If you are a serious Internet Entrepreneur, your top priority
must be your website. Your website is a direct reflection of
you and your business. Creating a professional website designed
to sell will take a great deal of time and effort, as there is
much more to take into consideration than design. You must look
at a much broader picture and specifically design your website
to sell.
1) You must have a professional looking website. Your website
is the most important sales tool you have. Your visitor's
first impression will almost instantly determine whether or not
you're going to make a sale. A professional website should be
pleasing to the eyes, well organized, easy to navigate and load
quickly.
2) You must specifically design your website to rank high in
the Search Engines. This involves much more than just
including META tags. Your KEYWORDS, TITLE, IMAGE ALT tags,
Text and overall design, all play an important roll in
determining how your website will rank. You can learn more by
reading the Optimization tutorial at Web Source.
http://www.web-source.net/webpageoptimizing.htm
3) You must use effective sales copy. Your words are the
entire foundation of your business. Most business failures are
the result of ineffective copy. Whether it is your website,
sales letters or advertisements, your words play a major role
in determining your success. When writing your website copy,
use the following formula:
A -Attention - Use a powerful headline that demands attention
I -Interest - Intrigue interest and create curiosity
D -Detail - Provide details about your product or service
A -Action - Call for action
4) Drive traffic to your site. In order to create a steady
stream of traffic to your website, give your visitors a
reason to visit and continue to visit in the future. You must
provide your visitors with fresh content on a continual basis.
Content comes in various forms, such as news, articles, tips,
horoscopes, weather, etc. and is freely available on the
Internet. Your content should blend in well with the focus of
your website and be updated on a regular basis.
The following websites provide free articles for publication:
http://www.web-source.net/articles/
http://www.mega-success.com/
http://www.marketing-seek.com/
http://www.ideamarketers.com/
http://www.infobot.net/
Syndication services provide free content from a wide variety
of sources. You simply place a small line of code within the
HTML of your web page and each of the following services
provide fresh content for you. The great thing about
syndication services is that once you've placed the code,
you don't have to worry about updating the content, as it is
automatically updated.
Syndicator - Provides free syndicated articles and columns
with photographs
http://www.web-source.net/syndicator.htm
isyndicate - Provides free headlines for news, articles,
comics, weather and more.
http://www.isyndicate.com/
Moreover - Provides news headlines from over 1500 sources.
http://www.moreover.com/
ScreamingMedia - Provides free headlines from various
resources
http://www.screamingmedia.com/
5) Provide free instruction. Your website is the storefront
for your product or service. You must convince your visitors
that they need the product or service you're offering. This
can be accomplished by providing your visitors with free
helpful advice and instruction in the form of an article,
tutorial, free ebook or free autoresponder course.
6) Display your testimonials. You must gain your visitors
trust. By displaying customer testimonials, you are boosting
your potential customers confidence in you and your product
or service. You can either create a web page to display all
of your testimonials or use a script to rotate them on your
main page. You can find a great random text script here:
http://willmaster.com/master/merrygoround/
7) Let your visitors know who you are. Provide complete
information in regard to your company including, address,
phone number and email addresses to request information
and support.
8) Tell your visitors about their privacy. Create a page on
your website called, "Privacy Statement," and let your
visitors know exactly what you do with the personal
information you collect.
9) Provide a sample or trial of your product or service.
For example, if you're offering a Search Engine
optimization service, provide a free META tag analysis at
your website. Not only will this increase your sales, but
it will drive more traffic to your site as well.
10) Remove the risk. To further increase your sales, you
must remove the risk by providing a guarantee. A guarantee
will boost your potential customer's confidence in
purchasing your products or services.
A professional website specifically designed to sell is
one the most important factors in determining your success.
Take your time and make sure you're looking at the complete
picture before you begin. If you're not secure in your
abilities to create your own website, rather than risk the
potential success of your business, consider hiring a
professional web designer. Your success depends on it.
About the Author
Shelley Lowery is the Webmistress of Web-Source.net. Your
Guide to Professional Web Site Design & Development. Display
complete, professionally written articles & photographs on your
website that automatically update each week, free. Join The
Syndicator. http://www.web-source.net