2. Website testing increases customer acquisition.

Sometimes surveys don't work because people tell you what they think you want to hear to get the free gift card. Ask customers how they like your website and they'll say, "It's fine." But watch how they act on your site and you'll see what they really think. If 99 percent of your customers are reaching your site and instantly leaving, it's time to rethink the content or design. You can change your headline, your photos, your links and any other content that appears on your site to see what your customers respond to best.

It doesn't take a complete site redesign either. Implement gradual changes, a few at a time. Make just a 2 percent improvement each month, and you'll be doing 12 percent better in just six months.

If you have a lead form for customers to request contact, you can modify that, too. For example, studies show that asking for non-personal information first (such as "How many square feet is the building?" can warm customers up to giving you their e-mail address. Customers also like to get free information, so you can sometimes get them to give you their e-mail address in exchange for access to a useful paper or study.

In order to know what to change, you must have good statistics about your site. Your Internet Service Provider can usually help by giving you access to visitor activity logs. There are good companies that can give you more detailed statistics and help you see what's working and what isn't working on your website.

There are also reputable testing firms that help you test what works well by showing slightly different versions of your website to different customers and watching what they do. If customers respond well to one version, that becomes the new site. With website testing, you never have to sit around wondering why your website isn't working for you because you'll always be searching for things that work better. Your mantra should be test, test, test.

3. Surveys and ratings give your customers a chance to talk back.

Even though I expressed my doubts about surveys earlier, it's still vital to ask customers what they think. In fact, one of the important ways the Internet helps people make purchasing decisions is by providing the ratings and comments of others regarding products or services. If you're attuned to customer suggestions, complaints, and questions, you'll have even more information with which to improve your marketing. It's easy to get people to tell you what they think-just put a link on your website for customers to give feedback or rate your services and let the helpful comments flow in automatically.

Starting a dialog with customers by asking for feedback is one way to make sure you keep up with what's going on in your market, prevent customers from going to your competition and continue giving customers exactly what they want.

Do you feel like you're wasting money on traditional advertising but aren't sure what to do about it? Use the Internet to find out what works. Once you've found a headline, photo or promotion that works on your website, try using it in your newspaper advertising. After all, one of the things the Internet does best is use a virtual world to create sales in the real world.

Don Carson is creative director at QualitySmith (www.qualitysmith.com/), an online service that matches customers with local contractors nationwide.

Tags: 2007 August Issue, marketing, technology,

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