Ecommerce :: What Makes a Successful Website How do you make a website work on the vast Internet?. There are a few right ways and a lot of wrong ones. Whether you use our services or not, I want to give you some free advice on how to make your internet business a great success. Many people think that if they just set up a website, customers will magically appear and start buying. You can't really expect that to happen! It would be like building a retail store with no windows, doors or signs, on a lot with no roads or sidewalks, and expect customers to find you and flood you with business. An Internet website is really just an electronic store front, like a physical store front. Set up and marketed right, it will become your most cost-effective way to generate business. There are huge opportunities out there: the online customer base is growing by 153% a year, so a small investment in the right kind of marketing will reap a rich harvest. You're probably feeling like I did a few years ago: I knew I needed a web presence, but didn't know how it all worked and I was afraid of making mistakes. Well, after a lot of studying and testing I've completely changed my marketing focus. No more direct mail, print ads or telemarketing: now I market 100% online. My internet marketing dollar gives me a 400% return on investment: that's pretty hard to beat with the older ways of marketing. Here's what I've learned: You need a fully developed and coordinated web marketing program that includes a "sales oriented" website, an online vehicle for driving customers to your site, a process of converting them from lookers to buyers and a way of tracking your progress. (Most people just put up a website and expect the traffic to flow in. But it just doesn't work that way) Here are some Free Tips: Your Website: 1. The front (home) page should tell your prospective customers what you can do for them. Give them reasons to buy. Keep your text short and to the point. You only have a few seconds to hook them. If they don't find what they're looking for in those few seconds they will be gone to one of your competitors. 2. After the front (home) page, your other pages should give just enough, not too much, information to motivate your customer to call or email you. YOUR MAIN GOAL WITH YOUR WEBSITE IS TO GET THE CUSTOMER TO CONTACT YOU. Nothing more, nothing less. If you have too much information, or not enough information, they will move on.
3. Each web page should have a "call to action" on it. A reason for them to place an order then and there, or call your phone number or fill in a form with their name, email address and phone number. 4. It is important for you to get their contact information so you can start developing a relationship. If they don't buy from you today, they may tomorrow. You want to stay in touch. The best way is with an auto-responder program. (I'll talk more about that later) 5. Use colors and font styles that are easy to read and pleasing to the eyes. Be careful to not get too fancy or cluttered with your pages. Keep them simple and easy to navigate.