I recently bought Ben Hunt’s booked called ‘Convert: Designing Websites to Increase Traffic and Conversion’.
If the subject of building websites that actually make money is of any relevance to you, this is a ‘must read’ book.
In some ways, there’s nothing new or ground breaking it. It’s just the basics – explained very simply and clearly. As I read it, I thought, “well, I could have written this book myself”.
What I like about the book, is that it brings together all the relevant parts of the jigsaw of selling online, in one handy resource.
Ben points out the sad reality that 95% of small business websites are a waste of time and money. They simply don’t work to bring in new business and make money for their owners.
One of the key messages is that most website designers (myself included until very recently) use a “best guess” approach to building websites. We build what we think will work, based on past experience, put it online and hope for the best.
The new approach that Ben advocates (and what all the really smart internet marketers have been quietly doing for some time) is to continually test a website with different headlines, layouts, graphics etc – to see which gets the best response.
Another key message is that a website needs to be built on the right foundation, by doing keyword research at the first step of the process – not as an after-thought once the site is online. Keyword research is essential for search engine optimisation. If your site is not going to rank in the search engines, it’s not likely to get much traffic (unless you have some other traffic strategy in mind). So doing your keyword research at the outset is a smart move.
‘Convert’ is a book that every web designer should read, as well as any business owner who is interested in making more money from their website (and then you can pass on the information to your web designer).
You can get the book from Amazon (I actually downloaded it as e-book and am reading it on a kindle).
Read “Convert!” Introduction & Table of Contents (PDF format).