I was cruising Twitter tonight looking for some fresh ideas for a new articles for my websites when I noticed that Michelle Schaeffer had tweeted some neat quotes. I’m talking about those great “words of wisdom” tidbits written both by famous people and even not so famous people. Heck, you don’t have to be famous to be wise or witty! It’s not uncommon to see quotations in Twitter streams which tells me more people than I thought are interested in quotations. I asked Michelle (@SmallBizMuse) where she got her quotes from and she gave me some links that I thought I’d share with you:
From Michelle’s website comes her own collection of Inspirational and Motivational Quotes and she also passed along this link to The Quote Garden. Thanks, Michelle!
One day a very cool quote caught my eye so I decided to follow the tweeter which turned out to be a motivational quote website. Ugh … this quickly became a very annoying non-stop quote machine. I was being pelted by them … one quote after another after another after another. A couple hours of these things popping up in my Twitter stream every few minutes and I was so turned off (enough already!) I not only un-followed and blocked them, I also reported them for spam. I just love Twitter’s little ”Report as Spam” button!
People tend to look up to the “wise ones” and so featuring inspirational or motivational quotes on your website gives you an opportunity to be inspirational to others. You give the impression you’re one of those wise ones (whether you are or not!). Your readers get a feeling for where your train of thought goes, it’s like a little bitty insight to YOU and your business. Of course, if you’re adding quotes to a business website you’d want to include quotes that are more geared to business. I’m starting to see a few more quotes on business sites lately but they still seem more popular on personal sites and blogs.
Thoughts on Displaying Quotes on Websites
- 1. Be sincere, use quotes that honestly mean something to you. It’s one thing to appear to be wise or witty, but you don’t want to be fake either. Eventually fake will get out and you’ve lost your credibility.
- 2. On a business site, use quotes related to your business or related topic businesses. What’s the point in using financial based quotes on a website that sells purses or dog grooming services? You don’t want to risk your site being thought of as annoying or just being chock full of meaningless advertising. If you overuse them, quotes can become just as irritating as popups on a website.
- 3. Choose short quick to read quotes so you don’t divert people’s attention from your website, after all they came to your site for a reason.
- 4. Display your quotes gently and attractively. Don’t make them so intense that your quotes is all people see when they hit your site. You want to inform, inspire or motivate not hurt their eyes.
- 5. Be very careful when displaying religious based quotes. For some folks there’s a fine line between spirituality and religion. Religion is very personal and some are uncomfortable or offended by having it being pushed on them. Spirituality is a little different and something that many people feel but they may not personally advertise it and they may not relate sprituality solely to religion. You don’t want to send good business away by pushing religion on people who aren’t interested in it, don’t care for organized religion and may actually be turned off by it. Some people are very religious but that doesn’t mean they appreciate Bible thumpers knocking on their doors and trying to make a believer of you or get you to convert. This is when religion can turn into propaganda. See the difference?
I don’t see a problem using quotes on a website, just use your head and be wise about it. Using them properly could be a good way to prompt visitors (translations customers!) to return to your site so see what your “Quote of the Day” is today and return traffic is always a good thing.
Thanks for the link & mention. :)
I love your thoughts on this often misunderstood subject, Deb! You’re right that some people think that inundating you with quotes is a good thing. It’s like having too many cookies – eventually you get sick of them. You hit on the key points: relevancy to your business, non-offensive or pushy, meaningful to you personally and don’t overuse them.
I rarely post quotes on my website, but do on Facebook or Twitter. I have books I refer to as well as the numerous quote sites online. In order for me to post it, there has to be some feeling there for that particular day. I’m always struck by how what I use holds meaning for other people, too. I love the back-and-forth conversations that get going.
Lis
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