If you subscribe to the micro persuasion model of public relations, then you would agree that the Internet is the new frontier in marketing. Blogs are increasingly becoming the medium of choice for companies and entrepreneurs in bringing their brands and products closer to consumers. E-commerce sites are fast becoming widely-accessible, and a variety of products can now be purchased online, from clothes, to computers, to cars. The World Wide Web is one big conversation, and companies are vying to join in, get to talk back, and get feedback in return.
The essential thing for a company to do is to initially create an online presence. As long as you’re there, online and accessible over the Internet, people are bound to seek you out, in their quest for information. Imagine how much more business you can generate if you actively pursue marketing activities online. Imagine if your company website or weblog comes out as number one in Google for a generic search on your product or service. You can literally bring your brand closer to hundreds of millions of people who go online.
This is what the Internet Marketing Blog is all about. Here, we intend to share whatever knowledge and expertise we have to help businessmen and entrepreneurs harness the power of the Internet in effectively marketing products and services. We will explore the various avenues by which you can spread the word about your company or brand. We will help with the best practices and most sustainable methods-this is a fickle industry, after all. What’s in today may be pass
Track all sources of traffic generation.
John Reese stresses the need to track where all traffic comes from and at what cost. It is crucial to know exactly how many sales, newsletter sign-ups, or other leads your particular marketing campaigns generating. This enables you to work smarter and not harder. By tracking all traffic to your site you can make twice as much while working fifty percent less.
Content is King
On the internet, people are searching for one thing……. Content! Load your website with as much content as possible. Then, continuously add content. Search engines love information and they will love your site if you’ve got lots of it. There’s plenty of free content for the taking on the internet. You can load up your site with articles from article directories like ezinearticles.com. Or, you could be like John and use content from the public domain. Or, you can use content that is in the creative commons. This type is now easier than ever to find now that Yahoo and others have come out with a search engine designed specifically for content that is in the creative commons.
An affiliate program is critical to maximum traffic and sales. Lots of internet marketers don’t take advantage of this powerful traffic-generating technique. An affiliate program allows you to have your own personal salesman spread all over the web. The best part about it is that there is absolutely no risk involved but tons of traffic and sales to gain. Your website simply cannot grow to its full potential without an effective affiliate program.
Banner Ads
John Reese advocates the use of banner ads during a time when they are largely an untapped marketing source. Banner ads are one of the most overlooked sources of targeted traffic online.
Also, banner ads are now one of the cheapest sources of targeted traffic. In the late 1990’s during the dot-com boom, people were selling banner ads for $40 and $50 CPM. Then the dot-com bubble hit and these rates hit the floor. You can now buy banner ads dirt cheap, at $1 to $1.50 CPM. This is $1 for 1,000 banner impressions. The key here is to find the perfect place to advertise that will send targeted, willing to buy customers to your site.
Create viral reports that can quickly spread around the internet. This method works best when you have an affiliate program. Allow others to brand your report in order to encourage its distribution.
A quality free report can be a powerful promoter when passed around the internet. This same phenomenon can occur when you submit your articles to article directories and popular newsletters.
Take advantage of your virtual real estate.
Take advantage of the different parts of your website. Don’t let any of your web pages go to waste. You can do this by adding a link to another one of your web sites or pages on your thank-you or sales confirmation pages. If you have articles on your site, place links to related articles on the bottom of the page. The longer you keep a visitor at your web site, the more valuable they become.
It is very important to funnel traffic from within the multiple sites you may have.
Continually seek out other web sites to link to you. Now, we’re not just talking about any kind of link here, but powerful, traffic-generating links from respected sites. Here are some quick suggestions:
Send a related web site an article that you have written and allow them to display it on their website with a resource box at the end. Offer to exchange articles and tell them about the benefits of doing so.
Allow multiple, related web sites to distribute your free e-book or report. All web masters are looking to add value to their web site, why not make it easy for them.
There are unlimited possibilities, be creative!
Online group participation can produce a no-cost stream of traffic and sales.
Get involved in email discussion lists, online groups and forums that are related to your target market. Becoming involved in discussions makes you very credible. Traffic from forums can produce a much higher sales conversion rate.
This method can produce quite a bit of sales for you just by helping others out. Not to mention, you’ll learn a lot along the way.
What do you know about your business?..
If you are new to running a business, and have been working the 9-5 job grind, the thought of running a business can be overwhelming to think about. However, it doesn’t need not be a burden to a newbie who is trying to figure out where to start.
Before you initiate any efforts to get started, know what is involved before you even start your business. I believe many make the mistake of trying to get started in their business before they know what is involved. It is important to be realistic.
Start Marketing your Business from A to Z
What do you think it takes to be successful in marketing this another subject you have to consider, in any business but we are going to give you an idea of what is required in a nutshell. First tip is what are you wanting to achieve in your marketing strategy for your business?
Again, research is in order, let me reemphasize that online is a good resource tool to find out the information you need. This is also important to include in your business plan. Also, it would be a good idea to read books or take courses on the subject in a community college or university depending on your budget. Again, marketing and researching your competition is a good idea. Why the research? Research can give you insight on the business your proposing. It is an important step that many business don’t have in the equation of starting a business. This is what leads many online businesses to failure.
Why, because, they don’t have the information and tools needed to succeed so they ultimately go bankrupt. They also don’t have a clue about their competition or market. This is a fatal mistake that many online business just don’t get. They don’t have a concept what to do online to get their name on the Internet. What kind of marketing?
What about marketing?
1.Forums
2. Adwords
3.E-mail
4.Business cards
5.Classified ads
Let me briefly explain these forms of marketing…
Forums
Forums are an excellent way to build traffic to your to your website. Also, a great way to achieve a higher ranking in the search engines. Search engines welcome that because, it gives you more links and gives them more links to spider to your site. Be sure to know the rules before you post however, or you could be banned from the site. Be in the know about the rules of posting on their website. Be sure to read all the posts, before you post to the thread or subject being discussed. Stay on topic. Don’t post ads! Post a minimum of 5 posts a day if possible. Make sure your information is useful, insightful and well thought of before posting a message to the forum.
Adwords
Adwords such as Google adwords is another excellent marketing method to get traffic to your website. However, you may want to look to the experts, before you start this form of marketing. This form of marketing, is not to be left to chance. You need to know what you are doing, to do it effectively. This is where knowledge is power. Power-up your knowledge on the subject by taking an online course or doing some research on the subject, before starting your adwords campaign. Don’t be hasty, it is too risky & expensive to second guess on this facet of marketing. So be shrewd.
E-mail is a revolutionary marketing medium, that can be a quick inexpensive way to get your red hot promotion, out to your prospects. You can speak to hundreds or even thousands in seconds using an autoresponder. You can also send one message, in a blink of an eye. Even better you can continue to build your list over time.
However, you need to choose your words carefully when it comes to your subject line & when comes to your e-mail message itself. If it is too much like an advertisement, this going to chase your prospect away. Instead your message, should not focus on merely making a sale. It should focus on building a relationship with the prospect not on you.
Warning! PLEASE DON“T SPAM!
This is one thing that you never want to do, is send an e-mail to a person that did not contact you, nor should you ever send an e-mail to someone unsolicited! If you do, at best, they will delete your message. If they are really get annoyed they will forward your message to your ISP and even to the authorities!
If that happens you may loose your Internet connection and may open yourself up to a lawsuit. Neither of which is to your advantage. SO DON’T DO IT! It is better to not even start. It is not good for the creditability of your business anyway. However, if you are sent spam in your inbox you can send a reply back to them with a one time quick message about your business.
Business Cards
Business Cards are an awesome way to introduce you and your business to people you meet. Also to potential prospects you talk to specifically about your business just about anywhere. You can send them in the mail or leave them in any public place that has a place to leave them.
At restaurants for example, or in a store, parking lot, or at the mall and at meetings. Be creative. Be careful not to give people the impression that you are just trying to sell them on your business. Be sure to personable with the people you meet. Be sure you give them the message that you are there for them, to be a solution to their problems. That your business is the solution they need to make their life better. Then, become a friend to them.
Classified Ads
Classified ads are another way, to get your message to the masses. In addition, you can post your ads to thousands of websites worldwide! Be selective on the classified ad sites you go to. The ones that say they can submit your classified ad to thousands of websites could be a trap for sending out spam. So, make sure they have a policy against spam. So the conclusion of the matter, be careful!
However, done correctly you can get your message out to a lot of websites in no time. Creating good classified ads is an acquiring skill… so again becoming educated on what works and what does not work. This is something you should know about creating ads. It is also an art. This where researching your market is helpful. My suggestion to you is, to go to different classified ad sites and view some of the different ads to get a feeling of how they are done.
Also, another way, is to search online to see what the experienced marketers say on the subject can prove to be very beneficial. Also, in time when you start your posting of ads you will find that some ads will pull a better response rate then others. It has been suggested, that, once you discover the ads that get the best results, that you use those ads the most.
The best advise is, that, when you post a classified ad, that you should post it a minimum of 7 weeks before changing it. Why? Because response builds over time. Some people will not respond to your ad immediately.
Some may have to see your ad more then once before they act. Some may have to think your business proposition over, before they decide to respond.
The message is loud & clear, that consistency, patience, persistence is the rule of thumb when comes to this form advertising. You need to be flexible, because the same ad that got a good results one place may get completely different results elsewhere or even in the same place at a later time. Be adaptable to change with the marketing trends. Because the Internet is continually evolving and changing.
Where Do You Go From Here?
Now that you have some information and marketing tools and education you need to get started. You will need a website to get started. Then you will need to register your domain name. I would also recommend a getting an autoresponder.
However, if you are a beginner, lets face it, anyone starting a business for the first time is. My recommendation is, to find an online marketing system that has all those tools already there set up for you.
All you have to do is find the right one that suits you and your needs and abilities. The best one is a marketing system that is free. The one you choose, is a marketing system you can test drive first, before you join. Then, one that gets you leads for you so you do not have to pay for your leads. Well, hope you get your business to a roaring start. Wish you outstanding success in your business.
For new internet marketers, your immediate goal is to get your website into as many search engines as possible. These services can charge a tremendous amount of money and require recurring monthly service fees. Very tempting to new internet marketers with all the hype “Instantly submit your websites to 1000’s of websites” and “Get Your Website Listed in 24 hours.” Stop! Let me show you a few ideas, so you can achieve the same success and save yourself some money better spent on pay per click campaigns.
Its true many services can submit your website to over 1000’s of websites. According to various online statistics: Google, MSN, and Yahoo provide nearly 90% of all Search Engine Traffic. First and foremost, if 90% of the Search Engine Traffic comes from only these major search engines, I want to focus on these just these three. But if you are so determined to submit to as many websites as you, these same services are available free online, a simple search for Free Website Submission will provide you with many opportunities to submit your website for free and the major search engines all offer free website submissions.
Wait! Any Search Engine Optimization Expert will tell you, “NEVER submit your website to the Search Engines!” So, how do I get my website listed?
Accordingly to recent online information any website that has a Google Page Rank 7 or above will get your website listed in 24 hours, or Page Rank 5 or 6 in 48 hours. Most of these services that offer a 24 hours Listing already have websites that have PR5 or above and simply temporarily add your link so that your website can be quickly crawled by the search engines for a nice fee.
So, how can I get my website listed in the major search engines in 24 hours?
First start submitting your website to several SEO Friendly Directories such as info.vilesilencer.com/main.php?rock=seo-friendly-list.php - Which offers over 150 Free SEO Friendly directories in a list to submit your websites to of various Page Ranks.
After submitting to all the above directory listings your website will begin to appear in the next 24 &ndash 48 hours. Search Engines will be crawling these websites daily, and once your website link is posted it will soon crawl your website and be included in their index.
If you are new to Internet Marketing and finding it difficult to get started, you’re not alone. You probably search the Internet for so long that you found yourself back at the same starting point, but with a lot of hype and information overload. Odds are your asking the same question, “How Do I Get Started?” Fortunately there is an easy way, and best of all you don’t need a web site.
Many people think in order to start a business or sell a product they need a web site. The typical process would be:
- Find a product that can be sold or promoted. This can be anything from an affiliate program to buying resell rights or private label rights for ebooks or software.
- Build a website that requires finding a web hosting provider, design the site, and creating content.
- Promote the website and product by advertising, link exchanges and any other method that will drive traffic to your site.
If you take one part from each of the three processes above you will have: a product from joining an affiliate program, creating content for distribution, and promoting it.
The process now looks like this:
- Join a good affiliate program. This can be any kind of service or digital goods such as ebooks or software. After signing up for an affiliate program you will receive a link that will include your affiliate ID.
- Create informative quality content about the product.
- Promote the product.
The last step is the key on how to promote the product without a website. Instead of creating the content for a website, create it in the form of articles, blogs, ezines, or even an eBook. Here’s how:
Articles - Write an article by creating content which is relevant to the product. The most important part of the article is the resource box at the bottom (see below), or sometimes shown as ‘About the Author”. This should include a short description of how to find more information for the product and include the link that points to the site selling the product or service. Once you submit the article, it will be picked up by web site owners looking for fresh content. Finding article sites are not hard since there are hundreds to choose from on the Internet.
Blogs - One of the hottest and effective method for selling. Best of all a website is not needed and it’s free. Just create content similar to writing articles and naturally weave your links in the blog. Update the blog once a week and keep using your important keywords. Your blog will be distributed through feeds and will also be crawled by the search engines. If you do your homework, you may end up on the first page of Google by using good keywords!
Advertise - Many people may opt not to advertise because of the costs, but if you plan your advertising campaigns carefully, they will pay for themselves quickly. If your budget is tight, look for free classifieds ads.
Forums - Visit the online discussion forums where people in your target market like to gather. Post useful responses to people’s questions, and include any links that you want to promote at the end of your post next to your name. You may be surprise at the results.
E-Mail Signatures - Create an e-mail signature with your name, link, and a short tagline describing the main benefit of your product. Set your e-mail program to automatically add your signature to every e-mail that you send.
These are just some methods you can use to market products with out a website. Start out with the examples above and learn how to create quality content and effectively distribute them around the Internet. Based on this knowledge, you can begin to build a solid foundation for your business which will help you make money instead of ending up at the beginning from where you started!
Business websites are a necessity in today’s society and the internet is only as good as its links. Without links, the internet simply would not be able to exist. To ensure a quality World Wide Web continues, you must provide links that your customers might be interested in. Linking to other sites helps tell the customers which products you use and trust. It also forms a bond of trust between you and other sites. Moreover, it can improve your own site by associating with other products that customers both know and trust and by giving you an increased level of visibility. There are two kinds of links you should include in your site. You should include a general links section for the benefit of your customers, and you should include a reciprocal links section to help you and other businesses as well as your customers.
There are several ways to decide which general links to include in your site. You might start by visiting competitor’s web sites. Check out their links section to understand what sites they provide links for. This might help you figure out what your customers are looking for. It might also provide you with a good base for a reciprocal linking system, which will be discussed in the next lesson.
Another way to decide what general links to include in your site is to consult with your customers. Internet-savvy customers will be able to tell you what they look for in a professional site and what they like and do not like about your links. This can help you control the quality of your links section. You could do this through a survey or by simply informally interviewing your clientele.
Be sure to provide general links that have a high page rank with internet search engines. This will increase your web traffic. You can do this by typing a key phrase in a search engine and look at the highest ranked pages that match your results.
General links are great, but reciprocal links are an essential part to the promotion of your website. You have a strong site that offers your quality product and you want people to know about your site. To make sure that you get the traffic you need, you must have other sites directed toward yours with links.
This process is fairly simply, but there are many ways to engage in reciprocal linking.
First, research the sites you might want to link to. You might start this process by making two lists. First, list the sites you think your customers might be interested in. For now, just write, you can consider narrowing your list down at a later time. Next, create a list of sites that would benefit your site. You can then compare the two lists and see what they have in common. Compile a list of common subjects, and list out three key words to fit with each subject.
After the research phase, it is time to go online. Find a Meta search engine and input all three words for each subject. Any site that comes back with all three keywords should be high on your priority list.
Once you’ve done that, it is time to start sifting through your results. Bookmark any sites that look promising.
When you’ve made your final choices, it is time to draft a letter to the webmaster of each site you’re considering. Get to the point quickly and sell your site to them. Do not follow up if your original letter was not responded to.
The final step in this process is to negotiate the link and location in terms of both sites. As soon as possible, get their link on your site and send them a note letting them now you have a live link to their site. Check their site frequently to ensure they are upholding their promise to you as well.
The entire process of choosing links and reciprocal links increases your visibility to customers. Not only will they be able to find you through the use of a search engine, they will now be able to find you through the use of other websites. This can mean nothing but good things for you and your website.
Many times your site will get backlinks without you asking for them. This article doesn’t go into those kinds of links. Instead, we focus on the links you can control and specifically request.
Additionally, this article doesn’t go into backlinks from paid advertising like Google ads. Those kinds of links often don’t carry much value in the eyes of search engines.
A solid backlink has three components.
By “solid,” I’m referring to a backlink that not only brings you traffic from someone clicking it but also brings the added value of enhancing your search engine rankings.
The three components are:
1. Choose good places to put links
2. Make it scrumptious for search engines
3. Make it irresistible to prospects
1. Choose a good place
There are a limitless number of web sites you can get linked from. They can range from general web site directories to coaching organization web sites to individual blogs.
Here are the main things to consider:
First, put your link in front of your target audience. Request backlinks from web sites that have the same target audience as you.
Next, choose web sites that are credible.
When credible web sites link to you, search engines will recognize it. They will give your site more “worth” and higher rankings.
For example, a link from a “quick and easy to set up” web page at myspace.com won’t be as valuable as a link from the home page of the “well established” msn.com.
Thirdly, place your link on web sites that get a lot of traffic as opposed to web sites that get very little traffic.
BUT … keep in mind that web sites with low traffic can be valuable if their audience is the same is yours.
Finally, choose web sites that display your link prominently.
Take a look at where your link will be positioned on the page. A link at the top of an easy-to-view web page is better than a link at the bottom of a long-and-busy page.
It’s better because it will get more clicks and search engines give more “kudos” to links towards the top of a page than at the bottom, generally speaking.
2. Make it scrumptious for search engines
How?
First, use simple text links when you can.
Simple text links are the most commonly used links on the Web, and are characterized by underlined text in a different color (usually blue) than surrounding text.
Text links are good because:
• They are very easy for search engines to find and follow. This makes it easy for search engines to put into their database.
• It’s easy for search engines to identify the keywords to associate with this link. This helps your rankings for those keywords.
Other links like image links, Java-Script links, Flash links, or dynamic links are less ideal because they are tough to follow and are often associated with S-PAM-mers.
Next, put your main keywords in your text link. Putting your web site’s keywords in your text link will boost your web site’s ranking for those keywords.
Lastly, you will often be allowed a description with your link to further explain your web site. This description text is also a good place to put your keywords.
3. Make it irresistible to prospects
So far we have discussed how to please the search engine. But if we can’t make the link attractive to the people who see it, we are missing out on good traffic.
Here’ are some tips to maximize clicks on your backlink:
• Get the main benefit or main problem you solve into the text around the link in readable sentences.
• Offer something fr*ee to motivate people to click your link. This can be an article, report, assessment, newsletter, ebook, etc.
• Keep it simple, direct and easy to read. Don’t jam keywords around the link.
• If your backlink will be on a page with other competing coaches, then be sure to emphasis how your services are different to make you stand out.
An example.
Here’s a listing of executive coaches from DMOZ:
dmoz.org/Business/Management/Consulting/Executive_Coaching/
On this page you will see links and descriptions.
This directory is good because it has text links and you can also provide a keyword rich description to help your rankings.
Also notice how this page is long with a lot of listings. It can look like a big blur.
About the only motivation to click is a fr*ee consultation. How about a fr*ee article specifically discussing something interesting that one could download right away?
Let’s wrap up …
Keep in mind these three keys …. choose a good place, make it scrumptious to search engines, and make it irresistible to visitors. Doing so will make your backlinks solid anchors that drive potential clients to your site.
Now you know why backlinks are good and how to write one.
It is rather interesting that most people do not take free online marketing tools seriously. Never mind that there is plenty of evidence around and even more examples of web sites and online entrepreneurs who have taken off in a hurry using only free online marketing tools.
In a way this reaction is not surprising because we have been brought up in world where we have been taught to firmly believe in the facts of life. One of the major facts of life is that there is no such thing as a free lunch and nothing valuable costs nothing.
While all this is true, most people have failed to realize that the World Wide Web has arrived with its’ own unique and rather unorthodox but highly effective set of rules.
Even fewer have taken note of the fact that the most successful online business model so far has been based on the heavy use of free marketing tools and heavy spending in marketing comes later when the web site has already started enjoying some success.
A Famous Example
When Bill Gates was playing catch up on the internet after an initial error of judgement over the future importance of the net, one of the areas where he found himself way behind was in free email services. The likes of Yahoo already had millions of users when Hotmail was re-launched.
Did one of the richest men in the world go for prime time television to advertise his new free email service? Did he book newspaper spots across the states? Not really, he used a free online marketing strategy that worked like a dream. A brief signature at the end of each email sent out invited the recipient to open a free Hotmail email account. The rest is history. This simple referral marketing strategy that cost nothing took Hotmail from virtually zero users to millions in a few short months.
There are numerous other examples, but I shoe this one because it is somebody we all know rather well.
Conventional Advertising Does Not Work Online
There is one other reason why free online advertising tools are so effective. And this is based on the fact that conventional advertising as we have always know it has so far been a big failure online.
Banner advertisements with all the color and gimmickry was such a huge failure that it prompted somebody to come up with what they thought would solve the problem and become a huge success. I am referring to the much-disliked and extremely annoying pop-up advertisements. Even the so-called pop-under ads that are supposedly less annoying have not been received with much enthusiasm online.
All these options are not free and people have been paying good money for them.
The reason why conventional ads do not work is simple and yet most people still don’t get it. Folks do not come online to be advertised to. They come online, usually with very little time on their hands and looking for some very specific information. Is it any wonder that any form of unsolicited advertising, be it pop-up ads or unsolicited email (SPAM), is so annoying?
This is why informative well-written articles are such an effective free online marketing tool. Only those who are interested in the information you have to offer will read your article. And they do not mind whatever advertising you put in the resource box at the bottom of the article, because it does not look like advertising to them. Especially when they are interested in getting more information on the subject at hand.
Marketing Is No Longer That Simple
What people need to realize is that marketing online does not fall into the neat offline categories we have been used to.
For example the most successful online advertising has been PPC ads or Pay -Per-Click ads. The main reason is that these ads have been based on relevance to the information being looked for right from the beginning. We first saw them next to search engine results. Those ugly small text things that looked like they were part of the results searched. They have worked like magic because advertisers only pay for actual clicks on their ads, so results and response to the ads are easily quantifiable.
It should not be lost on anybody that these ads actually do not look like ads. More so now when the market leader in PPC ads, Google have their AdSense ads in small sites and blogs all over the net. There is even more emphasis on relevance to the information being looked for.
Free Is Actually Not Free
Then the other extremely important factor to note is that many of the most effective online marketing tools are really not free. For instance, even if you write your won informative articles to use for marketing purposes, this is a very time-consuming exercise. Time is even more valuable than money because unlike money, it can never be recovered when it has been lost. So it is just that people pay using some other currency.
Conclusion
Anybody planning an online marketing campaign should look very carefully at the so-called free marketing tools and options, the effectiveness of some of the techniques will surprise them.
Every successful business campaign begins with a strong, viable marketing plan. To rise above in the internet marketing world, you must be prepared to pull out all the stops in the areas of promotion and advertising. Sound difficult? Think again. The expansion of the World Wide Web has made the complications of internet marketing promotion a thing of the past. With a wide array of promotional avenues to wander, almost anyone can be victorious in the internet marketing game.
Search engines have always been, and still are, the most effective way to generate traffic to your web site. The largest search engines have their own huge databases that contain tons of information that can be discovered through keyword searches. Keywords are an essential factor when dealing with internet marketing. Search engines account for over 80 percent of traffic generated to web sites. In internet marketing, every visitor is a potential customer. The more customers you have, the more money for you.
The mailing list is an excellent internet marketing technique that can be of great help when trying to accomplish your goals. The unique aspect of a mailing list is, while it not only brings recent visitors back to your web site, these visitors will most likely send your newsletter to their acquaintances. To utilize this internet marketing method to the fullest, develop an expansive customer list, and use this list frequently.
Blogs are a new and increasingly popular internet marketing technique designed to educate readers about your product or service. This marketeting method is favored because of the ability to create and publish information instantaneously on the web, and receive feedback from its readers. Blogs and blogging have become an excellent source for internet marketing promotion because of the constant content development, as well as, overall popularity. In the internet marketing realm, it’s the web site visitors that make the world go round.
If you consider your web site a money pit, you are not alone. Quite a few business owners have told me that they have web sites because “everyone else has a web site”, but they haven’t gotten any business from their web site. None. Zero. Nada. Zip. Many of them have paid thousands of dollars to web designers to create the web sites for them, and than the web sites just sit there, gathering the proverbial Internet dust, and getting enormous traffic consisting of three to five unique visitors a month.
Your web site should not be languishing in one of the rarely visited corners of the Net. Instead, it should be working 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year getting leads and clients for your business. It should serve as marketing brochure and as your best salesperson (who incidentally never sleeps, and doesn’t require either salary or commissions).
So how do you turn your dust collector into a lean, mean sales machine? First, you need to lay down the infrastructure for your online business. Here are three guidelines your web site should adhere to before its initial debut:
- Your web site must be easy to navigate, understand and use. When a web surfer comes to a web site and doesn’t understand what the web site is about in the first few minutes, the surfer moves on to the next web site (trust me, there lots of them out there. Approximately 2.7 billion at last count, give or take a few billion).
If the purpose and intent of your web site is not blatantly obvious, a surfer will move on. If your web site is difficult to navigate, a surfer will move on. If your web site is hard to use (for example, it is not obvious how to contact you or hire you) a surfer will move on.
- Your web site must discuss what you do AND how what you do will benefit your customers. Let’s say Sue and Jane are both weight loss coaches. Sue’s web site says that Sue is a weight loss coach. Jane’s web site says that Jane is a weight loss coach who helps women look and feel better by losing 30 pounds in 3 months.
Which coach sounds more appealing? The one who not only states what she does, but also shows what is in it for the customer. The site must answer a fundamental question: Why should I hire you?
- Have a newsletter sign up box on your web site. The majority of your web site visitors will not contact you about your services after visiting your web site, but they will subscribe for a free newsletter. By subscribing, they give you permission to send them your information-packed newsletter, which will also serve as a reminder about your business.
Without a newsletter, many people will visit your web site once and promptly forget about it 10 minutes after leaving it. By having a newsletter, you are able to capture these visitors, and tell them about your business again and again.
Take action today! Take a critical look at your web site and make sure that it conforms to the guidelines outlined above. A website that follows these forms a solid foundation for having a marketable web site for your business.