How To Create a Web Site that Makes the Sale (Corrected)

By Jinger Jarrett
Posted Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Nothing can be more frustrating than visiting a web site and not being able to find what you are looking for.

Maybe the site is just plain ugly, or looks like it was done by a kid attacked by a box of Crayola crayons.

If you're going to do business on the Internet, you need a professional web site. This is your business card and the visitors' introduction to who you are.

First impressions count. You want to make a good first impression, and you want to get your potential visitor to bookmark your site.

Here's how to create a good first impression and keep your new visitor coming back for more.

1. Give your site a purpose. Do you know what you want your web site to do?

Maybe your goal is to make the sale. If this is your goal, then you want to make sure that you include useful content for your visitor to read.

Make it interesting, and emphasize the benefits of your offer. Give him/her useful information.

2. Make it fast loading I have cable modem, so if I'm really interested in the site, I'll wait around for it to download so that I can look at the content.

Unfortunately, most people are using dial-up. If your site takes more than 10 to 15 seconds to load, your visitor will just click away and go somewhere else.

The easiest way to make sure your site is fast loading is to go easy on the graphics. Although graphics can make your site visually appealing, they can take forever to load.

If you must include graphics, then use a graphics compressor to shrink your graphics so that that they load more quickly.

Below are some sites online where you can shrink .gif and .jpg, your most common graphic files, for free.

(http://www.spinwave.com/crunchers.html) (http://www.netmechanic.com/accelerate.htm)

Now I've seen some pretty terrific interactive sites online. They may use flash or some other kind of scripting to make them interactive.

Although these types of sites can be fun places to visit, if you have a business site, you want to skip creating this type of interactivity. You'll have slow load times, and you'll lose visitors fast.

3. Choose a good design
Keep it simple. Stick to the same color scheme. You don't want something that looks like it was painted by a two year old.

Think about what works well on screen. Have you ever tried to read yellow type on an orange background? Think about your reader.

Different colors mean different things to different people and cultures. Keep that in mind.

It's very easy to find color charts online that tell you what the different colors mean.

4. Include original content Your visitor is only going to stay about 10 seconds if he/she has seen the same content somewhere else.

Whether you are a writer or not, you can create useful content. Use your unique perspective to create a free report or ebook or articles your reader can read on your site.

If you're offering affiliate programs, create a review. Tell the visitor something about that product that's not included in the sales letter. Let him/her know what you liked about the product and how it has helped you.

5. Give the visitor a free offer One of the easiest ways to win the heart of your visitor is to offer something free. This will not only help you establish credibility in the mind of the visitor, but if you give before you get, your visitor is more likely to consider your offer.

Unfortunately, freebies abound online, so getting your visitor to accept your freebie can be tough.

There are several things you can do to make your freebie valuable.

Again, you want to create original content. It could be a free ecourse, an ebook or report. Just make sure that the information you are offering can't be found anywhere else.

Write it from your perspective. Offering your unique perspective can go further in winning the heart of your visitor than great writing.

You can also offer a sample of your product. This could be several chapters from your book or or a demo version of software.

You can also offer a free newsletter, but make sure you include some content that's your own. There are hundreds of thousands of newsletters online, and your visitor won't stay subscribed very long if he/she is reading the same thing over and over.

6. Capture contact information Before you give away that freebie, make sure you get the visitor's contact information. I know you've heard this a million times, but it takes repeated exposure of your message to your visitor in order to finally make the sale.

It's very important to build your list. You want to create a market that is hungry for your products. A list of people who are interested in what you have to say gives you a better chance of making the sale.

A good, clean, professionally designed web site can go a long way towards building your reputation online. First impressions count. Make your first impression keep your visitors coming back.

About the Author
Jinger Jarrett will show you "How to Really Start Your Business in 30 Days". Get your copy of her free hot new ebook or ecourse now. (http://www.smallbusinesshowto.com)