|
|
Give Your Website A Chance
I often wonder how serious people are when it comes to their websites. I thought that most everyone knew that the phrase "Build it and they will come" no longer applies on the internet but I'm not sure how many people really believe it.
I look at sites everyday as part of my sales strategy and I can't tell you how many of them violate the obvious elements of good website design and submission.
What even amazes me more is that they can't figure out why they don't get sales or visitors.
Do yourself a favor and attempt to apply the following tactics to your site. They won't cost you a thing except a little time and effort to apply them.
** About Page **
Always include an about page on your site. Don't be afraid to tell your story and let people know who you are and how you arrived where you are.
Opening yourself up and letting people know who you are adds an element of trust. It exposes your personality, capabilities and knowledge. All factors that let your readers know you are genuine.
** Include all your contact information **
Let your visitors know that you are available. Encourage questions, email and phone calls. Include your name, address and phone number. If you can, it's also helpful to place a photo on your site. Familiarity is key and it can add one more link in the ladder of trust.
** Headlines **
Create compelling headlines. Peak the interest of your readers. This is your chance to grab their attention and incite them to read on.
Don't be flashy or obnoxious. Simply tell it like it is. Capture their attention with descriptive, informative words. Get your readers involved in your information. Ask questions. Make them think.
You might be surprised to learn that just one compelling headline can bring instant sales almost overnight.
**Create your meta tags **
This is the first place I look when people tell me they aren't getting visitors. I often see sites that have no title or description tag or the tags don't follow the suggested guidelines for proper setup.
Here's an example of how the tags might look for a site that sells hummingbird feeders:
Hummingbird Feeders: Shop For Hummingbird
Feeders Online
You will need to do this for each page of your site. Each page needs to have it's own set of tags. I also recommend focusing on one keyword per page, two at the very most. Too many keywords can confuse what your page is about.
Always make sure that your keywords are scattered throughout your text as well, however don't sacrifice good content for nonsense. Your text should be easy to read and should not sound redundant. Make your pages at least 250 words.
** Testimonials**
Solicit feedback from buyers you've had. Ask them to write a small testimonial that you can place on your site. This goes a long way to help convince your visitor that your products and services are sound.
** Linking **
Reciprocal linking is a common and effective tactic for obtaining search engine status and page rank but it's also the most time consuming. It requires making contacts, following up with contacts and updating your website.
While reciprocal linking is an excellent way of establishing page rank it's not the only way. Page rank can also be established by submitting your site to directories, writing articles and setting up blogs.
Don't underestimate the power of website links. Take the extra few hours a day and get your site noticed.
** Offer Guarantees *
Always offer your products with a guarantee. This is often the extra boost a buyer needs to make the purchase.
A good site will offer 100%, no-questions-asked, money-back guarantees. People rarely take advantage of such guarantees but it's this statement that may tip the scales in your favor.
** Submit Your Site **
Last, but not least, don't neglect to submit your site to the search engines. Many of them are no longer free but the fees are nominal and worth the expense. Google still offers a free submit and it's easy, simply type in your URL address, however make sure your meta tags include a title and description tag first.
For the free search engines I don't recommend using automated submissions. Submit them yourself taking care to compose accurate titles descriptions and keywords.
Elizabeth McGee has spent 20 years in the service and support industry. She has moved her expertise to the world wide web helping businesses find trusted tools, enhance customer service, build confidence and increase sales. You can visit Elizabeth's sites at: http://www.pro-marketing-online.com http://www.homenotion.com
Web Site Design Mistakes ? Database Parameters In URLs
Creating a web site takes thought, planning and execution. Unfortunately, many designs are dead in the water before they are even published as far as search engine optimization is concerned. Whatever you do, avoid these critical mistakes.
Why Stock Photography is a Great Resource for Web Business
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Website Design Considerations
Q: Should I build and maintain my business Web site myself or pay someone else to do the work for me? -- Wesley L.
Do Your Website Yourself - 4 Simple Steps to Get Your Dreams on the Web
Many people hire professional web site designers for as much as a thousand plus USD! You can, and very easily, make a web site for almost one hundredth of that price, and probably in half the time. Here are 4 easy steps to get you started.
Website Promotion Ideas: 10 Tips On How To Use Your Picture Effectively To Increase Your Sales
Seeing is believing.
12 Essential Web Site Design Tips
1. What's the purpose?
How To Design Your Web Site With CSS
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) allows you to create fast loading pages, increase your search engine rankings, and modify your whole site with one style sheet. So why don't more people use them? This is because they got so used to html design and are afraid or too lazy to upgrade their skills. Some will also use ready made templates that contain flashy graphics, bloated code and sometimes even contains hidden code embedded in the page.
Getting Along With Your Web Designer
You're all ready to get started creating your web presence and you've found a skilled web designer to build your website for you. Do you know what he needs from you to do an efficient job? Good web design requires cooperation between the architect and the user to create a product that will serve its intended function, and you don't have to be an internet expert to do your part. There are a number of things you can do when working with a web designer during the building and maintenance phases to smooth communications, reduce confusion, get work done faster, and get the results you want.
.htaccess to Mask Errors on Your Website
The .htaccess file is a control file located in your webservers directory. This file is a very powerful file that can control access to certain files, restrict access to files, forward people in the event of errors, and many more useful features for webmasters!
Why Use Professional Web Site Designers For Your Next Web Development Project?
Probably you know someone who has created a web site all by himself or herself. So if they can do it why use a professional at all? Can't you create your own business or organization's web site in your spare time and without the services of a professional web site designer? The answer is probably, yes. But following are some reasons why it may not be a wise idea for you.
Hiring The Right Webmaster
The Questions You Should Be Asking ? The Answers You Should Be Receiving
Selling Multiple Products? Avoid These Top Blunders
When your web site sells more than a dozen items, you may face a fierce challenge of helping shoppers find what they are looking for. You'll need to classify products into categories, but these will serve as obstacles and even deal killers if those categories do not match those in the heads of shoppers.
Building An Effective Furniture Sales Web Site
Web sites that feature products ? especially furniture or other large items ? require a careful balance of text and images to convey the value of each product.
Mini Site or Content-based Web Site?
Are you in a dilemma whether to create a mini site or a content-based web site for your new product or service? The purpose of creating a web site should be to attract visitors and convert them to paying customers. Is a mini site with a few pages enough to do this or should you spend more time and create a content-based web site which contains many pages?
Leave Those Links Blue!
Don't mess with those links! When you're designing your site, you should leave your text links in their natural state--blue and underlined. We all want to be creative and not do the bland, expected, normal thing. We want to change our links to red, green, yellow, even black--anything but blue. And we have the urge to take off those underlines.
Why Web Pages Appear in the Wrong Location after Uploading to my Website?
If your are a new web designer, you may face a common problem after uploading your web page to your web server. The problem is that the web page appear in the wrong location on your website, and will not be accessible when you type its address in the browser address box.
Cascading Style Sheets for Better Web Design
In cascading style sheets you can specify how your web pages will be presented on the screen by simply predefining page elements such as fonts, headers and links.
Web Advertising: 10 Little Known Tricks To Help Convert Your Traffics To Buying Customers
You may not believe it, but people still judge things by their appearances.
Using CCS to Eliminate Tables
CSS or Cascading Style Sheets has opened up tremendous possibilities for improving web site designs, web page layouts and adding new features. The HTML code can be made shorter, cleaner and simpler by CSS resulting in faster loading of web pages, and making them more accessible to search engines. Here I am narrating my experience with only one part of CSS - using it to eliminate tables.
Concentrate On Web Content Instead Of Search Engine Optimization
For many webmasters the title of my article may seem like bad advice and contradict what most search engine experts say and advocate. However the proof is in the pudding. As a webmaster with 4 websites trust me when I tell you that I haven't got a clue how to optimize my web pages in order to be on the first page for a particular search phrase. Instead I work on adding new content to my web sites. This technique has allowed me to consistently earn 4 figures a month in additional income and usually I start making money within 3 weeks of making my websites.