Eight Simple Steps For Enhancing
Your Website
by Alden Smith
To be successful with your online
business, whether you are selling
your own product, services or are
selling for other merchants as an
affiliate, you need a Web site that
focuses on that subject alone. The
site must be easy to build,
maintenance-free, low cost,
credible, and a powerful
traffic-builder and
customer-converter.
Having the right tools or product
alone will not insure the success of
your website. There are many factors
to be considered when designing your
site. And unfortunately, most of
these are usually ignored by
Internet business owners. Here are
eight simple steps to enhance your
site and make it profitable.
1. Build It for Speed. There is no
denying that in this day and age
that people are in a hurry. You have
between 10 and 30 seconds to capture
your potential customer's attention.
To minimize your load time, keep
graphics small. Compress them where
possible. Use flashy technology
(JavaScript, Flash, Streaming
Audio/Video, animation) sparingly
and only if it is imperative to your
presentation.
2. Target your Market. Know who your
market is and make certain that your
site caters to their needs. It is
critical that your site reflect the
values of your potential customers.
Is your market mostly business
professionals? If so, the site must
be clean and professional. Is your
product aimed at teenagers and young
adults? Then your site could be more
informal and relaxed. The key is to
know your market and build the site
to their preferences.
3. Focus the Site. Make certain your
web site is focused on the goal of
selling your product or service. If
your business offers many products,
dedicate a unique page for each
instead of trying to sell them all
from one page. This can easily be
accomplished through the utilization
of subdomains.
4. Build Credibility. The most
professionally designed site won't
sell if your customers don't believe
in you. Become an authority in your
chosen niche. The internet is all
about information, not just
marketing. People go to the internet
to find information on a particular
subject. Providing clear concise
articles focused on the subject of
your site makes you an expert in
your field. Providing a clear
privacy statement is also away to
build your credibility. Provide a
prominent link to your privacy
statement from every page on the
site as well as from any location
that you are asking your visitors
for personal information. Provide
legitimate contact information on
line, including your mailing address
and phone number. Don't hide behind
a computer!
5. Keep navigation simple. Make site
navigation easy and intuitive.
Simple and smooth navigation adds to
the convenience of the visitors. Add
powerful search and catalog
features. Many times a lot of
visitors do not have the patience to
navigate through the whole website
to find what they are looking for.
6. Keep it consistent. Make sure the
site is consistent in look, feel and
design. Nothing is more jarring and
disturbing to a customer than
feeling as if they have just gone to
another site. Keep colors and themes
constant throughout the site.
7. Make your site interactive and
personalized. Make your website
interactive. Add feedback forms as
well as email forms that allow your
prospective customers to ask you any
questions they might have pertaining
to a product. Personalization of
your website is another key element
that can lead to customer delight
and can increase your sales.
Personalization technology provides
you the analytic tools to facilitate
cross-selling and up-selling when
the customer is buying online. It
would give you an idea of what
products to cross-sell and up-sell.
For example, when a person buys a CD
player, a disc cleaner can also be
offered.
8. Content is King. Good content
sells a product. Ask yourself the
following questions. Does your copy
convey the message you wish to get
across to your visitors? Is it
compelling? Does it lead your
visitor through the sales process?
Have others review, critique and
edit your copy to insure it is
delivering the intended message.
Always double check your spelling
and grammar.
These eight, simple rules will go a
long way toward the improvement of
your website and most importantly,
turn visitors into customers.
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About The Author
Alden Smith is an award winning
author who has been marketing on the
internet for over 7 years. His site,
http://www.for-the-record.biz, is
loaded with articles and information
for the beginning blogger and
internet marketer. Articles are
posted daily, addressing everything
from CSS to blogging for the
beginning marketer.
