daveo
15th July 2004, 04:00 AM
Continued from the previous thread. This article is long, so I thought it best to use a different thread.
These days the internet has changed where one simply can’t just put up a website and expect to make money. Instead there is a certain process involved in starting a successful website. This process can be applied to any type of website, but I’ll focus primarily on webstores as this thread is about sales on a webstore.
Through my observations, many netpreneurs jump right in and start by developing a website offering something for sale, only to be disappointed when they’re not able to popularize the webstore.
There is a process involved and it begins with building a content rich, information site. If you’re planning to sell aromatheraphy products, then begin by building an information site about everything you can find about aromatheraphy. Don’t mention anything about sales, just let it be a personal site written by a passionate person about the product. Once there is sufficient content, then start building traffic. Solicit link exchanges from related sites and register at the major directories. Continue to build content, build two way links and after a few months (yes, it takes time), it will attract natural linking. Write seo friendly pages and it is a sure bet that it will attract many targeted visitors from the search engines. It may not appear number 1 for the coveted phrase “aromatheraphy”, but you will receive considerable traffic from other more obscure phrases. At that time, even if the site is left alone, traffic will still continue to grow due to the momentum of natural links and exposure.
Then and only then, put up an offer of something of value which your visitors will want. Ie, setup a webstore on the same domain. Spice up the offer with a sensational usp, take away the risk of buying from the store, and then sales will flow naturally. I believe there is no better way than to follow this process.
Of course, sometimes this sounds easier in theory than when implemented. Because some knowledge of website design, seo, shopping carts, etc is necessary. Afterall, good content without proper optimization will not get a site to the top. And nobody will want to buy from a webstore that is poorly designed. But that’s besides the point because these skills are necessary anyway, whichever approach is taken.
But lets see what happens when this process is not followed and lets see what happens if we begin by setting up a webstore first. Like I said, this is the mistake that most people make.
After much toil and hardwork, the website is online. No visitors yet, so you try to solicit link exchange. Then you find that nobody wants to link to you because there is no content. Webmasters dislike linking to webstores. Those that agree to a link are second class sites with low traffic themselves. Even a registration at dmoz is tough because it falls under the commercial category. Forget about yahoo, it’ll cost US299 just for registration. Where do you go from here? How do you build traffic? It’s an uphill battle. :eek:
Following the steps is like flowing downstream with the current. :thumbsup:
These days the internet has changed where one simply can’t just put up a website and expect to make money. Instead there is a certain process involved in starting a successful website. This process can be applied to any type of website, but I’ll focus primarily on webstores as this thread is about sales on a webstore.
Through my observations, many netpreneurs jump right in and start by developing a website offering something for sale, only to be disappointed when they’re not able to popularize the webstore.
There is a process involved and it begins with building a content rich, information site. If you’re planning to sell aromatheraphy products, then begin by building an information site about everything you can find about aromatheraphy. Don’t mention anything about sales, just let it be a personal site written by a passionate person about the product. Once there is sufficient content, then start building traffic. Solicit link exchanges from related sites and register at the major directories. Continue to build content, build two way links and after a few months (yes, it takes time), it will attract natural linking. Write seo friendly pages and it is a sure bet that it will attract many targeted visitors from the search engines. It may not appear number 1 for the coveted phrase “aromatheraphy”, but you will receive considerable traffic from other more obscure phrases. At that time, even if the site is left alone, traffic will still continue to grow due to the momentum of natural links and exposure.
Then and only then, put up an offer of something of value which your visitors will want. Ie, setup a webstore on the same domain. Spice up the offer with a sensational usp, take away the risk of buying from the store, and then sales will flow naturally. I believe there is no better way than to follow this process.
Of course, sometimes this sounds easier in theory than when implemented. Because some knowledge of website design, seo, shopping carts, etc is necessary. Afterall, good content without proper optimization will not get a site to the top. And nobody will want to buy from a webstore that is poorly designed. But that’s besides the point because these skills are necessary anyway, whichever approach is taken.
But lets see what happens when this process is not followed and lets see what happens if we begin by setting up a webstore first. Like I said, this is the mistake that most people make.
After much toil and hardwork, the website is online. No visitors yet, so you try to solicit link exchange. Then you find that nobody wants to link to you because there is no content. Webmasters dislike linking to webstores. Those that agree to a link are second class sites with low traffic themselves. Even a registration at dmoz is tough because it falls under the commercial category. Forget about yahoo, it’ll cost US299 just for registration. Where do you go from here? How do you build traffic? It’s an uphill battle. :eek:
Following the steps is like flowing downstream with the current. :thumbsup: