Is there a website where you could look up upcoming sales?

Why does my website attract more UK than US customers? - for Serenata

• 1. From our website at www.inst.org, we sell four times more product in the UK than the US. Looking at the site, and the information below, why is that, do you think? 2. How might we amend our website so as to increase our sales in the USA? *Background* We sell vocational courses. We?re based in the UK. And we have a small office in the US. Our US address and phone number appear prominently on the site. So on first sight I think we look fairly US-friendly. We attract enough US people to the site. An online survey showed that 40% of web visitors (note, visitors not purchasers) came from the US and Canada. So why don?t 40% of our sales come from the US? In fact, given the respective populations, our US sales ought to be five times those of the UK. The majority of our advertising expenditure goes on pay-per-click ads in Google, Overture and other search engines. As a result of our internet advertising, the majority of our customers are people who?ve surfed the net looking for a course. Their first contact with us is our website, www.inst.org. I suggest you concentrate on www.inst.org/ID because it?s a good example of what we do. US visitors are somewhat less likely to buy our product. Only 18% of US visitors said they were ?very likely? to enroll on the course, compared with 27% of all visitors. Why might that be? Remember that they?ve seen only the website. And could that difference really result in a 4:1 sales ratio (UK to US)? Many US visitors think we?re not US-based. When asked ??Where do you think the company is based??, 45% of US visitors thought the business was based in the US, while 5% said Canada, 24% said the UK, and 24% said ?Don?t know?. What tells them that? Is that likely to account for the difference in sales? And how do we overcome this? When asked what would make them unlikely to buy the course, answers by US visitors contained nothing very distinctive. The high cost of the course was cited by 14% of US respondents, lack of money by 22%, and ?still researching the issue? was mentioned by 31% of US people who answered that question. So, do the web pages look excessively non-American? Or are people in the US less likely to buy distance education courses? Or does the dollar/sterling exchange rate make the courses too expensive for US buyers? Typical competitors are www.sheffield.edu, www.pcdi.edu/courses/hh/, and www.educationdirect.com/decorator/index.html To conclude, should I amend the website? Should I take steps to understand the mindset of the US consumer better? Would usability research tell me anything? I?m reluctant to have separate US and UK pages because we?re a small business, and maintaining two sets of pages would be a lot of work. It?s possible that our brochures, customer service or some other problem contributes to our US weakness. But while I admit that possibility, customers get most of their knowledge from the website, and we don?t get negative feedback about our brochures etc. Finally, I don?t want you to discuss wider promotional activities in the US, such as PR or press advertising. I?d like you to concentrate on the website, because that lies at the heart of our communication with the customer.

• Answer:

  Hello Sadgrove ~ Although I asked for a clarification, I shall publish this answer and if you care to supply the info, I'll address that separately if need be. When I first undertook the answer to this question, I had some immediate "first impressions", most of which have been borne out by others, including some comments from: * Unsolicited comments volunteered by other Google Answers Researchers who were curious about the site, * Members of a class I teach at a local junior college (the class being for web designers with an emphasis on marketing effectiveness). * Members of a class who are learning to use their computers and how to find things online (sort of a move up from beginners starting out on AOL) * Members of a class of "boomers" looking for ways to make a living online with their own products/services of selling someone else's. Their perceptions are revealing and probably raised more questions than are answered; however, I think it will be useful in answer to your questions and helping you to more effectively make your course attractive to those in North America. Besides those comments, observations and perceptions/opinions mentioned above, I have attempted to pull together resources to address the issues you raised in a cohesive manner to enable you to understand what others are "seeing" (and in some cases, "not seeing") from this side of the pond. It seems appropriate at this point to mention that the observations of educate-ga in the Comments section below are valid, but are very broad in scope. I concur that you need to assign a portion of this site (or a subdomain, or even another URL) directly to the visitors from North America (one size really does NOT fit all); but with all due respect, educate-ga's observations don't go far enough to give you the answers you seek. The recommendation to separate the content is included in the recommendations presented later in this answer. ========================= The Mixed Message ========================= It is quite obvious from your background information that you have a lot of statistical data at your fingertips. I wouldn't ask you to post in such a public place your conversion rates or even the stats on how deeply into your site your visitors travel; but let's assume that your visitors get there because they are at least interested in your subject matter. In other words, they are there to look into ... what? * home business opportunity, * home based business opportunity, * work at home business, * home business idea, * start home business, * home business solution, * internet home business, * home business opportunities, * home businesses, * work at home business opportunity, * home business ideas, * course * Diploma * home study The above, taken from your keyword metatags, takes 11 terms or phrases before we get to what your site is "really" about, a course of studies in order to start and run a home business. Anyone looking for ideas for a home business would be disappointed to find a site about courses. Obversely, anyone looking for your courses must wade through almost a dozen irrelevant terms and phrases to find the first information about your courses of study. By now you're thinking, "Aha! But keywords don't matter any more!", and to some extent, you might be correct - but a more correct statement would be that keywords aren't given the weight they once were. There is a lot of evidence that misleading keywords or a keyword metatag that is stuffed with confusing messages can negatively affect your search engine results pages (SERPs) ranking. While I know you didn't ask about your ranking at all, it is something you do need to consider. Every bit of information on each page, html tags, the contents of your header, body style, content, etc., - every bit matters. There should be signs of logical thought, of continuity, on every page. It has been my experience that the more keywords are jumbled in this fashion, the less focus the page content has. If for no other reason, your keywords should be a tool to focus the content within that page. Remember - you have exactly one screen to direct your visitor's focus to the contents on that page and to compel him to do what you want. ============================ Some General Observations ============================ Your headers are confusing. "Take charge of your future" is interesting enough to make your visitor take a look, but the next header - in larger type - says, "Get a new home-based career" which would lead your visitor to believe this is about home-based business opportunities available to him right now. Then you add, "by studying at home" which loses those who got to your site looking for relevant information on an immediate home-based opportunity. And the first part of the sentence has lost those looking for online courses to aid in their career choices. The message is confusing - not just to your US Market, but also to those in the UK. A visitor looking for either the immediate information or the course is lost in the other part of the message. I have several clients and colleagues in the UK, and two significant quotes I think you should hear from them are as follows: "At first I thought this was another of those get rich work at home sites. It took me a minute to figure out that they are selling courses." and "So what the heck is a complementary therapist? And why should I care? Some of these courses look suspicious. Counsellor? Shouldn't that be a degreed course from an accredited university or college ... who are these guys?" While uncomplimentary, at least you have an idea of the 'perceptions' from your side of the pond. Over here it was more so. So you're fighting an uphill battle overcoming some negative connotations that are associated with "home-based business", who you are, and the courses you offer. Which means you need to better focus your visitor to what you offer, why he should care, and most important, answer the WIIFM question (What's in it for me?) so he'll do what you want him to do - sign up for your courses. ================================== Visitor Friendly Design & Focus ================================== You have eaten up a great deal of your first screen with the titles, as noted above. There are still other things which "should" be included in your first screen of information, such as: * the primary objective for this site * helping the visitor get the information he needs and lead to your primary objective * meaningful content to lead the customer to your objective (presumably to sign up for one of your classes) * ease of use (can I get to every other page on the site FROM every site?) There is a good "Visitor Friendly Website Checklist" available on the Applied Marketing Group's website here, - http://www.appliedmarketinggroup.com/userfriendly.htm While the above-referenced site is clearly pushing Ken Evoy's Sitesell, it still contains good information on how to get to the "nitty gritty" and compel your visitor to do what you want. Other articles of interest -------------------------- Some other articles with basically the same information (I don't want you to think I'm the only soul on the Internet with these opinions), are cited below: Morton Marketing's "Visitor Friendly Websites" - http://www.mortonmarketing.com/Marketing_Effectiveness_February_2004.htm Busy Marketing's "Building Credibility" - http://www.busymarketing.com/credentials.shtml Free Report's "Building Credibility - Your Key to Online Success" - http://www.freereports.net/credibility.html As mentioned, there is a conflicting message in the headers on your site; but there are also problems with the overall "look". Consider the graphic ... ------------------------ Your graphic says, "A new career dawns for you". I showed your graphic to my class without the line of text in it. The general perception of the graphic is that it was a book cover - probably a science fiction book, and that white spot was perceived as a flying saucer. Besides the fact it is an over-optimized jpg (it has been so highly compressed that one can see the visible bands of blue. Your graphic can be compressed for file size without resorting to such obvious problems such as the banding), you should have a graphic more readily identifiable with your subject matter. Surely there is a better dawn or sunrise available. The line of text on the graphic itself is good enough - but I'd get a more recognizable graphic of a sunrise or dawn and make sure the dimensions can't be mistaken for a book cover. Is this your only graphic? What about your logo? Do you have one? What about the company name? That *should* be there and be used liberally throughout the site. Your domain name doesn't help you visitor remember your name, "The Learning Institute", and there is no discernible branding of your name in the first screenful of information. That detracts from your message and starts to lead to a feeling of uneasiness in your visitors. After spending 5 minutes on your home page, only one out of 26 class members could tell your company name. This is something you should rectify as quickly as possible. Perceived drawbacks ... ------------------------ Besides the fact that your customers can study in the privacy of their own home, what other benefits will/can your visitor realize by signing up for your courses? The drawbacks are basically who are you? What good does one of your courses and the resultant certificate or diploma do your visitors? For those courses in which you offer certificates - what benefit is your certificate? What is the difference between a certificate from your organization and a similar course at a college or university? The information is available, but your visitor has to dig for it. And one of the first rules of good web design is "don't make me work". It is not clear what benefit is to be derived from taking your courses. Never assume that your visitor can figure it out by himself. You need to take him by the hand and point out every benefit of taking your course there is. Clear up possible misperceptions. Address potential drawbacks up front by offering a rational alternative. Anticipate where the roadblocks to your objectives will be and remove them before they become an obstacle to your primary objective. About that content ... ----------------------- Once we've gotten to the point where we recognize we can study online for an at-home career, you include text with some features, such as, " There are no exams, because we use continuous assessment." and " And you don't have to turn up to a dusty classroom to attend evening classes." Those are nice features, but you need to get down to the 'benefit' of learning on line, and particularly - learning from The Learning Institute. Address issues that you know matter in an up front and direct manner in order to avoid the appearance of being underhanded. While the information above does cover US perceptions, I should point out that such clarification will carry you further in the UK as well. Even the so-called "newbies" are more sophisticated today than they were a couple of years ago, so every bit of information you can add to your site to help your visitors make the decision you want is to your advantage. So far, I have given you general impressions that are, for the most part, applicable on "either side of the pond". You have a LOT of information - very good information - on your site, but its presentation and arrangement could be made more "visitor friendly", and should be more focused to compel your visitor to do what you want him to do. =========================== Answering Your Questions =========================== You stated, "Many US visitors think we?re not US-based" ... Starting with your home page, there is nothing there to indicate where you actually are located until one scrolls down the page. The first flag one encounters is the Union Jack, which leads your visitor to the perception that you are UK based. The spelling of certain words, ie., enrol and enroll, etc., are different. For those who realize spelling IS different, the spelling would indicate you're located in the UK. All your prices are listed with the UK price first and the USD cost second. The perception is that the US offering is an afterthought. It really would behoove you to set up a separate but similar set of pages for your US market. Let's take the course for Private Investigator - a subject I happen to know something about. Course work (and a resulting diploma) is required in the state in which I reside. Would your diploma qualify me to obtain a Private Investigator's license in Arizona? In California? Would it even qualify toward the qualifications they require? This should be addressed in the US course material, and it should be presented in such a way that your visitor doesn't have to go digging to find out if the information is even available. The same thing for certain other courses, such as Landscape Designer (some states require educational qualifications) and Counsellor. To what end do your courses help your students meet basic qualifications required by the state(s) in which they reside? Does your Web Designer course cover W3C standards, cross-browser compatability, marketing knowledge to enable designing in the manner I'm discussing in this answer? It mentions templates, an outdated trial copy of Paint Shop Pro and Dreamweaver. But it doesn't mention the things "real" designers should know, which are items like how to optimize a site for maximum efficiency as a tool for the client and other matters that most so-called designers who use some template later find out the hard way. Taking a client's copy and plopping it into a template no more qualifies someone to be a web designer than a course in hygiene qualifies someone to be a brain surgeon. Both take distinctive studies to qualify them to do more than throw up a website. Upon completion of your course, do you help your students in setting up their home business? Do you also help drive business to their websites or refer others to them? If so, this is a benefit, and you should develop that part of your site to make it clear to what degree you help. Vocational schools in the US aim to get their students employed. How do you help your students achieve that goal? ========================== Specific Recommendations ========================== The first recommendation is to consider redesigning your own site to get your name out there and make it stick in everyone's mind. If you have a logo, put it on every page. You certainly need to get your name out and in a very conspicuous page. This is true for UK and every other language in which you may run your site. Build credibility - after your name, every page should have a link to your Mission Statement, your About Us page should talk about the principals of the company, the course instructors, qualifications, location, and other bits of information that make you more real and less "virtual". Your privacy policy is all encompassing, including guarantee information, etc. Break your guarantee information out to its own page and add that to your menu items at the left. Keep your privacy policy limited to privacy issues. Links to each of those should be included in the dominant links on your left hand side on every page. Do set up a site specifically for the US ... and address the issues a citizen from Montana or New York might have about what enrolling and completing the course readies him to do. If your diplomas or certificates will transfer to enable your US visitor complete basic legal requirements, say so. If not, then you should clearly state to what degree it actually does aid him. Do set up a testimonial page from previous students - while everyone knows you're not going to publish negative information, it still helps to have testimonials available from every page (part of the constant left-hand menu). I know you do have them, but you require your visitor to go digging for them. Make your site visitor friendly. It would make sense that if 40% of your visitors are from the US, at least 40% of your sales should be from the US as well. If it's not, then there is a problem with your conversion rates - which could be remedied with some user-friendly design and understanding how to arrange the information better. Your focus is courses, not starting a business. The only page which should have starting a business as a focus is one that you use to explain how your courses arm your students with the knowledge they need to start their business. Don't confuse your visitors with that same text elsewhere, except possibly in passing. I know you're reluctant to separate the pages out. With some clever designing, you can make much of the course information for both the US and other countries available from both sites, certainly certain menu items, etc., but it definitely helps to have the two sites. So far as getting negative feedback, I can't see where you'd get it for your brochures, they do provide information. However, finding the information is difficult because of the structure you have now. Keep it esy to find every other page from each page. You forgot a link to "home" on your pages, this should be the first link on your left hand site. If your visitor gets lost, he can go to 'home' and start again. ======================================= Some resources for your consideration ======================================= NUA Marketing Analyses and White Papers - http://www.nua.ie/surveys/analysis/weekly_editorial/archives/1999/issue1no60.html International Marketing Info's "Targeting your market, Narrow your Focus and Broaden your Sales" - http://www.internetmarketinginfo.com/targetmarket.html Survey Net Forums on Internet Users Demographics and Psychographics - http://www.survey.net/index.html ISEDB'S "Give your site visitors what they want and they will buy" - http://www.isedb.com/news/index.php?t=reviews&id=436 Business Town's "Why Visitors Leave" - http://www.businesstown.com/internet/marketing-leave.asp First e-Commer Corporation's "What Do Web Site Visitors Really Want Most?" - http://www.firstecc.com/mark_related1.html Grok Dot Com's "KISS Your Visitors if You Want Them Back" - http://www.grokdotcom.com/kiss.htm Search terms ============== * what internet visitors want * internet psychographics * psychographics + demographics * traffic patterns * visitor friendly design * building credibility ================== Summary ================== Yes, you should break out a portion of the site for the US market and make it user friendly. It will increase awareness and help with US sales. Following the recommendations as stated above WILL help incrase sales, both in teh US and the UK. I wish you the best of luck and success, Serenata Google Answers Researcher