A study by the Stanford Poynter
Project (using the same technological gear to track internet
user eye movements that the Air Force uses to monitor pilot
eye movements) found the following:
Moral: Content is what people
are seeking. Keep your headlines simple and to the point. Have
nice graphics…but don't overdo it.
Several major search portals, including Google.com (which
now supplies Yahoo with findings) and Snap.com use link
popularity as an indicator of how 'important' a site is. The
greater number of quality links to your site, the higher
your rankings will be in these engines.
Moral: spend time getting quality links as part of your
marketing effort.
They Check In But They Don't Check Out
Once your customer arrives at
your site, you do not want to make other sites 'popular'. You do
not want to make an easy way for your potential clients to leave
you so eliminate or minimize links to sites that don't benefit
your site directly. Common examples of this include links to
Netscape or Internet Explorer; links to nonprofit associations,
etc.
Moral: Keep your customers on your web site; do not let them check
out.
Fine Wine Gets Better With Waiting, But Not Your Customers
Your web designer says that this
introduction is "worth the wait". It whirls and
twirls and plays cool music. Mortgage customers are coming
for mortgage information, not entertainment.
Moral: Flashy stuff builds the ego of web designers. It does
not create income for mortgage web site owners
Is A .Net Domain Good Just As Good As
.Com?
A few domain facts: Over 75% of all domain
names registered end in*.com.
About 14 million domains names have been registered to date
(meaning if you are looking for a good domain name, you are
probably too late).
For the first quarter of 2000 about 5 million domains were
taken; that is about 39 domains a minute are acquired.
With these facts, many look to 'lesser' extensions (*.net,
*.org etc.) in hopes of getting a decent descriptive domain
name. The problem is that with so many *.com names, people
assume your name is *.com, even if you tell them it is
myloandomain.net. They will actually hear myloandomain.com
and go visit your competitor.
Moral: a *.com name is the best option. You may have to
examine buying a domain name from a domain broker to get the
correct descriptive name for your site.
Only Large Sites Succeed.
You can create your own success story and dispel
the myth that only large sites succeed if you budget both
the needed monies and time to have a strong Internet
presence. But just like the real world, the Internet is a
competitive arena; especially for mortgage companies.
Tip: Give your customers what they want: information on
rates and programs. Eliminate confusion on your web site. A
clean, effective, and content rich web page produces more
business than flash and whirls. A mortgage company
specializing and focusing on their niche can outperform much
larger companies due to the power of the net.
Rod and Robert are co-founders of MortgagePromote.com, a leading Internet marketing provider to corporate mortgage clients. On request, they conduct nationwide training seminars covering Internet marketing strategies, lead generation, web site development techniques and more. Web site:
www.mortgagepromote.com.
E-mail: info@mortgagepromote.com.