The True Art of Website Building by Chris Walker
The most asked question by my visitors is whether or not they need a website to
make money online. Well, the short answer is no; you can still take advantage
of PPC services like Adwords, for example, and send traffic directly to your
merchant's sales page without a website. But what we're going to do now is
reevaluate needing a website.
Websites are very helpful and can make you tons of money if done properly. So if
someone were to ask that question again I would most likely say yes, you do
need a website at some point to maximize
your profits.
Rule 1: Your website should be very helpful to your visitors. Your
website should not be built because you want fast money; it should be a reliable
source
of information that will help people solve their problems. People can see when
you are trying to pitch a sale to them or when you're not being totally honest.
When you rush to build a website, the quality will be significantly lower.
Customers today are smarter than they ever were; so if you think you can fool
them with a low quality website--with affiliate links and Adsense ads
everywhere--you are only kidding yourself. If you gain your visitors trust,
however, they will follow your recommendations because they trust you.
Please, no one page websites--those are usually short-lived. When building a
website, remember to provide answers for your visitors problems.
Building quality content is must...
Obviously if you are going to build a website yourself, you are going to need
tons of quality content. A great way to start off is to go to some article
submission sites. You will have access to thousands of quality articles you can
use for your website instantly (just be sure to always include the authors
resource box).
Content will be the most important aspect of your website's success; so you
must make sure you get it right.
Rule 2:
Use a reliable domain name and web host.
People obviously want to spend as little as possible, but if you get a website
done using a free host, you can bet that people will know you are not that
serious about your business. Not only will the quality be much lower than your
competitors, free web hosts tend to be unreliable causing your website to
suddenly crash. Imagine losing all your work that took you a full year to
build--it happens all the time and it has happened to me in the past; believe
me, it is not a good feeling losing everything you worked so hard for.
Please do not make the fatal mistake of using a free hosts and free domains.
Rule 3:
An eye-catching presentation.
Perception really is everything when it comes to websites. When visitors arrive
at your site they will recognize your site's design before anything else. You
can have the greatest content in the world, but if your web layout and
presentation are not easy on the eyes, all your visitors will press the back
button immediately due to poor site design.
I will show you the keys to a fabulous presentation:
A)
Consistent design from page to page. Customers like dealing with things that
they are familiar with. So be very consistent with your page design, colors,
style of writing, AdSense ad placement etc.
B)
Please make sure your visitors can easily find what they're looking for. Your
navigation should be seamless and easy to use. Your Navigation Bar should be in
the same place on all your pages. This may seem like a small point but it's
absolutely vital to your websites success... the last thing you will want to do
is frustrate your visitors because they can't find exactly what they are
looking for.
I have seen my profits shoot through the roof simply by making everything
super-easy to find.
Even though your content is what wins your visitors over in the end, do not
neglect having a good presentation; it is the first thing your visitors will
notice. What you want to do is make visitors want to stay... once that is done,
then they can be "wowed" by your great content.
Rule 4:
Connect with your visitors.
Visitors want to know who is behind the website. So you must have a way that
they can contact you through email. Have a contact link
where people can easily see it. When visitors know that there is actually
someone working behind the scenes willing to answer questions, they will feel
more comfortable with what you have to offer.
The benefits of email marketing...
Using your opt-in list is what we call email marketing. When people opt-in to
your list they are actually giving you permission to send them emails. The
great thing about this is that it's very easy to set up and it's highly
effective.
You should have a monthly newsletter that provides customers with free, yet valuable
information.
It is important you do not hard sell in your newsletter though; the main job of
a newsletter is to get people to your site. A newsletter should address a
problem by providing a solution.
A great way to get people to sign up/opt-in to your newsletter is to give
something of value away for free. When visitors believe they are getting
something of value, they will sign up to your newsletter to receive the free
gift. Just make sure what ever you are giving away is of high quality.
Using autoresponders
Another great way for you to connect with your visitors is to use an
autoresponder. When people fill out your autoresponder forms, they will
automatically receive a series of emails containing your prewritten content
(for example, you can have your autoresponder set up to automatically send out
1 email a day for 7 days to anyone who fills out the forms).
You should use autoresponders to send out a series of sequential emails that
are packed with quality information. I found this to work very well with all of
my websites (as long as you present high-value content to your visitors).
Autoresponders are highly effective because the sequential emails constantly
remind your visitors that your site exist.
You are not maximizing your profits until you have an autoresponder in full
effect. Your opt-in list will have some of your most loyal customers. If making
money online has been your goal, you should definitely give autoresponders a
shot.
Rule 5:
Traffic is your website's lifeblood
You will need tons of traffic in order to make money with your website. But how
does one go about getting traffic? Well, there are really only two ways to get
traffic: SEO and PPC advertising.
Search engine optimization involves link exchanging, article submission,
one-way back links, keyword density, submitting your site to major directories,
2nd tier directories, and niche hubs directories and so much more. Doing all of
the aforementioned does take a lot of work, but the pay off is huge. After a
while you will begin to see your site's keywords in the top 10 for the major
search engines. This free traffic will allow your site and business to
flourish. The good news about free search engine traffic is that it can last
for years and years.
The other way to get traffic to your site is by using pay-per-click
advertising. Unlike SEO, this kind of traffic comes instantly. The moment you
set up a campaign, traffic starts pouring in to your site, giving you scalable
results right away. I recommend using Google Adwords to get started with PPC
advertising. Adwords will quickly allows you to see what works and what
doesn't.
As effective as Adwords is, it still takes a little bit of figuring out. Many
people lose money with PPC advertising because they simply don't know what they
are doing. What's worst is that they give up after a while. Adwords is too good
to pass up; please learn as much as you can before starting--it will make
things much easier.
About the Author
Chris Walker is the owner of:
http://www.ultimate-home-business-advice.com.
Get all the best advice on great home businesses that really work. Gain access
to essential tips and Subscriptions. You can distribute his material on a
non-exclusive, royalty-free basis, while he retains full rights to his work.
You can use his article as long as you do not change any of the content withou
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