I am sure that most of you do not need a lesson in the "hard knocks" business of the
Internet. Simply setting up shop and waiting for the orders to come shooting in does not work. I know. I've tried. Just as many
of you have tried. Did you ever stop to wonder why? In my case, I was selling a great product at a great price and instead of
that gushing waterfall of orders I was expecting, I ended up just hoping for a small trickle.
Was the product the problem? No, the same product (sometimes an inferior product) could be found on much larger websites that were selling it like ice cubes in
the Sahara. Was the price the problem? Absolutely not! I was killing myself by trying to compete with the "Big Boys" and I
ended up slashing my prices to the point where I was making a few nickels on each order. In fact, I only received a handful of
orders. You do the math!
That seems to blow the whole "Better Mousetrap" myth right out of the water doesn't it? You know
the one Ralph told us about. "If a man can make a better mousetrap than his neighbor...the world will make a beaten path to his
door." It sounds great and I bet you might have been lured by this promise just as I was. I hate to say it, but Ralph Waldo
Emerson was wrong.
A better product, a better price. Those two things are not the secret. The secret is better marketing and a
better website.
The simple truth of the matter is that a website is a living, breathing creature and in order for it to succeed it
needs a huge amount of attention (visitors), plenty of watering (content updates) and tons of sunlight (marketing).
When I say "better website" I am not talking about new amazing graphics or breathtaking flash animation. A better website means a site that
is fast loading, informative, and easy to navigate. Your website does not have to look amazing it has to be amazing.
The number one reason people get on the Internet is because they are looking for information. Your job is to supply that information. Your
job is to keep a steady supply of new and fresh information coming to your visitors.
Is your website old and stale? Was your last update back in 1998? If so, what do you expect when it produces nothing for you? Would you plant corn, walk away,
never water it, never give it sunlight, never give it fertilizer and expect it to yield a crop. Of course not, that would be insane!
Yet there are many businesses that do just that with their website. It's absolutely crazy! The way to increase online sales is to
keep your website updated with fresh content and to update it often. Statistics show that visitors return to a site an average of 7
times before they buy for the first time. By keeping your website loaded with great content you will ensure visitors will return
time and time again and you will be seen as an industry leader and expert.
I can hear you saying it already. "Where do I get fresh content?" You create it! That's what makes it fresh! You can write articles, take pictures, gather testimonials, add user
reviews, start a weblog, update statistics, do research, there are tons of ways to keep your site fresh. Once you have added
great content, your next step is to do it frequently. I recommend at least 4-5 times per week. If you do this I guarantee that you
will see your website traffic increase dramatically!
The final piece of the puzzle is marketing. This is the easy part. Over 80% of the people that start looking for something on the Internet use a search engine. The search engine Google performs over 200
million searches everyday! With that kind of traffic you can see what a gold mine search engines can be for your business.
The best way to tap into this hurricane of potential visitors is to get your site listed in the top 1 or 2 pages of the major search
engines. This can be tricky but if done yourself, it can be free.
There are many techniques (some good, most not) to enhance
your position but we will get into that in another article. There are also many search engine optimization services out there
(some good, most bad) that can help you for a wide range of fees.
The other option to get listed on search engines is to
advertise with them. Google Adwords is one of the best in the business and is extremely targeted. You choose the keywords
that relate to your product or service and your advertisements are only shown when someone searches for those words. And
you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. And you set the price you are willing to pay. It is a great idea and I have
personally seen businesses increase by over 500% by using Adwords.
After all is said and done, isn't that why you would want
a website, because it will put more money in your pocket? So let's review how you can actually increase sales and make money
online.
1. You need customers to come to your website. (Obviously, you say) The way you get them is.....
2. You need excellent marketing to a very targeted audience. The more targeted and focused your marketing is, the more successful it will
be.
3. You need to keep your site informative, interesting and fresh. You need to become the authority in your industry. I
believe that 80% of websites fail to keep visitors because the information on the site is dull, boring, and anywhere from 3-4
years old! Next time I want to tell you how you can increase sales by increasing prices. I have seen it work for many businesses
and the owners are absolutely thrilled. Yes, it really works.
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