Show them the Sizzle then feed them the Steak – Advice for Small Webmasters

Apr 8
10:41

2008

Will Kalif

Will Kalif

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In a world wide web stuffed full with billions of web pages you, as a small webmaster, have some distinct challenges to overcome. But you can overcome these challenges in two steps that I call the sizzle and the steak of internet marketing.

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In a world wide web stuffed full with billions of web pages you,Show them the Sizzle then feed them the Steak – Advice for Small Webmasters Articles as a small webmaster, have some distinct challenges to overcome. But you can overcome these challenges in two steps that I call the sizzle and the steak of internet marketing.   

Making a success of your website comes down to two basic things. The first thing you have to do is get people to your website.  And the second thing you have to do is to solve their problems clearly and effectively.

Getting people to your website means you have to show them a little sizzle. You are, after all, vying for the same attention that a lot of other websites are vying for. And people’s time is valuable. You have to attract attention to yourself somehow.  There are a lot of traditional marketing techniques you can use to do this. Make sure your articles have catchy and unusual titles. Make sure your anchor links also have catchy titles. Show an unusual point of view in your writing. You can even use unusual, funny, or viral marketing techniques.  The important thing is that you stand out from the crowd.  But never sacrifice quality (Steak) for flashiness (Sizzle). Make sure you also deliver real content and real solutions to your web visitors problems.

Getting people to your site is meaningless unless you get them to take the actions that benefit both them and yourself. These actions could be anything from purchasing a book to downloading your software. Whatever the desired effect is sizzle won’t cross this threshold. To get this result you have to provide your visitors with some real steak.  Really take a hard look at your visitors and understand what problem they are trying to find a solution for. Then go ahead and do your absolute best to solve that problem. Make it the focus of all your energy. Give them the steak – and make it the biggest, juiciest piece you can make.

Giving your visitors real solutions to their problems has the added effect of reinforcing your relationship with them. You can bet that they will come back again. You have begun to build a solid relationship with your web visitor. And this is where you can excel against even the biggest conglomerate of web sites. You can build a solid and personal relationship based on trust. You used a little sizzle to get their attention and then you served them a big old piece of steak and that will keep them coming back for more.

It is quite ok to use sizzle in order to get people to your website. But that’s where it should end. When they are on your site don’t continue with the sizzle. It just ends up to be perceived as more hype and hyperbole. Once they are on your site deliver them the steak.  You will end up with a web visitor that is satisfied and happy, with a high probability of converting into a long term frequent visitor.