ComputerHunter.org |
|
|
|||
|
 |
Five Foolproof Ways to Improve Your Web Site Sales
When you run an online home-based business, your web site is more than simply a company location. It's also your primary source of advertising and marketing. If you've noticed that sales are lagging or if you're simply looking for ideas for a site you're building, the following five tips can help you boost revenue and develop an even more successful web presence. 1) Stress Your UPS In this case, UPS isn't referring to the delivery company. Instead, it stands for Unique Positioning Statement and it's one of the most important ingredients of your business. Your UPS is basically a statement of what sets you apart from your competition. Think of it as an answer to the question: Why should I do business with you? You may choose to focus on service, price, or any other special feature of your business that would appeal to customers. Whichever feature you choose should be stressed in all your web site's content. Don't shy away from telling others what sets you apart. 2) Add Interactivity Consumers are shying away from passive activities where they just sit and watch. Instead, they want to be a part of the action, so you need to give your potential customers several ways to participate at your site. Possibilities include message boards, polls, chat rooms, and surveys. By adding these types of elements, you are giving visitors more of a reason to stick around, to return, and to recommend your site to their friends. 3) Stress Credibility No one wants to buy a product from someone they don't trust, so building a sense of credibility with your site is crucial to your success. You can accomplish this in a number of ways: * Adding an "About Us" section These methods work for several reasons. An "About Us" section allows visitors to get a picture of who they will be doing business with while the contact information gives them the security of knowing they can reach someone in case there is a problem. Furthermore, the guarantee expresses your confidence in your product and that confidence is contagious. Testimonials, client lists, and awards are also effective for building credibility. 4) Test Everything The problem with most unsuccessful business owners is that they jump right in to things without ever taking the time to test their site, their product, their layout, even their links. The result is that too much money is spent on things that do not work. Any changes you make to your site need to be tested before being adopted permanently. For example, if you change your headline on your home page, compare your sales for the week of the change and the previous week. If the numbers drop or stay about the same, go back to the drawing board. If the numbers go up, check one more week's sales numbers and if the numbers are still high, you may have a winner. 5) Provide Reasons to Return While it may only take a visitor to your site once trip to make a purchase, you want to give them reasons to come back. Otherwise, how will they know when you add new products? The key is to continue to update your site, perhaps with articles or news, that may be of interest to your target audience. If your site becomes one of your visitor's primary resources for the latest information on a subject they are interested in, you can be sure they will bookmark your site and come back frequently. Also consider having a mailing list. A mailing list will allow visitors to provide you with their email addresses so that you can send them notifications of updates, specials, and changes to the site including ads and marketing materials for new products. These email messages will also provide them with a reason to come back. When you do business online, your web site takes the place of your sales force. If it's not pulling in the numbers you had hoped for or if you've seen your numbers going down recently, you need to evaluate your site and decide where changes can and should be made. Content, layout, graphics, even navigation all play a role in the success, or failure, of your site and your company. Don't let a small problem with your web site become the reason you go out of business. Vishal P. Rao is the owner of: http://www.work-at-home-forum.com/ An online community of people who work at home.
Google News - Top Stories
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
How to Tap the Profits Hidden in Your Internet Business! I'd like to show you five secret strategies to extract profits hidden in your Internet business. Pay particular attention because any of these can boost bottom line revenue fast. The Numbers Dont Lie! It's true. They don't. Harness the Power of the Internet Whether you're a service business working to obtain clients, a manufacturer selling products, or a non-profit organization selling your good works, you must spread the word. You must speak up to be heard. Getting a response requires consistent and persistent self-promotion. It is a simple formula: Commit to marketing your services, and business will grow. Is There A Future For Spam? Will you always be buried underneath a mountain of spam? Is there any light at the end of the tunnel? With the current flood of spam to your inbox and ever more devious practices on the part of spammers you'd be forgiven for thinking that spam is here to stay. Creating Information Products For Money, Image And Success There has never been a more exciting and profitable time to create your own online product. Recent breakthroughs in the costs of software, broadband, online hosting, and teleconferencing combined with the explosion of internet sales, makes it easier than ever before for any coach to create their own products. Even better, with the advent of automation, it's never been easier to automate the entire sales and distribution of your product, providing you with a passive stream of income while you sleep. An information product can be delivered in many different formats; as an e-book, e-course, special report, manual, tutorial, home study course, tele-class, intensive program, etc. Audio and video can even be added to any of these formats, simply and easily from home, something that wasn't possible even just a few years ago. Why is it important to have your own product on the internet? Positions you as an expert - Perception is everything on the internet and the creation of your own product results in positioning you as an expert and is a critical step in generating new business. Builds your brand identity - Your product represents you and your business in the marketplace, and making it available on the Web is the first step toward getting your product into more hands, heads, and homes. Reaches a global marketplace - Having a product available on the Web means that you've expanded your geographic marketplace to the entire world via your website and your affiliate's websites. Creates a 24/7, passive revenue, profit machine - The Web never sleeps which means that you can literally turn your computer and website into a cash register around the clock, and many, if not all, of the processes can be automated. Instantly increases the effectiveness of yours sales cycle - This is especially critical for coaches. Often a consumer will opt to purchase a product as a trial before deciding to purchase your service. Having a quality product available on the Web allows them to get to know a bit more about you and what you have to offer. In addition to the great benefits listed above, there are several more which apply specifically to information products and make them an even more attractive choice. They are remarkably cost-effective - Since traditional production and distribution is unnecessary, your costs are significantly reduced and your margin for profit is significantly increased. Increase your speed to market - While it might take months or years to get a hardbound book written, edited, published, produced, and distributed to book stores, you can deliver the same content in the format of an e-book and bring it into the world in a matter of days or weeks instead. Content can be leveraged in several formats - The same content can be presented in several different formats; as an e-book, an e-course, a tele-class, a home study course, and the list goes on and on. My Book Yourself Solid product line is a perfect example. See how I've created a full product line at www.BookYourselfSolid.com. Opportunity for bold self-expression and learning - The Web allows you to get your message to millions simultaneously while at the same time offering you the opportunity to learn in action as you challenge yourself to create something totally unique. Now is the time to get into action. Product creation does not have to be that difficult. To learn more, visit http://www.90dayproduct.com. Before you know it you'll be hearing the beautiful, melodic, 'ka-ching, ka-ching' sound of your website turned cash register, as the orders come rolling in. Learn Judo and Beat the Summer Traffic Blues Did it seem like as the Fourth of July fireworks went up, your traffic went down? Or perhaps you are dreading your visitors taking a vacation and leaving your site home alone this summer? If this is you, then I advise taking some time out to learn a bit of Judo. Judo and the art of website management Judo? What on earth is the connection between seasonal traffic problems and Judo? Well let me explain a little about Judo and it might start to make more sense. Judo is an interesting form of combat, because Judo techniques don't rely on outright strength or size. Instead, the participants use suppleness and flexibility of response (ju means "flexible" in Japanese) to turn their opponent's apparent advantages against them. In Judo, you don't actively resist an opponent's move. Instead, a Judo player uses the momentum generated by his opponent's attack to bring him down. Are you beginning to see the connection? If your visitor numbers or conversions nosedive at certain times of the year, don't fight it ? use it to your advantage. This is how you can manage your online business Judo-style. But how does this work in practice? Well, when fewer visitors and customers mean you have more time available, you can? 1. Overhaul your site Have you been too busy dealing with orders and enquiries to give your site that much-needed makeover? Take advantage of the extra time to implement all those great content, navigation and conversion-improving ideas you are too busy to even think about during the rest of the year. 2. Add to your product line-up This is a great opportunity to add both new tangible products, and extra downloadable ones as well. If you have nothing else to do, a few relatively undisturbed days will give you more than enough time to put together a new ebook on your area of expertise. 3. Build links and credibility Articles (like this one) are a great way to generate both links and credibility. Any extra time a traffic lull gives you can be used very effectively in writing and posting informative articles. As they are picked up and start appearing across the Internet, your both your inbound links and credibility shoot up. 4. Create new partnerships Your busy schedule may not allow you much time to do your own browsing, so take advantage of this slow traffic days to get out and look around a bit yourself. Are there any potential partners out there who you could work with to your mutual benefit? A new joint venture can potentially be worth hundreds of additional customers, so this time of browsing and exploring new possibilities has a huge potential payback. 5. Save your advertising bucks You're keeping track of your conversions as well as your visitor stats, right? Well, if you notice a drop-off around weekends, holidays or other vacation times then, whatever you do, don't use paid advertising to make up the shortfall. If your search engine-generated free visitors aren't in the mood to buy, visitors coming through paid advertising probably won't either. Instead, save your money and use it at those times your historical data tell you give the best bang for your buck. 6. Have a summer sale and get rid of old stock Kill two birds with one stone: Clear out old inventory while simultaneously encouraging those visitors you do have to spend money with you. Make sure you email all your previous customers about the summer deals too, and you may find you get a stampede of repeat visitors cleaning out your store. 7. Christmas is coming You may not be able to hear those sleigh-bells just quite yet, but in retail terms, Christmas is just round the corner. Have you thought about how you will get the most out of this year's holiday season? Set your strategy now and ensure this year will see bumper sales. 8. Take a break yourself! Come on, even following half of my suggestions is going to keep you very busy - even if you do have fewer visitors than usual. So, the final thing to remember is that you are your site's biggest asset and, since you need a break sometime too, why not take it now? If your visitors are packing up and going to the beach this summer, don't panic: Learn a bit of Judo, and let "The Way of Flexibility" (the literal meaning of "Judo") help you turn your summer blues into a bonanza of new opportunities. Website Promotion With Content Exchanges Ever hear about an idea that is so simple yet so powerful, you wonder why you hadn't thought of it before? Internet Marketing Secrets Spiel Wouldn't you like to know all the Internet marketing "secrets" that have made me the man I am today? Online Sales : 10 High Decibel Tricks To Magnify Your Sales Online sales is like a fine art and you have to learn the ropes on how to convert traffics to buyers. Internet Marketing Reality Check There are thousands of web sites, books, CD-ROM's, cassette tapes and various other forms of communication devoted to the topic of Internet marketing. The majority of these sites profess to offer "secret strategies" and "killer tactics" which promise to increase your chances of having success on the Internet. Of course you must fork over your hard earned cash for these wonderful pearls of wisdom. (Many of which turn out to be nothing more than pyramid schemes and other scams) To Survey Or Not To Survey I have learned over the years that when it comes to online marketing as I know it, it's not about what I want in my business. It's really about what people who visit my website want. For awhile I didn't understand that philosophy. How do I find out what people want? 4 Simple Secrets for Net Marketing Success Starting an internet based business when you have zero marketing experience is, to say the least, bewildering. I speak from personal experience as I started out with no specialized knowledge. I gradually weaved my way through what seemed like hundreds of sites selling just about everything and tried to resist buying every white elephant that was offered. The Deadly Sin Of Inaction "There is difference between knowing the path and walking the path" Website Sales: 10 Exploding Ways To Intensify Your Website Sales Are sales at your website weak? Online Marketing Law! Whats Happening? You read that right. There's a new law in California for online marketing. This law is thanks to the California's Online Privacy Protection Act. How A 7 Year Old Boy Discovered The Secret To Niche Marketing Success Niche marketing enthusiast... The ABCs of Online Customer Support Want to provide great online customer support? Want to provide the kind of customer support that will grow your business, by building customer loyalty and satisfaction? It's not as hard as it sounds! Just remember your ABC's. Paid Customer List On Autopilot? How do you get a truckload of buyers eager to purchase from you. Create a good quality product and price it ridiculously low. This way you will create a truckload of buyers rushing to get your product. This is a powerful way of building a paid customer list on autopilot. You had actually "Over-Delivered" and you will have very high chances of keeping your customers for life. Six Little Used Online Marketing Strategies 1. Utilize Your Knowledge 10 Deadly Joint Venture Profit Killing Mistakes 1. Not sending out another mailing
|
|
|
|
|
