How to Narrow Your Web Sites's Focus to Increase Profits

By Doug Parr
Posted Saturday, August 7, 2004

Bob's website has sizzling graphics, professional copy, a bevy of great products and affiliate programs, yet his sales are almost nonexistent. "I don't get as many hits as I should and most visitors never buy," Bob complains.

Bob's problem is his site is TOO big and diverse. If his website were a big physical department store like Walmart or Kmart, his broad line of products might bring folks from miles around. On the Internet things work just the opposite.

It's hard to get visitors or sales without a tightly focused site. Instead of trying to appeal to a big diverse audience, focus your efforts on the needs of a profitable niche. It is far easier to make good money appealing to a smaller group of people who REALLY want and need what you are selling.

Look for a group of buyers who are part of an established market with a demonstrated need. It is far easier to tap into an existing need than to create a new one. For example, many people want to advertise with email but don't know how to do it without spamming. You could build a site that specializes in directing customers to reliable opt-in email services.

Focus your site on one or two key products or services that satisfy a niche that isn't crowded with other providers. Your profits will be greater if you can sell your own product or service rather than one supplied by another company.

Create your own information products, commission new software you can sell, or provide a service that most customers can't do themselves.

Supplement sales with five or six reseller or affiliate programs that closely relate to your niche. People in your niche audience will see these as logical extensions of your main theme. Always try to have additional products and services that let customers buy the next step in the process.

Sites that consist only of dozens of unrelated affiliate programs generally don't attract many visitors or make sales. Several major search engines won't list these sites.

It is also much easier to get listed on search engines if your site has a narrow, well-defined focus. A site about "direct Internet marketing" will have an easier time getting listed high on search engines than a site about the more general topic of "marketing."

About the Author:
Get more of Doug Parr's sound advice with your free subscription to his newsletter SmallBiz Today. His personally-tested tools and services are just what you need to succeed online.
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