Paul Tomlinson

– The CTR (Click Through Rate) of a newsletter is higher than all social channels.

– It’s the most direct method of reaching your customer.

– Customers don’t buy from your social media account, but they’ll buy from your newsletter.

– Your newsletter isn’t reliant on anyone but you. TikTok could block your account tomorrow if they wanted to!

– Each subscriber has given you their email address – meaning they are very keen to know more about your product or service.

– It is an opportunity to learn more about your customers, which you can then use to tailor your content and marketing strategies.

– Aswell as selling your products and services through your newsletter, there’s opportunities to monetise through sponsored content or affiliate marketing.

– You’re building a potentially valuable asset.

– Being able to write great content is a fantastic skill to have.

Firstly, stay away from dodgy contractors. They could cost you big time 💰

Know exactly what your customer wants from the rebuild

Have a very clear plan. Rebuilding is often harder than building from scratch

Prepare for a few difficulties along the way (or there would be no rebuild in the first place)

Carefully transfer and store all the interiors

Check that everything that wasn’t working is now working

Check that everything that was working is STILL working 

Finally ensure your customer is insanely happy after moving back in

Oh and tidy up the front, so that everyone can appreciate your efforts 💪

Why?

1. Criminal combinations

Double check that collection of words in your url. You really don’t want a Mp3shits.com or Itscrap.com.

2. Horrible hyphens

Customers tend to trust domains more that are easier to type, so no i-love-you.com.

3. Nasty Numbers

Using numbers instead of words just looks weird. Swerve cars4u.com.

4. Longing urls

Customers prefer urls which are short and easier to remember. URLs such as llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch .international (which was once a website!) might be a problem!

5. Eerie Extensions

Customers are much more comfortable with .com and .net extensions. Please leave .stream, .men or .party 😂

6. Keyword overkill

Cramming too many keywords into your url looks desperate, so definitely avoid supersexycarsforholidays .com

7. Mismatched url and website

A domain name that promises one thing but delivers another will scare your customers away!

8. SSL gone AWOL

A lack of SSL encryption (https) will definitely make customers wary of sharing personal information.

Even writing this list annoys me 😂

1. Waiting ages for a site to load (obvs)

2. Not able being to unsubscribe from a mailing list

3. Too much copy on a webpage

4. Not understanding what a website is about within 5 seconds

5. Unresponsive websites

6. Forced registration (especially at checkout)

7. Unable to find the shipping costs

8. Complicated GDPR popups (can I not just accept or decline?)

9. Not knowing if a form has submitted or not

10. Slow responses to questions I’ve submitted

1. Ask for minimal information

Just request their email address.

2. Clear Call To Action

ie Subscribe or Join Now and using a strong colour.

3. Add your CTA to social media

eg Get free weekly content at xyz.com

4. Guest checkout

Enable customers to subscribe without creating an account.

5. Offer an incentive

ie 10% off your first order when you subscribe.

6. Prominently positioned sign up form

Place in the header or footer of your website. Remove any distractions near the form.

7. Clear privacy policy

Communicate to your customers how secure their data is.

8. Use pop-up forms

Still an effective way of grabbing the customer’s attention.

9. Run competitions

Offering prizes is a great way to build subscribers.

10. Test, Test, Test!

Tweak your CTA, incentives and copy to see what works best.

If they don’t, they should. Here’s a few reasons why:

👩‍🎨 Choosing a specific blue (#0044CC) over some other hues amounted to an additional $80 million in annual revenue for Bing back around 2010. Microsoft said that the previous lighter blue ‘lacked a bit of confidence’.

👩‍🎨 Slack once used a dull green colour for its CTA buttons. After switching to a vibrant purple, they saw a significant increase in sign-up rates. The purple button stood out more and drew users’ attention to the action they wanted them to take.

👩‍🎨 Airbnb went through a significant rebranding in 2014, transitioning from a utilitarian blue to a welcoming and vibrant combination of colours. The redesign helped Airbnb reposition itself as a community-driven platform, and the change was instrumental in establishing its image as a trusted and user-friendly platform.

👩‍🎨 HubSpot changed its link colour from green to red. The new red links helped improve click-through rates and reduce the bounce rate, as the colour contrast made it more obvious that the links were interactive.

👩‍🎨 The U.S. government updated many of its websites to improve accessibility. Changes included higher colour contrast for text and background, making the content more readable and usable for individuals with visual impairments.

Choosing the right colours for your website should be decided by what your customers will positively respond to, not what colours you think look good.

Use:

👨‍🎨 Red for Urgency, excitement, and action.

👨‍🎨 Green for growth, success, and positivity.

👨‍🎨 Blue for trust, reliability, and professionalism.

👨‍🎨 Yellow for optimism, energy, and positivity.

👨‍🎨 Purple for creativity, luxury, and uniqueness.

Happy colouring! 🖌

🤖 Customers can get answers to simple questions from chatbots immediately.

🤖 Customers can speak to chatbots 24/7.

🤖 Customers can easily communicate with chatbots without any rudeness or frustration.

🤖 Customers save time by receiving the information they want immediately.

🤖 Customers are enabled to find out the answers themselves, which empowers and provides them with a sense of control.

💰 In addition, deploying chatbots also saved businesses around $11b in 2022, according to Business Insider – https://lnkd.in/etqFeKxM.

💰 While Juniper Research predicts that global retail consumer spending via chatbots will reach $142 billion by 2024 – https://lnkd.in/ezSSXEzW.

Does your website have a chatbot yet? 🤔

🍰 Firstly, ask your customer what kind of cake they’d like. Agree on a recipe and secure a deposit from the customer.

🍰 Remember to double-check that you have all your ingredients in place to avoid potential issues later on in the kitchen.

🍰 Once fully prepared, start baking!

🍰 Remember to take your creation out of the oven regularly to check it’s cooking correctly.

🍰 Once the cake is baked, enhance its appearance with lots of nice colours and a generous sprinkling of decorative elements to make it truly spectacular!

🍰 Finally, hand the cake over to your customer for feedback but hope they simply devour it like a wild animal!

Here’s some simple things to check:

1. Use HTTPS

Implement SSL/TLS encryption to enable HTTPS on your website. This encrypts data transmitted between the user’s browser and your server, ensuring secure communication.

2. Choose a Secure Hosting Provider

Select a reputable hosting provider that prioritises security, offers regular security updates, and has robust security measures in place.

3. Keep Software Updated

Regularly update your website’s content management system (CMS), plugins, themes, and other software components to patch known security vulnerabilities.

4. Regular Backups

Check your hosting provider schedules automated backups of your website and databases.

5. Security Plugins and Tools

Use security plugins and tools designed for your CMS, such as Wordfence for WordPress, to scan for vulnerabilities and monitor for suspicious activities.

6. File Upload Security

If your site allows file uploads, restrict file types and use server-side validation to prevent malicious uploads, such as executable files.

So what can you do?

1.Visual Appeal
Ensure your website is clean, organized, and looks great to impress your users.

2. Color & Typography
Have consistent typography and a pleasing color scheme to enhance your user’s perception of the site.

3.Loading Speed
If your site doesn’t load quickly, your user’s opinion isn’t going to be great. Use Google Lighthouse to see what you can do!

4. Clarity of Purpose
Users need be able to quickly determine what your website is about and its main purpose. A clear and concise headline or tagline helps establish this.

5. Trust Signals
Add elements such as security badges, testimonials, and clear contact information to quickly establish trust.

6. Professionalism
Check your site for errors, broken links, typos etc – any of which could ruin your credibility and trustworthiness.

7. Negative Elements
Be wary of intrusive ads, pop-ups or aggressive color choices which can all contribute to negative first impressions.