Three Steps for Online Success
By James D. Brausch
Posted Thursday, January 13, 2005
You spend money and time getting your web site just right. Your friends love it and you don't think there is any way it can miss. But then time starts to pass. Few visitors arrive and almost no one buys anything.
Unfortunately, this is how it works for more than 70 percent of the Internet's sites. This while a lucky 15 percent of top sites pull in at least six figures per year. How do they do it?
Here is the simple, proven three-step strategy for getting a steady stream of visitors and turning them into paying customers.
1. Start by getting your web site on search engines. Almost everyone who surfs the Internet uses major search engines to find what they are looking for. Search engines are your best bet for steady, targeted traffic. But you won't get visitors just by being listed on a search engine. You need to be one of the first few links to come up when people search for a site like yours.
Search engines all use very complex and different ways to rank sites. Experts and SEO (search engine optimization) reports can quickly show you what your site needs to do to be listed high by key search engines.
Additionally, search engines change their methods all the time. What worked last year probably isn't working today. Get up-to- date information to achieve the ranking you want. This is how major corporations keep their sites busy and profitable. There is no reason why even the smallest business can't harness this same information.
2. Next, get your site listed on pay-per-click search engines. PPC's let you pay to be listed high. Getting listed for a specific search term or keyword can cost anywhere from a penny to several dollars for every time someone clicks on your link.
Over all, PPC's aren't as cheap as they used to be. But there are still some real deals out there. Try to get keywords that your customers use to describe a site like yours. Keep in mind that regular customers may not use the same term that professionals in your industry use.
PPC's can send hundreds, even thousands of visitors to your site. You can increase sales by carefully matching your PPC ad to the web page people will be clicking to. Make sure the web page corresponds exactly with the ad. If people read one thing in the ad, then another when they get to the site, they will click away without even considering your offer.
3. Start your own email newsletter and build your in-house email list. I know dozens of small businesses who earn outstanding incomes strictly off their newsletter. It's probably the most powerful business builder on the Internet.
Put a sign-up form on your web site and get all those people coming from search engines to subscribe. This is critical. Prospects usually have to hear from you several times before they come back and buy. Your newsletter keeps your name and information in front of all your visitors and prospects, week after week, until they are ready to make a purchase.
Speed up the process of building your newsletter opt-in list by putting your sign-up form on other sites similar to yours. There are cooperative systems that will help you do this, or simply approach other sites with your offer.
About the Author
James Brausch is the founder of (http://www.TargetBlaster.com) See his popular packages for increasing your web site traffic and sales. Learn about his highly effective double-targeted traffic methods, 5-cent PPC listings, insider search engine ranking reports, and much more. Reach James at FAX: (509) 352-0742 or mailto:JamesBrausch@TargetBlaster.com
