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If you don't think this a broad topic, search engines would prove you wrong - 303 000 pages that contain the exact match "make money with your website" This is why this series is about the businesses that sell offline and are looking to expand online. Nothing more, nothing less. Let's imagine your company does have a website that of course cost you a fortune and looks nice , BUT is not making you any money or not as much as you wanted. I personally believe that 10-40% of your revenue should be coming off your website or online efforts no matter what your business is /contact me if you believe your market cannot be taken online so we can think together/. What steps do you need to take to ensure your website is optimized to bring you business? #1 Learn how your online prospect behave Use keyword research to find out what keywords are people using to look for services that you provide. #2 Get to know your niche After you find the keywords that people use to find your business, get to know your online competitors, their business models, strengths and weaknesses. Write this all down so you can invent an online business model that will separate you from them and make you superior. #3 Position your business Knowing the searches and the competition give you clear picture of the market - size, major players, opportunities and threats for the sector. Now its time to sit down and plan for a online business model and brand statement that will separate you from your competitors. #4 Plan for Success Now its time to take the best you've seen and apply it to your website. Find a developer / they no longer cost a fortune per hour / and tell them your ideas on what will make customer but. Nothing is impossible in 2009, only the sky is the limit when it comes to website programming. #5 Become an information leader in your niche Setup a blog, video log, tweet or become a member of forums where your potential customer look for answers to their problems and you could solve with your service. Give out free advice, education, share the latest news about your business that will interest the customer. Become the information leader in your market is one step away from become the leader in sales. #6 Convert the traffic You got all the advice, all the forum posts, videos, free reports, Q&A sessions out and people pick start recognizing you as an authoritative resource of information.Your website traffic skyrockets. But sales is still just OK. What you need to do is separate buyers from lookers and feed them with different information. Buyers are ready to spend while lookers still need education. This segmentation is made with Web Analytics integration. Tracking all you incoming traffic and monitor how they behave on the website is crucial. You can learn a lot from looking at your present sales if they are monitored correctly. Then it is a matter of routing traffic. #7 Reinvest in links Links are the traffic goldmine. A business owner who is serious about making money online from their website has to be hunting linking opportunities weekly. Journalist reviews, donations to non profit projects, yahoo answers, forum posts, educational opportunities. Anything that can get you a high quality link is worth it as it will increase your traffic, diversify your link structure and keep you on top of your game. Please do not hesitate to leave a comment for any specific questions on the above points. |
