If you're selling something online, you've probably wondered which one was right for you: a short sales page or a long one. The short ones end up being just a screen or two of content that you need to scroll down. They are persuasive and quick to read. The longer ones seem like Herman Melville (the author of Moby Dick) decided to write them: They're the equivalent of 15, 20, 30, or more pages of text.

I've seen good and bad examples of both. And I've heard compelling points on both sides of the argument: That long sales pages sell better because people will read the whole thing… and that shorter sales pales sell better because people will read the whole thing. Go figure!

So which one is right for you to use when you're selling? I'm frequently asked that question and my answer is the same: What's right for your customer? If your customer expects a long sales page, you should probably give them one. If your customer is busy and doesn't have a lot of time, you should give them a shorter sales page. In fact, this idea extends well beyond the size of your sales page to other aspects of your offer. If your customer needs time to think about the purchase, don't give them a time-limited offer; instead, give them a free newsletter to sign-up to.

One of the challenges of any sales page – whether short or long – is to understand what the metrics are saying. Since customers arrive at your page from some other form of advertising, they may leave again without buying and you have little idea why outside of knowing how long they were there for.

You can solve this with a middle-of-the-road solution that gets the best of both long and short sales pages: Create a long sales page and break it up over a series of pages. Instead of having a single "buy now" button on the bottom of your page, simply have a "next" button on the bottom of your page and get your potential buyers to move from one page to the next.

In doing so, you'll create a couple of advantages for yourself:
1.    You'll get the reader clicking on your website, which is exactly what you want – to involve the reader somehow.
2.    You'll get the reader subconsciously agreeing with you as they move forward in the process.
3.    And, you'll see where they "fall off" of your sales pitch. If you have 6 short sales pages that lead one from another, but everyone clicks away from your site at page 4, there's a good indication that you have a problem on page 4 that needs addressing!

Short or long sales pages? Why not try a middle-of-the-road solution.

In my research into online marketing techniques I’ve noticed (we’ve ALL noticed) that there are two kinds of online articles.

There are the articles which make sense and have a beginning, middle, and end; and, there are articles which seem to have little purpose beyond being keyword stuffed. Their sentences look something like this: "Are you curious about internet marketing? Many people are curious about internet marketing and those who want to know more about internet marketing can find internet marketing sites online simply by searching for ‘internet marketing’."

I decided to go to the source and ask some contacts in the freelance writing and marketing field about these. They make a strict delineation between what they call "cheap articles" and "normal articles".

The cheap ones cost "next to nothing: (their words) and are often stuffed with keywords and spelling and grammatical errors. The "normal" articles cost more but the quality is higher. They point out that they get frequent requests for both kinds of articles. The cost ratio is anywhere from $1:$10 to $1:$100. What a gap! So which ones work?

To be fair to both sides: Cheap articles might not read well but you can get a bunch of them online fast which equates to plenty of backlinks. On the other hand, higher priced articles read better but you might get fewer backlinks because there simply are a fewer number of articles. With a cost ratio of $1:$10, you can spend $10 and get 10 articles or one article. On a strictly budgetary level it makes economic sense to get 10 articles.

However, there are other factors to consider: What is the likelihood that each type of article will be (1) picked up by other publishers and (2) read by an audience? With that in mind, the field turns in favor of the higher priced choice.

And to be honest, that’s where I prefer to be in my internet marketing: For me, it comes down to the customer. I might want backlinks – lots of back links – but if I don’t get quality traffic from it, it doesn’t matter. And cheap articles just don’t make the grade here. They may search well in Google but if a customer can’t get through the content, they are not likely going to click through to your site. On the other hand, if my higher quality articles attract interest (and they DO still search well and link back) then customers are more likely to click through to my site.

But in this economy, we’re all definitely mindful of the cost of marketing. I’d like to hear from you on this point.

Do you prefer lower priced articles that give you back links? Do you prefer higher priced articles that might be more "people friendly"?

Brought to you by: Contemporary VA - Run your business instead of running in circles.

In college, we used the case study method to learn to analyze and solve business problems. I liked this because case studies, like real life, are messy and complex and not easily solved with a single answer.

Recently, I stumbled across a blog post that caught my eye. I confess that the stumbling was completely accidental. But I stopped and read and thought: "this is like reading a case study in college… and there are some good lessons to be learned here."

On the CNN Money website, in their small business section, they have a "website remedies" blog in which people write in with their website problems and the bloggers make suggestions. The one I stumbled across was an interesting case: The website owner has a service that allows visitors to register and receive a certificate for a date. In other word, you could register any date and make it "your" day. Strange; interesting; compelling. But his site wasn’t doing the brisk business he was hoping for. So the experts took a look and identified a number of places where he could improve.

Their insight was really value:

They talked about his overall message being unclear.  That’s a lesson for any website owner: Make sure your message is clear, straightforward, and "hits ‘em between the eyes" as soon as they click to your site.

They talked about his site lacking attractive colors or thematic tie-ins. That’s a good lesson for website owners: Your site needs to look good if you’re going to keep people there.

And, they talked about the sales flow once people started thinking about buying. How easy and clear is the sales process and what happens as they click through to buy.

Clear message, the attractiveness of the site, and the clarity and efficiency of the buying process are evergreen problems in the world of online business. It is a daily battle to get traffic to your site and to keep it there. If I had a nickel for every resource and idea that were designed to do one of those two things, I’d be sipping margaritas on a beach.

You can read the full text of the article here. Their advice in this post, and in this blog in general, is extremely valuable. At first, website owners might say "but their problems aren’t my problems"; to which I’d counter that this is just like those case studies in college. Their problems are not EXACTLY like your problems but you can still learn something because their problems may have similarities to your problems.

This blog – which CNN Money called "Website Remedies" is going in my regular reading and I think it should go in yours, too.

Brought to you by: Contemporary VA - Run your business instead of running in circles.

Viral videos. They’re passed from friend to friend and at some point they go from humorous to wildfire. They become the kind of thing that if you haven’t seen it, you’re missing out. In this blog, we’ll look at some viral videos and talk about what makes them viral and then explore whether businesses can create their own viral videos.

There’s the Star Wars Kid…

The Numa Numa guy…

The "leave Britney alone" guy…

The cringeworthy "map" answer by Miss South Carolina…

The infamous Asian "bus uncle"…

Or this recent one of a wedding dance…

You’ve seen these; you’ve shared them with others; you’ve laughed about them over the watercooler.

As a business, you might want to create videos that achieve a viral effect. But can you? Is it possible? And what do you do?

The idea of a decision to create a viral video is a challenging one. How do you create a viral effect? The videos above weren’t filmed to become viral. (In fact, the owners of some of them tried to have them removed or their impact diminished). On the flipside, I’m aware of numerous businesses who have filmed videos in the hopes that they become viral (and most – perhaps all – did not).

So, what is common about these videos that you can take away as a lesson?

First, these weren’t created for a corporate promotion. They were created as personal expression. The people filmed themselves (and, in many cases, never intended for these to be released). The wedding video was a personal expression in a public place, but it was still a personal expression. And the South Carolina video was a personal expression during a high stress event.

Second, these didn’t have advertisements present: They did have a point and the point was not to promote something. I each case, the point was to share.

Third, except for the Miss South Carolina clip, these lacked the slick quality of commercials. They are real people doing real things in an entertaining way. We laugh at them because they are hyperboles of ourselves. We all dance in the privacy of our homes, we all sing when we think no one is looking, we all get emotion about certain topics, we all wish we could have danced at our wedding. What makes these viral is that they are caricatures of who we are.

So, if you’re a business and you want to create a viral video, stop right there. The "decision" to create a viral video won’t get you anywhere. Instead, you need to share a relatable piece of yourself. It might not go viral… but it might if people can relate.

Here are some interesting articles about making videos viral. They do have counterpoints to what I’ve written but I’m open to many viewpoints and happy to be wrong with there’s success involved.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/22/the-secret-strategies-behind-many-viral-videos/

http://www.webinknow.com/2007/08/8-tips-to-make-.html

http://www.bizzia.com/behindthebuzz/how-to-make-a-video-viral/

@ContemporaryVA on Twitter.  Follow the team to stay updated on business resources we deliver that cover strategies and tips, social media and more!

This is a list of useful online marketing resources that you might find helpful. We have.

Everywhere I look, people seem to be offering emailed newsletters. But small business owners who are looking to marketing their business online want to know: "Is it right for me?"

• A newsletter is a great way to capture the contact information of prospects who are not yet ready to become clients (but who you don’t want to lose touch with).

• A newsletter allows you to position yourself as an expert in front of your prospects and customers.

• A newsletter gives you a chance to have your voice in front of a targeted audience who has ASKED to hear from you.

• A newsletter is a way to continue selling your products or services (because newsletters are sometimes saved or because they are sent to other people.

• A newsletter can drive traffic to your site or even earn you additional revenue (through the sale of advertising).

• A newsletter allows you to track what your readers are reading (and therefore what they are interested in).

• A newsletter is a lot of work with relentless deadlines that you don’t want to miss.

• There are a lot of ways to do a newsletter incorrectly and only a few ways to do it correctly.

• A newsletter takes investment (i.e. in autoresponder software like http://aweber.com or http://constantcontact.com). 

• A newsletter can take just as much effort to develop, brand, and build an audience as any other type of effort (especially if you don’t have the initial traffic to your website).

Online marketers work hard to create a flurry of activity in order to drive traffic to their site. This traffic might include things such as articles, press releases, AdWords, Squidoo lenses, and other types of traffic drivers.