. We are in the process of closing registration for the May workshop. So if you are interested in coming please register now.

– David Bullock

Popularity: 100% [?]