Microsoft Office Live is a suite of internet-based services for small businesses that allows them to create a professional online presence without the expense of buying servers or hiring technical staff. Office Live provides everything needed to create a professional website, including free web hosting, easy site design tools, company email accounts, online marketing tools, and an intranet site to store documents and customer information. Most services are free, allowing small businesses to get online quickly and easily.
The document discusses keys to success with an internet business. It states that passion and determination are essential, and lists important steps as developing your own product, building a professional website designed to sell, creating quality content, driving targeted traffic, building an opt-in list, writing killer sales copy, accepting credit cards, and gaining credibility. The true secret is to never give up and keep trying as most people fail just before success.
6 awesome steps to promote your businessKickoffLabs
Learn how to promote your online business using lead generation techniques to build qualified web traffic. Cover the use of landing pages for viral growth and high conversion rates. www.kickofflabs.com
This document provides tips for small businesses to generate internet marketing through their website, traffic, and paid advertising. It recommends evaluating your website's effectiveness, setting up analytics to track traffic, optimizing for search engine results through keywords, links and listings, and using paid platforms like Google Adwords and Facebook ads. The goal is to educate yourself on simple marketing strategies to attract customers and see continuous business growth.
This document provides an overview of internet marketing strategies for small businesses. It discusses the importance of website effectiveness, generating traffic through search engine optimization, analytics, and paid advertising. Additionally, it covers list building, contact management, and email marketing. The goal is to help small business owners implement simple marketing tactics on their own to see increased business growth.
The complete guide to a high converting website copypasteads.comjackpot201
This document outlines strategies for building a high-converting website. It begins by debunking common myths, including that building a site alone will attract customers and that all visitors can be converted. It emphasizes the importance of understanding target customers, defining conversion goals for each page, and testing and optimizing the site ongoing. The document provides a checklist of 47 strategies organized into chapters on planning, basics, design, SEO, and trust signals. It stresses starting with the right keywords, simplifying the user experience, optimizing for mobile, and maintaining consistency across the site.
The document provides information on creating a blog to flip for profit, including choosing a topic, selecting a blogging platform, installing WordPress, customizing themes, adding monetization plugins, and generating content. It recommends starting with a popular niche like internet marketing, adding built-in ways to make money like AdSense or affiliate products, and considering autoblog content to automate the process and appeal to buyers who want hands-off income. The goal is to build up the blog's value before reselling it for a profit.
You should consider 4 steps when producing a website:
(i) The content & navigation (ii) The build technology/tool (iii) The promotion (iv) The maintenance.
Most businesses spend too little time on step one which only ends up in a site with low conversion rates. This guide will help you with the content of your site increasing conversion rates.
This document provides an overview and guide for planning an effective website. It emphasizes the importance of thorough planning before development begins. The planning process should include defining marketing strategy and buyer personas, determining site functionality and content types, designing site architecture and navigation, choosing technology and platforms, and bringing all elements together in a project specification for developers. Careful planning helps avoid issues, ensures the site meets goals and user needs, and justifies the upfront costs and time invested.
The document discusses keys to success with an internet business. It states that passion and determination are essential, and lists important steps as developing your own product, building a professional website designed to sell, creating quality content, driving targeted traffic, building an opt-in list, writing killer sales copy, accepting credit cards, and gaining credibility. The true secret is to never give up and keep trying as most people fail just before success.
6 awesome steps to promote your businessKickoffLabs
Learn how to promote your online business using lead generation techniques to build qualified web traffic. Cover the use of landing pages for viral growth and high conversion rates. www.kickofflabs.com
This document provides tips for small businesses to generate internet marketing through their website, traffic, and paid advertising. It recommends evaluating your website's effectiveness, setting up analytics to track traffic, optimizing for search engine results through keywords, links and listings, and using paid platforms like Google Adwords and Facebook ads. The goal is to educate yourself on simple marketing strategies to attract customers and see continuous business growth.
This document provides an overview of internet marketing strategies for small businesses. It discusses the importance of website effectiveness, generating traffic through search engine optimization, analytics, and paid advertising. Additionally, it covers list building, contact management, and email marketing. The goal is to help small business owners implement simple marketing tactics on their own to see increased business growth.
The complete guide to a high converting website copypasteads.comjackpot201
This document outlines strategies for building a high-converting website. It begins by debunking common myths, including that building a site alone will attract customers and that all visitors can be converted. It emphasizes the importance of understanding target customers, defining conversion goals for each page, and testing and optimizing the site ongoing. The document provides a checklist of 47 strategies organized into chapters on planning, basics, design, SEO, and trust signals. It stresses starting with the right keywords, simplifying the user experience, optimizing for mobile, and maintaining consistency across the site.
The document provides information on creating a blog to flip for profit, including choosing a topic, selecting a blogging platform, installing WordPress, customizing themes, adding monetization plugins, and generating content. It recommends starting with a popular niche like internet marketing, adding built-in ways to make money like AdSense or affiliate products, and considering autoblog content to automate the process and appeal to buyers who want hands-off income. The goal is to build up the blog's value before reselling it for a profit.
You should consider 4 steps when producing a website:
(i) The content & navigation (ii) The build technology/tool (iii) The promotion (iv) The maintenance.
Most businesses spend too little time on step one which only ends up in a site with low conversion rates. This guide will help you with the content of your site increasing conversion rates.
This document provides an overview and guide for planning an effective website. It emphasizes the importance of thorough planning before development begins. The planning process should include defining marketing strategy and buyer personas, determining site functionality and content types, designing site architecture and navigation, choosing technology and platforms, and bringing all elements together in a project specification for developers. Careful planning helps avoid issues, ensures the site meets goals and user needs, and justifies the upfront costs and time invested.
Introduction to Internet Marketing Success, Modiin 2009Gidon Ariel
The document provides guidance on building a successful online business. It discusses developing high-quality content related to your business concept, attracting targeted traffic through search engine optimization and building relationships. The key steps are to: 1) identify a niche and develop content around it, 2) drive relevant traffic to your site through search and relationships, 3) provide value to visitors without direct sales pitches to build trust, and 4) eventually monetize through various income streams like affiliate marketing. Choosing a niche you're passionate about and following a proven process of content-traffic-relationship building is emphasized as the path to online business success.
The document discusses key aspects of building a successful sales organization for a SaaS company. It covers the shift from traditional on-premise software sales models to the SaaS model with more frequent customer touchpoints. Successful SaaS sales requires continually refining processes, systems, skills, and structure. The sales strategy should have a vision aligned with goals and markets. Different customer segments require tailored sales models with the appropriate roles. Setting goals and quotas for sales territories is important for driving attainment. Customer success and account management play separate but important post-sale roles in ensuring ongoing customer value and opportunities.
Заработать на продаже сайта? Но как? Возможно ли создать простой сайт или блог и тут же продать его с прибылью. В презентации я хочу раскрыть секрет того, что деньги можно получать легко и быстро. Продажа сайтов на аукционах доступна каждому. Если вы ведете информационный ресурс или у вас есть развлекательный портал, куда приходит огромное количество людей, то вы сможете с выгодой продать свой проект и получить за это большой доход.
3 necessary tools for the high rolling affiliate marketerGeorgePointer1
The document discusses 3 necessary tools for successful affiliate marketing: 1) having your own website to promote products and services, with high-quality original content; 2) using incentives like freebies to encourage people to subscribe to newsletters and drive traffic to promoted websites; and 3) improving link popularity through reciprocal linking to increase search engine rankings and attract more targeted traffic.
Simply SaaS University: Marketing 101 - Asia MatosJacey Lucus
Atlanta Ventures hosted the 2nd Simply SaaS University class: Marketing Metrics 101 with Asia Matos. In the class, SaaS entrepreneurs learned more about the fundamentals to defining their customer acquisition strategy, why it’s important to define your primary marketing channels, best practices around researching, how to create an amazing funnel.
5 tips to magnetize your book web site with benefitsMelvinHolcombe
This document provides 5 tips to create a magnetic homepage that attracts visitors:
1. Develop a list of 10-20 specific benefits for each product and service to show visitors what's in it for them.
2. Be specific when listing benefits and describe how customers will feel after purchasing.
3. Let your passion for the topic show in your marketing copy to create desire and sales.
4. Develop headline writing skills to capture attention with provocative titles and statements.
5. Impart life to all links by using benefits from the lists and headlines to tell visitors nothing and pull them in.
The Affiliate Masters Course is an intensive 10-DAY course on becoming a
High-earning affiliate champion.
How? By “building income through content,” the proven, C T P M way!
An affiliate business is one of the easiest ways to get your feet wet in e-business.
You send visitors (i.e., potential customers) to a merchant’s Web site that you are
Representing. If they buy or complete a required action (for example, fill in a
Form), the merchant pays you a commission. No fuss, no muss!
David Harrison discusses effective digital marketing strategies for websites. A successful site should attract visitors through search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, social media, banners, and offline marketing. It should then convert visitors into customers by giving them a reason to take action. The site needs to fulfill customer needs and retain customers by staying in contact through email, blog posts, and offers. Getting all four steps - attract, convert, fulfill, and retain - right is key to maximizing a site's potential.
The document provides guidance on building effective landing pages and acquiring first users. It discusses user acquisition strategies to drive potential customers to landing pages. Key recommendations for landing pages include clearly conveying your value proposition to convert visitors, and getting your messaging and story straight before focusing on design. The document then outlines best practices for components of high-converting landing pages, including the hero section, call-to-actions, and using social proof and testimonials.
What it is, when to invest and how to do it.
This session focused on the basics of product marketing and why it matters including positioning, personas, key messaging, product launch cycles and more.
Learn to optimize your website yourself, by using the website optmization cycle and methods like Cialdini's 'Weapons of persuasion', Eisenberg's 'Hierarchy of optimization' and the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
Local website marketing tips for small businesses include claiming and optimizing your Google+ Local listing, setting up listings on other local search platforms like Bing Local and Yahoo Local, optimizing the title tag of your website pages, determining specific goals for your website to drive sales, getting listed in local directories, analyzing your competitors' websites, joining your local chamber of commerce, creating videos to post on YouTube, building relationships with local journalists, using Twitter to engage customers without direct selling, creating an active Facebook page, and blogging on industry news.
This document provides tips for effective internet marketing. It recommends taking advantage of all available tools, following trends, getting your brand recognized through heavy traffic websites, having a clear tagline, including image captions for search engine optimization, offering discounts and related products to increase sales, starting small with a website, keeping the site structure easy to use, and staying up to date on internet developments. The overall message is that internet marketing requires utilizing various strategies to effectively promote products and services online.
Building a website is recommended to increase Classic Embroidery's sales and profits. A website would allow the business to reach new customers, increase sales year-round, and provide low-cost advertising. However, there are risks like website crashes, low traffic, and hacking. To ensure success, the website should have secure hosting with ample bandwidth, be linked to social media for traffic, and use a trustworthy hosting provider. Overall, a website is strategically suggested to address Classic Embroidery's current lack of steady business.
Affiliate Marketing Action Plan Gold || Top Secret Affiliate Marketing StrategySelinmohanty1
Affiliate Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Brand
Choose the Right Affiliates. ...
Attract Sales with Coupons, Deals, and Promotions. ...
Leverage the Power of Niche Influencers. ...
Build a Robust Affiliate Network. ...
Leverage Affiliate Promotions From Multiple Sources. ...
Optimize Your Product Pages for Conversions.
Building a blog for a business is important for gaining new clients and exposure. There are many reasons to create a business blog, including generating sales and traffic. When blogging for business, it is essential to provide valuable content to customers and establish yourself as an expert in your industry. Using a platform like WordPress makes it easy to set up a blog and drive traffic through features like SEO optimization and plugins. An effective business blog focuses on creating helpful content for target clients while positioning the business as a knowledgeable leader.
How to make a sales pipeline sales funnel excel chartSteveEqualsTrue
Tutorial to make a sales Funnel chart or sales pipeline chart in excel for your executive dashboard template. Includes links for a free excel dashboard template file and video demonstration.
Vital Suggestions About Affiliate Revenue That A Lot Of Individuals Take For ...kumarie1
Affiliate marketing can generate serious revenue if done properly. To succeed, marketers must be willing to learn tricks of the trade through research and testing. They should track visitor data to determine best marketing efforts and have at least 30 pages of content to make their site look professional. Marketers should also find programs with lifetime commissions and dress professionally to feel like they are running a business.
The Influencing Machine by Brooke GladstoneAmber_Cortes
The document summarizes Brooke Gladstone's book "The Influencing Machine: A Visionary and Opinionated Work of Graphic Nonfiction on the Media and Its Discontents." It discusses various types of media biases such as commercial, bad news, status quo, access, and visual biases. It argues that objectivity is impossible and transparency is the new objectivity. Reporters should link to their sources, disclose their voting records, and produce reliable, quality journalism. The document encourages analyzing one's own media diet to identify trusted and untrusted sources as well as potential biases.
Facebook is testing search ads that will appear in the typeahead section as users type their search queries. These sponsored search results will link to pages, events, profiles, or groups within Facebook rather than external websites. Additionally, BMW is creating personalized Facebook profile infographics for fans as a celebration of reaching 10 million fans, and IKEA launched an interactive mobile app catalog to explore products through videos, photos and more.
Hydroxycut was a popular weight loss supplement that was linked to cases of liver damage and false advertising claims. The FDA issued a warning in 2009 after Hydroxycut was linked to liver damage and one death. Hydroxycut perpetuated unrealistic body images through misleading advertising in order to increase profits rather than consider consumer safety. Consumers need to be aware that dietary supplements like Hydroxycut are not well regulated by the FDA.
Introduction to Internet Marketing Success, Modiin 2009Gidon Ariel
The document provides guidance on building a successful online business. It discusses developing high-quality content related to your business concept, attracting targeted traffic through search engine optimization and building relationships. The key steps are to: 1) identify a niche and develop content around it, 2) drive relevant traffic to your site through search and relationships, 3) provide value to visitors without direct sales pitches to build trust, and 4) eventually monetize through various income streams like affiliate marketing. Choosing a niche you're passionate about and following a proven process of content-traffic-relationship building is emphasized as the path to online business success.
The document discusses key aspects of building a successful sales organization for a SaaS company. It covers the shift from traditional on-premise software sales models to the SaaS model with more frequent customer touchpoints. Successful SaaS sales requires continually refining processes, systems, skills, and structure. The sales strategy should have a vision aligned with goals and markets. Different customer segments require tailored sales models with the appropriate roles. Setting goals and quotas for sales territories is important for driving attainment. Customer success and account management play separate but important post-sale roles in ensuring ongoing customer value and opportunities.
Заработать на продаже сайта? Но как? Возможно ли создать простой сайт или блог и тут же продать его с прибылью. В презентации я хочу раскрыть секрет того, что деньги можно получать легко и быстро. Продажа сайтов на аукционах доступна каждому. Если вы ведете информационный ресурс или у вас есть развлекательный портал, куда приходит огромное количество людей, то вы сможете с выгодой продать свой проект и получить за это большой доход.
3 necessary tools for the high rolling affiliate marketerGeorgePointer1
The document discusses 3 necessary tools for successful affiliate marketing: 1) having your own website to promote products and services, with high-quality original content; 2) using incentives like freebies to encourage people to subscribe to newsletters and drive traffic to promoted websites; and 3) improving link popularity through reciprocal linking to increase search engine rankings and attract more targeted traffic.
Simply SaaS University: Marketing 101 - Asia MatosJacey Lucus
Atlanta Ventures hosted the 2nd Simply SaaS University class: Marketing Metrics 101 with Asia Matos. In the class, SaaS entrepreneurs learned more about the fundamentals to defining their customer acquisition strategy, why it’s important to define your primary marketing channels, best practices around researching, how to create an amazing funnel.
5 tips to magnetize your book web site with benefitsMelvinHolcombe
This document provides 5 tips to create a magnetic homepage that attracts visitors:
1. Develop a list of 10-20 specific benefits for each product and service to show visitors what's in it for them.
2. Be specific when listing benefits and describe how customers will feel after purchasing.
3. Let your passion for the topic show in your marketing copy to create desire and sales.
4. Develop headline writing skills to capture attention with provocative titles and statements.
5. Impart life to all links by using benefits from the lists and headlines to tell visitors nothing and pull them in.
The Affiliate Masters Course is an intensive 10-DAY course on becoming a
High-earning affiliate champion.
How? By “building income through content,” the proven, C T P M way!
An affiliate business is one of the easiest ways to get your feet wet in e-business.
You send visitors (i.e., potential customers) to a merchant’s Web site that you are
Representing. If they buy or complete a required action (for example, fill in a
Form), the merchant pays you a commission. No fuss, no muss!
David Harrison discusses effective digital marketing strategies for websites. A successful site should attract visitors through search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, social media, banners, and offline marketing. It should then convert visitors into customers by giving them a reason to take action. The site needs to fulfill customer needs and retain customers by staying in contact through email, blog posts, and offers. Getting all four steps - attract, convert, fulfill, and retain - right is key to maximizing a site's potential.
The document provides guidance on building effective landing pages and acquiring first users. It discusses user acquisition strategies to drive potential customers to landing pages. Key recommendations for landing pages include clearly conveying your value proposition to convert visitors, and getting your messaging and story straight before focusing on design. The document then outlines best practices for components of high-converting landing pages, including the hero section, call-to-actions, and using social proof and testimonials.
What it is, when to invest and how to do it.
This session focused on the basics of product marketing and why it matters including positioning, personas, key messaging, product launch cycles and more.
Learn to optimize your website yourself, by using the website optmization cycle and methods like Cialdini's 'Weapons of persuasion', Eisenberg's 'Hierarchy of optimization' and the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
Local website marketing tips for small businesses include claiming and optimizing your Google+ Local listing, setting up listings on other local search platforms like Bing Local and Yahoo Local, optimizing the title tag of your website pages, determining specific goals for your website to drive sales, getting listed in local directories, analyzing your competitors' websites, joining your local chamber of commerce, creating videos to post on YouTube, building relationships with local journalists, using Twitter to engage customers without direct selling, creating an active Facebook page, and blogging on industry news.
This document provides tips for effective internet marketing. It recommends taking advantage of all available tools, following trends, getting your brand recognized through heavy traffic websites, having a clear tagline, including image captions for search engine optimization, offering discounts and related products to increase sales, starting small with a website, keeping the site structure easy to use, and staying up to date on internet developments. The overall message is that internet marketing requires utilizing various strategies to effectively promote products and services online.
Building a website is recommended to increase Classic Embroidery's sales and profits. A website would allow the business to reach new customers, increase sales year-round, and provide low-cost advertising. However, there are risks like website crashes, low traffic, and hacking. To ensure success, the website should have secure hosting with ample bandwidth, be linked to social media for traffic, and use a trustworthy hosting provider. Overall, a website is strategically suggested to address Classic Embroidery's current lack of steady business.
Affiliate Marketing Action Plan Gold || Top Secret Affiliate Marketing StrategySelinmohanty1
Affiliate Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Brand
Choose the Right Affiliates. ...
Attract Sales with Coupons, Deals, and Promotions. ...
Leverage the Power of Niche Influencers. ...
Build a Robust Affiliate Network. ...
Leverage Affiliate Promotions From Multiple Sources. ...
Optimize Your Product Pages for Conversions.
Building a blog for a business is important for gaining new clients and exposure. There are many reasons to create a business blog, including generating sales and traffic. When blogging for business, it is essential to provide valuable content to customers and establish yourself as an expert in your industry. Using a platform like WordPress makes it easy to set up a blog and drive traffic through features like SEO optimization and plugins. An effective business blog focuses on creating helpful content for target clients while positioning the business as a knowledgeable leader.
How to make a sales pipeline sales funnel excel chartSteveEqualsTrue
Tutorial to make a sales Funnel chart or sales pipeline chart in excel for your executive dashboard template. Includes links for a free excel dashboard template file and video demonstration.
Vital Suggestions About Affiliate Revenue That A Lot Of Individuals Take For ...kumarie1
Affiliate marketing can generate serious revenue if done properly. To succeed, marketers must be willing to learn tricks of the trade through research and testing. They should track visitor data to determine best marketing efforts and have at least 30 pages of content to make their site look professional. Marketers should also find programs with lifetime commissions and dress professionally to feel like they are running a business.
The Influencing Machine by Brooke GladstoneAmber_Cortes
The document summarizes Brooke Gladstone's book "The Influencing Machine: A Visionary and Opinionated Work of Graphic Nonfiction on the Media and Its Discontents." It discusses various types of media biases such as commercial, bad news, status quo, access, and visual biases. It argues that objectivity is impossible and transparency is the new objectivity. Reporters should link to their sources, disclose their voting records, and produce reliable, quality journalism. The document encourages analyzing one's own media diet to identify trusted and untrusted sources as well as potential biases.
Facebook is testing search ads that will appear in the typeahead section as users type their search queries. These sponsored search results will link to pages, events, profiles, or groups within Facebook rather than external websites. Additionally, BMW is creating personalized Facebook profile infographics for fans as a celebration of reaching 10 million fans, and IKEA launched an interactive mobile app catalog to explore products through videos, photos and more.
Hydroxycut was a popular weight loss supplement that was linked to cases of liver damage and false advertising claims. The FDA issued a warning in 2009 after Hydroxycut was linked to liver damage and one death. Hydroxycut perpetuated unrealistic body images through misleading advertising in order to increase profits rather than consider consumer safety. Consumers need to be aware that dietary supplements like Hydroxycut are not well regulated by the FDA.
Cool Informatics Tools and Services for Biomedical ResearchDavid Ruau
This document provides an overview of bioinformatics tools and services for analyzing big data in biomedical research. It discusses traditional bioinformatics tools, analyzing genomic data from microarrays and next-generation sequencing without and with code, interpreting results using protein interaction networks and pathways, tools for data storage, cleaning and visualization, and making research reproducible. Galaxy, R, and programming are presented as useful for automated, reproducible analysis of large genomic datasets.
This document provides an overview and introduction to the third edition of the book "eBay the Smart Way" by Joseph T. Sinclair. It discusses eBay as the #1 auction site on the web, with opportunities for both buyers and sellers. The book is intended to teach readers how to use eBay effectively to sell, buy, and profit on the site. It covers topics such as how eBay works, the bidding and selling processes, building reputation through feedback, and potential reporting or recourse options.
DT hydraulic pressure switches have a cast aluminum enclosure and are recommended for panel or line mounted hydraulic applications. They have a repeat accuracy better than ±2% FSR and connect via a DIN 43650 electrical connector. A variety of pressure ranges, electrical ratings, and wetted part materials are available. Customers should specify the full model number when ordering to avoid ambiguity.
Christian Pries Incorporates a Self-confident Desire to have Scuba dive.prieschristian
Christian Pries is often a nicely experienced and also carefully skilled skilled. Through the years, she has developed numerous interests for instance deep-sea diving. Due to the fact his / her youth, they utilized to spend his / her trips on seashores, researching underwater lifestyle.
This document summarizes benchmarks for increasing traffic and leads through various marketing activities based on data from 7,000 businesses. It finds that increasing content like website pages, blog posts, and landing pages can significantly increase traffic and leads, with larger businesses seeing more impact. Specifically, businesses with over 50 employees and 1,000+ web pages see 9.5x more traffic than those with under 51 pages. Increasing social media followers, especially above thresholds of 1,000 Twitter followers or 1,000 Facebook likes, also provides sizable traffic gains.
This story board describes an English lesson that focuses on reading descriptive texts about tourist attractions in Indonesia. The lesson covers two competency standards: 1) Understanding the content and meaning of simple oral and written descriptive texts about people, tourist attractions, and famous historical buildings, paying attention to social functions, text structure, and correct grammatical elements according to context. 2) The story board outlines the activities, which include reading a descriptive text about Kuta Beach in Bali, watching a video about descriptive texts, and completing an assignment. Students will read about the beach's location, amenities, activities, nightlife, restaurants, and hotels. The goal is to help students improve their English reading comprehension skills.
This document discusses growing and scaling a business blog through blog marketing. It defines blog marketing as implementing a marketing strategy to grow the impact of the blog. The strategy involves 3 steps: 1) Getting the blog discovered to attract new readers and traffic, 2) Converting visitors into subscribers who regularly engage with the blog, and 3) Leveraging evangelists from the subscriber base to share content and attract new audiences in an ongoing cycle. Developing content based on great ideas, rather than just for search engine optimization, is key to driving traffic and truly successful blog marketing.
The Camera Centre provides photo printing and photo gift services. Customers can create prints, photo books, calendars, cards and more using the on-site Kodak kiosks or by ordering online. The Camera Centre also offers services like photo restoration, scanning, framing, tape and slide transfers to preserve memories and turn photos into art or gifts.
The document provides tips for businesses to boost their social media presence and build their email marketing lists. It recommends linking social media accounts like blogs, Facebook pages, and Twitter to emails so content is shared across channels. Embedding sharing buttons and including opt-in forms on social platforms allows contacts to easily engage on social media and join the mailing list. Integrating email and social media campaigns extends the reach of messaging to new audiences.
Welcome to the world of onlie marketing! In this booklet, you'll learn a;; about the different methods for marketing your internet business. As in the offline world, online marketing comprises free promotions and publicity, as well as paid avdertising.
Whatever product or service your business offers, the Internet levels the playing field and lets you compete with bigger businesses, reaching customers around the world who can conveniently buy from you 24 hours a day.
And this presentation is your first step in doing just that…
By Trix Corp., a vibrant interactive agency based in Dubai.
As the digital marketing landscape continues to grow at a rapid pace, marketers are faced with new challenges and opportunities within this digital age.
The Digital Marketing Course is an initiative designed to educate students in the area of Digital Marketing.
The plan is simple. To grow your business with effective online marketing you have to understand the basics. These 28 pages quickly introduce you to digital marketing principles and will save you a ton of time. www.feldmancreative.com
Today, entering the online world is inevitable for any business. If you simply follow the traditional ways of doing business, not only will you not have new customers, but also lose old customers. Switching to an online business means starting your own online business from scratch or starting an online business alongside your traditional business. Like other "Smart Business" books, different angles of change to online business are explained to you in this book.
This document provides an ebook on digital marketing strategies for small businesses. It discusses building a customer avatar to truly understand target audiences. The ebook then outlines a six-step strategy to increase sales through digital marketing: 1) Build a customer avatar, 2) Grow awareness and visibility, 3) Drive website traffic, 4) Convert traffic, 5) Increase conversion rates, and 6) Increase sales. It emphasizes that understanding customers is key to developing effective ads and a successful strategy.
This document provides an ebook on digital marketing strategies for small businesses. It introduces the publisher, Lyfe Marketing, an agency that helps small businesses with digital marketing. The ebook then outlines a step-by-step digital marketing strategy to triple sales, including building a customer avatar, growing awareness and visibility, driving website traffic, converting traffic, increasing conversion rates, and increasing sales. It emphasizes the importance of truly understanding customers to develop a relevant strategy.
10 steps for planning a successful website masters of digitalDemir Dammer
This document outlines 10 steps for planning a successful website. It discusses defining goals, doing research on the target audience and competition, designing for usability and responsiveness across devices, optimizing for search engines through on-page and off-page SEO techniques, using content marketing and social media to promote the site, ensuring website security through SSL certificates and backups, and measuring success against defined goals. The overall message is that taking time to properly plan a website is important to avoid mistakes and create a site that attracts and converts visitors.
This document provides guidance on developing an effective online marketing strategy in 3 key steps:
1. Set your website objective such as lead generation, e-commerce, or a combination. Define what you want your website to accomplish.
2. Promote your website using search engine optimization, social media, press releases and other tactics discussed in the document.
3. Maintain ongoing communication through tools like email newsletters, autoresponders, offline marketing, and teleseminars to continue engaging with customers.
The document outlines best practices for each step and emphasizes the importance of compelling content, copywriting to highlight benefits over features, and testing strategies to improve results over time.
71 places to find new clients for your accounting firm or bookkeeping busines...Sandi Smith Leyva
This document provides 71 suggestions for finding new clients for an accounting or bookkeeping business. It recommends optimizing profiles on platforms like LinkedIn, Google, and QuickBooks Partner profiles. It also suggests claiming business listings on directories, setting up social media accounts, running paid ads on platforms like Google and Facebook, and participating in communities to gain exposure and potential new clients. Maintaining an online presence through websites, blogs and videos is emphasized as a way to demonstrate expertise to prospective clients.
Green Cardinal Design is an independent branding agency that offers the very best in Bespoke Website Design. Their team consists of visual specialists with unrivalled expertise in branding and design foundations. They have years of experience working on brands all across the world. Their portfolio demonstrates their versatility and skill, and they're here to help you grow your business by creating the greatest brand possible so you can stand out. Consult Web Design Agency Near Me
This document provides guidance on internet marketing strategies for small businesses. It discusses the importance of website effectiveness, generating traffic through search engine optimization, analytics, and paid advertising on Google and Facebook. Specific tips are provided in areas like website evaluation, keyword research, building backlinks, local listings, setting up Google Analytics, Google AdWords campaigns, and Facebook ads to help drive traffic to a business's website.
Clickbank Quick Cash - Affiliate Marketing Success RoadmapAraix University
My goal from this ebook is to help you earn money with affiliate marketing and also understand the fundamental of internet marketing. This ebook is about making quick cash promoting a ClickBank product as an affiliate marketer. End of this ebook I will also talk about how to build a long-term income from affiliate marketing.
This E-Book will give you the Best Plans, Tricks & Methods for Choosing Top Marketing tips & formula to earn easy through the Niches. . It will give all the Proven marketing strategies that anyone can Implement in his/her plan or method & earn easily through it. Marketing is not an easy task, It involves tremendous research on the niche’s identification, accessibility, measurability, appropriateness, and profitability.
How To Focus On The Big Picture
As a businessperson, you should not allow the paltriness in your mind to get the better of you. You should not confine yourself to thinking about petty things. What you need to think about is the big picture.
This is where you strategize, foresee and plan things to implement today so that the future of your business is stabilized.
If you only think about your current expenses and the present scenario of your business, then you are going to be stuck in the rut for a very long time. If you want you take your business to a wider clientele and really prosper with it, then you need to think about the big picture.
Gerald
gerald-pilcher.com
The document discusses how to create a website that generates leads. It recommends optimizing the website for search engines through techniques like search engine optimization (SEO). Key steps include choosing relevant keywords, optimizing page titles and descriptions, and avoiding duplicate or low-quality content that could hurt SEO rankings. The #1 mistake most websites make is failing to effectively capture visitor information through forms or other methods. With the right online strategy, a website can become a lead generation machine for businesses.
This document provides an overview of 10 top online business opportunities to earn money from home. It discusses starting a website-based business through website design/creation, blogging, search engine optimization consulting, creating advertisements, affiliate marketing, and opening an online retail store. Building a website is essential for most online business opportunities. Website builders like Boxmode allow you to create free websites and test business ideas without extensive technical skills or costs. Consistency, providing value to readers/customers, and optimizing websites are important factors for success.
This document provides tips and advice for successful internet marketing. It emphasizes the importance of staying up-to-date with new technologies and testing different marketing strategies and components of websites. Customers want reliable companies that protect their privacy and value their feedback. The document encourages marketers to be clear about their products and objectives on websites to engage visitors.
This document provides an introductory guide on how to use Facebook for business. It begins by explaining that the guide is for marketers who are new to using Facebook and will cover basic tactics. It then discusses setting up a Facebook profile and business page, best practices for businesses on Facebook, and measuring success. The guide aims to help readers master the essentials of engaging customers and marketing on Facebook.
The document provides guidance for IT professionals on setting up email delivery infrastructure. Key points covered include:
- Choosing a reputable hosting facility with dedicated hardware, avoiding cloud environments.
- Setting up proper DNS records, including domain names, subdomains, reverse DNS, MX records and WHOIS information.
- Determining IP strategies such as dedicated IPs vs shared IP pools based on sending volume and frequency.
- Configuring an MTA properly with rate limiting, error handling, and separating transactional from marketing email.
This document provides guidance for designers working with MailChimp to create email templates and campaigns for clients. It recommends that designers focus on their expertise in design rather than acting as email marketing managers for clients. Designers should set up client accounts, create templates, and teach clients how to use MailChimp independently. This empowers clients while allowing designers to utilize their skills. The document outlines best practices for template design, integration, and avoiding spam filters.
The document provides an overview of event marketing and different types of events. It discusses four main reasons companies participate in events: branding and awareness, lead generation, customer engagement, and education. It also outlines different roles companies can take at events, including hosting an event which gives full control over branding and content but requires driving attendance, versus sponsoring which brings attendees to you but with less control. The document serves as a guide for companies on incorporating effective event marketing strategies.
The document provides guidance on using the BCEI (Build-Connect-Engage-Influence) framework to market a business on Facebook. It discusses pitching the framework to clients and setting up ads accounts. It then covers building a page, aligning it with the business purpose and objectives. It discusses building an initial fan base. The next steps are to connect with fans by setting up ads to acquire more fans, understanding ad performance using insights, and promoting the page through other channels. The overall goals are to get more fans, generate leads and acquire customers.
An intro guide_-_how_to_use_twitter_for_businessJacques Bouchard
This document provides an introductory guide on how to use Twitter for business. It begins with an overview of Twitter and common Twitter terminology. It then outlines 6 steps to setting up and optimizing a Twitter profile for business purposes, including signing up for an account, personalizing your company profile, starting to tweet, finding people to follow, getting people to follow you back, and engaging with your network on Twitter. The document then discusses how to use Twitter for various business objectives like developing your brand, interacting with customers, and more.
Here is a 3 sentence summary of the document:
The document discusses how to crush your competitors on social media in 30 days by first performing a competitive analysis on social media, then finding and creating engaging content quickly to post across different social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest. It provides tips for quick wins, such as the best types of content to post on each network and optimal posting times, to help maximize engagement and drive more traffic, leads and sales.
This document provides an overview of social marketing strategies for B2B companies. It discusses how social media has become integral to marketing and outlines the key components of an effective social marketing plan, including defining goals, allocating resources, producing quality content, understanding which social platforms are relevant, and incorporating social strategies throughout the buyer journey. The document also provides checklists for getting started with social marketing and developing a social media plan and policy.
This document provides 47 statistics about Facebook usage, users, and marketing opportunities. Some key points include: there are over 950 million Facebook users worldwide; people ages 25-34 use Facebook the most; and 42% of marketers say Facebook is critical or important to their business. Retail brands in particular have found success acquiring customers through Facebook.
The document provides guidance on optimizing a website for search engine optimization. It discusses choosing relevant keywords and incorporating them throughout the website, including in page titles, meta descriptions, headings, images, and CSS. Regularly updating content will help search engines like Google crawl the site more frequently to find new keywords and keep the site fresh. Proper on-page optimization of key elements can help the site rank higher in search results.
Maruthi Prithivirajan, Head of ASEAN & IN Solution Architecture, Neo4j
Get an inside look at the latest Neo4j innovations that enable relationship-driven intelligence at scale. Learn more about the newest cloud integrations and product enhancements that make Neo4j an essential choice for developers building apps with interconnected data and generative AI.
Goodbye Windows 11: Make Way for Nitrux Linux 3.5.0!SOFTTECHHUB
As the digital landscape continually evolves, operating systems play a critical role in shaping user experiences and productivity. The launch of Nitrux Linux 3.5.0 marks a significant milestone, offering a robust alternative to traditional systems such as Windows 11. This article delves into the essence of Nitrux Linux 3.5.0, exploring its unique features, advantages, and how it stands as a compelling choice for both casual users and tech enthusiasts.
“An Outlook of the Ongoing and Future Relationship between Blockchain Technologies and Process-aware Information Systems.” Invited talk at the joint workshop on Blockchain for Information Systems (BC4IS) and Blockchain for Trusted Data Sharing (B4TDS), co-located with with the 36th International Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering (CAiSE), 3 June 2024, Limassol, Cyprus.
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 5DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 5. In this session, we will cover CI/CD with devops.
Topics covered:
CI/CD with in UiPath
End-to-end overview of CI/CD pipeline with Azure devops
Speaker:
Lyndsey Byblow, Test Suite Sales Engineer @ UiPath, Inc.
Why You Should Replace Windows 11 with Nitrux Linux 3.5.0 for enhanced perfor...SOFTTECHHUB
The choice of an operating system plays a pivotal role in shaping our computing experience. For decades, Microsoft's Windows has dominated the market, offering a familiar and widely adopted platform for personal and professional use. However, as technological advancements continue to push the boundaries of innovation, alternative operating systems have emerged, challenging the status quo and offering users a fresh perspective on computing.
One such alternative that has garnered significant attention and acclaim is Nitrux Linux 3.5.0, a sleek, powerful, and user-friendly Linux distribution that promises to redefine the way we interact with our devices. With its focus on performance, security, and customization, Nitrux Linux presents a compelling case for those seeking to break free from the constraints of proprietary software and embrace the freedom and flexibility of open-source computing.
Essentials of Automations: The Art of Triggers and Actions in FMESafe Software
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We’ll kick things off by showcasing the most commonly used event-based triggers, introducing you to various automation workflows like manual triggers, schedules, directory watchers, and more. Plus, see how these elements play out in real scenarios.
Whether you’re tweaking your current setup or building from the ground up, this session will arm you with the tools and insights needed to transform your FME usage into a powerhouse of productivity. Join us to discover effective strategies that simplify complex processes, enhancing your productivity and transforming your data management practices with FME. Let’s turn complexity into clarity and make your workspaces work wonders!
Sudheer Mechineni, Head of Application Frameworks, Standard Chartered Bank
Discover how Standard Chartered Bank harnessed the power of Neo4j to transform complex data access challenges into a dynamic, scalable graph database solution. This keynote will cover their journey from initial adoption to deploying a fully automated, enterprise-grade causal cluster, highlighting key strategies for modelling organisational changes and ensuring robust disaster recovery. Learn how these innovations have not only enhanced Standard Chartered Bank’s data infrastructure but also positioned them as pioneers in the banking sector’s adoption of graph technology.
GraphRAG for Life Science to increase LLM accuracyTomaz Bratanic
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Building Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems with open-source and custom AI models is a complex task. This talk explores the challenges in productionizing RAG systems, including retrieval performance, response synthesis, and evaluation. We’ll discuss how to leverage open-source models like text embeddings, language models, and custom fine-tuned models to enhance RAG performance. Additionally, we’ll cover how BentoML can help orchestrate and scale these AI components efficiently, ensuring seamless deployment and management of RAG systems in the cloud.
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Mike Del Balso, CEO & Co-Founder at Tecton, presents "Full RAG," a novel approach to AI recommendation systems, aiming to push beyond the limitations of traditional models through a deep integration of contextual insights and real-time data, leveraging the Retrieval-Augmented Generation architecture. This talk will outline Full RAG's potential to significantly enhance personalization, address engineering challenges such as data management and model training, and introduce data enrichment with reranking as a key solution. Attendees will gain crucial insights into the importance of hyperpersonalization in AI, the capabilities of Full RAG for advanced personalization, and strategies for managing complex data integrations for deploying cutting-edge AI solutions.
Driving Business Innovation: Latest Generative AI Advancements & Success StorySafe Software
Are you ready to revolutionize how you handle data? Join us for a webinar where we’ll bring you up to speed with the latest advancements in Generative AI technology and discover how leveraging FME with tools from giants like Google Gemini, Amazon, and Microsoft OpenAI can supercharge your workflow efficiency.
During the hour, we’ll take you through:
Guest Speaker Segment with Hannah Barrington: Dive into the world of dynamic real estate marketing with Hannah, the Marketing Manager at Workspace Group. Hear firsthand how their team generates engaging descriptions for thousands of office units by integrating diverse data sources—from PDF floorplans to web pages—using FME transformers, like OpenAIVisionConnector and AnthropicVisionConnector. This use case will show you how GenAI can streamline content creation for marketing across the board.
Ollama Use Case: Learn how Scenario Specialist Dmitri Bagh has utilized Ollama within FME to input data, create custom models, and enhance security protocols. This segment will include demos to illustrate the full capabilities of FME in AI-driven processes.
Custom AI Models: Discover how to leverage FME to build personalized AI models using your data. Whether it’s populating a model with local data for added security or integrating public AI tools, find out how FME facilitates a versatile and secure approach to AI.
We’ll wrap up with a live Q&A session where you can engage with our experts on your specific use cases, and learn more about optimizing your data workflows with AI.
This webinar is ideal for professionals seeking to harness the power of AI within their data management systems while ensuring high levels of customization and security. Whether you're a novice or an expert, gain actionable insights and strategies to elevate your data processes. Join us to see how FME and AI can revolutionize how you work with data!
GraphSummit Singapore | The Future of Agility: Supercharging Digital Transfor...Neo4j
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This keynote will reveal how Deloitte leverages Neo4j’s graph power for groundbreaking digital twin solutions, achieving a staggering 100x performance boost. Discover the essential role knowledge graphs play in successful generative AI implementations. Plus, get an exclusive look at an innovative Neo4j + Generative AI solution Deloitte is developing in-house.
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Programming Foundation Models with DSPy - Meetup SlidesZilliz
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Communications Mining Series - Zero to Hero - Session 1DianaGray10
This session provides introduction to UiPath Communication Mining, importance and platform overview. You will acquire a good understand of the phases in Communication Mining as we go over the platform with you. Topics covered:
• Communication Mining Overview
• Why is it important?
• How can it help today’s business and the benefits
• Phases in Communication Mining
• Demo on Platform overview
• Q/A
Building Production Ready Search Pipelines with Spark and MilvusZilliz
Spark is the widely used ETL tool for processing, indexing and ingesting data to serving stack for search. Milvus is the production-ready open-source vector database. In this talk we will show how to use Spark to process unstructured data to extract vector representations, and push the vectors to Milvus vector database for search serving.
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Discover how MongoDB Atlas and vector search technology can revolutionize your application's search capabilities. This comprehensive presentation covers:
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* Importance and benefits of vector search
* Practical use cases across various industries
* Step-by-step implementation guide
* Live demos with code snippets
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Perfect for developers, AI enthusiasts, and tech leaders. Learn how to leverage MongoDB Atlas to deliver highly relevant, context-aware search results, transforming your data retrieval process. Stay ahead in tech innovation and maximize the potential of your applications.
#MongoDB #VectorSearch #AI #SemanticSearch #TechInnovation #DataScience #LLM #MachineLearning #SearchTechnology
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4. Chapter 1:
WHAT’S YOUR PLAN?
Need a website? Here’s where to start.
T
IMES HAVE CHANGED. Business has changed. The way you market your busi-
ness has changed. And if you want to succeed in business, you need to change, too.
That means, in 21st century language, you need to have a website for your busi-
ness. For most of you, that means creating a site to promote and market your com-
pany. It’s also a great way to learn more about prospective and existing clients and
build relationships with them. Whatever your web strategy is, there’s always
room for improvement. This book tells you how to make your business’s website more effec-
tive, helps you determine what you can do yourself and when it’s best to outsource, and shares
the best industry practices.
2 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
5. WHAT'S YOUR PLAN? Chapter 1
Now that you’ve decided to take another look at your site, you have to determine exactly what
you want your site to do and what kind of experience you want your online customers to have.
Is it informational only? Will you use it to promote and create awareness of your service busi-
ness? Or do you want to drive customers to your brick-and-mortar shop? Do you want to start
selling products online, either from your own site or from an online marketplace like eBay or
Amazon.com? That’s what a web plan is for. Preparing one will help you better understand
your market and set goals for your site.
Start your plan by asking yourself some crucial questions: Who are your target customers?
What do they want and/or need? What do you want to accomplish? What are your competi-
tors doing? Do you have a time frame, and is it flexible? Think about your promotional strat-
egy. Your site is a great vehicle to distribute information about your company, gather customer
feedback and even sell products or services. How are you going to take advantage of that?
Remember, your website reflects you, your business and the services you are providing.
That’s why it is imperative you do it right. Don’t worry, though—creating a strong and suc-
cessful website is not as difficult as you might think. Essentially, there are four simple steps
you should follow.
HOW TO CREATE A SUCCESSFUL WEBSITE
■ STEP 1: Start by creating a basic road map. This will set the tone for what you’re doing. Keep in mind
that this is an evolutionary process. In the beginning, don’t try to be Amazon.com. (It took them years to
become a web powerhouse.) Grandiose visions are fine, but you need to build up to realizing them. Start
small and grow big.
■ STEP 2: Determine what tools you need to help drive the right traffic to your site. The web is a very competi-
tive space—today there are over 11 billion web pages, so you need to be strategic in deciding what works best
for you. Some of these tools include search engine marketing, e-mail marketing and search engine optimiza-
tion. Also, now’s the time to decide how and where you’re going to spend your (limited) marketing budget.
■ STEP 3: How will you determine what’s working on your site and what isn’t? Some industry best prac-
tices will work for you; others may need some tinkering. Deciding how to measure your ROI (return on
investment) and other crucial metrics is key to the success of your business. The best way to find this out
is through website traffic reports, but you should listen to your customers as well. They will let you know
what market tactics are working for you, what ones aren’t, and how to improve your results. You’ll need
to go further than that—but don’t worry, there’s a lot of help out there to make these tasks easier.
■ STEP 4: Apply what you learn from your metrics. These include page views, length of visits, site traffic
volume and trends, and you should study them to improve your site’s content, navigation and perform-
ance. This enables you to offer a better experience to your visitors.
BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS ■ 3
6. Chapter 1 WHAT'S YOUR PLAN?
It’s a 360-degree process. Once you get to step 4, cycle back to step 1, refine your vision, and
go through the whole process again. Following the cycle enables you to continually learn,
grow and evolve your business more intelligently.
Now that you’ve done some important preliminary work, you’re ready for the big challenge—
retooling and improving your company’s website. Throughout this book, you’ll find more in-
depth information on the key elements of a good website: structure, design, navigation, content
and credibility. Learn how to get to know your customers and start an ongoing relationship
with them. We’ll also tell you about securing your site, the keys to smart web marketing, and
how to use content to your advantage. After reading this, you’ll not only be more informed
about your web strategy, but you’ll be eager to get going. So let’s get started.
4 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
7. Chapter 2:
MARKET FORCES
Use your website as a marketing tool.
A
RE YOU USING YOUR WEBSITE TO MARKET YOUR BUSINESS? If not, you
should. Your site is an important part of your marketing arsenal and can be a
very effective way to promote your business. You can take advantage of the
marketing opportunity your site provides by gathering as much information as
possible about how your customers behave when they visit your website and
using that information to make improvements.
5 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
8. MARKET FORCES Chapter 2
Start by asking yourself some key questions. Why are people coming to my site? Where are
they coming from? What pages are they visiting? How long do they stay? How many are tak-
ing action (e.g., signing up or purchasing)? And finally, how do I drive the right traffic to my
site? To find the answers, you need to start capturing data—and the good news is, all that
information is easy to track. Once you’ve answered these questions, you should retool your
site to offer exactly what your customers are looking for.
WEBSITE REPORTS
Your web hosting company should provide you with website traffic reports. (If they don’t,
you’ll have to check your server logs using a reporting tool that helps you analyze the data.)
The reports should tell you the sites or search engines that send visitors your way, how much
time visitors spend on your site and which pages attract the most (and longest) views, how
visitors navigate their way through your site, and which pages are most popular.
It’s important to actually use the information you collect. This may mean changing your
pages, content, links or navigation, or revamping your search engine marketing strategies to
make sure that you’re driving the right customers to your site. You’re not playing a pure num-
bers game here. Web marketing
is not just about aggregating
numbers; it’s about getting the
right people to your site. You
might think there’s nothing
wrong with your site. However,
you may not be the best judge.
Ask friends or colleagues to
check out your site. You might
be too close to it to see what
visitors see. Are visitors turned
off by your photographs and
illustrations, incomprehensible
headlines, too much clutter or
even “ugly” colors? Presen-
tation is key here—remember
that there are more than 11 bil-
lion pages on the web, so you
need to capture viewers’ atten-
tion fast.
BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS ■ 6
9. Chapter 2 MARKET FORCES
Once you get people to your site, engage them. Just talking about how wonderful you and your
company are will turn potential customers off. The net is all about information. Many visitors
come to your site to get key facts about your business, such as location, product or service
offerings, prices or rates, and contact information, and they don’t want to have to sift through
tons of marketing-babble to find it. Make sure your site design helps visitors navigate to what
they’re looking for quickly and easily.
A REASON TO STAY
You need to give people a reason to stay, to learn and to buy. Attracting customers requires
magnets—things that excite people and make them come back for more. Use promotions
online just as you would offline. Let’s say you run a bed-and-breakfast. Obviously, you want
people to come to your site and book a stay. But maybe they’re comparison shopping or just
doing some research. How do you get them to buy now or at least bookmark your site for
future use? The simple answer: Market to them. Offer a “three nights for the price of two” pro-
motion, or run a contest for a free two-night midweek stay. Promotions keep customers and
prospects engaged and eager to return to your site for another chance at the prize.
BUILD A PROSPECT DATABASE
It’s also important to provide the proper mechanisms to collect e-mail addresses from your
visitors in order to build a prospect database. There are various ways to do this. For instance,
you could provide a visible “Contact Us” link. Throughout this book, you’ll find details about
the other ways to collect e-mail addresses from your customers the right way. Once visitors
sign up—and remember, you need to get their permission to market to them—start a relation-
ship. (For more on permission-based marketing, see “Helpful Tips & Tricks” on page 43.) Tell
them about events in the area. Promote special holiday stays. Celebrate the opening of ski sea-
son. Send birthday or anniversary e-cards containing discounts and special offers. Reward
returning customers with a glossy national B&B directory. Show them that you value their
patronage. You can adopt these tactics no matter what type of business you operate.
Your website is more than just a Yellow Pages-type display ad. It’s a dynamic marketing plat-
form that should engage and inform customers. Look beyond the basics of who, what, when
and how much, and use your imagination to create promotions and build content and hooks
that bring visitors back for more.
7 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
10. Chapter 3:
KEEP IT SIMPLE
When it comes to site design, easy does it.
O
NE OF THE GOLDEN RULES OF WEBSITE DESIGN IS: Keep it simple. This
applies to your overall site, its graphics and the copy or words. Let’s tackle
them one at a time. First, make sure your site is not loaded with so many bells
and whistles that your pages are slow to load. The faster people can navigate
around your site, the more likely they’ll be frequent visitors and buyers. Make
sure you monitor your pages to check loading times and fix any broken links.
8 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
11. KEEP IT SIMPLE Chapter 3
Sites don’t need to be flashy. When designing your site, keep your target audience in mind.
Use bandwidth-consuming audio and video judiciously. Don’t put something up just because
it wows you; it needs to wow your customers as well. And that wow shouldn’t be restricted to
design—it should encompass site functionality as well.
You want to create a site that’s enjoyable for visitors to browse. Design your pages to allow
customers to easily find what they’re looking for. Users get bored and move on when they
have to search through pages and pages of information to find what they need.
Don’t clutter up your web pages. Some web entrepreneurs find that offering fewer products
with more detailed descriptions translates into higher sales. For others, success comes from
offering lots of products but categorizing and displaying them in a way that enhances the cus-
tomer experience.
A WAY WITH WORDS
We all know words matter. And on the web, they matter even more. If your web copy is work-
ing, it will improve your search engine rankings, bring in (and retain) customers, and prompt
visitors to pick up the phone so you can make the sale. To start, make sure you’re not a jargon
offender (that is, you shouldn’t be so immersed in your own world that you can’t say what you
mean in plain English). Keep the words on your site clear of overly technical terms and industry
jargon that only a small percentage of your prospective customers could possibly understand.
Headlines are often the first thing site visitors see, and good ones will grab your visitors’
attention, compel people to read more and help establish a relationship between site visitors
and your business. Try highlighting some problems your audience faces, and stress the main
benefits of how your product or service can help them solve these challenges.
Good content gives users reasons to linger and absorb more of what you’re offering. There are
many ways to introduce this content. Don’t worry if you’re not a great writer. Reach out to
friends, family members or colleagues for help. Try hiring an intern. There are plenty of col-
lege (or even high school) students majoring in English, advertising, marketing or journalism
who would be eager to gain real-life experience.
Your web copy should be snappy and useful, and provide information readers can’t easily find
elsewhere. Are you an accountant? Put up a list of the “10 Dumbest Tax Mistakes.” An electri-
cian could post a list of dangerous goofs made by do-it-yourselfers. A day-care provider could
list the “Top 10 Books for Kids” or “This Year’s Best Educational Toys.”
BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS ■ 9
12. Chapter 3 KEEP IT SIMPLE
Good copy creates credibility and increases your visitors’ trust so they feel comfortable doing
business with you. But don’t oversell. Your copy (and this includes product pitches and cus-
tomer testimonials) should inform more than it brags. Your site isn’t an ad; it’s an opportunity
to initiate a conversation with your visitors.
Make sure your words underscore the simplicity of using your site. The best websites are simple,
easily digestible and easy to navigate. They make customers want to contact you and do busi-
ness with you. Your site design and words should help site visitors want to take that next step.
10 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
13. Chapter 4:
SMOOTH SAILING
Create a clear navigation scheme.
A
S YOU DESIGN YOUR SITE, remember to keep your site structure simple so
that users are not bewildered by too many possibilities. You need to strike a
balance between establishing your identity and making sure your visitors are
not overwhelmed by the unfamiliar. When structuring your site, decide how
many pages you’re going to have, what is going to be on them and how they
will link to each other. Choose graphics and icons that enhance the content
without confusing the user. Pictures of adorable kids of different ages, for example, might
work well if you’re selling children’s clothes, toys or books or have a baby-sitting or day-care
service, but they won’t work if you’re providing legal or architectural services. In other words,
your graphics should be relevant to your business and the image you’re trying to create.
You should provide relevant links to enhance the user experience. If you have a website for
convention planners, make it easy for visitors to link to city sites where they can find infor-
mation about theaters, river cruises, museums, hotels, restaurants and more so convention
attendees can check out recreational activities on their own.
11 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
14. SMOOTH SAILING Chapter 4
SHOW THEM THE WAY
Whether you use an outside designer or do it yourself, concentrate on simplicity, readability
and consistency. Cue your visitors with graphics, colors and fonts that make sense to them.
Check out other sites to see what combinations of fonts, colors and graphics appeal to you,
and incorporate what you like into your site—but be mindful of copyright rules and propri-
etary information.
Make sure your navigation lets visitors find what they want in two or three clicks. Don’t make
them sift through loads of information to track down what they’re looking for. Site surfers want
to feel like they’re in charge, so you need to make it easy and enjoyable for them to browse your
site. Use no more than five navigation bars and don’t make visitors back up three or four links
to get from one content area to another. Include a link back to the homepage on every page.
You can personalize some of your design and navigation to make the user experience easier and
more intuitive. Let’s say you’re a Realtor. Your navigation could look something like this:
Home Buying? Selling? Buying/Selling Tips About Us
BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS ■ 12
15. Chapter 4 SMOOTH SAILING
Finally, if you’re selling products, you’ll want BEST PRACTICES
to make payment a snap and give customers The rules of site design are not complicated. Just keep
an easy way to pay you. Consider including these dos and don’ts in mind:
an online order form and a toll-free ordering
number or fax line for people who don’t want Do:
to use their credit cards online. ■ Make your site easy to navigate.
■ Create a consistent look and feel throughout your site
Once you think you have a good navigation by using similar fonts, colors and layouts.
scheme, it’s time to test it. Ask friends, col- ■ Make sure your website works on more than one
leagues and customers to try out your site and browser, e.g., Internet Explorer and Firefox (see “Helpful
let you know how well they were able to get Tips & Tricks” on page 43 for more on this).
around. Ask your grandmother and your friend ■ Put the most important information near the top of
who’s new to the web to take a look. Their the page so users don’t have to scroll down to find it.
feedback will tell you if your site has the right ■ Use headlines, icons, bullets, boldface words and color
information and is easy to navigate. Take some to draw attention to important content.
time to refine your site, and it will pay off in a ■ Include your phone number on every page.
better web experience for all your visitors. ■ Use high-quality graphics and photos, including your
logo. Make sure the images are crisp but don’t take too
The elements you choose to highlight on your much time to load.
site will vary with your business. You may
want to include some or all of the following: Don’t:
■ Use text and color combinations that are too busy or
■ Customer testimonials include distracting visuals that make the site hard to
■ Professional bio, background or credentials read.
■ Guarantees, warranties and return policies ■ Let the content, especially the links on your website,
■ Shipping costs and tracking information become outdated.
■ Special discounts or promotional offers ■ Include graphics or other design elements that slow
■ Contact information down site performance.
■ Privacy policy ■ Put too much clutter on any one page.
■ Site map (This lists all the pages on your For more don’ts, turn to “Don’t You Dare!” on page 39.
site and is typically organized in a hierarchi-
cal fashion. A site map helps visitors and
search engines find pages on your site.)
■ Buttons at the bottom of each page that send users back to your homepage
An easy-to-navigate, well-organized site puts your business in its best light and makes it sim-
ple for visitors to find what they’re looking for. Keep your customers in mind at all times as
you create and update your site, and you’ll be well on your way to site success.
13 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
16.
17. Chapter 5:
TELL YOUR STORY
Help visitors get to know you.
G
IVEN THE AMOUNT
of competition on
the web, you need to
do everything you
can to stand out
from your competi-
tors. Start on your homepage by posi-
tioning your company and explaining
what sets you apart in your industry.
This goes beyond describing the ben-
efits of your product or service—this
is about you and your company es-
tablishing credibility.
There are several ways to toot your
own horn. Try to incorporate these,
when relevant, on your site.
■ Testimonials: The best way to
establish credibility is to show that
your product or service really works.
Including testimonials from satisfied
customers explaining how your
product or service has improved
their lives does just that. And since
it’s from an objective third party
(hopefully), it rings especially true to
potential customers. It’s best to
include the names, locations and, if
possible, small pictures of satisfied
customers. This personalizes their
messages, adds credibility to their
statements and shows that they’re
real people who’ve enjoyed real ben-
efits from your product. You’ll get a
14 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
18. TELL YOUR STORY Chapter 5
bigger payoff if you have testimonials from known sources such as newspapers or magazines,
or from recognizable people such as civic, academic or industry leaders.
For instant impact, showcase your best testimonial(s) on your homepage. You should have a
separate testimonials page as well. The more satisfied customers boasting about your company,
the better—as long as they’re credible.
■ “About Us” & FAQ pages: An “About Us” page provides information about you, your staff
and your company. Post pictures of yourself and your staff. This takes the anonymity out of
doing business on the web and shows customers they’re buying from real people they can
relate to.
On your FAQ (frequently asked questions) page, provide a list of your customers’ most com-
monly asked questions and the answers to them. This can save you time and money. Instead of
spending time answering customers’ questions over the phone, you can put up an FAQ page,
which allows customers to essentially self-serve and get the answers they’re seeking. If you use
a toll-free number, heading off customer calls with an FAQ page can save you lots of money.
■ Contact information: Provide full contact information, including your name, mailing
address, fax and phone numbers, and an e-mail link to you or customer service in an easy-
to-find place on your site. You should also post your phone number and/or e-mail address
somewhere on every page. If you don’t make it easy to reach you, some potential customers
will jump to the conclusion that you’re unprofessional or possibly even disreputable.
■ News & announcements: Include press releases and news about your company or your
industry in this section. This helps you once again establish credibility through third-party
sources.
■ Media or press sections: If you’ve been featured in any media, provide links to the articles.
It’s illegal to post the whole article unless you get permission from the media company that
first published it. If you seek permission, make sure you also ask if you can use their logo.
Showing a recognizable logo helps your visitors immediately identify the source of the story
and adds more credibility to your business.
■ Newsletters: If you send out e-newsletters or e-mails to your customer and prospect lists,
be sure to mention any articles about you or your company, and include links to them. You
can get additional publicity (which brings more attention to your site and likely more eyeballs,
too) by promoting it offline as well. (By offline, we’re referring to more traditional forms of
BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS ■ 15
19. Chapter 5 TELL YOUR STORY
advertising such as magazine ads and printed brochures.) If you’ve received coverage from a
national media outlet, let your local newspaper know. Local newspaper editors (especially for
the business section) often like to play up the fact that a local business owner is getting
national media recognition. The same holds true for college alumni magazines, which like to
promote the accomplishments of their graduates. This coverage can drive potential customers
to your site.
■ Video: Many websites now incorporate video to highlight certain products, convey impor-
tant information or just personalize the web experience. Video can be used to demonstrate
products, illustrate a point, show a case study or even conduct virtual tours. Remember the
old adage, “A picture is worth 1,000 words.” Producing video is not as hard as you might think,
but you have to make sure it enhances the user experience and doesn’t detract from it. Make
sure your video looks professional so it adds credibility. If you’re in doubt, there are plenty of
places you can turn to that will host the video for you.
Using these tools to give visitors a better idea of who you are and what your business does
builds not only your credibility, but also the connection you share with your customers.
Telling your story on your site will make visitors more comfortable buying from you and more
likely to spread the word about your business.
16 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
20. Chapter 6:
IN WITH THE NEW
Keep your content up-to-date.
G
ETTING YOUR SITE LIVE AND LAUNCHED is only part of the battle. If you
want to be successful, you’ll need to give people a reason to visit your site often.
Give visitors an incentive to keep coming back. One of the best ways to do this
is by offering new or refreshed content. Frequent updates to your site will keep
customers engaged and assure them that you’re on top of things. But nothing
turns off customers more than seeing outdated or irrelevant information.
17 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
21. IN WITH THE NEW Chapter 6
The “K.I.S.S.” (keep it simple, stupid) principle still applies. Resist the temptation to put
something on your site just because you can. While video, audio, high-resolution graphics and
Flash animation can certainly add value to your site, they can also make your pages slow to
load. Remember, never post content that slows access to a page. Your customers will get tired
of waiting and leave your site.
So what works? There are many ways to introduce content that gives users reasons to linger
longer and absorb more of what you’re offering. Try out a few tools, monitor user response
and delete the ones that don’t prove valuable. Update your content regularly. You know best
what will work for your business, but a good guideline is to add new content weekly, or at
least monthly. This isn’t hard to do. But if you feel like you don’t have the tools to modify the
site yourself, you can use third-party companies, which provide tools to let you easily create
and update your site with just a few clicks and no HTML knowledge required.
CONTENT CREATION
There are many ways to create interesting content:
■ Polls and surveys: People love to share their opinions. Polls work because they provide
instant gratification and underscore interactivity—one of the net’s best features. Ask any rel-
evant question, whether it’s related to a current event or connected to your site. If you’re selling
music, ask, “Who’s your favorite Beatle?” On an auto site, let them vote for their favorite classic
car. Polls should be short (never ask more than 10 questions in a poll—five or fewer is ideal).
Posting a poll is fairly easy. Your web hosting provider might offer a tool that lets you post a poll
or survey. Or you can use a free website service that generates the HTML for you. You just copy
and paste it where you want it to appear on your site, and you can get the results by e-mail.
You can also use surveys to gather information, but keep them short and offer a small reward
(like a discount on a future purchase or a free sample item). Randomly choose a number of cus-
tomers to survey, and then read and record every answer that comes in. Be specific about what
you want to know. Ask your customers questions in such a way that you will get the answers you
need. For more advanced surveys, check out a survey service provider, who can handle the setup and
reporting for a small fee. This can be worthwhile if you expect hundreds or thousands of responses.
■ Blogs: A blog is a frequently updated online journal with lots of links. Blogs are a great viral
marketing tool because they incorporate the elements of interactivity, community and collabo-
ration. Use blogs as a platform to showcase your expertise and engage your customers on a
BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS ■ 18
22. Chapter 6 IN WITH THE NEW
more personal level. Blogs give your business added credibility and visibility. Use them to
offer content (tips are always good blog material) and to drive readers to your main site. See
“Resource Center” on page 46 for more on blogging.
■ RSS (really simple syndication) feeds: Originally built to distribute syndicated news, RSS
promises a host of other uses, including innovative marketing and content building on your
site. RSS lets you instantly publish and receive bits of text. You can bolster content by adding
RSS feeds from news services or blogs that will intrigue site visitors. RSS is still fairly techni-
cal and is used by savvy surfers, but it is gaining a wider audience. To see RSS in action, down-
load and install an RSS reader from the web and follow the directions. You can also look for
the small orange RSS icon on your favorite websites. Most browsers now have built-in RSS
tools that let you view and organize RSS feeds.
One powerful way to use RSS is to have an RSS feed from your site that notifies subscribers
when you update with new content. Talk to your web designer or web hosting company about
adding RSS to your site, either as a way to bring in content from other websites to enrich your
own site, or as a way to send out updates to interested visitors that want to keep track of your
site. It can be a very flexible and powerful tool.
■ Customer-driven content: Constantly updating your content doesn’t have to cost you end-
less hours or big bucks. One great way to get new content without having to write it all your-
self or hire expensive freelancers is to ask your readers or customers for contributions. Many
readers will jump at the chance to contribute just for the thrill of seeing their names in virtual
print. For an easy way to provide content, offer a tip regularly. Post daily, weekly or even
monthly, and don’t worry about coming up with 365 daily tips; work on them a month or two
at a time.
When it comes to the web, content is king. With tools ranging from polls to RSS feeds to blogs
and even video, there’s no reason not to have an updated and interesting website. Keep your
content relevant and fresh, and you’ll be able to give your web customers a compelling reason
to revisit your site on a regular basis. That’s the sort of customer relationship that is well
worth cultivating.
19 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
23. Chapter 7:
GETTING TO KNOW THEM
Find out who’s visiting your site.
K
NOW THY CUSTOMER. If there’s a first commandment of business, this is it. Just
dealing with customers in person can tell you a lot about them. But for web entre-
preneurs, getting to know customers is more of a challenge. It’s important to tack-
le this since knowing your visitors helps you more precisely target them. If you
suddenly notice a flood of visitors from, say, Japan, you could decide to edit part
of your site to make it even more attractive to those users. If you see that you’re a
20 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
24. GETTING TO KNOW THEM Chapter 7
hit with your target audience on a particular college campus or within a government agency, you
can post a special deal just for those people. If you’re marketing locally and see that you’re get-
ting a lot of traffic from a specific part of your city or state, that may be a signal to market there.
TRACKING YOUR TRAFFIC
The good news is that every website visitor leaves a trail. As we said earlier, your web host-
ing company should be a great help here. Find out what (free) reports your web host offers.
When properly analyzed, these reports will give you the scoop on your visitors and key traf-
fic trends. But don’t stop there. Just reading the reports isn’t enough—you need to use them.
Familiarize yourself with the information, and then you can start tracking your site’s perform-
ance. You’ll be able to tell what impact a specific promotion has on increasing traffic or boost-
ing business on the site.
If your web hosting company doesn’t provide these traffic reports, you can get into your log files
yourself. Go to your web hosting service and look for a directory called “Logs.” Download the
most recent file and have a
look (any text editor should
open the file). Plenty of pro-
grams can help you do this.
The analysis will enable you
to see exactly where visitors
come from, which pages
they’re viewing, how long
they’re staying, which links
on the site are getting the
most traffic, and, if you have
an e-commerce site, which
products on your site are
being sold and where peo-
ple give up and bail out of
the ordering process.
The traffic reports from your
web hosting service are a
great first step toward getting
to know your customers.
BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS ■ 21
25. Chapter 7 GETTING TO KNOW THEM
COLLECT E-MAIL ADDRESSES
You can get information from your visitors by giving them a reason to register or provide their
e-mail addresses. You could offer a free sample, an e-book, a free e-newsletter subscription,
or a white paper or report on a topic relevant to your audience. Another easy way to reach
potential customers (and convert them to actual clients) is to provide a free 30-minute consul-
tation. This is a great way to “strut your stuff” and impress people with what you have to offer
in a no-risk atmosphere.
STAYING IN TOUCH
Once you have their e-mail addresses (with permission to send them mail), keep in touch by
sending out newsletters, discount coupons, special offers or advance notices of sales and
other promotions. For more on e-mail marketing, see “Helpful Tips & Tricks” on page 43.
Smart business owners use their sites to build customer databases, mailing lists and user pro-
files, which give them a better idea of who their customers are and how to better serve them.
You can do this by adding a “Join my mailing list” sign-up box on your homepage, making it
simple for visitors to add themselves to your e-mail list.
Finally, make sure you read and respond to your visitors’ e-mails. These are a great source of
information about what people like and don’t like about your site and your business. Nothing
beats advice straight from the customers’ mouths. A word of caution here: Don’t react to one
or two comments. Look for themes or trends in what your customers are telling you or ask-
ing for, and then react appropriately.
22 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
26. Chapter 8:
READY, SET, SELL!
Get started in e-commerce.
B
USINESSES ARE NO LONGER STUCK within their physical walls. You can take
your products to where your customers are: the Internet. E-commerce is for com-
panies of all sizes, whether selling products is your main focus or you’re just look-
ing to offer branded T-shirts and caps to surfers. Getting started with an online
store used to mean hiring a web specialist to build it from the ground up, but now
there are a host of savvy services that will get you up and running in a jiffy.
23 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
27. READY, SET, SELL! Chapter 8
3 WAYS TO START SELLING ONLINE
#1: You can start by simply adding a PayPal button to your existing site so customers can pay
you directly. PayPal can also help you build a basic order form to integrate into your site.
#2: You can list and sell your products on one (or more) of the big marketplace sites like eBay
and Amazon.com. Using eBay in particular can be a good way to gauge demand, pricing and
competition for your products.
#3: You can start from scratch and build an e-commerce site at your own domain name using
either a web designer or a template-based web store building tool.
Finally, you may find that some combination of the above is what works best for you. For
example, many online stores supplement their regular sales with eBay auctions. It can be a
great way to sell unique items or returns that can’t be sold as new.
WHAT’S YOUR SPECIALTY?
Before you fire up your online store, it’s a good idea to know what you’re getting into. Some
product categories are already crowded with dominant players. Books and shoes, for example,
are saturated with large sellers that can undercut just about any price. That’s not to say you
couldn’t build a successful business in one of those areas. As a small startup or new online
seller, your greatest strength could be in finding and mining a specific e-commerce niche. For
example, if you found an untapped consumer base for rain boots or vintage mystery novels,
that could be your ticket to specialty-market success.
ART OF THE START
The fastest and cheapest way to get started with an online web store is to look to your web
service provider. Many large web hosting companies have an e-commerce option or an
e-commerce solutions partner that can make building your first store a matter of pointing,
clicking and adapting pre-made templates. Most of these basic web stores charge a monthly
fee and a small transaction fee for each order. You can expect a starter plan to cost as little as
$30 to $40 a month.
If your e-commerce effort is highly complex or requires a lot of customization, it can be a
good idea to bring in a specialist for help. Ask a web designer if this is a service they can pro-
BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS ■ 24
28. Chapter 8 READY, SET, SELL!
vide in addition to building your site. (For more on hiring a web designer, see “Call in the
Pros” on page 36.) Your e-commerce effort can be as simple or as advanced as you need it to
be. Consider a system that ties your inventory and online store together to help simplify your
record keeping. This can also help you avoid offering out-of-stock items to customers.
WEB STORE ESSENTIALS
#1: Photos tell the story. Good, clean pictures will help sell your products. Multiple views and
pictures of different colors and options can also help reduce questions from shoppers looking
for more information.
#2: Give the details. The quality of your item descriptions can make or break a sale. Be detailed,
but don’t ramble. Think about what your customers would need to know and want to know
about each item, and answer those questions in the description.
#3: Keep it private. Make sure your privacy and security policy is easily accessible. Never share
your customers’ information, and always use proper encryption to handle sensitive data. This is
often supplied by your e-commerce provider, but make sure to check with them first.
PAYMENTS AND FULFILLMENT
It’s smart to offer your customers a variety of payment methods. A merchant account that lets
you accept credit card payments is an important first step. Also consider integrating with
PayPal as another popular payment option. Customers appreciate having a variety of shipping
options, too. You can set up with your preferred shipping providers to automatically calculate
costs for your buyers. While we’re on the subject of payments, don’t forget about complying
with tax laws. If you need to, seek outside help from an e-commerce expert or consultant. If
you’re using a do-it-yourself online store solution, use the wizard to customize for your tax
collection requirements.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Keeping in close contact with your customers is a must. If they send you an e-mail with a
product or payment question, you need to be able to respond quickly. Aim to field every e-mail
within 24 hours, and consider offering an online chat function as another avenue for commu-
nication. When it comes to keeping customers happy and coming back to your online store,
25 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
29. READY, SET, SELL! Chapter 8
special coupons and discounts are a big incentive. Even a 10 percent off coupon or a free ship-
ping bonus for customers can be a big boost to repeat business. A monthly e-mail letting cus-
tomers know about new products and special deals with articles on relevant subjects can be
a welcome form of advertising.
The tips and advice that apply to building a regular website also apply to your web store.
Simple navigation, an attractive design and a smart approach to online marketing will give you
a leg up over a lot of your competition. Throw in some top-notch customer service, and you’ll
be on your way to developing your e-commerce reputation.
BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS ■ 26
30. Chapter 9:
SAFETY FIRST
Make your site a secure place to visit.
O
K, YOU’RE ALMOST DONE. Your final step in improving your website is
making sure your customers feel good about doing business with you. And
the best way to do that is to establish a solid security and privacy policy. Start
by checking your site for anything that could lead to security or privacy
problems. Your goal is to eliminate these potential threats and make your site
a safe place to do business.
WEBSITE SECURITY
There are many layers to website security. The physical security of the server your site is hosted
on, firewalls and how you control who can make changes to your site are just a few of the things
you have to consider. For five steps on securing your website, see the box on the following page.
27 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
31. SAFETY FIRST Chapter 9
5 STEPS TO BETTER SECURITY
Fortunately, just a little bit of legwork can
help you determine if your site is properly PRIVACY
protected. Web users are very sensitive about their privacy.
How can you reassure them that your site is safe?
#1: Choose a respected and established web By creating and openly explaining your privacy
hosting provider. Your host will be your first policy. Many sites have a button at the bottom of
line of defense. Don’t be afraid to ask ques- their homepage that says “Privacy Policy.” Once
tions about what it does for security. clicked, the link should deliver users to a clear, con-
cise statement of what information is collected
#2: Be sure that your web host maintains tight from them, what’s done with it, and if it’s made
physical security where it keeps its servers. It available to other companies. Go to the “Resource
should also perform regular backups so that your Center” on page 46 for a sample privacy policy
site will stay up and running even if a server from the Better Business Bureau.
goes down. For instance, if you maintain your
data on Microsoft Office Live, it is stored on sys- Internet users are concerned about receiving
tems with limited access in controlled locations. unwanted spam or, more seriously, making them-
To find out more about Microsoft Office Live, go selves vulnerable to identity theft. Users don’t want
to the “Resource Center” on page 46. their data shared with other sites or businesses. Be
careful how much you ask your customers. If you
#3: Watch out for unusual activity on your ask too many questions, many will refuse to answer.
website. A sudden spike in bandwidth usage To get more, there needs to be an appropriate value
may be a tip-off that a hacker has infiltrated exchange. Essentially, the amount of information
your site and is using it to send out spam. For you expect to get should be tied in to what the cus-
more information on keeping your server safe tomer is receiving in return for giving you their
from hackers, check out the “Resource Center.” data. If you want a lot of information, consider offer-
ing multiple reports or free samples to entice visi-
#4: Consider hiring an IT or security professional tors into taking the time to answer your questions.
or consultant to test your site’s defenses. This is
especially important if you work with highly When an explicit privacy policy is combined
sensitive data like customers’ health informa- with a third-party seal of approval (from, say, the
tion or financial data. Better Business Bureau or TRUSTe), buyers gen-
erally feel more secure about doing business with
#5: Restrict employee access to your website. you. If you have e-commerce capabilities on your
Only those who absolutely must be able to site, then be sure to use SSL technology, which
update it should have the password. Change the provides secure communications online for tasks
password on a regular basis. If an employee like web browsing, e-mailing, instant messaging,
with access leaves your business, change the e-faxing and other data transfers, to secure your
password immediately. customers’ data.
BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS ■ 28
32. Chapter 9 SAFETY FIRST
SPAM
E-mail marketing can be a very effective way to communicate with your customers and encour-
age repeat business. If you decide to try e-mail marketing, then you must follow the law when it
comes to spam, or it will damage your credibility and brand. Nothing will drive customers away
faster than spamming them. Let your customers opt in (double opt-ins are often preferable) to
allow you to contact them in the first place. The CAN-SPAM Act, which was signed into law in
2003, requires commercial e-mail messages to be labeled and include opt-out instructions as
well as the sender’s physical address. It also prohibits the use of deceptive subject lines and false
headers. For a link to the full guidelines, go the “Resource Center” on page 46.
Here’s a sample of good opt-in language we use at Entrepreneur.com when you sign up for one
of our e-newsletters:
Thank you for your subscription request.
In order to complete the subscription process and request, your confirmation is required. To confirm your recent
Entrepreneur.com information request, simply click below.
As a special offer to our new subscribers, if you confirm your information request today, you will be able to
download the following Entrepreneur.com e-book FREE of charge as our gift to you: Instant Start-Up Guide.
Confirm your information request today and get your FREE download by clicking here.
(Please do not reply to this message. If you are unable to click the link above, please copy and paste the link into
your browser window.)
Remember: You may remove yourself from this service or change the content you receive at any time. To protect your
privacy, we will not activate your request until you confirm. Our privacy policy can be viewed here.
Thanks!
Entrepreneur.com
Website security doesn’t have to be a great mystery. Take a good dose of common sense, check
into your web hosting provider’s security policies, take time to craft a solid privacy policy of
your own and be careful with your e-mail marketing efforts. Your diligence will increase your
prospective customers’ faith and trust in you.
29 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
33. Chapter 10:
A SITE TO BE SEEN
Now that you’ve built it, make them come.
A
T THE HEIGHT OF THE DOTCOM FRENZY, web entrepreneurs copped a
phrase from the popular movie Field of Dreams: “If you build it, they will
come.” And it worked. Today, however, you need to do more. Customers will
come to your site—if they can find it. That’s why you need to be highly vis-
ible on the various search engines people use to find things on the web. In fact,
in its report titled “The State of Search Engine Safety,” McAfee (a producer of
anti-virus software) reveals that about 80 percent of all website visits originate from a search
query. Search engines are the principle way to drive people to your site, and there are three
main aspects of search engines that any business needs to be aware of: site submissions,
search engine optimization and search engine marketing.
30 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
34. A SITE TO BE SEEN Chapter 10
SITE SUBMISSIONS
While there are hundreds of search engines to choose from, there’s little value in being on an
engine no one uses. Focus on the top high-traffic search engines: AOL, Ask.com, Google, Live
Search and Yahoo!—which represent about 93 percent of all search engine use.
Almost every search engine provides tools for easy submission of new sites. Just go to the search
engine homepage, look for an “Add URL” or “Submit Your Site” button, and then follow the
directions. User submissions aren’t the only—or even the main—way search engines compile
their indexes. A popular tool used by the engines in scoping out the lay of the web are spiders—
also called crawlers—which meander from site to site, following links and reporting findings to
the search engine. Many web pages are discovered and crawled because other websites contain
links to them. You want to make it as easy as possible for these crawlers to find your site.
But don’t expect immediate results. It can take a month or so for the major crawlers to index
your pages. Getting listed is the easy part. Gaining a high position in the search engines is
another story, but that’s where the money gets made. It doesn’t pay to be the 207th pet acces-
sories retailer listed. No one is going to wade through 21 screens to find you. Most searchers
look at only one or two pages of search results before clicking on one or abandoning the search.
BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS ■ 31
35. Chapter 10 A SITE TO BE SEEN
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
Can you improve your search engine ranking? There are definitely things you can do to increase
your chances of showing up higher. One of the best ways to score high in search engines is to
have good, solid content on your site that is related to the terms you think people will be search-
ing for. It’s also important to continually add new content or modify your site’s existing content.
Keyword-rich domain names, title tags, and having a site map can also help.
Be sure that every tactic you use is relevant to your business. Search engines will penalize
sites that appear to be gaming the system by displaying tons of keywords and overstuffed meta
tags. Hidden keywords (like white text hidden by a white background) are an absolute no-no.
Don’t overlook the importance of links. Having a number of links on other sites that point to
your site can be crucial in determining your search engine ranking. But don’t exchange links
with just any old site. Search engines can take into account the popularity and relevance of the
sites that link to yours. Look to exchange links with quality sites in related fields. For more on
links, see “Helpful Tips & Tricks” on page 43 and “Resource Center” on page 46.
Here’s where a little terminology comes in handy. When you’re making your site search engine-
friendly, you’re aiming to improve your ranking in the engine’s “natural results.” Natural results,
sometimes called “organic results,” are the sites that a search engine returns as the result of a
query (see illustration below). Natural results are not the same as the “paid results” that pop up
alongside as advertising. These ads should be part of your search engine marketing strategy,
which is discussed on the following page. Some surfers prefer natural results to paid results, so
it’s important to make sure your site ranks as high as possible for relevant search terms.
Paid
Results
Natural
Results
32 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
36. A SITE TO BE SEEN Chapter 10
Maximizing the number of times your website comes up in a search result is an ongoing process.
It takes patience to monitor the search engines by visiting them frequently and checking your
ranking under various relevant search terms. If you operate a business that relies on local cus-
tomers, be sure to check how high your site appears when including your home city in the
search terms. Many web hosting providers offer easy-to-read traffic reports that can give you a
lot of information about where your visitors are coming from. Study these reports to see which
search engines and key phrases send you the most traffic. If you discover that you need to make
changes to your site to leverage your keywords within your pages (particularly your homepage)
in order to move up in the search engine rankings, do so as soon as possible.
SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING
You don’t have to rely on the spiders to find your site. You can be more proactive. Search engine
marketing is a good way to step up and take action to make your site more visible and help ensure
you are discovered on the first few pages of the search results. Some advantages of this type of mar-
keting are that it is easy to control the costs and you can target very specific searches. You can tar-
get the entire U.S. or specific geographies. You’ll be able to judge the effectiveness of the advertis-
ing by viewing reports and keeping track of how many visitors are sent to you from the search ads.
CREATING AN EFFECTIVE CAMPAIGN
Most search engine advertising programs let you establish a monthly budget and set a maxi-
mum cost per click so that you can stay in tight control of your marketing costs.
#1: Set up your personal account on each search engine.
#2: Select your desired keywords or key phrases.
#3: Create your text-based search ads.
#4: Determine the bid amount for each of your ads.
#5: Review your reports regularly after your search listings go live to see which keywords and
campaigns are the most and least effective, and make the necessary changes.
The next step is to experiment with keywords and phrases. The copy you use in your keyword
ads should be succinct and engaging. You should include your targeted keyword in your ad
BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS ■ 33
37. Chapter 10 A SITE TO BE SEEN
copy. Make sure your ad contains a compelling call to action wherever possible. A look at the
illustration on page 32 will show you where keyword ads (paid results) normally appear in the
search results. For more advice on choosing keywords, see “Searching for Search Terms” below
and check out the “Resource Center” on page 46.
SEARCHING FOR SEARCH ITEMS
There’s a bit of an art and a bit of a science in choosing which terms to back with your adver-
tising money when you’re investing in search word marketing. Take advantage of some of the
tools that are out there to help you find good candidates. Ideally, you’re looking for keywords
and phrases that are popular and relevant without being too general. There are some handy
online tools available to help you out.
If you’re using a search engine advertising service like Microsoft adCenter, take advantage of the
keyword research tools they offer their users. Wordtracker.com offers an advanced keyword
research tool that can tell you how often people search for certain terms and how many com-
peting sites are already using those terms. It also suggests keywords and keyword combinations
that could be effective for your particular website. A free trial is available, and one-week sub-
scriptions start at less than $30.
Also visit inventory.overture.com, where you can run keywords for free to find out what the most
popular phrases are and what related terms people are searching for. As you put together your list
of keywords to use, don’t forget to include plurals. You might even try out some common mis-
spellings. Remember that search is always evolving. You can’t just set it and forget it—you have to
continually tweak your keywords and stay up-to-date with keyword research tools.
The more specific you are, the better. General search phrases like “electronics,” “video games”
and “shoes” are already crowded, and it will be hard to differentiate your business from the
pack. It can also be very expensive to run a marketing campaign around these sorts of terms.
If you have a specialty or niche, reflect that with your keyword choices.
LOCAL MOTION
Local search is on the rise, and entrepreneurs can take advantage of the trend. Local busi-
nesses should try out phrases that include their town. For example, if you have a tree-
trimming business in Chicago, you might want to try out the phrases “Chicago arborist” or
“tree trimming Chicago.” Then, when surfers search for those terms, your advertisement
34 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
38. A SITE TO BE SEEN Chapter 10
WHY PAY THE PRICE?
A well-run search engine marketing campaign can be one of the most cost-effective tools in
your advertising arsenal. A report from US Bancorp Piper Jaffray runs the numbers down to
show how search engine advertising stacks up against traditional advertising. The cost per lead
from search engines came in at 29 cents. On the other hand, Yellow Pages advertising runs
$1.18 per lead, and direct-mail inserts cost $9.94 per lead. Search advertising even beat out
e-mail (which Piper Jaffray estimates at 50 cents per lead). All in all, search marketing can offer
a substantial savings when it comes to finding qualified customer leads.
will pop up alongside the natural search results. Local search is a booming area and can be
a great way to bring customers to your website and, in turn, to your physical location.
As with other aspects of working with search engines, it’s important to keep your keyword
campaigns relevant to your business. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different keywords.
Take advantage of the flexibility of search engine mar-
keting programs to try out new keywords. A good search
engine marketing program will provide you with easy- A recent study from
to-read reports that will help you judge the popularity Nielsen/NetRatings showed
and cost-effectiveness of each phrase or keyword. that 70 percent of those
Expect to have a period of adjustment before your mar- surveyed would use the net
keting is firing on all cylinders. Continue to refine your to find a local service busi-
keywords as you go along. ness, and 68 percent said
they would then contact the
Success takes a one-two punch. First, your search business by phone.
engine savviness will hopefully bring in the right
prospects. Second, your website should motivate prospects to contact you to learn more
and, if you have an e-commerce site, to actually buy your products. A website designed with
search engines in mind, combined with an effective search engine marketing program, is a
recipe for Internet success.
BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS ■ 35
39. EXTRA:
CALL IN THE PROS
When should you hire a web designer?
L
ET’S BE HONEST:
not everyone is
cut out to spend
hours program-
ming or shuffling
templates to build
their own website. So how do
you know when you should
hire a pro? It’s all about the
value of your time and the
desired quality of your web-
site. If you can put yourself to
better use by playing to your
strengths and attending to
other aspects of your business,
hiring a professional web
designer is a good investment.
You might have the time to
build a website but lack the
skill. It’s often worthwhile to
have an expert create a unique
and professional look. Web
designers know what fonts,
font sizes, icons and graphics
to use. Good designers know
the right amount of content to
use to get results. Web designers
can help you take your site to
the next level.
Don’t be tempted to go with an
inexpensive amateur or a
friend of a friend who dabbles
in web building. You need
36 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
40. CALL IN THE PROS EXTRA
MEET YOUR MATCH
■ What’s the rush? Finding the right web
someone who specializes in making clean, designer is like finding the perfect architect to
secure, well-designed business websites. This build an office building. Do your homework; check
is the face you’re showing the world, and it out sites you like and find out who designed them.
needs to be professional. It’s easier to do it the Then narrow your decision down to a few, and
right way from the start than to fix a messy site thoroughly check out their work. Don’t limit your
later on. After all, you may only get one chance search to where you live.
to impress a prospect.
■ Show ‘em. Before you talk to a designer, surf
the web and print out what you like and what
FIND A DESIGNER you don’t. Be clear about what you want. Saying
With thousands upon thousands of potential “I want a cool site” isn’t good enough.
web designers vying for your business, find-
ing the right one may seem a little daunting. ■ Get it in writing. Before you sign a contract with
You might want to look locally if you absolutely the designer you choose, make sure you have
need to visit with your designer in person. already registered the domain name in your own
Otherwise, the nature of the web gives you or your company’s name. The contract should state
access to a lot of great designers around the that you have the perpetual and irrevocable rights
world. If you’re comfortable working with a to the material: to use it on your site and to repro-
designer over the phone and by e-mail, you’ll duce, disseminate and change it. After you sign the
open up your options considerably. contract, take notes during meetings with your
designer so you can keep track of what’s going on.
Whether you search locally or look beyond
your town, referrals are a great place to start ■ Spell it out. Determine who is responsible for
your web designer search. Talk to other busi- what. What do you expect from the designer,
ness owners about their experiences with and when will it be delivered? What will you be
their web designers. What did they like about responsible for? Don’t pay upfront. Instead, pay
them? Were they easy to work with? Was the when predetermined goals are met.
site completed in a timely manner? As you
narrow down potential candidates, take a look ■ Try it out. Before your site goes live, your de-
at the websites they’ve built. Check to see if signer should create a “shadow site” so you can
they all look alike or if they’re tailored to each test it. And don’t give the OK until you’re sure that
business. Delve beyond the homepage to see it’s ready to roll out. Remember, first impressions
how the sites are structured, if the navigation count with prospective customers.
is simple and if the look is consistent. Then
interview them, and ask about their experi- ■ Get access. Make sure you’ll be able to make
ence designing business sites. See “Meet Your your own changes to your site after it launches
Match” at right for a checklist to help you without having to go back to the designer or
choose the right designer. your hosting company.
BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS ■ 37
41. EXTRA CALL IN THE PROS
KEEPING CURRENT
Once you’ve created your site, it’s crucial to keep it updated, whether it’s with a calendar,
coupons, contact information or company news. Many web designers and hosting companies
will let you handle your own minor updates using a web interface. Or if you use Microsoft Office
Live, your designer can use their tools to create your site, which then allows you to make minor
changes while preserving the unique design your web pro created for you. This can save you lots
of money and help you keep your site updated without having to wait for the web designer to
do it. Be sure to ask how updates will be handled before you hire your designer.
It’s smart to hire a web designer who will stick with you as your business grows. Your website
should mature and change along with your company. A good web designer will be able to expand
your site as needed and suggest helpful new tools or technologies. Do your homework before
you hire, and you’ll be getting not just a designer, but a web-savvy business partner as well. Also
be sure to check out our “Resource Center” on page 46 for many helpful links on designing your
website.
38 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
42. EXTRA:
DON’T YOU DARE!
9 disastrous moves to avoid
N
OW THAT YOU KNOW the crucial things you can (and should) do to improve
and transform your website, you may think you’re all set to go. But hold on a
minute—our guess is there are some things that you’re doing now or that your
friends and colleagues are advising you to do that are, well, wrong. So before
you go any further, check out these nine things that you should absolutely
never do.
39 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
43. DONT YOU DARE! EXTRA
DON’T:
#1 Put too much personalization on the homepage.
Though you certainly want to create a personal experience and establish a relationship with
your site visitors, having a picture of yourself on the homepage may be distracting and create
the impression that your site is more amateur than professional. The point of your site is to
offer solutions and benefits to users—it’s about them, not about you. As we said earlier, there
is an appropriate place for more personalized information—the “About Us” page.
#2 Be too flashy.
It’s simple, actually: Simplicity pays. You don’t want to overwhelm visitors (especially on your
homepage) with fancy or poorly produced Flash presentations, tons of irrelevant pictures, or
needless audio or video. Net users are impatient; they hate sitting around waiting for a site to
load. So while you think your bells and whistles will win you accolades for creativity, if they’re
overdone, they are in fact stopping many potential visitors from ever getting to your home-
page. And yes, we know more people are using broadband services, but that’s still no excuse
for you to overload your site.
#3 Create option overload.
Again, remember to keep it simple. Your site structure shouldn’t offer an overwhelming
choice of places to go. That just confuses people and distracts them from your primary mes-
sage. Think about what you want them to do once they get to your site. If they can’t decide
where to click, they’ll just leave. Give visitors up to five navigational choices for going deeper
into your site. This is not to say you can’t have supporting pages augmenting your basic infor-
mation. But allow your visitors to dig deeper without cluttering up your pages, making them
confusing and slow to load. Using a “Learn More” link to lead them to the supporting pages
can be effective and help reduce page clutter.
BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS ■ 40
44. EXTRA DON'T YOU DARE!
DON’T:
#4 Neglect to fill security gaps.
You need to be as vigilant about checking your site for security and privacy violations as hackers
and spammers are when they’re searching for sites to break into.
Start with a reputable web hosting company, and double-check that they have security measures
in place to protect your and your customers’ data (assuming, of course, that you maintain this
data on your site or within your intranet). If you keep sensitive information about your business
practices, strategic partners, customers or clients, and vendors and suppliers anywhere online,
then hire an expert to check out your site to make sure everything is properly secured.
#5 Include obtrusive advertising.
Online advertising has been going through a bit of a revival. You may want to join in by adding
advertising to your site. That’s OK, as long as you keep it relatively low-profile. That means
no annoying pop-ups. Also, don’t clutter your pages with ads all over the place. Flashing,
blinking, bouncing ads will send your web visitors running. Pick one compact area on each
page to run your ads. Also make sure the ads you run are relevant to your customers and your
business. Inappropriate ads (selling Viagra if you’re an accountant, for example) are distract-
ing and can damage your credibility.
#6 Use jargon.
Unless you’re running a site for a specific industry or catering to a very narrow target audi-
ence, don’t use industry lingo. Some people think talking in techno-speak or using lots of
industry jargon makes them seem like they have the inside scoop. Instead, it just turns off
potential customers. They might be afraid to do business with you for fear they’ll never
understand you. Remember, the point of your website is to tell people what you do and con-
vince them to do business with you. Always speak appropriately to your audience. In some
cases, this means taking a conversational tone; in others, you will need to sound more formal.
41 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
45. DONT YOU DARE! EXTRA
DON’T:
#7 Forget to keep it real.
Your website is not an ad. Yes, it’s your site, but as we said in Tip #1, it’s not all about you. You
should use testimonials and promote your press coverage, but there’s a fine line between
informing and boasting. Don’t cross it.
#8 Chatter too much.
Online chats that aren’t moderated are a recipe for disaster. There’s too much that can possi-
bly go wrong, and the potential payoff isn’t worth it. If you want to have a more interactive
relationship with your site’s visitors, try starting a company blog instead. Blogs are easier to
control than chats. (See “In With the New” on page 17 for more on blogs.) If you want to offer
visitors a way to instantly get in touch, you might consider sharing your IM screen name.
Another way to help cultivate relationships and build credibility with prospective customers
or cement those with existing clients is to offer webinars.
#9 Leave bad links and outdated material posted.
Just because you’ve launched your website doesn’t mean the hard work is over. You don’t want
to create a negative impression of your site or your business by having broken links, outdated
information or irrelevant content. Check your site regularly and make the appropriate
updates.
You obviously want your site to be unique, and not every rule applies without exception to
every business. With certain businesses, your website might be enhanced if your picture was
on the homepage. You might need to use lots of audio or other advanced applications to
appeal to your users. Always consider the type of business you’re running, who your target
audience is, what your competitors are doing and what your industry standards are.
Remember, you’re trying to build lasting customer relationships.
BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS ■ 42
46. HELPFUL TIPS & TRICKS
More ideas for improving your website
PERMISSION-BASED MARKETING
You have to make sure that your marketing messages are wanted. It’s not just good business
practice; it’s also the law. Make it clear when customers sign up with you that you’ll be e-mailing
them, and give them an opportunity to opt out of hearing from you. Confirm by e-mail that
they want to be on your list. It can also be helpful to let them know approximately how often
you’ll be sending them messages. Will it be monthly, weekly or whenever you update your
product line? Offering a special discount or coupon for signing up can be a good incentive. A
straightforward privacy policy and easy opt-out option will help you stay on the good side of
both your customers and the law.
43 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
47. HELPFUL TIPS & TRICKS
E-MAIL MARKETING
Plain-text e-mails don’t cut it anymore—you need to spice up your e-mail marketing messages
in both appearance and content. You don’t need to go overboard with a lengthy missive, but
consider adding short articles with interesting content related to what your business does. A
“tip of the month” or “discount of the week” can be a great reason to send regular e-mails that
your readers won’t just toss into the trash.
Give your e-mails a professional appearance by building them with HTML. There are many
customizable templates that provide a simple way to build HTML e-mails. E-mail marketing
services can help you design attractive e-mails, or you can turn to your handy web designer
for help in creating a template. Make sure your subject line is to the point and still compelling
enough to entice customers to open it up. For example, “Summer Sale Starts Today!” is more
likely to get opened than “Deals, Deals, Deals!” Finally, double-check your e-mails for spelling
and grammar mistakes. Misspelled words can be a big turnoff for customers who expect pro-
fessionalism.
DESIGN FOR ALL
There’s a wide world of web browsers out there for the World Wide Web. Your site should look
good no matter what browser your visitors use to access it. You don’t have to try every single
web browser available, but do be sure that your site works correctly and looks consistent in
Internet Explorer and Firefox at the very least. If you find a problem, tweak your site to make it
readable across most popular browsers.
GET LINKED UP
Start by making your site so great that it attracts linkers. Getting other relevant sites to link to
yours is important to organic search marketing. It can take a while to build your links up, so
be prepared to take it on as an ongoing project. Link trading with relevant (but not compet-
ing) businesses is a great first step. If your products compliment someone else’s offerings and
vice versa, they could be a good candidate for a link trade.
Approach your potential link partners with an e-mail written specifically for them. Tell them
why you should become link buddies, and always offer to link back to them in exchange.
Follow up a few weeks later if you need to. Once you’ve agreed to exchange links, list them
promptly. Give them some time, but do check up to see if they’ve listed you as well. If you
maintain a links page, organize it into sections or subjects so you don’t end up with a long,
BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS ■ 44
48. HELPFUL TIPS & TRICKS
hard-to-browse page full of links. Keep an eye out as you’re searching the web for strong link
exchange candidates. Many other sites will be happy to help you out with this mutually ben-
eficial linking relationship.
KEY KEYWORDS
Choosing the right keywords and phrases can make or break your search engine marketing
campaign. Sometimes a little creative thinking can be a big boost. Don’t be afraid to try very
specific search terms. Think “organic cotton blue jeans” rather than just “jeans.” You’ll be
more likely to show up in the search results for ready-to-purchase customers that are looking
for specific items.
Bring in employees, friends or family members to help brainstorm keywords and keyword
combinations. They may be able to generate unusual and useful ideas. Fortunately, search
engine advertising is cost-effective enough that you can have the luxury of trying a lot of dif-
ferent keywords to discover which ones really work. Experiment and refine. Reevaluate your
chosen keywords every few weeks. Follow that pattern and you’ll be able to put your money
behind the keywords that are most effective.
BLOGGING 101
Blogging can be a powerful tool for keeping customers up-to-date and for bringing web visi-
tors back to your site again and again. Blogging can help you establish a dialogue with your
customers and let you share your expertise and insight. There are many blog services online
that can help you get started and walk you through the process. It’s a lot easier than you might
think. Three popular choices are Windows Live Spaces (http://spaces.live.com), Blogger
(blogger.com) and Vox (vox.com).
Blogging is all about timeliness. Regular updates are a must to keep things fresh. They don’t
have to be long entries, but interesting and relevant bits of information or news about what’s
happening with your business and website are always welcome and recommended. Blogs can
be both entertaining and informative. For example, if you recently attended a trade show for
your industry, your blog readers might like to hear about what you found to be the hottest new
products or what items you’re planning to carry in your online store. It’s free to get started
with a blog, so give it a try.
45 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
49. RESOURCE CENTER
Helpful sites and articles
SMALL-BUSINESS SITES
Microsoft Office Live
www.officelive.com
Entrepreneur.com
www.entrepreneur.com
Office Online
www.microsoft.com/office
Office Live Web Seminars
www.officeliveseminars.com
Microsoft Small Business Center
www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/hub.mspx
Microsoft Startup Center
www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/
small-business-plus/startup_landing.aspx
Better Business Bureau
www.bbb.org
www.bbbonline.org
DESIGN 101
Helpful Sites:
Microsoft Expression
www.microsoft.com/Expression/
expression-studio/overview.aspx?nav=top
Microsoft Soapbox (online videos)
http://soapbox.msn.com
Website Pros
www.websitepros.com
46 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
50. RESOURCE CENTER
LogoWorks Helpful Articles:
www.logoworks.com FTC’s CAN-SPAM Act (for businesses doing
e-mail marketing)
LogoYes www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/spam/
www.logoyes.com business.htm
Helpful Articles: 7 Ways to Get Customers’ E-mail Addresses
Give Your Site an Extreme Makeover (Legitimately)
www.entrepreneur.com/ebusiness/ www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/
operations/article170474.html marketing/online_marketing/7_ways_to_get_
customers_email_addresses_legitimately.mspx
Improve Your Website’s Reputation
www.entrepreneur.com/ebusiness/ 10 Rules for Successful Permission-Based
searchoptimization/article80164.html E-mail Marketing
www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/
Give Your Website a Facelift: 11 Tips marketing/online_marketing/10_rules_for_
www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/ successful_permission_based_email_
marketing/online_marketing/give_your_ marketing.mspx
web_site_a_facelift_11_tips.mspx
How to Put Sizzle in Your E-mail Marketing
Hire a Professional www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/officelive/ marketing/online_marketing/how_to_put_
FX102243621033.aspx sizzle_in_your_email_marketing.mspx
ONLINE MARKETING Creating Spam-Free E-Mail
Helpful Sites: www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/online
eMarketer marketing/emailmarketingcolumnistgail
www.emarketer.com fgoodman/article77972.html
ClickZ Dos and Don’ts of E-Mail Marketing
www.clickz.com www.dmnews.com/cms/dm-news/e-mail-
marketing/37312.html
PayPal
www.paypal.com 5 Common E-Mail Marketing Mistakes
www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/online
marketing/emailmarketingcolumnistgail
fgoodman/article159404.html
BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS ■ 47
51. RESOURCE CENTER
8 Opt-In Offers Your Visitors Can’t Refuse 10 Steps to Getting Links to Your Site
www.entrepreneur.com/ebusiness/ebusiness www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/
columnist/article165874.html marketing/online_marketing/10_steps_to_
getting_links_to_your_site.mspx
SEARCH ENGINE
MARKETING & Help People Find Your Website: 8 Tips
OPTIMIZATION www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/
Helpful Sites: marketing/online_marketing/help_people_
Search Engine Watch find_your_web_site_8_tips.mspx
www.searchenginewatch.com
SECURITY
SEO Book Microsoft Security Guidance Center
www.seobook.com www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/support/
computer-security-overview.aspx
Website Traffic Analysis
www.selfseo.com/story-19289.php TRUSTe
www.truste.org
Helpful Articles:
Search Marketing 101 Hacker Safe
www.entrepreneur.com/ebusiness/ebusiness www.hackersafe.com
columnist/article176398.html
GeoTrust
The Dos and Don’ts of Search www.geotrust.com
Engine Optimization
www.entrepreneur.com/ebusiness/search Verisign
optimization/article71916.html www.verisign.com
Keyword Marketing With Office Live Thawte
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/officelive/ www.thawte.com
FX102036291033.aspx
POLLS & SURVEYS
15 Tips for Timely, Effective Search How to Use Online Surveys
Engine Keywords www.entrepreneur.com/ebusiness/
www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/ sitedesign/article171918.html
marketing/online_marketing/15_tips_for_
timely_effective_search_engine_keywords.mspx
48 ■ BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
52. RESOURCE CENTER
3 Reasons to Use Online Customer Surveys
www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/
marketing/market_research/3_reasons_to_
use_online_customer_surveys.mspx
BLOGGING
Should You Start a Business Blog?
www.entrepreneur.com/technology/techtrends
columnistpeteralexander/article175236.html
5 Ways Blogging Can Help Your Business
www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/
marketing/online_marketing/5_ways_
blogging_can_help_your_business.mspx
Blogging for Business: 7 Tips for
Getting Started
www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/
marketing/online_marketing/blogging_for_
business_7_tips_for_getting_started.mspx
TRAFFIC & REPORTING
5 Reasons to Track Website Traffic
www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/
marketing/online_marketing/5_reasons_to_
track_web_site_traffic.mspx
PRIVACY
Privacy for Small Business
www.bbb.org/securityandprivacy/faq.asp
How to Construct a Privacy Policy
www.thedma.org/privacy/creating.shtml
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SAMPLE PRIVACY POLICY
From the Better Business Bureau
Effective month/day/year
Privacy Notice Table of Contents:
■ Our Commitment to Privacy
■ The Information We Collect
■ How We Use Information
■ Our Commitment to Data Security
■ Our Commitment to Children’s Privacy
■ How to Access or Correct Your Information
■ How to Contact Us
Our Commitment to Privacy
Your privacy is important to us. To better protect your privacy we provide this notice
explaining our online information practices and the choices you can make about the way
your information is collected and used. To make this notice easy to find, we make it avail-
able on our homepage and at every point where personally identifiable information may be
requested.
The Information We Collect
This notice applies to all information collected or submitted on the [company name] website.
On some pages, you can order products, make requests, and register to receive materials. The
types of personal information collected at these pages are:
Name
Address
E-mail address
Phone number
Credit/Debit Card Information
(etc.)
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On some pages, you can submit information about other people. For example, if you order a
gift online and want it sent directly to the recipient, you will need to submit the recipient’s
address. In this circumstance, the types of personal information collected are:
Name
Address
Phone Number
(etc.)
How We Use Information
We use the information you provide about yourself when placing an order only to complete
that order. We do not share this information with outside parties except to the extent neces-
sary to complete that order.
We use the information you provide about someone else when placing an order only to ship
the product and to confirm delivery. We do not share this information with outside parties
except to the extent necessary to complete that order.
We offer gift cards by which you can personalize a product you order for another person.
Information you provide to us to create a gift card is only used for that purpose, and it is
only disclosed to the person receiving the gift.
We use return e-mail addresses to answer the e-mail we receive. Such addresses are not
used for any other purpose and are not shared with outside parties.
You can register with our website if you would like to receive our catalog as well as updates
on our new products and services. Information you submit on our website will not be used
for this purpose unless you fill out the registration form.
We use non-identifying and aggregate information to better design our website and to share
with advertisers. For example, we may tell an advertiser that X number of individuals visited
a certain area on our website, or that Y number of men and Z number of women filled out
our registration form, but we would not disclose anything that could be used to identify
those individuals.
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