I don't just tell you what's wrong, I help make it right.
It seems that many Internet consultants are great at telling someone what's wrong with their web site, but few have the knowledge, experience and expertise it takes to actually solve the problem. When you hire me to analyze, troubleshoot, or improve your web presence, you can rely on the fact that my report will not only list the factors detracting from your success, but also describe how I can implement my recommendations as well.

Clients have come to me for a wide range of advice. From something as simple as editing and improving a sales message to providing a complete website overhaul, I have helped web site owners, advertising agencies, and even other web development firms bolster their position and their clients' positions on the Internet.

Internet consulting...full circle.
While my Comprehensive Website Analysis includes all of the following, I do offer each component individually in case you only wanted to concentrate on a few areas. Please contact me for details if you wish to utilize my web consulting services on an "ala carte" basis.

• Discovery and Goal Setting
This is one of the most important phases as it creates the very foundation for my analysis and recommendations. The process will start with me helping you to clarify what you want your website to achieve. I'll then work to gain a better understanding of your company, branding strategy, personality, target audience, and desired results. After all, only with a solid understanding of where you are and where you want to go can I do your business justice.

• Usability Analysis
My website Usability Analysis can help identify issues that you don't even know you have. Quite often, problems with design, layout, site copy, navigation, features or technical structure go unseen by website owners because they are either oblivious to the nuances of the online marketplace or blinded by their affection for how the site looks. But you aren't designing the website for yourself, you are trying to appeal to the masses. As such, the site needs to operate at peak performance and do a great job of addressing their specific needs.

When it comes to shopping and browsing online, people won't bother to tell you why they left your website or didn't buy anything. They just leave. It's my intention to find out why and create the kind of environment that reels them in.

Through this phase, I'll peruse and shop your site just as a customer would and pay close attention to any issues that may be inhibiting site use and dragging down sales conversion. More specifically, my Usability Analysis phase will address all of the following and more:

Usability Study
Navigational efficiency
Design and layout impact
Page download times
Image optimization
Browser and platform compatibility checks
Shopping cart and checkout process review
Member and/or "returning shopper" area assessment
Site accessibility issues
Comprehensive check for errors, grammatical issues, bad copy, broken links

Customer Walkthrough
This is a review of how your site is seen through the eyes of a typical user so that I can spot and address potential hurdles, confusing areas, and more. I'll analyze the aesthetics of the site and the perception it gives about your company.

Copywriting/Marketing Analysis
Site copy appeal
Marketing and sales copy effectiveness
Writing style and content review
Text and graphical balance

• Market Testing
How do you really know if your sales copy is as effective as it should be? By Internet standards, the typical conversion rate ranges from 1-2%. Meaning, you can expect one or two sales out of every 100 visitors to your website. It is my goal to boost this to anywhere from 3-6% through a series of market tests and optimization techniques. While that might not seem like a huge jump at face value, it does equate to a 300% increase in sales conversion. Could you use that?

Through my market testing phase, I'll craft and implement different versions of your sales messages and analyze the results to see which combinations outperform the others. You might be getting all the traffic in the world but if your website can't convert, you are wasting an incredible amount of potential. The purpose of market testing is to make sure you're making the most of your web traffic.

• Search Engine Visibility
One of the most effective ways to build traffic to your site is by optimizing your site so that it's listed on the search engines. Through my Search Engine Visibility analysis I'll see just how spider-friendly your website is and make sure you're properly targeting the right keywords and keyphrases.

Similar to when you utilize my search engine optimization services, my first order of business is to make sure that your web site is even conducive to search engine optimization. After all, if the canvas is flawed, the paint just won't stick. This is why I ensure that your website has all the elements required for successful indexing and increased rank potential.

Through this process, I'll analyze a number of different areas that have an impact on SEO potential, including the Title tag, META tags, site copy, embedded links, navigation, seo-oriented tags, use of images, copy placement, linking, etc. This will give me an indication of how much work your site might need to form a great foundation for SEO success.

Some of the other elements considered, include:

Current Positioning and Visibility
I'll run a suite of reports on the most popular search engines and directories to determine where your site is currently ranked for a variety of relevant keywords.

Keyword Research and Analysis
I'll analyze your site's effectiveness at not only targeting the terms you provide to me, but also relevant industry keywords and phrases. I'll also determine the best phrases to target, many of which you never even considered.

SEO and Marketing-Oriented Copywriting
I'll analyze your site copy and verify that it effectively targets the keywords and keyphrases you want to be found under. I'll also make key recommendations to improve keyword relevancy, site theme, and your overall page score.

Inbound and Outbound Linking
It seems that the latest craze in SEO revolves around securing links from other web sites. While certainly beneficial, it has to be done properly if it's to be effective. I'll analyze your linking strategy and placement to better determine its potential. If you don't have any inbound links then I'll make recommendations as to how to harvest them and secure them for maximum benefit.

Targeted Traffic Delivery
It won't matter how much traffic you get if the people visiting don't have an interest in what you do or what you sell. I'll make sure that your site is effectively targeting its target audience so that you aren't showcasing yourself in all the wrong places.

META Tags, Titles, and other SEO-oriented Code
I'll analyze the tags and placement of code in your website to ensure that you are optimized for the search engine spiders when they come calling. I'll also provide recommendations for adjusting or rewriting the tags to better target the desired keyphrases.

Search Engine Submissions
If your website is not already listed in the major search engines, I'll submit it for you by hand. I never use bulk submission software.

Directory Submissions
If your site is not already listed in the major directories, I'll craft the description and handle the submission. If you are already listed in the directories, I will check the description and recommend changes if needed.

While actually performing SEO services are outside the scope of my web site analysis, I will provide a proposal so that you can determine if my search engine optimization services and recommendations are right for you.

• Data Mining Opportunities
If your website collects visitor data then you have a wealth of targeted marketing opportunities at your fingertips. By analyzing and recognizing trends, you can better serve your customers' needs and target potential buyers with pinpoint accuracy. Depending on the type of reporting and web statistics program you use, I'll create a data mining strategy to coincide with it. If you do not use a stats program or traffic log analyzer, then I'll install one for you and monitor the data.

I'll analyze where people are coming from, how they are finding you, where they go once on your site, and where they were when they left. By gauging customer paths and usage statistics I can better see areas that need some improvement. For example, if you have an enormous percentage of people leaving at cart level, then an obvious problem exists.

Finally, knowing where your money's going is just as important as knowing where it's coming from. I'll analyze the most heavily visited product pages, service pages, or categories and compare these patterns to actual sales in order to pinpoint where marketing strategies would be best served.

• Customer Retention
As important as new visitors are to a website's success, it pales in comparison to the value of repeat shoppers. Customers don’t come cheaply and too many website owners are so busy thinking about how to harvest the next customer that they forget about the outstanding revenue potential that existing customers have to offer. A satisfied customer is almost certain to return but only if they remember you!

It is naïve to think that a customer will come back to you months down the road if you let their embers cool. To keep customers “acquainted” and comfortable with your company, I would provide a number of different strategies based on your web site, products or services, and overall goals.

• Visitor Impact
You have a very small window of opportunity to make a great first impression and if you fail to intrigue or interest a visitor, they'll vanish with a click of the mouse. A web site's design is certainly important but too many website owners focus entirely on this aspect. More important than some pretty pages, visitors will need to find your website useful, interesting and easy to navigate if they are to stay. I've left some gorgeous sites in a hurry and I've stayed indefinitely on some incredibly ugly web sites. It all comes down to how beneficial the visit is for the user.

Through my Visitor Impact study, I'll analyze your web site for a number of different pitfalls and determine the best plan of action for bolstering your site's impact. From refining the focus of your website to enhancing its content and boosting usefulness, I'll ensure that you are making the best possible impression when someone crosses your path

• Market Position
How successful are you in relation to your competitors? Are they more visible than you? Do they convey a stronger presence or more professional image to potential customers? Knowing what your competitors are up to and where they stand in the online marketplace can prove to be an incredible asset.

Through my Market Position analysis, I'll analyze the key competitors in your industry and/or region and compare their design, sales strategies, offerings, policies, and shopping environment to yours. Not only will this provide a good pulse on the state of this segment of the industry, but the analysis will help determine recommended changes with regard to your web site. In short, I'll work to fully understand who you’re up against, what they are doing, and how you can maximize your market share.

• Monitoring and Modifications
I won't just make my recommendations and then scamper off. Instead, I will remain available to you in case you have questions or need additional insight after reading my full report. I'll also provide a quote, when applicable, that outlines recommended work, the scope of the project, and the accompanying rate.

For example, if I determine that SEO efforts are needed to strengthen your market position, I'll outline my recommendations and supplement this with a proposal. You are then free to do the work yourself, shop it with another provider, or utilize me to see everything through.

As with all consulting projects, I will continue to monitor how my changes are impacting your sales and then make ongoing recommendations for improvement at no additional charge. If you choose to do any recommended site work yourself or through another provider, I will also make sure that my recommendations were done properly so that you don't sacrifice potential.

If I am brought on to do the recommended work, then you are assured that each component will be done properly, accurately, and professionally. As well, you'll enjoy a more synergistic approach because I'll have gained an inherent knowledge of what needs to be done and how each decision will impact the rest.

• General Consulting
All Comprehensive Website Analysis clients also receive a free three hour credit towards general consulting needs. Even if you don't opt for my Comprehensive Website Analysis, you can still benefit from my general consulting services. Whether you need someone to turn to for advice, direction, or just need to know how to implement something as simple as an SSL certificate, my general consulting services are set up to help any website owner at any time with any issue or question.

My general consulting service is available in one, three, five, and ten hour blocks and the time can be used at any time. Fifteen minutes here, twenty minutes there, it's all on your schedule.

For work that doesn't require consulting, you might want to consider Quick Jobs & Site Fixes.

I listen, I analyze, I act.
Where most consultants limit their analysis to how a web site looks, my analysis probes far deeper. Before I even begin my analysis, my Discovery phase will help me gain a firm understanding of your company, its products or services, its target audience, and its online goals. After all, how can anyone provide you with a road map if they don't know where you want to go in the first place?

All of my consulting clients benefit from my attention to detail, accuracy, and thoroughness. I won't just glaze over the basics or recommend obvious, canned suggestions. Instead, I'll provide an in-depth and unbiased report custom-tailored to your business so that you can get on the right track.

By the time I'm done providing and/or implementing my recommendations, your web site will have an incredible advantage over the competition. More specifically, you'll have:

• Clear and Measurable Goals
• A More Targeted Audience
• Optimized Initial Visitor Impact
• Increased Customer Loyalty
• More Effective Sales Messages
• An Improved Market Position
• A More Appealing Design
• Improved Customer Communication
• Effective Data Mining and Log Tracking
• Easier and Strategic Site Navigation
• A Plan for Effective Content
• Increased Brand Awareness
• A Better Position for Growth
• A Promotional Plan for Obtaining Targeted Traffic
• Ongoing Consulting and Modifications
• On-Demand Web Consulting
• And Much More

As you can clearly see, there's a lot more to establishing your business online than just putting up a few pretty pictures and adding some text to a web page. A basic, run-of-the-mill website isn't going to cut it any more and if a web site fails to engage and inform the visitor, then it becomes useless...nothing more than a stale online brochure.

Ask yourself why you're online. Is it just so you can say you have a website, or are you trying to boost sales, increase customer loyalty, or establish your company's brand? This is the purpose behind my web consulting...to not only make sure that you see the bigger picture when it comes to your website, but to also help set the stage for measureable, long-term success.