5 Key Components to a Successful Website

When putting together your online business, most of us automatically think in terms of what colors to use, what the name should be, which products to carry, and so on. While these are important factors, there are five major ingredients that are essential to having a successful internet business.

1. Well written salescopy - When it comes down to it, your words are the most important part of your site. When written properly, they can be the difference between breaking even and having an incredible conversion rate. There are two key themes to implement when writing your salescopy - benefits and language style.

   Benefits refer to writing with the visitors' needs in mind. What do you have that they want? Why should they want it? The old school way of thinking pushed features and benefits, but over the years, research has shown that internet surfers have a short attention span. Let them know why they should stop their surfing and buy from you, but use words like "you" and your" instead of "we" and "I". After all...the sales process is about them, not you.

   Language style has to do with knowing your target market. How old are they? What are their interests? How do they speak? If your salescopy comes across like it is speaking down to the reader, or is not speaking their "language", your chances of them hitting the "back" button skyrocket. Get a solid idea of your target market, and write to them accordingly.

2. Come up with a compelling headline that sparks curiosity or attention - Studies show that you have an average of eight seconds to convince the reader to continue reading your copy or surfing your site. Make sure that your headline grabs their attention while trying to solve a problem or a need. Which sounds better to you? "20 Ways to get traffic to your website", or "Tired of getting little or no traffic? Double or triple yours with our proven methods!"
   
3. A rock-solid Unique Selling Proposition - In a nutshell, it is a slogan or philosophy that makes you different from your competitors. This is NOT your Guarantee - it is similar, yet more about the way you do business. Let's say that you sell NASCAR merchandise...you can use something like "Your merchandise will reach your home in 15 days or less, or we will take 50% off your next order". Take a peek at what your competition is doing, and top it or put a twist on it.
4. A straightforward, easy to spot Money Back Guarantee - Research shows that customers rarely take advantage of the money-back guarantee, yet it could be the difference when deciding between your store and the last one that they visited. Come up with a simple, clear guarantee statement that comes across like you would absolutely love to give them their money back (as painful as that is to type), and make it easily visible throughout your site. The more peace of mind and trust you can establish, the better. Which leads me to...
5. Your contact information - While this may seem like a step that isn't important, think about the way you approach a small business site when looking to purchase. Almost everyone knows someone that has been scammed online, and with so many sites out there, why should they trust you? Having detailed, easy to find contact info give the consumer confidence when they are asking themselves "What if I have a problem? Who do I contact?" The more information you offer, the less the consumer thinks you are trying to hide something.

Bryan Halverson is the owner of the search engine optimization company Search Summit SEO, and also writes for Online Success 101, a blog devoted to helpful advice for new and existing online businesses.

5 Big Ways to Bring Free Traffic to Your Website

For both new and existing online businesses, the bottom line is HUGE. While it would be great to have an endless amount of money for advertising and marketing, the reality is that most of us are on a tight budget, and need to spend our time and money wisely. One of the great things about the internet is that there are plenty of ways to get your name out there for little or no money. Here are ten free ways that I consider to be the most effective...

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - You may or may not be familiar with SEO, but whether you realize it or not, it defines most of your search engine choices. In a nutshell, SEO is various strategies used in order to achieve a search engine high ranking. Most SEO techniques involve optimization of meta tags and content, sitewide link themes, and link campaigns in order to obtain inbound links.

   While it is not brain surgery, a working knowledge of HTML and CSS is strongly recommended, and depending on the complexity of your site, knowledge of other languages may be necessary as well. If you are computer savvy, implementing SEO is not very difficult but can be extremely time consuming.

   The benefits of SEO far outweigh the cons. Consider these statistics: The top ten listings on Google receive 78% more traffic than those in positions 11-30. 99% of all search engine visitors do not go beyond the top 30. 92% of all search engine clicks occur on the first page of the search engine listings. Bottom line: You need to get into the top ten, or your site is practically invisible. But once you do...your traffic will skyrocket.

   Search Engine Optimization is essential for online success - optimize your site as soon as possible, or have a Search Engine Optimization Specialist do it for you. Google will show its appreciation in the form of more traffic and sales.

2. Craigslist - While there are many hoops to jump through, Craigslist is still a powerful way to advertise your business. Start regionally, then test the waters to see what is acceptable and what is not. In the long run, you may end up being confined the city nearest you, but it is free, and it is one of the most visited sites on the internet. While you are at it, hit any other free classified sites out there - the more visibility, the better.
   
3. Write an article or two - The popularity of submitting articles has exploded over the last few years. Why? The answer is twofold: the benefit of more traffic and a quality link to your site (which goes back to the importance of SEO). Write an article about your products or service and how it will benefit the reader, and submit it to any or all of the article directories out there (Go Articles, Ezine Articles, etc.). Over time, you will see more and more links pointing to your site from the various sites using your article. Not a writer? No worries - there are plenty of copywriters out there (see Craigslist for starters) that will write an article for you for a very reasonable fee (e-mail me if you need a few).

   **Don't forget to write a short bio at the end of your article with a link back to your site - this is crucial to this tactic working!

4. Signatures in your e-mails, forums, and blog postings - While this may seem like a lame idea , I have spoke to several people that have seen their signatures bring a decent amount of traffic (and more importantly sales) to their site. Get in the habit of setting up a signature for all of them and you should see some activity in your analytics program of choice. Be sure to make your link intriguing - i.e. I lost 80 pounds in 4 months - find out how .
5. YouTube - The idea of making a video or just being on camera may horrify you, but don't worry about camera presence. The goal is to do anything that will get people to check out your site (anything legal and moral, anyway). Think about the videos that rack up the huge numbers - what do most of them have in common? Notoriety. Come up with an outrageous idea, run with it, and put your website in huge letters at the end of it. If you film it, they will come...

Implement these ideas for your business, and you are sure to bring lots of free traffic to your business. Do nothing, and your odds of online survival go down drastically.