Build a Better Website Blog

The Internet is changing at the speed of light.  It’s important to keep up with new developments (and new opportunities) if you want to make the most of your online marketing.   Social Networking sites have exploded in popularity, even as we all try to figure out how to best use them.

Go ahead and dive in!  Most sites are free and you only learn by doing. What I do can be an example for you… Webmaster Ray (and entries in this blog) can now be found on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networking sites.  The list will grow.  Each of us needs to experiment to see which site(s) and which tools benefit us most.  This is true both for business or personal use such as my running sites.

Webmaster Ray

As a website owner, you must give your visitors what they want.
The main goal of your website is to “sell” your products, services or ideas.  An eCommerce (Shopping Cart) site directly earns revenue by taking online orders.  Informational sites seek to persuade visitors to travel to a physical location or request further details by phone, email, or signing up for a newsletter or membership. Whatever tactic your site takes, you must study the whole process from the visitor’s point of view. 
Right from the start, your web pages must be engaging and provide what people came there to find.

Keep the people happy
“Content is King!”  This has been the credo of web designers and SEO experts from day one.  Incorporate the “keywords” and “keyphrases” your visitors are searching for throughout the site.  Keywords are the words and phrases that people type into search engines.  The most popular of these expressions must be included on your pages in various places.

With endless choices for any subject, your site must be customer focused.  Catch the attention of visitors within 3-8 seconds or they will try one of the other three million related sites, never to return again.  First impression is crucial, so choose your home page headlines, text, images and colors carefully. 

Capturing their attention within the first few seconds is most important, but you then have to make it easy to solve the problem that initially led them there.  The home page needs to concisely explain how you can help
them.  It needs to have a layout and navigation system where visitors will quickly realize that their answer is just one or two clicks away.  Don’t irritate them by requiring 4 or 5 clicks or by making it a game to guess
which links may have the most pertinent details. Even if they “get lucky”, they may not be able to stumble upon answers in the future.

Web surfers prefer to sell themselves.  In the real world, sales and marketing involves convincing prospects in person or via media to try what you’ve got.  It often includes playing to their emotions to close the deal. 
In the cyber world, there are so many website choices that surfers continue to look for “free stuff” whenever possible.  Without seeing each other face-to-face, it’s harder to play to the prospect’s emotions, so they know
that they have the upper hand in that they can decide against you in one click of a key.

Knowing that they control the situation, your site must offer what they want, not what you think they need.  Design the site from their point of view by providing complete information, answering logical questions, giving written and visual examples, displaying choices (such as colors and other options), displaying testimonials that people can relate to, and providing free samples!  When prospects feel that a website is tailored to their needs, they’ll bookmark it or take the next step towards becoming a customer.

Know your audience
Keep visitors comfortable by designing from their perspective.  Your site should reflect the values of your potential customers.  If they expect instructions or FAQ pages or multiple photos, meet or exceed these expectations. 

When you really prefer that they contact you for certain information (such as pricing or custom specifications) at least guarantee that the details will be provided without sales pressure.  Offering a free or discounted promotional item can also entice them to continue the process.  Give them what they want and they will return for more!

Internet Marketing usually refers to an eCommerce site, but the concept can be used by any business or organization.

You may have a home business, side business, MLM (Network Marketing, Direct Marketing) business or even an individual product or service you wish to  promote.  “Internet Marketing” is simply the online promotional techniques to increase traffic to the website you’ve created for it.

Make money with a side business

How To Make Money in MLM / Network Marketing Even If You’re Not A Salesman!

Network Marketing (aka Multi-Level Marketing or MLM) can be the ideal home-based business. On the surface, the lucrative cash earnings potential for Network Marketing draws our interest. But we all realize that a certain amount of sales skills are necessary for any business to be successful. This is even more true with MLM, since product prices are often higher than the retail store competitors.

You don’t have to have a “Type A” personality to make money!
There are so many Network Marketing opportunities around that we’ve all come into contact with a friend or relative “trying to sell us something”. This brings up all the negative feelings associated with “in your face” salesmanship where the prospect often feels so uncomfortable that they may not even want to hear about something they’d otherwise be interested in.

These days, with so many product and service options, and everything accessible through the internet, many of us would prefer to make our own decisions instead of being sold something by a salesman (especially when he’s your brother-in-law). To take advantage of people’s ability and desire to make their own decisions, we need to offer our product instead of sell it. For softer spoken (or even reserved) MLM’ers, go for the soft sale, rather than the hard one for better results. Here’s a list of ways to do that successfully:

1. Market a product you believe in, and use it!
2. Allow prospects to find you, from around your area or around the world.
3. Be your own affiliate, for an even softer sell.
4. Email marketing makes MLM more personal.
5. Prove that you are reputable and proficient in your field.
6. Treat it like a REAL business.

See details of this list here.

Provide quality content, including the specific keywords that visitors are looking for. 

Keywords and content are the most important factors for your pages to rank high in search engines (at no expense to you).  Make it easier for people to find you by incorporating the words and phrases they’re searching for.  Short paragraphs and bullet points are easiest to glance over. 

Keyphrases are strings of words typed into search engines to produce more relevant results.  If someone is looking for a pest control service in Denver, they may punch in “pest control Denver”, so if you own such a company in that area, you want those words to appear in the text of your home page.

Directories and search engines are becoming more powerful in producing the most suitable results for each keyphrase.  So put yourself in your customers’ shoes and consider the most popular terms to include.  Ask Webmaster Ray about the “Google Keyword Tool”.

Maintain the site on a regular basis to keep it fresh and give visitors a reason to return.  

Outdated information gives the impression that you’re unreliable.  Your Webmaster or designer can make it easy for you to make your own timely changes to parts of the site.  In minutes, you can change a “weekly specials” page, add new products, update pricing information or edit a “customer news” page.   One method to do this is to install a database.

More return visits mean more sales!

Log in to a database with a simple username and password to edit a specific page of your site.  You might add a new testimonial, note some special recognition your company has received or include a profile of an employee.  Anything that brings life to the site.

If you have a Content Management System (CMS), you have more flexibility to change every page.  You’re paying for it, so you might as well use it!  References to new projects or the inclusion of recent dates proves that your company is in business and staying active.

Submit your site to major directories and Search Engines.  Besides appearing in those lists, the additional inbound link helps increase rank in Google and others!  Start with these:
Google.com
Yahoo.com
MSN.com
DMOZ.org
Jayde.com (business to business)